During the Second World War around 40% of the total number of combatants, were held at one time or another as prisoners of war (POWs). British forces faced heavy losses in prisoners in the Western Desert and Balkan campaigns, and approximately 10,000 RAF aircrew were captured over the course of the Second World War. Britain also left more than 50,000 prisoners behind at Dunkirk. Germany captured more than 2 million French and Polish POWs as well as almost 5 million Red Army soldiers, but they themselves lost 4.5 million to allied forces.