1 00:00:02,300 --> 00:00:04,520 Over two weeks in 1940, 2 00:00:04,520 --> 00:00:08,900 a military miracle unfolded here in Dunkirk. 3 00:00:08,900 --> 00:00:11,960 The evacuation of 300,000 troops, 4 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:15,480 cut off and trapped by a rampaging German army. 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:21,360 But, it was very nearly a disaster that knocked Britain out of the war 6 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:24,640 and handed victory in Europe to the Nazis. 7 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:28,520 I'm JJ Chalmers, a former Royal Marine, 8 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:30,640 and a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. 9 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:36,520 Over three programmes, I'll be charting those momentous 14 days, 10 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:39,320 day by day, hour by hour. 11 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:43,080 In France, I'll be retracing the steps of those heroic men 12 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:45,240 who made the evacuation possible. 13 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:47,840 Artillery slammed off the bunker. 14 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:49,880 Using my own experiences, 15 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:53,280 I'll relive some of the horrors they faced. 16 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,680 Nothing prepares you for a moment of extreme trauma like that. 17 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:00,680 The real story of Dunkirk goes far beyond the familiar tales 18 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:03,000 of beaches and little ships. 19 00:01:04,320 --> 00:01:06,320 I'm Raksha Dave, and I'm finding out 20 00:01:06,320 --> 00:01:10,040 just how the rescue mission was planned and executed, 21 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:13,240 revealing how tenacity and ingenuity 22 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:15,440 overcame overwhelming odds. 23 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:18,360 23 people on this tiny boat! 24 00:01:19,960 --> 00:01:24,000 This time, the Second World War has been under way for eight months, 25 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:26,560 and the British Army in France is retreating, 26 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:30,040 following Germany's ferocious Blitzkrieg attack. 27 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:35,440 They're battered and bloodied, and now must fight 28 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:37,160 against overwhelming odds 29 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,600 to prevent the Nazis cutting off their only escape route 30 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:41,880 back to Britain. 31 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:45,720 Only their heroism and sacrifice 32 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:50,920 will make the most extraordinary evacuation in history possible. 33 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:54,280 These are the 14 days that saved Britain. 34 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:06,360 Here, in Dunkirk, on June 2nd, 1940, 35 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:11,560 the last of over 200,000 British soldiers trapped in France 36 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,360 stepped onto a boat and headed home. 37 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:17,240 It was the culmination 38 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:20,400 of the greatest rescue mission in British history. 39 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:25,760 But, it was only made possible by events that began 14 days earlier 40 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:27,960 and 50 miles inland. 41 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:39,800 On 20th May, 1940, the exhausted men of the Royal Norfolk Regiment 42 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,680 were trudging across these very fields. 43 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:45,240 Like all the men of the BEF, 44 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:48,000 the British Expeditionary Force in France, 45 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:50,520 they'd been retreating for four days, 46 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:53,360 enduring a relentless German onslaught. 47 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:00,400 One of those soldiers was Private Ernie Leggett. 48 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:02,360 He said they were like vagabonds - 49 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:06,080 filthy, and reduced to drinking water from the ditches. 50 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:11,880 Leggett was 20, and from a tiny village in Norfolk. 51 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:15,640 His family were poor, and he joined the Army at just 15, 52 00:03:15,640 --> 00:03:17,320 hoping for a better life. 53 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:23,080 A crack shot, he'd been in France since the outbreak of the war, 54 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:26,720 but now, for the first time, he was under attack. 55 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:33,760 Over to the North, 56 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,880 Private Leggett could see the town of Tournai burning. 57 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:40,080 It had been relentlessly dive-bombed by German aircraft 58 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:44,520 that were hounding British forces constantly during their retreat. 59 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:49,200 Leggett had seen many of his comrades, and countless 60 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,440 civilian refugees killed by the German bombers. 61 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:57,240 Now, I never faced an enemy that had aircraft, 62 00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:01,240 but, having been on the other side, laying 500 metres away... 63 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:07,600 ..to be on the receiving end of an earth-shattering deep explosion 64 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:09,760 that tears the landscape to pieces, 65 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:11,760 reduces buildings to rubble, 66 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:15,360 that is terrifying beyond imagination. 67 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:19,760 But today, Leggett and his pals 68 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:22,360 were about to have the chance to fight back. 69 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:26,640 Leggett and his regiment, the Royal Norfolks, 70 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:28,840 had been ordered to put up a stand 71 00:04:28,840 --> 00:04:32,200 to make a defensive line in an effort to hold back 72 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:34,040 the relentless German assault. 73 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:40,640 The German invasion of France had begun ten days earlier. 74 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:44,600 The BEF were supporting the huge French army, 75 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:49,600 but Nazi tanks managed to punch a hole through the allies' defences 76 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:52,160 and raced towards the French coast. 77 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:56,000 The British Army became almost completely surrounded, 78 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,320 and retreated to the River Escaut. 79 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:02,240 Here, they'd make a desperate attempt to hold back the Germans. 80 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:14,040 This is the stretch of the Escaut that Private Leggatt 81 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:16,520 and his comrades from the Royal Norfolk Regiment 82 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:18,160 were ordered to defend that day. 83 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:23,960 Leggett set up his machine gun on the second floor balcony 84 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:25,800 of a disused cement factory. 85 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:28,680 The Germans would have to cross this river, 86 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:30,920 and it was his regiment's job to stop them, 87 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:33,120 or at the very least, delay them. 88 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:36,360 Now, as a defender, decisions you make ahead of the battle 89 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:38,000 make all of the difference. 90 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:41,320 It's the difference between achieving your objective or not, 91 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:42,920 and staying alive. 92 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:45,280 As Leggett set up his position, 93 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:49,240 he had no idea how desperate his situation was, 94 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:52,520 but the commander of the British Army in France, 95 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:56,280 55-year-old aristocrat General Lord Gort, 96 00:05:56,280 --> 00:05:58,600 knew exactly how bad things were. 97 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:03,680 Gort was a hero 98 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:05,480 of the First World War. 99 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:06,960 He won the Victoria Cross. 100 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:09,600 He'd won the distinguished service order three times. 101 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:13,480 What he wasn't really, was a great strategist. 102 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:17,800 But on this occasion, Gort could clearly see his army needed 103 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:21,400 to pull back to the French coast, because if they couldn't stop 104 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:25,800 the Germans, evacuation to Britain would be their only option. 105 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:31,440 The job of Private Leggett and the rest of the regiment 106 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:33,400 lined out here along the Escaut, 107 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:36,120 was to hold back the Germans for long enough 108 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:40,680 that as many of the 200,000 soldiers of the BEF could retreat 109 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:44,600 the 50 miles back to French ports on the English Channel. 110 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:50,560 Back in London at the Admiralty, 111 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:53,680 they were discussing the disturbing possibility 112 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:58,760 of having to rapidly evacuate the entire British Army by sea. 113 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:02,440 It was decided a plan needed to be prepared, 114 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:04,760 to be used if necessary. 115 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:09,160 They wanted to be ready to lift 10,000 troops a day 116 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:11,280 from the three main Channel ports. 117 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:16,560 At this stage, you still have three ports in the hands of the Allies. 118 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:19,720 You've got Calais, you've got Boulogne, and you've got Dunkirk. 119 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:22,440 So, of course, the best of those, if there is going to be an evacuation, 120 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:25,600 is Calais, because that's the nearest to England. 121 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:29,560 But not everyone believed an evacuation would be needed, 122 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:33,000 especially the new Prime Minister Winston Churchill, 123 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:36,120 who'd been in power for just ten days. 124 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:40,360 When Churchill becomes Prime Minister on 10th May, 1940, 125 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:43,000 his entire rhetoric, his entire career, 126 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:45,080 was building up to this very moment. 127 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:48,400 There's no way that Churchill's first act as Prime Minister 128 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:49,520 is to run away. 129 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:51,520 That is simply not in his DNA. 130 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:54,320 But Churchill wasn't a fool, 131 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:58,840 and agreed that evacuation plans should be made, just in case. 132 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:08,840 The job of preparing for that possible mass evacuation 133 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:12,880 was given to 57-year-old Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsay. 134 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:16,800 He'd only recently been recalled from retirement. 135 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:20,760 That evening, Ramsay held his first planning meeting here, 136 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,600 in his headquarters at Dover Castle in Kent. 137 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:29,280 Admiral Ramsay's HQ wasn't in the castle itself. 138 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:30,680 It's underneath it. 139 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:35,440 This secret complex of bunkers became the subterranean nerve centre 140 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:37,240 for the potential mission, 141 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:40,920 which was given the code name Operation Dynamo. 142 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:44,040 The first challenge Ramsay and his team faced 143 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:46,000 was sourcing enough ships 144 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,240 to carry out an evacuation on this vast scale. 145 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:54,400 I'm meeting historian Philip Weir in the actual room 146 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:57,080 where that first planning meeting was held. 147 00:08:58,560 --> 00:09:02,040 This whole place must have been absolutely buzzing with people. 148 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:05,520 Yeah, May 20th. This was an incredibly busy day. 149 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:09,240 So, how did Admiral Ramsay plan for the evacuation? 150 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:11,440 He didn't know whether it was going to happen or not, 151 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:12,640 so what was he doing? 152 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:17,440 He sits down in here with his small team of staff, 153 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:20,800 and starts planning - the numbers of ships they're going to need, 154 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:22,760 calling the Ministry of Shipping, 155 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:24,800 calling in the Admiralty, 156 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:27,040 calling in absolutely everybody. 157 00:09:28,680 --> 00:09:31,480 Although some Royal Navy ships will be available 158 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:33,480 to help with any evacuation, 159 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:36,640 Ramsay realised very quickly that these wouldn't be 160 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:38,600 anywhere near enough. 161 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:43,440 What he's now got to do is spread the net a lot wider 162 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:46,520 if he really thinks the whole army's got to come home. 163 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:47,840 Well, that's the thing, isn't it? 164 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:50,040 Because we're not just talking about hundreds of people. 165 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:52,000 We're talking about tens of thousands. 166 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:55,600 So what kind of ships was Admiral Ramsay looking for at this time? 167 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:59,960 What he's looking for is reasonably large ships that can go into ports, 168 00:09:59,960 --> 00:10:04,120 tie up alongside, quickly fill up with people, and head out. 169 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:09,840 But Churchill hoped these ships would never be needed. 170 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:14,560 He was pinning all his hopes on men like Ernie Leggett 171 00:10:14,560 --> 00:10:16,280 at the old cement factory, 172 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:20,440 who were preparing to face a savage German onslaught. 173 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:27,720 Clearly, in one sense, these soldiers are being sacrificed, 174 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:31,440 particularly as they're often being told to fight to the last man. 175 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:35,480 They're told, effectively, that they are being sacrificed 176 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:37,080 for the greater good. 177 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:43,400 Because if private Leggett and the other troops along the River Escaut 178 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:45,120 could hold back the German assault, 179 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:48,240 the following day, a counterstrike had been ordered 180 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:50,400 that could turn the tables on the Nazis. 181 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:55,080 It was an heroic and desperate plan, 182 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:56,720 but would it work? 183 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:11,440 On 21st May, 1940, the British Army's position in France 184 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:13,560 was becoming increasingly desperate. 185 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:17,400 They faced suffering such a terrible defeat 186 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:21,560 that victory in Europe looked like it could be handed to the Nazis. 187 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:27,640 The British were now almost entirely encircled by the rampaging Germans. 188 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:30,920 It seemed almost inevitable that within days, 189 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:34,480 over 200,000 British soldiers in France 190 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:37,960 would be overrun and captured, or killed. 191 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:45,160 Amongst the soldiers tasked with holding back the relentless 192 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:49,000 German advance was Private Leggett and his exhausted comrades 193 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:50,680 of the Royal Norfolk Regiment. 194 00:11:50,680 --> 00:11:53,360 They were defending this stretch of river 195 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:55,640 in front of an old, disused cement factory, 196 00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:58,800 and Leggett was on the second floor, manning a machine gun. 197 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:09,760 In the early hours, the German assault on the River Escaut began 198 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:12,280 with a brutal artillery barrage. 199 00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:17,160 Then, German soldiers came into sight. 200 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:19,920 The bridge in front of Leggatt was damaged, 201 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:22,040 and the Germans began to repair it. 202 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:26,640 But, Leggett's commanding officer, Captain Barclay, 203 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:28,760 told his men to hold fire. 204 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:33,600 The Germans on the other side of the river had no idea 205 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:34,880 that the Norfolks were here. 206 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:40,760 Barclay waited as 25 Germans crossed the bridge 207 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:42,720 that they'd only just repaired, 208 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:45,720 before giving the order to open fire to his men 209 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:48,440 with a blast of his hunting bugle that he carried on him. 210 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:53,000 A hail of gunfire landed on the Germans, 211 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:55,720 mowing down all the men that had crossed the bridge, 212 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:57,840 and even some on the other side. 213 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:02,000 For seven hours, Leggett and the Royal Norfolks 214 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:03,720 valiantly held off the assault. 215 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:09,080 But now the Germans brought tanks and artillery up to the river. 216 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:14,920 A shell exploded right next to Captain Barclay 217 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:17,120 and severely wounded him in the gut. 218 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:20,240 However, he ordered that he be strapped to a door, 219 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:21,840 and four men would carry him 220 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:24,560 so that he could continue to oversee the defence. 221 00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:28,920 As the fighting continued that afternoon, 222 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:32,440 Barclay was overcome by pain and passed out. 223 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:39,040 Whilst Barclay's selfless courage was unbelievable, 224 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:43,320 it also shows you just how significant the situation at large was. 225 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:46,640 He was wounded, his life hung in the balance, 226 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:50,200 but his mission meant that the lives of tens, if not 227 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:52,000 hundreds of thousands of men, 228 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:54,200 well, their lives hung in the balance too, 229 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:56,760 and it was their job to hold this line 230 00:13:56,760 --> 00:13:59,000 and give them a fighting chance. 231 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:01,200 Despite their heroism, 232 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:05,080 the soldiers of the Royal Norfolks were being overwhelmed. 233 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:07,560 Of the 25 men who'd taken up positions 234 00:14:07,560 --> 00:14:09,600 in the cement factory that morning, 235 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:13,880 only Leggett and three of his pals were still standing. 236 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:20,400 Suddenly, Leggett himself was hit by an explosion - 237 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:22,360 a mortar had come through the roof. 238 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:28,600 He said, "I couldn't move my legs 239 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:31,720 "and my back was absolutely numb from the waist down. 240 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:34,640 "All I saw was blood all over the floor." 241 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:39,760 A piece of shrapnel had passed right through 20-year-old 242 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:41,120 Ernie Leggett's body. 243 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:46,200 Sadly, I know only too well what that's like. 244 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:52,960 Nothing prepares you for a moment of extreme trauma like that. 245 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:56,480 The wash of emotions and feelings that comes across you 246 00:14:56,480 --> 00:15:01,640 in a split second is like nothing I ever hope to experience 247 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:02,840 again in my life. 248 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:05,680 You're confused. You can't believe it's happened to you. 249 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:07,680 You are in pain. 250 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:10,760 And all of this is happening in a split second, 251 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:14,920 and it is happening when chaos continues to ensue around you. 252 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:21,440 Leggett and Barclay were taken from the front line, 253 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:24,600 and put onto hospital trains heading towards the coast. 254 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:29,120 Soon after, hundreds of German soldiers flooded across the river, 255 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:33,600 forcing the surviving Royal Norfolks to retreat again. 256 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:44,720 While the British were desperately fighting to defend the line 257 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:48,760 on the Escaut, the German tanks had continued to advance 258 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:50,160 in the South. 259 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:53,440 Soon, they reached the coast. 260 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:56,800 The British Army was now surrounded. 261 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:02,120 Then the Germans began pushing north towards the Channel ports. 262 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:05,400 If they could capture them, 263 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:08,480 the British would have no way to evacuate. 264 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:16,160 But Churchill still believed an evacuation may not be needed. 265 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:19,520 He was pinning his hopes on an alternative plan. 266 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:22,680 He ordered Gort to launch a counterattack, 267 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:27,560 and if it worked, it might just turn defeat into victory. 268 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:32,800 This plan was to punch through the Germans 269 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:35,800 and link up with the French forces to the South. 270 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:37,360 If they could pull it off, 271 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:39,880 the British would no longer be surrounded. 272 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:43,240 And the German forces that had reached the coast 273 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:45,640 would themselves be trapped. 274 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:50,040 If this counterattack could be a total success, 275 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:52,840 it would have been a very different ending to this story. 276 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:02,920 At 2pm on 21st May, 74 British tanks launched 277 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:06,800 the last ditch counterattack south of the town of Arras. 278 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:11,360 As the British tanks advanced, 279 00:17:11,360 --> 00:17:14,760 they saw the countryside in front of them covered in German troops 280 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:16,960 streaming towards the coast. 281 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:23,960 They were a powerful Panzer tank division, led by the famous general 282 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:25,240 Erwin Rommel. 283 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:30,320 Erwin Rommel was a favourite of Hitler. 284 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:33,720 And this really was where he made his mark. 285 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:38,720 Supporting Rommel's tanks were soldiers from the infamous 286 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:40,880 SS Totenkopf division. 287 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:43,400 These were Nazi fanatics. 288 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:47,280 Many had only recently been concentration camp guards. 289 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:53,960 The German divisions were taken completely by surprise. 290 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:55,760 The British tanks tore through them, 291 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:58,160 causing panic, mayhem and destruction. 292 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:03,480 The SS Totenkopf soldiers suffered terrible casualties, 293 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:05,600 and many fled in panic. 294 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:11,440 It was an incredibly close call for General Rommel. 295 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:14,440 An officer stood right next to him was shot dead. 296 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:17,040 A British tank rolled right up to him, 297 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:19,000 but the driver had been killed, 298 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:22,720 and for the rest of the crew, rather than attacking, they surrendered. 299 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:26,400 But it is incredible to think just how different the history 300 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:29,640 of World War II would have been if Rommel had died that day. 301 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:39,200 But Rommel managed to rally his troops, 302 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:42,360 and the vastly outnumbered British just couldn't break 303 00:18:42,360 --> 00:18:44,160 through the German encirclement. 304 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:47,520 As night fell, they were forced to retreat. 305 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:53,080 But, the Nazis suffered their first major scare of the war. 306 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:07,560 And now Dunkirk had become the only possible place 307 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:11,440 the British Army could escape back to Britain. 308 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:14,640 The Germans had continued to push north 309 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:17,200 towards the Channel port towns. 310 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:19,760 They had almost surrounded Boulogne, 311 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:22,120 and were rapidly closing in on Calais, 312 00:19:22,120 --> 00:19:25,200 which looked certain to soon fall. 313 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:31,920 The only place an evacuation can ultimately take place from 314 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:33,440 is now Dunkirk. 315 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:40,320 You've now only got one port to evacuate 316 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:42,760 hundreds of thousands of men, 317 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:45,760 and of all three, frankly, Dunkirk is the least suitable, 318 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:47,400 I mean, for the obvious reason 319 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:49,560 that it's the furthest from England. 320 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:56,000 In Britain, Admiral Ramsay was rapidly having to adapt his plans 321 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:57,680 for an evacuation 322 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:02,080 that now seemed to be a matter of not if, but when. 323 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:06,640 I'm meeting historian Harry Bennett to find out more. 324 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:12,440 This is such a great view of Dover. 325 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:15,600 You can see the port, you can even see the coast of France 326 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:16,920 in the distance. 327 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:18,600 It's all too close for comfort. 328 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:22,560 Ramsay can see the flashes on the far side of the Channel. 329 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:25,240 He can hear the explosions in the distance, 330 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:27,760 and at night, you can see the flames of Calais. 331 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:32,480 He realises that things could unfold very, very quickly indeed. 332 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:38,960 But, with Churchill still hesitating to give the evacuation order, 333 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:41,320 Ramsay was taking the initiative. 334 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:46,120 He's already begun to realise that, if he goes through normal channels, 335 00:20:46,120 --> 00:20:48,320 if he does it by the book, 336 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:49,840 it could be too late. 337 00:20:52,120 --> 00:20:55,360 So, under his own authority, he begins to assemble 338 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:59,320 the kind of vessels which are capable of carrying men, 339 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:02,320 at least across the English Channel. 340 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:04,080 It must have been quite a sight. 341 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:06,680 How many vessels would have been stationed here? 342 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:09,960 Obviously, what they don't want to do is pack it so full of shipping 343 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:12,480 that it becomes an immediate target for the German Air Force, 344 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:16,160 because if Dover is heavily bombed, Dover becomes inoperable. 345 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:18,320 So you've actually got vessels which are sort of 346 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:19,920 up and down the coast here. 347 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:24,680 Places like Ramsgate, places like Sheerness. 348 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:26,600 They've been quietly assembled, 349 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:29,960 ready for when the order for Operation Dynamo is given. 350 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:34,280 So Churchill hasn't given him the order yet. 351 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:36,040 He's just getting all of his ducks in a row, 352 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:38,320 just getting prepared for imminent action. 353 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:42,680 I think Ramsay realises the way that this is going to go. 354 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:46,000 The longer that order takes to come, 355 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:49,920 maybe the less people we're going to have the chance to get away. 356 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:53,240 So there is a kind of element of frustration, I think, 357 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:56,560 on Ramsey's part, in terms of when will the order come? 358 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:11,360 On the ground in France, General Gort also believed 359 00:22:11,360 --> 00:22:13,680 an evacuation was inevitable. 360 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:15,400 The counterattack had failed, 361 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:17,880 and the Germans were over the River Escaut. 362 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:23,720 The majority of the over 200,000 British soldiers were now 363 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:26,680 in headlong retreat towards Dunkirk, 364 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:29,120 which was 50 miles away. 365 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:34,600 These roads heading towards the port 366 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:37,240 were completely clogged with troops now. 367 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:40,240 Some of them were lucky enough to be in trucks, but for a lot 368 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:43,320 of them they were exhausted, on foot, marching. 369 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:45,960 It was painfully slow going. 370 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:50,200 Then, in some places, well, order was breaking down. 371 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:55,200 They were on the run effectively. 372 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:57,520 A lot of people were living off the land, you know, 373 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:00,280 they were short of supplies, short of ammunition. 374 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:04,520 Some were...moving back with their boots worn out 375 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:06,520 and their feet like liver. 376 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:11,360 This shattered, retreating British army had to somehow be protected 377 00:23:11,360 --> 00:23:16,360 from the Germans, who were now pushing forward on all fronts. 378 00:23:16,360 --> 00:23:18,760 And Gort came up with a plan. 379 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:22,320 He would create a 15 mile wide corridor 380 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:26,280 that could be defended on both sides by some of his soldiers. 381 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:31,760 He hoped these troops could hold back the Germans just long enough 382 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:33,680 for the majority of his army 383 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:36,280 to stream down the corridor to Dunkirk. 384 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:41,680 The soldiers given the unenviable task of protecting the corridor 385 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:45,200 were heading to their assigned locations, such as this hilltop 386 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:46,880 town of Cassel. 387 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:49,600 The plan was to fortify the town, 388 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:52,080 turning it into a defensive strong point 389 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:54,080 to protect the retreating army. 390 00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:59,880 Well, it's clear from up here why Cassel is the perfect 391 00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:01,440 location to defend. 392 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:05,680 You can see for miles around - any German troop movement 393 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:08,440 out there is going to be much easier to spot. 394 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:12,440 And with this extra elevation, your artillery has more distance 395 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:14,440 and is all the more lethal. 396 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:17,160 But, with the Germans advancing relentlessly, 397 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:20,040 the odds were heavily stacked against the British Army. 398 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:25,920 One of Lord Gort's senior commanders wrote in his diary, 399 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:29,320 "Nothing but a miracle can save the BEF now." 400 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:42,800 The majority of the shattered British Army in France 401 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:46,080 was in headlong retreat along these roads, 402 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:48,920 hoping desperately to reach the port of Dunkirk 403 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:51,800 for a possible mass evacuation. 404 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:56,600 Exhausted and hungry, they were forced to loot food from bombed out 405 00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:58,120 shops and houses. 406 00:24:58,120 --> 00:25:01,680 Worst of all, as they trudged along these roads, 407 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:05,760 they were under endless attack from the air by the Luftwaffe. 408 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:09,240 Soldiers and civilians alike were taking terrible losses. 409 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:16,560 The Stuka dive-bomber was fitted with what was called 410 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:17,600 a Jericho's trumpet. 411 00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:20,080 The specific siren under its wings, 412 00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:22,960 and it made a wailing sound as air passed through it, 413 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:27,560 so it created that distinctive screeching banshee's wail. 414 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:33,280 These were really a devilish invention. 415 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:35,800 They were almost more a psychological weapon. 416 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:41,800 You could hear them coming before you could see them. 417 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:44,720 And some people used to go into their own heads 418 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:47,160 when they when they heard this terrible noise, knowing 419 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:49,360 that this...this death was coming down. 420 00:25:49,360 --> 00:25:51,960 The British soldiers were defenceless against these 421 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:54,760 horrifying bombers as they continued their attacks. 422 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:01,000 One of the constant refrain from troops was, 423 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:02,240 "Where are the RAF?" 424 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:03,640 They felt abandoned, 425 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:06,880 and believed the RAF were failing in their duty to defend them. 426 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:15,240 To discover if this was the truth, 427 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:18,760 I've come to the Imperial War Museum, Duxford. 428 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:24,600 Duxford is home to a Spitfire that actually flew 429 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:27,880 during the Dunkirk retreat, and is still flying today. 430 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:34,840 I'm meeting author and historian Claire Mulley, who can tell me more. 431 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:39,480 Did the soldiers on the ground feel that the RAF had abandoned them? 432 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:41,680 It's true that the soldiers felt that, 433 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:43,920 but it's not true that that's what happened at all. 434 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:47,040 The RAF is doing patrols, but the men on the ground 435 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:49,800 didn't see them because there was a lot of cloud cover, 436 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:51,560 and the RAF were flying above the clouds, 437 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:54,480 and a lot of the patrols had gone much further inland and they were 438 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:56,040 just out of visibility. 439 00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:59,080 So, what British aircraft were defending the troops? 440 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:01,760 This is the first time that we see the use of 441 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:04,800 the Supermarine Spitfire in operational action. 442 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:13,240 First time a Spitfire encountered a German Messerschmitt 109 443 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:15,760 was on 23rd May, 1940, 444 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:19,160 and it was piloted by this young 23-year-old New Zealander, 445 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:20,480 Alan Deere. 446 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:27,200 Alan Deere was this square-jawed 1940s hero. 447 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:31,440 He flew out in a Spitfire over the Channel towards Dunkirk 448 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:36,560 to provide cover, and he encountered and engaged a Messerschmitt 109. 449 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:42,400 So this is the cream of the Luftwaffe's fighting force. 450 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:46,320 The German pilot didn't really know what he was up against. 451 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:49,280 He banked around and went into a high ascent, 452 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:52,440 and Alan Deere just said that he signed his own death warrant 453 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:55,080 because the Spitfire's great asset was manoeuvrability. 454 00:27:58,400 --> 00:27:59,640 And he engaged. 455 00:28:03,360 --> 00:28:04,960 He took him straight out. 456 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:15,000 He took out a second 109 on the same mission. Wow! 457 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:19,040 He went back, they refuelled, came out a third time on the same day, 458 00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:22,680 and a took out a third Me 109. 459 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:26,000 Extraordinary achievement - three hits on a single day. 460 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:28,520 It's pretty incredible, isn't it? 461 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:30,880 Sounds like something from Top Gun. 462 00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:32,360 It's pretty remarkable. 463 00:28:32,360 --> 00:28:36,280 Alan Deere that day really showed what the Spitfire could do. 464 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:41,600 If, all of a sudden, they have this amazing piece of tech 465 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:44,280 that can outmanoeuvre German fighters, 466 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:46,440 how did they not prevent the bombing of Dunkirk? 467 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:47,920 It's a matter of statistics. 468 00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:51,320 The Luftwaffe completely outnumbered the RAF. 469 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:53,720 They just didn't have enough numbers. 470 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:06,520 Despite the RAF's valiant efforts, 471 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:07,960 by that evening in France, 472 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:11,000 the situation had become catastrophic. 473 00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:15,240 British soldiers were still making their way to Cassel, 474 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:18,240 and other strong points along Gort's corridor. 475 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:22,280 From here, they hoped to protect the rest of the retreating army 476 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:24,520 flooding towards Dunkirk. 477 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:28,800 But, Dunkirk itself was about to fall. 478 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:36,560 The German tanks had continued to push up the coast. 479 00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:39,920 Boulogne and Calais were now effectively surrounded. 480 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,840 The British continued to defend these ports 481 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:45,280 in hope of slowing down the Germans. 482 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:48,520 But the German tanks bypassed them, 483 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:53,200 and were now rolling almost unchecked towards Dunkirk. 484 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:57,400 It seemed this last escape route opened to the British Army 485 00:29:57,400 --> 00:29:59,400 would be severed within a day. 486 00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:06,400 But that evening, a miracle happened. 487 00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:10,080 Hitler ordered his troops, who, at that point were surging 488 00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:12,800 forward to Dunkirk, to stop. 489 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:16,040 And not only that, he dictated that they wouldn't push forward 490 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:17,680 for another three days. 491 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:22,480 Hitler was worried his Panzer tanks were now too vulnerable. 492 00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:27,160 It certainly was a great stroke of luck for the British 493 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:30,400 because they could, probably would have been, overrun 494 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:32,160 had those tanks not stopped. 495 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:34,560 Hitler, certainly, was nervous about the fact 496 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:36,840 that, you know, these tanks could be put out of action. 497 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:40,840 So it did make sense - a certain amount of sense - 498 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:42,280 in the circumstances. 499 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:44,600 You'd just had the Arras counterattack, 500 00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:48,240 which had shown how vulnerable these tanks could be. 501 00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:54,120 Yeah, it's fine, you know, chucking a Panzer forward as fast as it can, 502 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:55,880 but everyone else has got to catch up. 503 00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:57,760 You've got to get the fuel there, you've got to feed those people. 504 00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:00,280 The more you're stretched like an elastic band, 505 00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:02,840 the more vulnerable you are to counterattack. 506 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:07,240 Hitler feared if there was a second British counterattack, 507 00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:08,920 it may succeed, 508 00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:12,480 and Hermann Goering, commander of the Luftwaffe, 509 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:16,080 had convinced him he didn't need to risk his precious tanks. 510 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:20,200 Goering thought that he'd really, they wouldn't need 511 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:22,600 to launch the Panzers in for that final kill 512 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:26,280 because the Luftwaffe, particularly with its deadly Stuka dive-bombers, 513 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:28,160 could finish the job for Hitler. 514 00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:34,280 Goering telephoned Hitler and said, 515 00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:37,560 you know that with the Luftwaffe, we can destroy 516 00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:39,440 the British Expeditionary Force. 517 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:42,120 We can destroy it in Dunkirk. 518 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:55,840 Hitler's order to halt reached the German front line troops 519 00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:57,320 the following morning. 520 00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:01,760 Just as the soldiers assigned to defend Gort's corridor 521 00:32:01,760 --> 00:32:05,160 began to arrive at the strong point of Cassel. 522 00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:09,360 They didn't know it, but now they had some breathing space 523 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:11,120 to set up their defences. 524 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:15,080 But, much of the town already lay in ruin. 525 00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:22,040 The arriving soldiers discovered that the town had been horrifically 526 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:24,680 bombed by the Luftwaffe in the previous days. 527 00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:27,480 As they entered through this medieval gateway, 528 00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:31,320 they found a horrific and distressing scene. 529 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:36,080 The area was littered with corpses of mules, 530 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:38,720 and next to them, their Indian handlers. 531 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:41,080 They were troops of the Indian contingent, 532 00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:45,240 who had been tragically targeted by bombing two days earlier. 533 00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:55,800 The Indian contingent formed part of what was known 534 00:32:55,800 --> 00:32:59,200 as the Royal Indian Army Service Corps, 535 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:02,400 and principally, these men were mule handlers. 536 00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:10,680 The British Expeditionary Force was a highly mechanised army, 537 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:12,880 but really, when they got to France, 538 00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:15,720 they discovered that the land was so boggy 539 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:17,680 that they couldn't use the trucks. 540 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:20,760 And so they had to look all the way to Empire and to India 541 00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:24,600 to bring in the trained mule handlers 7,000 miles away 542 00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:27,680 to assist them in sending supplies to front line troops. 543 00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:32,720 These mule handlers had been retreating through Cassel 544 00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:34,120 two days earlier, 545 00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:36,120 also heading for Dunkirk. 546 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:39,240 Like so many others, many of them had fallen prey 547 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:41,120 to the Nazi dive-bombers. 548 00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:53,960 The following day, the survivors of that Indian contingent unit 549 00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:55,920 arrived here in Dunkirk. 550 00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:01,160 While Churchill still believed the British Army should stay 551 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:04,240 and fight in France, the wounded and support soldiers, 552 00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:08,560 like the surviving mule handlers, were already being evacuated. 553 00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:15,160 The men were told to leave behind their mules, 554 00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:17,840 and this was quite a tragic moment for them. 555 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:22,200 They would have formed a very close bond with them, 556 00:34:22,200 --> 00:34:24,600 almost as though the mule was their pet. 557 00:34:26,200 --> 00:34:28,400 The men were truly distraught 558 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:31,240 to have to leave behind these animals that they were so fond of. 559 00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:37,840 And even in Dunkirk, they were still being ruthlessly targeted 560 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:39,320 by the Luftwaffe. 561 00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:48,240 One of them, Lance Corporal Chowdhury Mohammed, 562 00:34:48,240 --> 00:34:49,880 described what they suffered. 563 00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:52,440 "The German planes were like terrible birds 564 00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:55,040 "flying overhead, firing on us. 565 00:34:55,040 --> 00:34:57,680 "I haven't slept for 15 days. 566 00:34:57,680 --> 00:35:00,320 "We didn't think we'd come out of there alive. 567 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:02,720 "The whole of Dunkirk was alight." 568 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:11,240 Private Ernie Leggett, who'd been badly injured defending 569 00:35:11,240 --> 00:35:13,480 the cement factory on the River Escaut, 570 00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:18,440 finally made it to Dunkirk that day. He was sheltering in the sand dunes. 571 00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:24,960 Leggett was coming in and out of consciousness, 572 00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:26,960 but he described what he remembered. 573 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:30,280 "I woke up on a stretcher, with nothing on an old blanket 574 00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:31,760 "and dirty bandages. 575 00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:33,120 "It was hazy. 576 00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:35,440 "I remember bombs were dropping very close, 577 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:38,400 "and people jumped on top of me to protect me from the blasts. 578 00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:40,760 "That's comradeship." 579 00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:43,520 Actually, one of the only memories I have from the day 580 00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:46,800 that I was wounded was one of my friends crouching over the top of me 581 00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:50,320 to protect my wounds from getting full of more debris and dirt. 582 00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:52,200 That wasn't from bombs dropping. 583 00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:55,720 That was from the downdraft of a helicopter coming in to evacuate me 584 00:35:55,720 --> 00:35:57,720 because that's the big difference. 585 00:35:57,720 --> 00:36:00,320 And also, when I was hurt, within one hour, 586 00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:02,600 I was on the operating table in a hospital. 587 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:05,280 Leggett, on the other hand, days later is on a beach, 588 00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:07,200 and, whilst he's made it to the beach, 589 00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:11,560 his journey is far from over, and he still very much in danger. 590 00:36:14,240 --> 00:36:17,640 Luckily, that afternoon, Leggett was evacuated home 591 00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:19,000 on a hospital ship. 592 00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:23,600 The ship the Indian contingent unit were supposed to take 593 00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:25,800 was sunk by German bombers, 594 00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:29,960 but they also made it safely back to Britain on a second ship. 595 00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:36,360 The vast majority of the 200,000 plus British soldiers hadn't even 596 00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:40,080 made it to Dunkirk, and Churchill was still refusing 597 00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:42,520 to order their mass evacuation. 598 00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:46,440 For now, their lives hung in the balance. 599 00:36:56,360 --> 00:36:59,080 In the medieval hilltop town of Cassel, 600 00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:01,800 40 miles inland from Dunkirk, 601 00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:04,640 troops of the Royal Gloucestershire Regiment 602 00:37:04,640 --> 00:37:09,000 were digging in, preparing to face a vicious German assault. 603 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:15,080 Their mission was to protect General Gort's corridor, 604 00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:17,920 down which the majority of the British Army 605 00:37:17,920 --> 00:37:19,920 were streaming towards Dunkirk. 606 00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:26,480 They were ordered to fight to the last bullet, or the last man. 607 00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:32,880 There were defending points where they had the upper hand. 608 00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:36,680 The Germans had to attack them, and they were dug in. 609 00:37:38,120 --> 00:37:41,200 But they were aware that there was a great chance 610 00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:43,120 that they weren't going to get away, that they were going 611 00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:44,600 to have to sacrifice themselves. 612 00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:48,480 One 22-year-old junior officer, 613 00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:50,440 Second Lieutenant Roy Creswell, 614 00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:53,520 was ordered to take his platoon of 12 men 615 00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:58,040 to defend this huge, half-built bunker just north of Cassel. 616 00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:07,960 So, this place was meant to be an anti-aircraft defence, 617 00:38:07,960 --> 00:38:10,680 but when Creswell arrived, it hadn't been finished. 618 00:38:10,680 --> 00:38:14,080 In fact, unlike today, there wasn't even a door. 619 00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:20,360 Wow. 620 00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:23,840 Well, when the British first arrived here, what they found 621 00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:26,920 is it was full of civilians, French and Belgian refugees, 622 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:28,520 who were taking shelter. 623 00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:31,400 Now, unfortunately, they had to ask them to leave 624 00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:35,000 as they readied the position for the impending German onslaught. 625 00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:42,280 The halt order had been holding the Germans back. 626 00:38:43,760 --> 00:38:46,600 You have these Panzer divisions 627 00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:49,720 that were absolutely straining at the leash to go. 628 00:38:57,280 --> 00:38:59,480 But the British and the French didn't know 629 00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:01,920 that the German tanks and troops had halted. 630 00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:04,960 For soldiers like Lieutenant Roy Creswell, 631 00:39:04,960 --> 00:39:07,160 and the 12 men based in this bunker, 632 00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:10,200 they were expecting to be attacked by an overwhelming force 633 00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:11,600 at any moment. 634 00:39:11,600 --> 00:39:14,880 And they knew they were expected to fight to the last man, 635 00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:16,600 or the last bullet. 636 00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:31,240 Back in Britain, the public weren't aware quite how desperate 637 00:39:31,240 --> 00:39:34,760 the situation was for soldiers like Roy Creswell. 638 00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:41,240 But, even the heavily censored papers couldn't completely conceal 639 00:39:41,240 --> 00:39:43,720 the catastrophe unfolding in France. 640 00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:50,600 The people of Britain know this is difficult, 641 00:39:50,600 --> 00:39:53,440 you know, we are in a really, really difficult situation. 642 00:39:55,880 --> 00:39:58,800 A national day of prayer had been called that day. 643 00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:02,520 Millions, including Churchill, attended services across the country 644 00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:06,240 to pray for Britain's deliverance from the Nazis. 645 00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:14,000 It's a real insight into the mind of the country 646 00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:15,440 at this particular moment. 647 00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:23,480 To me, this is a sense that all that remains now is hope. 648 00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:25,320 I think it's quite telling 649 00:40:25,320 --> 00:40:27,520 that Churchill goes from this church service, 650 00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:29,880 where all that's left is hope - hope is invoked... 651 00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:33,600 ..and he gives the order 652 00:40:33,600 --> 00:40:36,960 for the start of Operation Dynamo. 653 00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:42,320 So now the evacuation can begin. 654 00:40:56,120 --> 00:40:58,320 PHONE RINGS 655 00:40:58,320 --> 00:41:03,320 At 6:57 that evening, Ramsay and his team in their bunker 656 00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:07,560 under Dover Castle received an order from the Admiralty, 657 00:41:07,560 --> 00:41:11,080 saying Operation Dynamo is to commence. 658 00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:16,120 They'd had just seven days to prepare for the biggest evacuation 659 00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:17,840 in military history. 660 00:41:19,080 --> 00:41:22,040 So, when Churchill does finally give the off, 661 00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:24,240 what's the first ship that goes over? 662 00:41:24,240 --> 00:41:28,200 Within two hours, just after 9:15 that evening, 663 00:41:28,200 --> 00:41:32,160 the first ship, Mona's Isle, is sailing from below us, 664 00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:34,840 down here, headed for Dunkirk. 665 00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:37,040 And what kind of ship is Mona's Isle? 666 00:41:37,040 --> 00:41:40,760 She's an Isle of Man steam packet company steamer. 667 00:41:40,760 --> 00:41:43,960 She used to carry pleasure passengers to and from 668 00:41:43,960 --> 00:41:45,360 the Isle of Man, 669 00:41:45,360 --> 00:41:48,520 and she's going to bring the first mass contingents home. 670 00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:52,400 How many soldiers did Ramsay and Churchill 671 00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:53,880 believe they could evacuate? 672 00:41:53,880 --> 00:41:56,160 Simply as many as possible. 673 00:41:56,160 --> 00:41:59,600 They thought maybe the low tens of thousands - 674 00:41:59,600 --> 00:42:01,480 maybe 35,000 - 675 00:42:01,480 --> 00:42:03,680 something like 10% of the force. 676 00:42:03,680 --> 00:42:06,920 10%? That's... The chances aren't great, are they? 677 00:42:06,920 --> 00:42:10,760 Yeah. That's going to be an horrendous scale of loss. 678 00:42:22,840 --> 00:42:25,520 While the vast majority of the British Army 679 00:42:25,520 --> 00:42:30,240 were still retreating down Gort's corridor towards the coast, 680 00:42:30,240 --> 00:42:34,280 here in Dunkirk, thousands of shattered soldiers had started 681 00:42:34,280 --> 00:42:35,960 to stream into the town. 682 00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:44,800 At 4am, Mona's Isle made it into Dunkirk's harbour. 683 00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:51,760 The harbour had been damaged by German bombing, 684 00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:53,360 but it was still usable. 685 00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:55,800 Mona's Isle tied up on the quayside, 686 00:42:55,800 --> 00:42:59,720 and, as the skies lighten, Dunkirk came under its most intense 687 00:42:59,720 --> 00:43:01,920 aerial bombardment so far. 688 00:43:01,920 --> 00:43:06,080 Goering's planned annihilation of the port from the air had begun. 689 00:43:10,320 --> 00:43:15,480 Mona's Isle managed to make it away with 1,420 soldiers on board 690 00:43:15,480 --> 00:43:17,000 and headed home. 691 00:43:18,240 --> 00:43:22,200 But, the Germans were now just 15 miles down the coast. 692 00:43:22,200 --> 00:43:25,000 Their artillery opened fire on the ship. 693 00:43:25,000 --> 00:43:27,960 Then, she was attacked by the Luftwaffe. 694 00:43:35,160 --> 00:43:38,000 Mona's Isle limped back across the Channel, 695 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:42,520 but 23 people on board were killed, and a further 60 were wounded. 696 00:43:42,520 --> 00:43:46,480 This was a terrible foretaste of the deadly pounding 697 00:43:46,480 --> 00:43:49,240 that rescue ships would take in the coming days. 698 00:43:52,720 --> 00:43:53,920 Next time... 699 00:43:53,920 --> 00:43:57,800 Carnage is unleashed as the enormous evacuation begins. 700 00:43:59,920 --> 00:44:04,800 Ships lined up here were sitting targets for German bombers. 701 00:44:04,800 --> 00:44:08,840 It's a ruin, it's a smoking pit. 702 00:44:08,840 --> 00:44:12,040 I get a small taste of the horrors the British faced... 703 00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:15,640 I'm only out here for a couple of minutes. 704 00:44:15,640 --> 00:44:19,280 These men were out here for nights on end. 705 00:44:19,280 --> 00:44:22,160 ..and witness the ruthlessness of the Nazis. 706 00:44:23,280 --> 00:44:27,080 Bullets tore through the crowd of men, the troops. 707 00:44:28,720 --> 00:44:31,640 Will the British soldiers ever make it home? 708 00:45:05,300 --> 00:45:12,060 Over two weeks in 1940, a military miracle unfolded here in Dunkirk - 709 00:45:12,060 --> 00:45:16,740 the evacuation of 300,000 troops cut off and trapped 710 00:45:16,740 --> 00:45:20,000 by a rampaging German army. 711 00:45:20,000 --> 00:45:24,660 But it was very nearly a disaster that knocked Britain out of the war 712 00:45:24,660 --> 00:45:27,620 and handed victory in Europe to the Nazis. 713 00:45:28,820 --> 00:45:31,340 I'm JJ Chalmers, a former Royal Marine 714 00:45:31,340 --> 00:45:33,620 and a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. 715 00:45:35,500 --> 00:45:40,020 Over three programmes, I'll be charting those momentous 14 days, 716 00:45:40,020 --> 00:45:42,980 day by day, hour by hour. 717 00:45:42,980 --> 00:45:46,340 In France, I'll be retracing the steps of those heroic men 718 00:45:46,340 --> 00:45:48,860 who made the evacuation possible. 719 00:45:48,860 --> 00:45:51,540 Artillery slammed off the bunker! 720 00:45:51,540 --> 00:45:53,420 Using my own experiences, 721 00:45:53,420 --> 00:45:56,540 I'll relive some of the horrors they faced. 722 00:45:56,540 --> 00:46:00,340 Nothing prepares you for a moment of extreme trauma like that. 723 00:46:00,340 --> 00:46:04,180 The real story of Dunkirk goes far beyond the familiar tales 724 00:46:04,180 --> 00:46:06,180 of beaches and little ships. 725 00:46:07,500 --> 00:46:10,980 I'm Raksha Dave, and I'm finding out just how the rescue mission 726 00:46:10,980 --> 00:46:13,020 was planned and executed, 727 00:46:13,020 --> 00:46:16,260 revealing how tenacity and ingenuity 728 00:46:16,260 --> 00:46:19,060 overcame overwhelming odds. 729 00:46:19,060 --> 00:46:21,460 23 people on this tiny boat! 730 00:46:22,620 --> 00:46:24,140 Last time... 731 00:46:24,140 --> 00:46:28,500 More than 200,000 British soldiers in France were encircled 732 00:46:28,500 --> 00:46:33,380 by the Germans and forced into a headlong retreat to Dunkirk, 733 00:46:33,380 --> 00:46:37,700 the last possible port where they could evacuate back to Britain. 734 00:46:38,900 --> 00:46:41,820 This time... As the British fight desperately to prevent 735 00:46:41,820 --> 00:46:43,460 Dunkirk being overrun... 736 00:46:44,580 --> 00:46:49,020 ..the biggest naval evacuation in military history begins... 737 00:46:49,020 --> 00:46:53,500 Ships lined up here were sitting targets for German bombers. 738 00:46:53,500 --> 00:46:56,180 ..but soon faces disaster. 739 00:46:58,060 --> 00:47:01,700 These are the 14 days that saved Britain. 740 00:47:13,300 --> 00:47:15,780 27th May, 1940, 741 00:47:15,780 --> 00:47:20,140 17 days after the German invasion of France, 742 00:47:20,140 --> 00:47:23,140 more than 200,000 troops of the BEF, 743 00:47:23,140 --> 00:47:26,980 the British Expeditionary Force, were surrounded, 744 00:47:26,980 --> 00:47:30,100 most still streaming towards Dunkirk and its beaches. 745 00:47:33,620 --> 00:47:36,460 They were squeezed into a shrinking pocket 746 00:47:36,460 --> 00:47:39,420 by the rampaging German blitzkrieg through France. 747 00:47:42,060 --> 00:47:44,140 This, the port of Dunkirk, 748 00:47:44,140 --> 00:47:46,340 was their only remaining escape route. 749 00:47:46,340 --> 00:47:48,900 Calais had already fallen to the enemy, 750 00:47:48,900 --> 00:47:51,860 so a plan to get the soldiers back to Britain, 751 00:47:51,860 --> 00:47:55,220 codenamed Operation Dynamo, had just begun. 752 00:47:56,380 --> 00:47:59,100 Admiral Bertram Ramsay was the Navy officer 753 00:47:59,100 --> 00:48:01,620 in charge of Operation Dynamo. 754 00:48:01,620 --> 00:48:04,300 Described as a dapper, brisk little man, 755 00:48:04,300 --> 00:48:07,340 he was an organisational genius. 756 00:48:07,340 --> 00:48:11,340 He was based in a complex of bunkers under Dover Castle. 757 00:48:11,340 --> 00:48:15,620 Ramsay feared, at best, only 45,000 troops could be evacuated 758 00:48:15,620 --> 00:48:20,660 in the brief time he'd have before Dunkirk was overrun by the Germans. 759 00:48:22,020 --> 00:48:24,220 But things hadn't started well. 760 00:48:24,220 --> 00:48:27,460 The first ship he'd sent had left Dunkirk that morning, 761 00:48:27,460 --> 00:48:28,900 but it was bombed. 762 00:48:32,860 --> 00:48:36,660 23 men on board were killed and 60 were wounded. 763 00:48:39,580 --> 00:48:43,780 The next four ships that Ramsay sent came under intense fire from the air 764 00:48:43,780 --> 00:48:46,060 and from German artillery guns. 765 00:48:46,060 --> 00:48:49,500 The Germans were only ten miles down the coast from Dunkirk. 766 00:48:49,500 --> 00:48:51,220 One of the ships was sunk 767 00:48:51,220 --> 00:48:54,140 and the other three were forced back to Britain. 768 00:48:54,140 --> 00:48:56,940 His evacuation plan was already in disarray, 769 00:48:56,940 --> 00:48:59,500 and soon things would get even worse. 770 00:49:00,860 --> 00:49:05,260 The commander of the British forces in France was General Gort. 771 00:49:05,260 --> 00:49:08,340 The majority of his shattered army was still struggling 772 00:49:08,340 --> 00:49:12,340 towards the coast, short of food and ammunition, 773 00:49:12,340 --> 00:49:15,180 and the Germans were closing in. 774 00:49:16,300 --> 00:49:19,500 What Gore has to do is to basically form a kind of a corridor, 775 00:49:19,500 --> 00:49:22,220 a safe corridor, that his troops can use 776 00:49:22,220 --> 00:49:25,140 to get from Belgium, you know, through to Dunkirk. 777 00:49:25,140 --> 00:49:28,180 The safe corridor he created 778 00:49:28,180 --> 00:49:30,780 stretched 70 miles inland from Dunkirk. 779 00:49:32,300 --> 00:49:36,380 Gore positioned his men on the west side along the Bassee Canal 780 00:49:36,380 --> 00:49:39,100 to defend it from the advancing German army. 781 00:49:40,380 --> 00:49:43,540 Then he positioned additional troops in key towns 782 00:49:43,540 --> 00:49:46,220 to provide a second line of defence. 783 00:49:47,740 --> 00:49:51,980 Gort knew that a lot of these units would be overrun. 784 00:49:53,820 --> 00:49:57,420 A lot of them would have looked at this as though, 785 00:49:57,420 --> 00:50:01,060 "Yes, I am going now to be sacrificing my own life 786 00:50:01,060 --> 00:50:03,820 "for the good of the army, 787 00:50:03,820 --> 00:50:05,460 "for the good of my country." 788 00:50:08,780 --> 00:50:12,780 As Operation Dynamo began 30 miles north in Dunkirk, 789 00:50:12,780 --> 00:50:15,740 one of the regiments tasked with holding back the Germans 790 00:50:15,740 --> 00:50:18,380 was dug in here along the Bassee Canal. 791 00:50:18,380 --> 00:50:20,180 They were the Royal Norfolk Regiment 792 00:50:20,180 --> 00:50:23,220 and they had already sustained terrible casualties 793 00:50:23,220 --> 00:50:25,740 whilst defending a cement factory on the River Escaut 794 00:50:25,740 --> 00:50:27,660 just a week before. 795 00:50:29,020 --> 00:50:32,340 The few hundred survivors from the beleaguered regiment 796 00:50:32,340 --> 00:50:35,860 were sent here to again face the German assault. 797 00:50:39,060 --> 00:50:41,740 Morale amongst the men was surprisingly high, 798 00:50:41,740 --> 00:50:44,860 especially considering that German aircraft were dropping 799 00:50:44,860 --> 00:50:48,340 propaganda leaflets like these ones. 800 00:50:48,340 --> 00:50:52,940 Had lines like, "Look at this map. It gives you the true situation! 801 00:50:52,940 --> 00:50:54,980 "Your troops are entirely surrounded. 802 00:50:54,980 --> 00:50:57,420 "Stop fighting! Put down your arms!" 803 00:50:57,420 --> 00:51:00,340 Or, "Do you really believe the nonsense 804 00:51:00,340 --> 00:51:02,180 "that Germans kill their prisoners? 805 00:51:02,180 --> 00:51:04,860 "Come and see for yourselves the contrary." 806 00:51:04,860 --> 00:51:08,260 Now, the British did make use of these, but as toilet paper. 807 00:51:10,940 --> 00:51:14,020 The Royal Norfolks had been allowed a brief respite, 808 00:51:14,020 --> 00:51:16,860 because Hitler had ordered a three-day halt 809 00:51:16,860 --> 00:51:21,100 to the German advance to enable his troops to reinforce. 810 00:51:21,100 --> 00:51:25,740 But that morning, the Germans would begin their assault again - 811 00:51:25,740 --> 00:51:28,580 their aim to wipe out the British 812 00:51:28,580 --> 00:51:31,340 before they could make it to Dunkirk. 813 00:51:32,940 --> 00:51:35,100 The Germans on the opposite side of the canal 814 00:51:35,100 --> 00:51:36,900 who were preparing to attack 815 00:51:36,900 --> 00:51:39,340 were from the fanatical SS Tokenkopf. 816 00:51:39,340 --> 00:51:43,580 Now, the pride of these supposedly elite Nazis had been badly damaged 817 00:51:43,580 --> 00:51:46,620 just days before, as they had run off in disarray 818 00:51:46,620 --> 00:51:48,300 following a British assault. 819 00:51:48,300 --> 00:51:50,740 Now they were hellbent on revenge. 820 00:51:53,660 --> 00:51:57,220 At 10am, the assault began on the Bassee Canal. 821 00:51:59,420 --> 00:52:03,660 Through weight of manpower, the SS managed to get across the canal, 822 00:52:03,660 --> 00:52:06,660 but in the process suffered terrible losses. 823 00:52:07,980 --> 00:52:11,140 The Royal Norfolks were pushed back, fighting field to field, 824 00:52:11,140 --> 00:52:14,140 desperately protecting Gort's safe corridor. 825 00:52:17,860 --> 00:52:21,700 Around 100 survivors of the Royal Norfolks retreated to here, 826 00:52:21,700 --> 00:52:25,900 at their headquarters at Duriez Farm, about a mile from the canal 827 00:52:25,900 --> 00:52:28,340 and 33 miles south of Dunkirk. 828 00:52:28,340 --> 00:52:32,220 This is where they found themselves surrounded by the SS. 829 00:52:35,220 --> 00:52:38,420 One of them was 26-year-old Bill O'Callaghan. 830 00:52:38,420 --> 00:52:41,980 He joined the army at 18 and was a radio operator. 831 00:52:41,980 --> 00:52:44,780 Knowing this was their last stand, 832 00:52:44,780 --> 00:52:47,900 he destroyed his equipment. 833 00:52:47,900 --> 00:52:51,780 Bill and the other survivors now faced a desperate fight. 834 00:52:55,300 --> 00:52:58,020 The SS were out to avenge their losses. 835 00:52:58,020 --> 00:53:01,780 The Royal Norfolks were determined to follow their orders to fight 836 00:53:01,780 --> 00:53:04,460 to the last man or the last bullet 837 00:53:04,460 --> 00:53:08,660 in order to give the British Army a chance to escape to Dunkirk. 838 00:53:08,660 --> 00:53:11,100 This was going to be a grim fight. 839 00:53:15,420 --> 00:53:18,380 Soldiers like Bill O'Callaghan were fighting to protect 840 00:53:18,380 --> 00:53:22,860 their thousands of exhausted comrades streaming towards Dunkirk. 841 00:53:25,220 --> 00:53:28,620 But at that moment, Dunkirk was being annihilated. 842 00:53:32,540 --> 00:53:35,940 As the bedraggled British troops made their way along these roads 843 00:53:35,940 --> 00:53:39,380 to Dunkirk, they watched as the town ahead of them was hit 844 00:53:39,380 --> 00:53:41,860 by wave after wave of German bomber. 845 00:53:41,860 --> 00:53:45,220 A massive plume of black smoke rose up into the sky 846 00:53:45,220 --> 00:53:47,820 that could seen from miles around. 847 00:53:54,940 --> 00:53:58,820 Goering had assured Hitler his Luftwaffe could blast Dunkirk 848 00:53:58,820 --> 00:54:00,860 and its port to rubble, 849 00:54:00,860 --> 00:54:02,980 so trapping the British. 850 00:54:06,660 --> 00:54:09,740 Dunkirk on the 27th, it was basically a living hell. 851 00:54:11,300 --> 00:54:13,780 Something like 4,000 bombs are dropped. 852 00:54:13,780 --> 00:54:19,060 About a third of the citizens of Dunkirk, about a thousand died. 853 00:54:19,060 --> 00:54:22,540 It's a ruin. It's a smoking pit. 854 00:54:24,180 --> 00:54:28,220 You've got all these French and British troops packed into cellars. 855 00:54:28,220 --> 00:54:30,180 Bombs are raining down on top of them. 856 00:54:30,180 --> 00:54:34,380 During breaks in the bombing, soldiers looted booze from bars 857 00:54:34,380 --> 00:54:36,620 and rampaged through the streets. 858 00:54:37,820 --> 00:54:40,620 And as a result, all was chaos. 859 00:54:43,660 --> 00:54:47,700 But most critical of all, the port is under such intense bombardment 860 00:54:47,700 --> 00:54:50,380 that most of the ships were having to turn away. 861 00:54:50,380 --> 00:54:54,860 In fact, only two made it into the harbour that afternoon. 862 00:54:54,860 --> 00:54:58,940 Admiral Ramsay's evacuation plan, already in disarray, 863 00:54:58,940 --> 00:55:02,340 had now literally been blown out of the water. 864 00:55:02,340 --> 00:55:05,300 Now the hundreds of thousands of British soldiers 865 00:55:05,300 --> 00:55:08,900 heading to Dunkirk faced a terrible fate - 866 00:55:08,900 --> 00:55:11,340 either captivity or death. 867 00:55:11,340 --> 00:55:14,820 Only a miracle of deliverance could save them now. 868 00:55:23,140 --> 00:55:25,580 The evacuation of the British Army here 869 00:55:25,580 --> 00:55:28,060 through Dunkirk had only just begun, 870 00:55:28,060 --> 00:55:30,420 but was already facing disaster. 871 00:55:30,420 --> 00:55:33,420 The thin line of defence protecting the troops 872 00:55:33,420 --> 00:55:37,580 streaming down Gort's corridor towards the town was collapsing. 873 00:55:40,940 --> 00:55:44,420 On 27th May, the thought was they had maybe two days 874 00:55:44,420 --> 00:55:46,740 to conduct the evacuation, 875 00:55:46,740 --> 00:55:50,140 at which point the Germans would take the town and it would be over. 876 00:55:50,140 --> 00:55:52,780 That would mean hundreds of thousands of British troops 877 00:55:52,780 --> 00:55:54,380 being captured. 878 00:55:54,380 --> 00:55:57,260 This catastrophic loss would put huge pressure 879 00:55:57,260 --> 00:56:00,260 on the new British prime minister, Churchill, 880 00:56:00,260 --> 00:56:03,660 to capitulate, handing victory in Europe to the Nazis. 881 00:56:05,260 --> 00:56:07,820 By the early afternoon of the 27th, 882 00:56:07,820 --> 00:56:11,260 it looked as if the Germans wouldn't even need to take Dunkirk. 883 00:56:11,260 --> 00:56:14,980 The port was being systematically destroyed from the air. 884 00:56:14,980 --> 00:56:17,500 Ships couldn't even get in to evacuate the troops 885 00:56:17,500 --> 00:56:19,740 who had managed to make it here. 886 00:56:19,740 --> 00:56:22,220 It seemed as if Churchill's estimate 887 00:56:22,220 --> 00:56:26,380 of getting 30,000 troops back home to Britain was over optimistic. 888 00:56:32,700 --> 00:56:34,660 With the bombed-out port out of action, 889 00:56:34,660 --> 00:56:38,340 the only possible option was to somehow evacuate everyone 890 00:56:38,340 --> 00:56:40,340 from the nearby beaches. 891 00:56:42,500 --> 00:56:45,140 In his bunker under Dover Castle, 892 00:56:45,140 --> 00:56:48,940 the officer in charge of the evacuation, Admiral Ramsay, 893 00:56:48,940 --> 00:56:52,100 now had to work out how this could be done. 894 00:56:54,460 --> 00:56:57,900 I've come back here to meet historian Philip Weir. 895 00:56:59,580 --> 00:57:01,340 With Dunkirk's port destroyed, 896 00:57:01,340 --> 00:57:04,100 how was Ramsay going to get all of those men home? 897 00:57:04,100 --> 00:57:06,820 Ramsay had already had in his plan the possibility 898 00:57:06,820 --> 00:57:09,500 that he would have to take people off the beaches, 899 00:57:09,500 --> 00:57:12,340 but this is incredibly difficult for large ships. 900 00:57:12,340 --> 00:57:14,620 They can't get in terribly close, 901 00:57:14,620 --> 00:57:18,580 because the beaches at Dunkirk are a nice, gentle slope. 902 00:57:18,580 --> 00:57:21,340 So if you try and get a big ship in there, it can run aground 903 00:57:21,340 --> 00:57:22,820 and essentially just get stuck. 904 00:57:22,820 --> 00:57:24,500 That's dangerous. 905 00:57:24,500 --> 00:57:26,700 So Ramsay needs a lot more small boats 906 00:57:26,700 --> 00:57:30,220 that can get right up onto the beach and get people out. 907 00:57:30,220 --> 00:57:35,860 Using small boats may have seemed obvious, but it wasn't that simple. 908 00:57:35,860 --> 00:57:41,020 As they couldn't carry many men, they'd need a huge number. 909 00:57:41,020 --> 00:57:44,020 And the boats weren't Ramsay's only problem. 910 00:57:44,020 --> 00:57:46,420 With all that mayhem happening at Dunkirk, 911 00:57:46,420 --> 00:57:48,700 how does Ramsay get to grips with it? 912 00:57:48,700 --> 00:57:52,060 Well, he needs to have people on the ground working for him. 913 00:57:52,060 --> 00:57:54,500 He needed a representative over there, 914 00:57:54,500 --> 00:57:58,060 and Captain William Tennant, who is sent to Ramsay 915 00:57:58,060 --> 00:58:03,580 to go out to Dunkirk to get things a little more under control... 916 00:58:03,580 --> 00:58:07,340 Tennant was a 50-year-old First World War veteran. 917 00:58:07,340 --> 00:58:10,620 Leaving behind his Whitehall desk job, 918 00:58:10,620 --> 00:58:14,700 he boarded a destroyer with a team of 170 men 919 00:58:14,700 --> 00:58:20,660 and headed towards the deadly inferno that was now Dunkirk. 920 00:58:20,660 --> 00:58:24,100 It seemed almost certain to be a one-way journey. 921 00:58:29,980 --> 00:58:32,180 After a day of intense fighting... 922 00:58:34,260 --> 00:58:38,460 ..the British rearguard was still trying to hold back the Germans 923 00:58:38,460 --> 00:58:40,900 advancing on Dunkirk. 924 00:58:40,900 --> 00:58:43,580 The situation was desperate. 925 00:58:49,540 --> 00:58:50,860 Private Bill O'Callaghan 926 00:58:50,860 --> 00:58:53,060 and the remnants of the Royal Norfolks 927 00:58:53,060 --> 00:58:56,020 were holed up in their headquarters at Duriez Farm. 928 00:58:56,020 --> 00:58:59,140 The village of Le Paradis was surrounded 929 00:58:59,140 --> 00:59:00,980 and they were completely outnumbered 930 00:59:00,980 --> 00:59:03,940 by fanatical SS troops hellbent on revenge. 931 00:59:05,220 --> 00:59:08,380 The farmhouse was set alight by incoming mortars. 932 00:59:08,380 --> 00:59:13,100 The commanding officer ordered everyone out, including O'Callaghan. 933 00:59:13,100 --> 00:59:14,340 Under heavy fire, 934 00:59:14,340 --> 00:59:17,260 they headed to this neighbouring barn to join the others 935 00:59:17,260 --> 00:59:19,460 already fighting here. 936 00:59:19,460 --> 00:59:23,660 Around 100 soldiers valiantly held off the SS for hours 937 00:59:23,660 --> 00:59:26,700 until their ammunition ran out. 938 00:59:31,900 --> 00:59:34,580 Bill O'Callaghan recorded what happened. 939 00:59:34,580 --> 00:59:37,700 They tied an old towel around the end of a rifle 940 00:59:37,700 --> 00:59:40,180 and stuck it out of this very door. 941 00:59:40,180 --> 00:59:42,860 Shortly after, the firing stopped 942 00:59:42,860 --> 00:59:45,100 and the men processed out. 943 00:59:45,100 --> 00:59:51,100 However, the first 12 men to appear were mown down by the SS. 944 00:59:51,100 --> 00:59:53,460 Then the firing stopped again. 945 00:59:56,100 --> 01:00:00,340 Next, the SS marched O'Callaghan and the other survivors 946 01:00:00,340 --> 01:00:03,180 along this road to the neighbouring farm. 947 01:00:04,700 --> 01:00:09,260 We know from testimony from Bill O'Callahan what happened here. 948 01:00:10,620 --> 01:00:15,700 Him and his friends were led into this paddock, 949 01:00:15,700 --> 01:00:19,940 and, as he entered, he noticed that there was a machine gun set up 950 01:00:19,940 --> 01:00:22,580 somewhere over there at that tree line. 951 01:00:22,580 --> 01:00:25,460 Now, as he was led up the side of this building 952 01:00:25,460 --> 01:00:27,980 and he came to within line with it, 953 01:00:27,980 --> 01:00:29,980 but the gun was to his right, 954 01:00:29,980 --> 01:00:32,020 they opened fire. 955 01:00:32,020 --> 01:00:33,580 GUNFIRE 956 01:00:34,940 --> 01:00:38,980 Bullets tore through the crowd of men, the troops, 957 01:00:38,980 --> 01:00:40,700 and he dove for cover. 958 01:00:40,700 --> 01:00:43,020 As he went down, he put his arm in front of him. 959 01:00:43,020 --> 01:00:46,780 One of the rounds grazed him and gave him a flesh wound, 960 01:00:46,780 --> 01:00:49,940 and he was lying there surrounded by his friends 961 01:00:49,940 --> 01:00:52,340 who were groaning in agony. 962 01:00:52,340 --> 01:00:56,860 It almost seems fitting that you come here and it's raining 963 01:00:56,860 --> 01:00:58,860 and the weather is miserable, 964 01:00:58,860 --> 01:01:02,100 because this place, this is a place of misery. 965 01:01:04,780 --> 01:01:09,820 Bill listened as the SS shot and bayoneted anyone still alive. 966 01:01:11,420 --> 01:01:13,900 Miraculously, they passed by Bill. 967 01:01:13,900 --> 01:01:17,700 He and his comrade Bert Pooley were the only survivors. 968 01:01:20,780 --> 01:01:22,500 They hid for four days, 969 01:01:22,500 --> 01:01:25,660 then surrendered to regular German soldiers, 970 01:01:25,660 --> 01:01:28,500 who treated them humanely as prisoners of war. 971 01:01:33,140 --> 01:01:36,420 27th May. I hadn't quite realised. 972 01:01:36,420 --> 01:01:38,780 I was actually injured on May 27th, 973 01:01:38,780 --> 01:01:41,420 albeit 71 years later. 974 01:01:43,820 --> 01:01:48,460 And also, unlike the 97 souls here, 975 01:01:48,460 --> 01:01:51,100 I was fortunate. 976 01:01:51,100 --> 01:01:53,700 I didn't pay the ultimate sacrifice. 977 01:02:01,860 --> 01:02:05,020 While the Germans had now broken through the defences 978 01:02:05,020 --> 01:02:07,300 along the Bassee Canal, 979 01:02:07,300 --> 01:02:10,140 they now faced Gort's second line of defence - 980 01:02:10,140 --> 01:02:11,780 towns that had been turned 981 01:02:11,780 --> 01:02:14,540 into strong points, such as Cassel. 982 01:02:16,340 --> 01:02:18,740 Cassel is a really great place to fortify. 983 01:02:18,740 --> 01:02:20,420 It's on top of a hill. 984 01:02:20,420 --> 01:02:25,060 You've got all the main roads to Dunkirk going near it or around it. 985 01:02:25,060 --> 01:02:26,580 So if you can hold Cassel, 986 01:02:26,580 --> 01:02:29,300 you're going to be a real thorn in the side of the Nazis. 987 01:02:32,020 --> 01:02:35,060 But Dunkirk may not be worth defending. 988 01:02:35,060 --> 01:02:38,340 In the early evening, William Tennant, who'd volunteered 989 01:02:38,340 --> 01:02:42,700 to be the senior naval officer in Dunkirk, landed in the town. 990 01:02:44,700 --> 01:02:49,700 He said, "The sight of Dunkirk gave one a rather hollow feeling 991 01:02:49,700 --> 01:02:52,180 "in the pit of the stomach," 992 01:02:52,180 --> 01:02:54,940 and it seemed Tennant faced a hopeless task 993 01:02:54,940 --> 01:02:58,620 for which he was completely unprepared. 994 01:02:58,620 --> 01:03:02,020 No-one even knew he was now in charge. 995 01:03:04,100 --> 01:03:07,620 One of Tennant's men cut out the initials SNO, 996 01:03:07,620 --> 01:03:09,820 Senior Naval Officer, 997 01:03:09,820 --> 01:03:12,340 using foil from a cigarette packet, 998 01:03:12,340 --> 01:03:16,860 and then, using the oil out of a sardine tin, 999 01:03:16,860 --> 01:03:18,780 Tennant pasted it 1000 01:03:18,780 --> 01:03:20,660 onto the front of his helmet. 1001 01:03:22,180 --> 01:03:23,500 Let's give it a go. 1002 01:03:23,500 --> 01:03:24,660 Right. 1003 01:03:28,420 --> 01:03:29,860 What do you reckon? 1004 01:03:29,860 --> 01:03:33,820 In the Marines, we used to say, "Improvise, adapt and overcome." 1005 01:03:33,820 --> 01:03:35,820 I think that's the epitome of it. 1006 01:03:37,780 --> 01:03:40,620 But there were far greater problems to overcome. 1007 01:03:40,620 --> 01:03:45,660 As he looked over the docks, Tennant confirmed they were beyond repair. 1008 01:03:49,380 --> 01:03:53,300 Tennant sent a message to the HQ in Dover, saying, 1009 01:03:53,300 --> 01:03:56,340 "Please send every available craft to the beaches 1010 01:03:56,340 --> 01:03:58,900 "east of Dunkirk immediately." 1011 01:03:58,900 --> 01:04:01,180 But almost all the available ships 1012 01:04:01,180 --> 01:04:03,340 were too big to get into the shore 1013 01:04:03,340 --> 01:04:05,260 to pick up the troops. 1014 01:04:07,980 --> 01:04:11,780 17 miles inland, the Germans had now reached Cassel. 1015 01:04:11,780 --> 01:04:16,100 British soldiers had fortified every suitable building... 1016 01:04:17,820 --> 01:04:19,900 ..including this half-built bunker. 1017 01:04:19,900 --> 01:04:23,980 It was just north of the town and was being defended by 13 men, 1018 01:04:23,980 --> 01:04:27,220 led by Second Lieutenant Roy Creswell. 1019 01:04:31,260 --> 01:04:34,820 It would feel relatively safe in a position like this, 1020 01:04:34,820 --> 01:04:37,860 but it does have its problems and its vulnerabilities. 1021 01:04:37,860 --> 01:04:40,740 Once a round comes through one of these slits, 1022 01:04:40,740 --> 01:04:44,340 well, that's going to start bouncing around inside. 1023 01:04:44,340 --> 01:04:48,060 I cannot imagine the tension in this bunker 1024 01:04:48,060 --> 01:04:52,300 as Cresswell and his men prepared for a German attack 1025 01:04:52,300 --> 01:04:54,100 that would come any minute. 1026 01:04:55,580 --> 01:04:58,340 Cresswell spotted the first Germans on the horizon 1027 01:04:58,340 --> 01:05:00,620 and opened fire. 1028 01:05:02,900 --> 01:05:05,460 Artillery slammed off the bunker! 1029 01:05:05,460 --> 01:05:08,100 The Germans began to attack over the field 1030 01:05:08,100 --> 01:05:11,100 as Cresswell and his men unleashed a hail of bullets 1031 01:05:11,100 --> 01:05:12,940 from the firing slits. 1032 01:05:12,940 --> 01:05:15,660 One of the Germans managed to make it round to here 1033 01:05:15,660 --> 01:05:17,860 and began to bang on the door 1034 01:05:17,860 --> 01:05:21,260 before being killed by a grenade thrown from this window. 1035 01:05:25,300 --> 01:05:27,980 You can tell from looking at the damage 1036 01:05:27,980 --> 01:05:31,260 that the Germans threw absolutely everything they had at this. 1037 01:05:31,260 --> 01:05:34,060 There are big blasts from pieces of artillery, 1038 01:05:34,060 --> 01:05:36,100 but when you look at things like this, 1039 01:05:36,100 --> 01:05:38,740 this is done by a rifle, and you can tell it, 1040 01:05:38,740 --> 01:05:41,180 because when you look at this metalwork here, you can see 1041 01:05:41,180 --> 01:05:45,940 where the round has passed right through the steel frame of this. 1042 01:05:45,940 --> 01:05:49,220 I mean, you can only imagine what it was like to be inside there 1043 01:05:49,220 --> 01:05:51,860 as artillery shells just burst off it. 1044 01:05:51,860 --> 01:05:54,660 It would have been shaking. Thunderous sounds. 1045 01:05:54,660 --> 01:05:57,940 And looking at it now, it does give you a sense 1046 01:05:57,940 --> 01:06:01,860 of what these guys would have been facing over the next three days. 1047 01:06:08,660 --> 01:06:12,660 The bravery of soldiers like Cresswell had delayed the Germans 1048 01:06:12,660 --> 01:06:16,860 long enough for tens of thousands more men to reach Dunkirk. 1049 01:06:16,860 --> 01:06:18,580 But with the port destroyed. 1050 01:06:18,580 --> 01:06:21,380 William Tennant was trying to organise evacuation 1051 01:06:21,380 --> 01:06:23,260 from the beaches, 1052 01:06:23,260 --> 01:06:25,980 but he didn't have enough boats small enough 1053 01:06:25,980 --> 01:06:28,340 to get into the shore. 1054 01:06:28,340 --> 01:06:32,380 It seemed hopeless, but then Tennant had a brainwave. 1055 01:06:32,380 --> 01:06:34,100 There was an alternative - 1056 01:06:34,100 --> 01:06:37,460 the stone breakwater that protected the port 1057 01:06:37,460 --> 01:06:39,580 and became known as the East Mole. 1058 01:06:40,940 --> 01:06:44,700 In 1940, a maintenance walkway ran along the breakwater 1059 01:06:44,700 --> 01:06:46,940 at the mouth of Dunkirk's port. 1060 01:06:46,940 --> 01:06:49,220 It jutted out into deep water, 1061 01:06:49,220 --> 01:06:51,180 and Tennant thought large ships 1062 01:06:51,180 --> 01:06:54,780 just might be able to moor alongside to load troops. 1063 01:06:57,340 --> 01:06:59,300 It wasn't designed as a jetty. 1064 01:06:59,300 --> 01:07:01,620 It was subjected to very strong currents 1065 01:07:01,620 --> 01:07:04,860 and had a tidal rise and fall of about 16 feet. 1066 01:07:04,860 --> 01:07:06,580 It was going to be very difficult 1067 01:07:06,580 --> 01:07:09,340 for ships' crews to manoeuvre alongside, 1068 01:07:09,340 --> 01:07:11,700 but, so far, it was undamaged. 1069 01:07:13,340 --> 01:07:18,740 A 10.30pm, Tennant gave the order for a ferry to approach the mole 1070 01:07:18,740 --> 01:07:21,460 and attempt to moor up. 1071 01:07:21,460 --> 01:07:23,660 The plan had to work, 1072 01:07:23,660 --> 01:07:26,140 because on this first day of the evacuation, 1073 01:07:26,140 --> 01:07:30,940 only 7,669 soldiers made it home. 1074 01:07:30,940 --> 01:07:33,780 At this rate, it would take a month 1075 01:07:33,780 --> 01:07:35,780 to evacuate the British Army - 1076 01:07:35,780 --> 01:07:37,740 time they didn't have. 1077 01:07:41,180 --> 01:07:44,060 It was thought that the Germans could only be held back 1078 01:07:44,060 --> 01:07:46,060 for two more days at most. 1079 01:07:53,580 --> 01:07:57,540 The situation for the British Army in France was desperate. 1080 01:07:57,540 --> 01:08:00,700 The British had slowed the German advance 1081 01:08:00,700 --> 01:08:03,420 by using strong points like Cassel, 1082 01:08:03,420 --> 01:08:05,380 but they were now being squeezed 1083 01:08:05,380 --> 01:08:09,060 into a shrinking pocket on the Channel coast. 1084 01:08:09,060 --> 01:08:11,020 Thousands of exhausted soldiers 1085 01:08:11,020 --> 01:08:15,260 were streaming onto the ten miles of beach east of Dunkirk, 1086 01:08:15,260 --> 01:08:18,140 but there weren't enough boats small enough 1087 01:08:18,140 --> 01:08:20,060 to get into the shallows, 1088 01:08:20,060 --> 01:08:22,940 and the port was destroyed. 1089 01:08:22,940 --> 01:08:26,860 Captain Tennant was here on the East Mole, the breakwater 1090 01:08:26,860 --> 01:08:29,060 that juts out into deep water. 1091 01:08:29,060 --> 01:08:32,500 And at 3am, he was beginning a risky experiment 1092 01:08:32,500 --> 01:08:36,140 to see if he could bring large ships in to moor alongside, 1093 01:08:36,140 --> 01:08:38,300 so they could get troops out. 1094 01:08:40,500 --> 01:08:43,260 The Queen of the Channel ferry attempted the task. 1095 01:08:43,260 --> 01:08:46,260 With some difficulty, she managed it. 1096 01:08:46,260 --> 01:08:48,940 950 troops were quickly loaded 1097 01:08:48,940 --> 01:08:51,060 and set sail for England. 1098 01:08:55,820 --> 01:08:57,700 Tennant was elated. 1099 01:08:57,700 --> 01:08:59,460 The mole worked. 1100 01:08:59,460 --> 01:09:02,460 He radioed Dover at 4.36am 1101 01:09:02,460 --> 01:09:06,100 and told them to send as many ships as possible to here, 1102 01:09:06,100 --> 01:09:07,980 directly to the East Mole. 1103 01:09:07,980 --> 01:09:09,660 But space was limited, 1104 01:09:09,660 --> 01:09:13,100 so they should continue to send ships to the beaches around Dunkirk 1105 01:09:13,100 --> 01:09:14,980 to load troops there as well. 1106 01:09:14,980 --> 01:09:16,860 But now there was a glimmer of hope, 1107 01:09:16,860 --> 01:09:20,420 because he could load troops directly onto large ships. 1108 01:09:21,780 --> 01:09:25,060 The mole was so crucial, because loading soldiers 1109 01:09:25,060 --> 01:09:27,700 from the beach was slow and dangerous. 1110 01:09:31,860 --> 01:09:34,180 You had people pouring onto the beaches 1111 01:09:34,180 --> 01:09:36,180 in every kind of physical state you can imagine. 1112 01:09:36,180 --> 01:09:38,700 You had people who were so hungry 1113 01:09:38,700 --> 01:09:40,580 that one man was seen try to trying 1114 01:09:40,580 --> 01:09:42,300 to eat the leather strap of his helmet. 1115 01:09:44,260 --> 01:09:46,980 You've got an enormous number of threats in the air 1116 01:09:46,980 --> 01:09:49,220 for those stranded on the beach. 1117 01:09:49,220 --> 01:09:51,500 And what defence do the BEF have? 1118 01:09:51,500 --> 01:09:53,300 I mean, they've just got their own rifles. 1119 01:09:56,540 --> 01:09:59,860 You had also periods where things were quiet, 1120 01:09:59,860 --> 01:10:02,820 where the sun was out, where people were enjoying themselves, 1121 01:10:02,820 --> 01:10:05,220 playing football, playing cricket. 1122 01:10:05,220 --> 01:10:08,260 The whole world was on those beaches 1123 01:10:08,260 --> 01:10:11,140 and every experience was had. 1124 01:10:20,860 --> 01:10:24,660 This is the uniform worn by most of the BEF soldiers 1125 01:10:24,660 --> 01:10:27,860 who were streaming down onto these beaches around Dunkirk. 1126 01:10:27,860 --> 01:10:30,780 It is the standard British battle dress. 1127 01:10:30,780 --> 01:10:32,460 It's a bit itchy, 1128 01:10:32,460 --> 01:10:35,060 but actually the make-up of the uniform 1129 01:10:35,060 --> 01:10:36,700 and the equipment, in particular, 1130 01:10:36,700 --> 01:10:39,060 like this webbing with ammunition pouches, 1131 01:10:39,060 --> 01:10:41,820 water bottle, a bayonet, isn't that dissimilar 1132 01:10:41,820 --> 01:10:45,220 to what I used to wear when I served in the early 2000s. 1133 01:10:45,220 --> 01:10:47,940 But actually it's the material that it's made out of - 1134 01:10:47,940 --> 01:10:50,900 that's the big difference. I reckon if this gets wet, 1135 01:10:50,900 --> 01:10:53,380 well, it's going to take a very long time to dry out. 1136 01:10:53,380 --> 01:10:55,260 Being cold is one thing, 1137 01:10:55,260 --> 01:10:58,660 but being cold and wet, well, that's just a misery. 1138 01:11:05,940 --> 01:11:09,300 As the troops marched their way towards Dunkirk, 1139 01:11:09,300 --> 01:11:13,740 they lugged with them their food and belongings in packs like this, 1140 01:11:13,740 --> 01:11:15,980 but they would have to be ditched now, 1141 01:11:15,980 --> 01:11:18,660 because there would be no room for them on the ships. 1142 01:11:20,300 --> 01:11:23,100 The beach filled with their discarded equipment, 1143 01:11:23,100 --> 01:11:26,700 the promenade clogged up with their abandoned vehicles. 1144 01:11:29,060 --> 01:11:33,420 The only way to get troops from the beach to the big ships offshore 1145 01:11:33,420 --> 01:11:35,140 was on small boats 1146 01:11:35,140 --> 01:11:37,420 that could come into the shallow waters, 1147 01:11:37,420 --> 01:11:39,380 but very few of them were available - 1148 01:11:39,380 --> 01:11:42,420 only the big ship lifeboats or rowing launches, 1149 01:11:42,420 --> 01:11:44,420 and they were scarce in number. 1150 01:11:54,740 --> 01:11:56,900 When the little boats did arrive, 1151 01:11:56,900 --> 01:11:58,940 getting out to them wasn't easy. 1152 01:11:58,940 --> 01:12:02,980 It involved wading out into freezing water right up to your neck 1153 01:12:02,980 --> 01:12:06,100 and waiting for one to arrive to save you. 1154 01:12:06,100 --> 01:12:08,860 And most of the soldiers couldn't swim. 1155 01:12:10,180 --> 01:12:11,460 Right. 1156 01:12:11,460 --> 01:12:12,740 Here goes nothing. 1157 01:12:15,500 --> 01:12:17,700 I have actually done this before. 1158 01:12:17,700 --> 01:12:19,980 I used to have to practise it in the Marines. 1159 01:12:19,980 --> 01:12:22,100 But we knew the boats were coming. 1160 01:12:23,500 --> 01:12:27,420 You brace every time one of these waves hits. 1161 01:12:29,460 --> 01:12:30,740 HE EXHALES 1162 01:12:30,740 --> 01:12:33,620 Listen, I'm only out here for a couple of minutes. 1163 01:12:33,620 --> 01:12:37,180 These men were out here for nights on end. 1164 01:12:40,420 --> 01:12:43,340 It's not very pleasant, even to do it nowadays. 1165 01:12:47,980 --> 01:12:51,980 There was often disorder on the beaches - 1166 01:12:51,980 --> 01:12:53,780 people fighting to get on board, 1167 01:12:53,780 --> 01:12:56,060 people even having to shoot others 1168 01:12:56,060 --> 01:12:58,540 to stop them trying to jump a queue. 1169 01:12:59,700 --> 01:13:02,380 You've got too many men trying to get on these little rowing boats. 1170 01:13:02,380 --> 01:13:03,780 Sometimes they capsize. 1171 01:13:03,780 --> 01:13:06,860 They're overloaded. Sometimes they only make one trip. 1172 01:13:06,860 --> 01:13:09,260 You know, the oars get washed away. 1173 01:13:09,260 --> 01:13:12,180 The process was too slow. 1174 01:13:12,180 --> 01:13:15,380 The Navy needed lots more little ships. 1175 01:13:19,940 --> 01:13:22,820 Admiral Ramsay, commanding the evacuation, 1176 01:13:22,820 --> 01:13:25,860 was urgently searching for suitable boats. 1177 01:13:25,860 --> 01:13:29,740 On 28th May, attention turned to the River Thames. 1178 01:13:33,100 --> 01:13:36,580 I'm heading to the Tough Brothers boat yard here in Teddington, 1179 01:13:36,580 --> 01:13:38,780 which played a key role in finding 1180 01:13:38,780 --> 01:13:41,140 those desperately needed little ships. 1181 01:13:42,340 --> 01:13:46,500 I'm meeting Matt Allchurch, who now owns the boat yard. 1182 01:13:48,220 --> 01:13:50,420 Tell me about Tough Brothers boat yard. 1183 01:13:50,420 --> 01:13:53,220 So, the Tough Brothers were a firm of boat builders 1184 01:13:53,220 --> 01:13:55,740 who were based here for generations 1185 01:13:55,740 --> 01:13:57,940 in the building behind us. 1186 01:13:57,940 --> 01:14:00,140 And during the war, they had 600 men 1187 01:14:00,140 --> 01:14:02,900 working here building boats for the war effort. 1188 01:14:02,900 --> 01:14:05,700 So, then, on May 28th, 1940, 1189 01:14:05,700 --> 01:14:07,540 Douglas Tough gets a phone call. 1190 01:14:07,540 --> 01:14:09,100 What did he have to do? 1191 01:14:09,100 --> 01:14:13,020 Well, he was asked then to collect little ships from along the Thames. 1192 01:14:13,020 --> 01:14:14,740 Here he had 14 boats 1193 01:14:14,740 --> 01:14:17,380 that were already suitable to go out to Dunkirk. 1194 01:14:17,380 --> 01:14:19,180 Why were these small ships suitable? 1195 01:14:19,180 --> 01:14:20,980 The ships, particularly on the Thames, 1196 01:14:20,980 --> 01:14:22,540 are quite shallow-draught. 1197 01:14:22,540 --> 01:14:25,180 And, of course, what they wanted to do was to have boats 1198 01:14:25,180 --> 01:14:28,700 that could get in close to the beach to rescue the allies, 1199 01:14:28,700 --> 01:14:32,860 and the way the boats on the Thames are built, they're ideal. 1200 01:14:34,340 --> 01:14:36,220 One of those Dunkirk little ships 1201 01:14:36,220 --> 01:14:39,940 is still owned by Douglas Tough's granddaughter - Helen Tough. 1202 01:14:41,820 --> 01:14:45,180 You must have heard some incredible stories about that day. 1203 01:14:45,180 --> 01:14:47,540 I mean, how did he get all of those little ships? 1204 01:14:47,540 --> 01:14:51,220 Well, he had a tug and they just literally went up the river 1205 01:14:51,220 --> 01:14:52,980 picking up boats. 1206 01:14:52,980 --> 01:14:56,300 If the boat was deemed to be usable, 1207 01:14:56,300 --> 01:14:58,140 then it was requisitioned. 1208 01:14:58,140 --> 01:15:01,020 If you objected, it was requisitioned. 1209 01:15:01,020 --> 01:15:05,260 There is a story that a woman went out shopping, came back. 1210 01:15:05,260 --> 01:15:07,900 The boat had gone, with her cat on it. 1211 01:15:07,900 --> 01:15:10,940 Was she actually living on the boat? She was living on the boat. 1212 01:15:10,940 --> 01:15:14,100 Wow. And somebody else saw someone taking the boat 1213 01:15:14,100 --> 01:15:16,980 and ran after it all the way to Teddington Lock 1214 01:15:16,980 --> 01:15:19,180 and declared it had been stolen, 1215 01:15:19,180 --> 01:15:21,380 to find that it had been requisitioned. 1216 01:15:21,380 --> 01:15:24,580 And then when they came down here, the boats are stripped. 1217 01:15:24,580 --> 01:15:26,740 So, your grandfather was just getting rid 1218 01:15:26,740 --> 01:15:28,660 of everybody's belongings inside. 1219 01:15:28,660 --> 01:15:30,380 It must have been quite a sight 1220 01:15:30,380 --> 01:15:32,580 to just have all of this stuff lying around. 1221 01:15:32,580 --> 01:15:34,780 Yes, but the boats had to be cleared. 1222 01:15:34,780 --> 01:15:37,820 You couldn't take a fully laden boat across. 1223 01:15:37,820 --> 01:15:41,140 Douglas Tough assembled over 100 boats 1224 01:15:41,140 --> 01:15:43,300 and they were sailed by volunteers 1225 01:15:43,300 --> 01:15:45,860 or pulled by tug down to Ramsgate. 1226 01:15:51,980 --> 01:15:56,780 In Dunkirk, as the second day of Operation Dynamo neared completion, 1227 01:15:56,780 --> 01:15:58,980 the desperate need for more ships, 1228 01:15:58,980 --> 01:16:02,500 and the dangers they faced, was becoming terribly apparent. 1229 01:16:05,180 --> 01:16:08,780 Just about every available square foot of space on any of these ships, 1230 01:16:08,780 --> 01:16:10,980 you know, had men on it. 1231 01:16:10,980 --> 01:16:14,420 Wherever you could put a human being, that's where they were. 1232 01:16:14,420 --> 01:16:17,940 You were not home and dry when you got on that boat 1233 01:16:17,940 --> 01:16:22,420 to take you back home, because you have got numerous threats. 1234 01:16:22,420 --> 01:16:25,060 You've got mines that have been planted by the Germans. 1235 01:16:25,060 --> 01:16:27,900 You've got U-boats with torpedoes. 1236 01:16:27,900 --> 01:16:30,100 You've got U-boats that can scuttle you. 1237 01:16:30,100 --> 01:16:33,580 Not forgetting what's flying overhead, of course, 1238 01:16:33,580 --> 01:16:36,060 and what can potentially be fired off the coast. 1239 01:16:37,700 --> 01:16:40,820 If you're on an overcrowded, massive boat that gets hit by a torpedo 1240 01:16:40,820 --> 01:16:44,220 or gets bombed, that's not a place you want to be. 1241 01:16:44,220 --> 01:16:47,900 That night, the destroyer Wakeful was sunk. 1242 01:16:49,420 --> 01:16:52,860 640 soldiers were on board. 1243 01:16:52,860 --> 01:16:55,860 All but one were killed. 1244 01:16:59,820 --> 01:17:01,780 Despite this horrific loss, 1245 01:17:01,780 --> 01:17:04,380 nearly 18,000 soldiers were evacuated 1246 01:17:04,380 --> 01:17:06,300 on the second day of Dynamo - 1247 01:17:06,300 --> 01:17:08,260 around 6,000 from the beach 1248 01:17:08,260 --> 01:17:10,060 and 12,000 from the mole. 1249 01:17:11,580 --> 01:17:13,580 It was better, 1250 01:17:13,580 --> 01:17:17,100 but with over 150,000 British soldiers still in France, 1251 01:17:17,100 --> 01:17:19,460 it wasn't nearly good enough. 1252 01:17:29,060 --> 01:17:30,780 17 miles inland, 1253 01:17:30,780 --> 01:17:35,180 the British were still clinging on to the hilltop town of Cassel. 1254 01:17:35,180 --> 01:17:38,300 They'd withstood wave after wave of attack, 1255 01:17:38,300 --> 01:17:40,660 but suffered terrible losses. 1256 01:17:43,340 --> 01:17:45,180 The bodies of British soldiers 1257 01:17:45,180 --> 01:17:47,580 were now strewn in these streets. 1258 01:17:53,660 --> 01:17:56,420 It had been a relatively quiet morning 1259 01:17:56,420 --> 01:17:59,740 for Lieutenant Cresswell and his 12 men based here 1260 01:17:59,740 --> 01:18:02,340 in this bunker just outside Cassel. 1261 01:18:02,340 --> 01:18:04,860 They were running short on food 1262 01:18:04,860 --> 01:18:08,020 and most of their water had been given to an injured mate 1263 01:18:08,020 --> 01:18:10,460 who had been wounded the day before. 1264 01:18:12,460 --> 01:18:15,300 Then, at 9am, Cresswell was astonished 1265 01:18:15,300 --> 01:18:17,700 to see an injured British officer 1266 01:18:17,700 --> 01:18:20,940 stumbling towards them from the German lines. 1267 01:18:20,940 --> 01:18:23,940 The unfortunate man had been hauled out of an ambulance 1268 01:18:23,940 --> 01:18:26,660 and ordered to help capture the bunker. 1269 01:18:30,260 --> 01:18:33,100 READING: The man shouted, "Wounded British officer here." 1270 01:18:33,100 --> 01:18:34,860 When he reached the bunker, 1271 01:18:34,860 --> 01:18:37,140 he looked down at the dead German nearby 1272 01:18:37,140 --> 01:18:40,420 and said loudly to Cresswell, "There are many English and Germans 1273 01:18:40,420 --> 01:18:42,100 "like that around here," 1274 01:18:42,100 --> 01:18:45,460 then glanced up meaningfully at the roof of the bunker, 1275 01:18:45,460 --> 01:18:49,660 an action which seemed to indicate Germans were on the roof. 1276 01:18:49,660 --> 01:18:51,780 At that, he hobbled off. 1277 01:18:53,980 --> 01:18:57,500 The Germans had used this distraction to get onto the roof, 1278 01:18:57,500 --> 01:19:00,460 where they poured petrol through a hole, soaking some wood 1279 01:19:00,460 --> 01:19:02,860 the defenders had used to block it, 1280 01:19:02,860 --> 01:19:05,380 then tossed in a grenade. 1281 01:19:07,900 --> 01:19:09,500 EXPLOSION 1282 01:19:11,900 --> 01:19:14,700 In a true British stiff upper lip, 1283 01:19:14,700 --> 01:19:17,540 Cresswell wrote in his report of the fire, 1284 01:19:17,540 --> 01:19:21,180 "They failed to drive us out, but had at least improved 1285 01:19:21,180 --> 01:19:24,460 "the warmth inside, which was appreciated, 1286 01:19:24,460 --> 01:19:26,820 "for it had been very cold inside." 1287 01:19:28,460 --> 01:19:30,500 The fire smouldered for hours, 1288 01:19:30,500 --> 01:19:33,620 but the men survived and their job was now done. 1289 01:19:35,980 --> 01:19:39,100 The Germans had managed to bypass Cassel 1290 01:19:39,100 --> 01:19:42,060 and had continued their advance towards Dunkirk. 1291 01:19:44,460 --> 01:19:48,700 Cresswell and his men were now cut off behind enemy lines. 1292 01:19:50,660 --> 01:19:53,780 When they realised the battle had moved past Cassel, 1293 01:19:53,780 --> 01:19:56,380 Cresswell and his men surrendered. 1294 01:19:56,380 --> 01:20:00,540 They spent the next five years as prisoners of war. 1295 01:20:03,020 --> 01:20:05,900 Those who were told to defend Cassel were basically told, 1296 01:20:05,900 --> 01:20:08,540 "You're going to have to defend this until the last bullet 1297 01:20:08,540 --> 01:20:10,220 "and your last drop of blood." 1298 01:20:10,220 --> 01:20:13,620 And that's more or less what they did. 1299 01:20:13,620 --> 01:20:16,940 Figures like Cresswell, through his astonishing bravery, 1300 01:20:16,940 --> 01:20:19,540 is buying time for his fellow members of the BEF, 1301 01:20:19,540 --> 01:20:21,340 and so by 29th May, 1302 01:20:21,340 --> 01:20:23,300 you've got almost everybody back, 1303 01:20:23,300 --> 01:20:24,620 or into Dunkirk, 1304 01:20:24,620 --> 01:20:27,020 and it's thanks to the actions of people like Cresswell. 1305 01:20:28,620 --> 01:20:30,980 There'll be people watching this programme right now 1306 01:20:30,980 --> 01:20:35,220 who would not be alive today were it not for the actions of Cassel 1307 01:20:35,220 --> 01:20:37,860 which saved their grandfather, allowed him to get home, 1308 01:20:37,860 --> 01:20:40,580 have a lovely wedding, have some babies - lo and behold. 1309 01:20:40,580 --> 01:20:41,900 That's the story. 1310 01:20:44,980 --> 01:20:49,180 Hundreds of thousands of British and French troops were now trapped 1311 01:20:49,180 --> 01:20:51,140 in this sliver of land, 1312 01:20:51,140 --> 01:20:54,020 squeezed up against the English Channel. 1313 01:20:54,020 --> 01:20:57,260 But it wasn't just the German ground forces that threatened them. 1314 01:20:57,260 --> 01:21:02,060 On the beaches, they were easy prey for the Luftwaffe bombers. 1315 01:21:02,060 --> 01:21:05,420 Their only hope now was if the pilots of the RAF 1316 01:21:05,420 --> 01:21:07,740 could somehow hold them off. 1317 01:21:17,980 --> 01:21:19,540 By 29th May... 1318 01:21:21,420 --> 01:21:23,740 ..a last-ditch line of defence 1319 01:21:23,740 --> 01:21:26,340 had been set up just outside Dunkirk... 1320 01:21:28,140 --> 01:21:29,980 ..and hundreds of thousands 1321 01:21:29,980 --> 01:21:34,300 of shattered British and French soldiers lined the nearby beaches. 1322 01:21:37,260 --> 01:21:40,420 But this concentration of men made an easy target 1323 01:21:40,420 --> 01:21:42,260 for the Luftwaffe bombers. 1324 01:21:43,780 --> 01:21:47,100 The only thing standing between them and annihilation 1325 01:21:47,100 --> 01:21:49,220 was the Royal Air Force. 1326 01:21:55,420 --> 01:21:59,620 That morning, low cloud was hampering the German bombers, 1327 01:21:59,620 --> 01:22:02,660 but the RAF was still on patrol. 1328 01:22:02,660 --> 01:22:05,380 At the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, 1329 01:22:05,380 --> 01:22:08,860 I'm meeting Clare Mulley to find out how the Air Force 1330 01:22:08,860 --> 01:22:12,780 and 22-year-old Spitfire pilot Alan Deere were faring. 1331 01:22:15,740 --> 01:22:17,900 Things are going really badly for the troops 1332 01:22:17,900 --> 01:22:19,140 on the ground on the 29th. 1333 01:22:19,140 --> 01:22:20,460 But what about the RAF? 1334 01:22:20,460 --> 01:22:22,500 Are they suffering many losses as well? 1335 01:22:22,500 --> 01:22:25,140 Horrendous - on the ground and in the air. 1336 01:22:25,140 --> 01:22:27,140 A squadron is normally 12 aircraft 1337 01:22:27,140 --> 01:22:30,500 and they were often flying with just eight aircraft at this point. 1338 01:22:30,500 --> 01:22:32,660 And what about our man Alan Deere? How's he doing? 1339 01:22:32,660 --> 01:22:34,020 He'd been going out daily. 1340 01:22:34,020 --> 01:22:35,980 He'd actually been hit in the wing once 1341 01:22:35,980 --> 01:22:37,860 and just managed to glide back to the UK, 1342 01:22:37,860 --> 01:22:39,380 but he was coming out again. Yeah. 1343 01:22:39,380 --> 01:22:42,100 But surely his luck must be running out. Yes. 1344 01:22:42,100 --> 01:22:44,980 Well, 3.30 in the morning, Alan is woken 1345 01:22:44,980 --> 01:22:48,500 from his desperately needed sleep and gets in his aircraft 1346 01:22:48,500 --> 01:22:50,700 and flies out again to provide cover 1347 01:22:50,700 --> 01:22:53,020 for the troops on the beaches at Dunkirk. 1348 01:22:53,020 --> 01:22:56,540 And almost immediately he is engaged in a one-to-one battle. 1349 01:22:59,220 --> 01:23:01,780 He's actually up against a light bomber. 1350 01:23:05,100 --> 01:23:06,980 And he shoots at it, hits it, 1351 01:23:06,980 --> 01:23:09,020 but the rear gunner takes him out. 1352 01:23:09,020 --> 01:23:11,820 His plane is hit in several places, including in the engine. 1353 01:23:12,860 --> 01:23:16,420 He sees a beach about 15 miles from Dunkirk, 1354 01:23:16,420 --> 01:23:17,780 and he heads for it. 1355 01:23:19,140 --> 01:23:22,540 And he manages a pretty impressive forced crash landing, 1356 01:23:22,540 --> 01:23:25,140 but he does knock himself unconscious against the windscreen 1357 01:23:25,140 --> 01:23:26,580 as he lands. 1358 01:23:26,580 --> 01:23:28,340 He regains his consciousness 1359 01:23:28,340 --> 01:23:32,980 and he realises he still strapped into what is now a burning Spitfire. 1360 01:23:32,980 --> 01:23:35,020 He manages to get himself out, 1361 01:23:35,020 --> 01:23:37,660 and he's got quite a big gash to his head. 1362 01:23:37,660 --> 01:23:39,780 He's really not in a good way. 1363 01:23:41,220 --> 01:23:45,860 Al Deere crash-landed here on this stretch of beach. 1364 01:23:45,860 --> 01:23:49,380 It was at the very edge of the narrow pocket of territory 1365 01:23:49,380 --> 01:23:51,020 still in British hands. 1366 01:23:54,100 --> 01:23:57,500 The Germans were only a few miles away up the beach, 1367 01:23:57,500 --> 01:24:02,500 but even RAF pilots hadn't been told just how bad the situation was, 1368 01:24:02,500 --> 01:24:06,860 so A Deere began to blithely walk up the beach away from Dunkirk 1369 01:24:06,860 --> 01:24:09,860 towards the nearest port - Ostend - 1370 01:24:09,860 --> 01:24:13,620 which he didn't realise had been in enemy hands for days. 1371 01:24:16,220 --> 01:24:19,060 But when he got to the road behind the beach, 1372 01:24:19,060 --> 01:24:23,380 Deere found a stream of soldiers headed in the opposite direction, 1373 01:24:23,380 --> 01:24:25,420 towards Dunkirk. 1374 01:24:25,420 --> 01:24:26,980 Deere joined them, 1375 01:24:26,980 --> 01:24:29,940 travelling along roads choked with abandoned vehicles. 1376 01:24:29,940 --> 01:24:32,140 Papers in Britain had reported 1377 01:24:32,140 --> 01:24:35,500 troops were "retreating, according to plan", 1378 01:24:35,500 --> 01:24:38,260 so he was stunned by this reality. 1379 01:24:39,620 --> 01:24:42,820 A few hours later, he made it to Dunkirk. 1380 01:24:47,180 --> 01:24:50,220 When Deere emerged here on the beach in Dunkirk, 1381 01:24:50,220 --> 01:24:52,900 he was met by the most astonishing sight - 1382 01:24:52,900 --> 01:24:56,540 lines of British soldiers, as far as the eye could see, 1383 01:24:56,540 --> 01:25:00,300 stretching across the beach down onto the water's edge. 1384 01:25:00,300 --> 01:25:02,260 But they were waiting patiently. 1385 01:25:02,260 --> 01:25:04,100 There was order in this chaos. 1386 01:25:04,100 --> 01:25:07,780 And Deere was proud to see that even after suffering terrible defeat, 1387 01:25:07,780 --> 01:25:10,300 the British Army could still keep its discipline. 1388 01:25:12,100 --> 01:25:16,340 Al Deere headed to the mole and persuaded a Navy officer in charge 1389 01:25:16,340 --> 01:25:19,580 it was essential for him to jump the queue so he could get back 1390 01:25:19,580 --> 01:25:21,900 and continue the fight in the air. 1391 01:25:24,460 --> 01:25:28,340 Deere still had to wait for a ship to arrive, which he did, 1392 01:25:28,340 --> 01:25:31,660 but he experienced the terror of a Luftwaffe bombing, 1393 01:25:31,660 --> 01:25:36,300 because, at 3pm, the protective cover of the clouds began to clear 1394 01:25:36,300 --> 01:25:37,820 and the bombers returned. 1395 01:25:43,500 --> 01:25:45,300 He described what happened. 1396 01:25:45,300 --> 01:25:47,300 "There was a mad scramble for cover. 1397 01:25:47,300 --> 01:25:50,260 "I sheltered behind the rock causeway, 1398 01:25:50,260 --> 01:25:52,500 "but most troops dived into the water, 1399 01:25:52,500 --> 01:25:55,300 "re-emerging at neck level to fire their rifles 1400 01:25:55,300 --> 01:25:58,060 "in desperate defiance at the bombers." 1401 01:25:59,460 --> 01:26:01,740 Deere eventually boarded a destroyer, 1402 01:26:01,740 --> 01:26:04,900 narrowly escaped being blown out of the water, 1403 01:26:04,900 --> 01:26:06,780 but made it back to England. 1404 01:26:08,340 --> 01:26:11,780 He now fully appreciated the importance of the job 1405 01:26:11,780 --> 01:26:13,900 he and other pilots were doing. 1406 01:26:15,420 --> 01:26:18,260 He got back to his airfield that evening 1407 01:26:18,260 --> 01:26:20,780 just 16 hours after crashing. 1408 01:26:23,500 --> 01:26:26,820 In the months ahead, Deere would fight heroically 1409 01:26:26,820 --> 01:26:28,500 in the Battle of Britain. 1410 01:26:33,180 --> 01:26:38,060 In Dunkirk, the relentless bombing of the mole continued. 1411 01:26:38,060 --> 01:26:42,940 Ships lined up here along the side of the mole were sitting targets 1412 01:26:42,940 --> 01:26:44,500 for German bombers. 1413 01:26:44,500 --> 01:26:48,300 Troops cowered as they watched ships being hit by German bombs. 1414 01:26:48,300 --> 01:26:51,820 A British destroyer and a ferry slowly sank. 1415 01:26:51,820 --> 01:26:54,140 Luckily, the troops were able to get off, 1416 01:26:54,140 --> 01:26:56,620 most of them having to jump into the water 1417 01:26:56,620 --> 01:26:58,540 and swim back to the mole. 1418 01:26:59,980 --> 01:27:02,820 600 of the traumatised soldiers 1419 01:27:02,820 --> 01:27:06,420 eventually set sail on the paddle steamer Crested Eagle, 1420 01:27:06,420 --> 01:27:09,180 but then disaster struck. 1421 01:27:14,020 --> 01:27:16,020 Just off here at Bray-Dunes, 1422 01:27:16,020 --> 01:27:18,620 about six miles east of Dunkirk, 1423 01:27:18,620 --> 01:27:21,220 the Crested Eagle came under relentless fire 1424 01:27:21,220 --> 01:27:23,220 from German dive-bombers. 1425 01:27:27,060 --> 01:27:29,220 Now, she was hit by four bombs 1426 01:27:29,220 --> 01:27:31,260 and was on fire from bow to stern. 1427 01:27:31,260 --> 01:27:34,260 About 200 soldiers jumped overboard, 1428 01:27:34,260 --> 01:27:37,060 where they were gunned down by German machine guns 1429 01:27:37,060 --> 01:27:38,580 from the planes above. 1430 01:27:38,580 --> 01:27:40,940 But the paddles were still turning. 1431 01:27:40,940 --> 01:27:44,140 And in a desperate attempt to save the survivors on board, 1432 01:27:44,140 --> 01:27:46,780 the captain ran the ship aground, 1433 01:27:46,780 --> 01:27:50,020 where it can still be seen at low tide today. 1434 01:27:56,980 --> 01:28:01,340 300 of the men who'd just boarded Crested Eagle were now dead. 1435 01:28:04,420 --> 01:28:06,980 12 other large ships 1436 01:28:06,980 --> 01:28:08,780 and three destroyers 1437 01:28:08,780 --> 01:28:10,900 were also sunk that day. 1438 01:28:18,460 --> 01:28:21,100 Despite these terrible losses, 1439 01:28:21,100 --> 01:28:23,380 the evacuation on 29th May 1440 01:28:23,380 --> 01:28:26,460 went better than anyone could have hoped. 1441 01:28:26,460 --> 01:28:28,660 Over 47,000 troops 1442 01:28:28,660 --> 01:28:31,820 had been taken from Dunkirk that day - 1443 01:28:31,820 --> 01:28:34,500 around 14,000 from the beaches, 1444 01:28:34,500 --> 01:28:37,940 and 33,000 from the mole - 1445 01:28:37,940 --> 01:28:40,220 more in one day than Churchill believed 1446 01:28:40,220 --> 01:28:42,580 could be evacuated in total. 1447 01:28:44,100 --> 01:28:47,260 But now the Germans were just outside Dunkirk, 1448 01:28:47,260 --> 01:28:49,940 held back by a thin line of exhausted troops - 1449 01:28:49,940 --> 01:28:52,220 the last line of defence. 1450 01:28:56,980 --> 01:28:59,820 Here on the beaches, and in Dunkirk, 1451 01:28:59,820 --> 01:29:03,060 100,000 men of the British Expeditionary Force 1452 01:29:03,060 --> 01:29:05,300 were still waiting to be evacuated, 1453 01:29:05,300 --> 01:29:07,300 and it felt almost certain 1454 01:29:07,300 --> 01:29:10,020 that soon they would be in the hands of the enemy. 1455 01:29:12,460 --> 01:29:13,700 Next time... 1456 01:29:13,700 --> 01:29:17,100 The British suffer the most catastrophic day of the evacuation. 1457 01:29:18,340 --> 01:29:21,500 The scenes that were playing out on the beaches around Dunkirk 1458 01:29:21,500 --> 01:29:24,500 were truly chaotic, like something out of Armageddon. 1459 01:29:24,500 --> 01:29:28,860 The plight of the men and the beaches grows ever more desperate. 1460 01:29:28,860 --> 01:29:33,300 Any man that would retreat past a mile marker that he pointed at 1461 01:29:33,300 --> 01:29:35,260 would be shot. 1462 01:29:35,260 --> 01:29:39,780 Only acts of extraordinary bravery can save them now. 1463 01:30:12,300 --> 01:30:15,240 Over two weeks in 1940, 1464 01:30:15,240 --> 01:30:18,680 a military miracle unfolded here in Dunkirk - 1465 01:30:18,680 --> 01:30:22,120 the evacuation of 300,000 troops, 1466 01:30:22,120 --> 01:30:26,120 cut off and trapped by a rampaging German army. 1467 01:30:26,120 --> 01:30:31,480 But, it was very nearly a disaster that knocked Britain out of the war 1468 01:30:31,480 --> 01:30:34,800 and handed victory in Europe to the Nazis. 1469 01:30:36,000 --> 01:30:38,920 I'm JJ Chalmers, a former Royal Marine, 1470 01:30:38,920 --> 01:30:41,040 and a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. 1471 01:30:42,480 --> 01:30:46,680 Over three programmes, I'll be charting those momentous 14 days, 1472 01:30:46,680 --> 01:30:49,520 day by day, hour by hour. 1473 01:30:49,520 --> 01:30:53,240 In France, I'll be retracing the steps of those heroic men 1474 01:30:53,240 --> 01:30:55,400 who made the evacuation possible. 1475 01:30:55,400 --> 01:30:58,160 Artillery slammed off the bunker. 1476 01:30:58,160 --> 01:31:01,440 Using my own experiences, I'll relive some 1477 01:31:01,440 --> 01:31:03,520 of the horrors they faced. 1478 01:31:03,520 --> 01:31:07,240 Nothing prepares you for a moment of extreme trauma like that. 1479 01:31:07,240 --> 01:31:11,120 The real story of Dunkirk goes far beyond the familiar tales 1480 01:31:11,120 --> 01:31:13,400 of beaches and little ships. 1481 01:31:14,480 --> 01:31:18,160 I'm Raksha Dave, and I'm finding out just how the rescue mission 1482 01:31:18,160 --> 01:31:20,360 was planned and executed, 1483 01:31:20,360 --> 01:31:25,640 revealing how tenacity and ingenuity overcame overwhelming odds. 1484 01:31:25,640 --> 01:31:28,640 23 people on this tiny boat. 1485 01:31:29,920 --> 01:31:33,000 This time, the British step up their desperate fight 1486 01:31:33,000 --> 01:31:35,520 to prevent Dunkirk being overrun. 1487 01:31:36,720 --> 01:31:38,200 We don't have enough men, 1488 01:31:38,200 --> 01:31:40,360 so if it means you've got to stay in your position 1489 01:31:40,360 --> 01:31:41,480 or I'm going to shoot you, 1490 01:31:41,480 --> 01:31:42,800 then that's what it takes. 1491 01:31:42,800 --> 01:31:47,360 The biggest naval evacuation in history faces disaster. 1492 01:31:47,360 --> 01:31:50,040 This just must have been the most terrifying place 1493 01:31:50,040 --> 01:31:52,040 to have been on Earth that day. 1494 01:31:52,040 --> 01:31:56,080 While an armada of ships of all shapes and sizes 1495 01:31:56,080 --> 01:31:59,000 set sail on a heroic rescue mission. 1496 01:32:01,120 --> 01:32:04,600 These are the 14 days that saved Britain. 1497 01:32:16,200 --> 01:32:19,120 30th May, 1940. 1498 01:32:19,120 --> 01:32:22,480 Tens of thousands of exhausted soldiers were waiting 1499 01:32:22,480 --> 01:32:26,480 on the beaches of Dunkirk for rescue ships to take them home. 1500 01:32:27,840 --> 01:32:32,120 Operation Dynamo, the ambitious plan to evacuate the British Army 1501 01:32:32,120 --> 01:32:34,800 from France, had begun three days earlier. 1502 01:32:36,280 --> 01:32:41,360 53,000 troops had already boarded ships from the East Mole in Dunkirk. 1503 01:32:41,360 --> 01:32:43,960 It's the half mile long breakwater 1504 01:32:43,960 --> 01:32:46,720 that's just jutting out into the sea behind me. 1505 01:32:46,720 --> 01:32:49,360 It had never been designed as a jetty, 1506 01:32:49,360 --> 01:32:53,000 but with the harbour at Dunkirk badly damaged by the Luftwaffe bombing, 1507 01:32:53,000 --> 01:32:54,480 there was little choice. 1508 01:32:54,480 --> 01:32:58,720 But, 20,000 troops had also been rescued from this ten mile long 1509 01:32:58,720 --> 01:33:00,840 stretch of beach just east of the town. 1510 01:33:02,400 --> 01:33:06,000 But, around 100,000 troops were still surrounded 1511 01:33:06,000 --> 01:33:09,840 as the German forces closed in at an alarming rate. 1512 01:33:11,560 --> 01:33:14,480 Luckily, that morning there was bad weather. 1513 01:33:14,480 --> 01:33:18,120 Low hanging clouds over these beaches protected them 1514 01:33:18,120 --> 01:33:19,880 from Luftwaffe bombers. 1515 01:33:19,880 --> 01:33:23,040 But the evacuation was still going too slowly. 1516 01:33:23,040 --> 01:33:25,360 There just weren't enough suitable ships. 1517 01:33:25,360 --> 01:33:27,640 At this rate, it would take another nine days 1518 01:33:27,640 --> 01:33:29,560 to get all the men back to Britain. 1519 01:33:32,520 --> 01:33:34,480 It was time they didn't have. 1520 01:33:34,480 --> 01:33:37,320 General Gort, commander of the British forces, 1521 01:33:37,320 --> 01:33:40,400 reckoned he had just two days at most 1522 01:33:40,400 --> 01:33:42,920 before the Germans overran Dunkirk. 1523 01:33:45,440 --> 01:33:47,640 The most important thing to remember about Dunkirk, 1524 01:33:47,640 --> 01:33:49,920 it's a game of time. 1525 01:33:49,920 --> 01:33:51,320 You have to 1526 01:33:51,320 --> 01:33:56,000 get the maximum number of soldiers off the beaches 1527 01:33:56,000 --> 01:33:58,120 before the Germans arrive. 1528 01:33:59,400 --> 01:34:03,200 Hundreds of thousands of British and French troops were now trapped 1529 01:34:03,200 --> 01:34:05,400 inside a pocket around Dunkirk. 1530 01:34:05,400 --> 01:34:09,320 28 miles long, but only five miles deep. 1531 01:34:09,320 --> 01:34:12,240 And, with the Germans rapidly approaching, 1532 01:34:12,240 --> 01:34:15,120 the British knew they were running out of options. 1533 01:34:15,120 --> 01:34:17,920 French soldiers were defending the western end 1534 01:34:17,920 --> 01:34:19,480 of the pocket's perimeter. 1535 01:34:19,480 --> 01:34:23,160 The British were manning the rest of it, and would attempt to hold 1536 01:34:23,160 --> 01:34:26,720 back the Germans using a narrow drainage canal as a barrier. 1537 01:34:31,480 --> 01:34:33,520 I'm just outside Dunkirk. 1538 01:34:33,520 --> 01:34:35,920 The town is about five miles that way. 1539 01:34:35,920 --> 01:34:38,560 Now, this once marshy flat land 1540 01:34:38,560 --> 01:34:42,440 is covered in a spider web of canals and ditches. 1541 01:34:42,440 --> 01:34:45,640 Believe it or not, it actually reminds me a lot of Afghanistan. 1542 01:34:46,920 --> 01:34:50,440 The area where I was fighting, there's the fertile land 1543 01:34:50,440 --> 01:34:52,960 that sits either side of the Helmand River. 1544 01:34:52,960 --> 01:34:56,240 You'd only farm that area because it was covered in 1545 01:34:56,240 --> 01:34:58,880 man-made irrigation ditches and canals. 1546 01:34:58,880 --> 01:35:02,040 We couldn't just go where we wanted because these obstacles 1547 01:35:02,040 --> 01:35:04,880 got in the way, and it channelled you into vulnerable points 1548 01:35:04,880 --> 01:35:06,840 like water crossings and bridges. 1549 01:35:08,160 --> 01:35:10,160 That was the same for the Germans. 1550 01:35:10,160 --> 01:35:12,680 They had ripped through France and Belgium, 1551 01:35:12,680 --> 01:35:15,440 but now, particularly because the British had blown 1552 01:35:15,440 --> 01:35:17,120 the bridges over the canals, 1553 01:35:17,120 --> 01:35:20,960 it meant that these obstacles were all the more difficult to cross. 1554 01:35:23,840 --> 01:35:28,680 Dunkirk is perfect ground for our needs. 1555 01:35:28,680 --> 01:35:29,960 What have you got around Dunkirk? 1556 01:35:29,960 --> 01:35:31,840 You've got marshland and you've got canals. 1557 01:35:31,840 --> 01:35:35,760 These are difficult things for tanks to get through and across. 1558 01:35:35,760 --> 01:35:37,960 We just need time to evacuate our men. 1559 01:35:37,960 --> 01:35:41,640 And that's what this terrain, this boggy land, is going to buy us. 1560 01:35:47,280 --> 01:35:50,960 Among the soldiers ordered to defend this stretch of canal 1561 01:35:50,960 --> 01:35:54,720 was Lieutenant Jimmy Langley and his platoon of 37 men. 1562 01:35:54,720 --> 01:35:56,920 Langley was 24. 1563 01:35:56,920 --> 01:35:59,440 He dropped out of Cambridge four years earlier 1564 01:35:59,440 --> 01:36:02,120 to join the famous Coldstream Guards. 1565 01:36:02,120 --> 01:36:04,960 He was tireless, exceptionally resourceful, 1566 01:36:04,960 --> 01:36:06,800 and loved by his troops. 1567 01:36:08,080 --> 01:36:11,360 They'd been attempting to hold back the Germans for over a week, 1568 01:36:11,360 --> 01:36:15,560 but now Langley was preparing for his most critical battle yet. 1569 01:36:16,960 --> 01:36:20,680 Langley and his platoon set up in a farmhouse just a bit further 1570 01:36:20,680 --> 01:36:22,160 down this bank. 1571 01:36:24,120 --> 01:36:26,760 They knew that the Germans would approach across the fields 1572 01:36:26,760 --> 01:36:28,600 on the opposite side of the canal. 1573 01:36:31,960 --> 01:36:34,640 The men spent the morning fortifying the farm, 1574 01:36:34,640 --> 01:36:37,120 and dug trenches in the neighbouring fields. 1575 01:36:37,120 --> 01:36:39,920 As they worked, they watched the last British stragglers 1576 01:36:39,920 --> 01:36:43,840 pass over a nearby bridge, trying to get to the beaches of Dunkirk. 1577 01:36:47,640 --> 01:36:51,120 The retreating soldiers were ordered to abandon their equipment 1578 01:36:51,120 --> 01:36:54,160 at the canal because Dunkirk was already choked 1579 01:36:54,160 --> 01:36:56,040 with thousands of vehicles. 1580 01:36:56,040 --> 01:36:58,880 This left rich pickings for Langley's men, 1581 01:36:58,880 --> 01:37:02,000 who came away with a haul of weapons, food and cigarettes. 1582 01:37:04,800 --> 01:37:08,680 The farm fortified, all they could do was wait. 1583 01:37:14,160 --> 01:37:16,360 Langley felt that they were as prepared 1584 01:37:16,360 --> 01:37:19,080 as they could be for the inevitable siege they would face 1585 01:37:19,080 --> 01:37:21,520 when the Germans arrived. 1586 01:37:21,520 --> 01:37:25,480 But General Gort knew Langley and the other men on the perimeter 1587 01:37:25,480 --> 01:37:27,560 were desperately outnumbered. 1588 01:37:27,560 --> 01:37:30,960 It was only a matter of time before they'd be overwhelmed. 1589 01:37:32,040 --> 01:37:35,400 The evacuation from the beaches had to be accelerated. 1590 01:37:37,920 --> 01:37:41,200 Up to this point, most of the ships available for the evacuation 1591 01:37:41,200 --> 01:37:44,000 had been too large to get into the shore 1592 01:37:44,000 --> 01:37:45,440 to load troops directly. 1593 01:37:51,880 --> 01:37:53,680 To solve this difficult problem, 1594 01:37:53,680 --> 01:37:56,840 the Royal Navy had come up with an unlikely plan. 1595 01:37:59,560 --> 01:38:02,640 They'd been requisitioning hundreds of little ships - 1596 01:38:02,640 --> 01:38:05,800 everything from pleasure cruisers to fishing boats. 1597 01:38:05,800 --> 01:38:08,680 Some of those little ships survive today, 1598 01:38:08,680 --> 01:38:11,640 and many are gathered here on the River Thames for the annual 1599 01:38:11,640 --> 01:38:13,360 Dunkirk Veterans Cruise. 1600 01:38:17,320 --> 01:38:19,880 I've been lucky enough to be invited aboard 1601 01:38:19,880 --> 01:38:22,520 one of these historic ships - Janthea - 1602 01:38:22,520 --> 01:38:24,640 by the family who now own her. 1603 01:38:26,520 --> 01:38:29,760 So, who originally owned Janthea and how did she get requisitioned 1604 01:38:29,760 --> 01:38:31,560 to go to Dunkirk? 1605 01:38:31,560 --> 01:38:36,720 Well, Janthea was built for a gentleman called Austin Reed, 1606 01:38:36,720 --> 01:38:40,000 and Austin never took commission of her 1607 01:38:40,000 --> 01:38:42,480 because she was commandeered by the Navy. 1608 01:38:42,480 --> 01:38:46,760 The story goes that when he heard the boat was going to Dunkirk, 1609 01:38:46,760 --> 01:38:49,080 he came down and put barrels of beer on for the troops. 1610 01:38:49,080 --> 01:38:51,280 Who was actually crewing these boats? 1611 01:38:51,280 --> 01:38:53,680 There's this kind of general assumption, isn't there, that 1612 01:38:53,680 --> 01:38:56,160 people think that people just went out there - 1613 01:38:56,160 --> 01:38:58,880 the people that owned the boats, to go and rescue these soldiers? 1614 01:38:58,880 --> 01:39:01,240 Yeah, that's not quite true. 1615 01:39:01,240 --> 01:39:04,160 Toughs and other boat yards were told to collect boats together, 1616 01:39:04,160 --> 01:39:06,000 and they were taken to Sheerness 1617 01:39:06,000 --> 01:39:07,480 or Dover, 1618 01:39:07,480 --> 01:39:10,120 and then naval crews were put on board. 1619 01:39:10,120 --> 01:39:14,000 So they were predominantly sailed and crewed by the Navy? 1620 01:39:14,000 --> 01:39:16,320 Yes, the majority. There are one or two of the little ships 1621 01:39:16,320 --> 01:39:19,360 that we know the owners took. 1622 01:39:19,360 --> 01:39:21,560 Some of them didn't even know where they were going. 1623 01:39:21,560 --> 01:39:23,960 You know, on the trawlers and the tugs, that sort of thing, 1624 01:39:23,960 --> 01:39:26,720 they were just crew and they didn't actually know 1625 01:39:26,720 --> 01:39:28,840 what they were going to do - they just went. 1626 01:39:32,480 --> 01:39:35,800 In the early hours, an armada of these little ships 1627 01:39:35,800 --> 01:39:39,480 bravely set out for Dunkirk on their perilous rescue mission. 1628 01:39:39,480 --> 01:39:42,080 Many wouldn't return. 1629 01:39:49,160 --> 01:39:52,520 By midday on 30th May, 1940, 1630 01:39:52,520 --> 01:39:55,640 large numbers of little ships were arriving 1631 01:39:55,640 --> 01:39:57,800 at the beaches near Dunkirk. 1632 01:40:00,400 --> 01:40:03,200 The scenes that were playing out on the beaches around Dunkirk 1633 01:40:03,200 --> 01:40:05,320 were like something out of Armageddon. 1634 01:40:07,520 --> 01:40:10,400 You've got to imagine the sight facing those on the little ships 1635 01:40:10,400 --> 01:40:11,520 when they arrive. 1636 01:40:12,840 --> 01:40:14,640 You've got hundreds of thousands of men 1637 01:40:14,640 --> 01:40:16,320 stretching almost as far as the eye can see. 1638 01:40:17,600 --> 01:40:20,640 You've got, kind of, equipment, you've got fires burning, 1639 01:40:20,640 --> 01:40:23,400 and then you've just got the natural hazards of the water itself, 1640 01:40:23,400 --> 01:40:24,560 of the sea. 1641 01:40:26,320 --> 01:40:29,520 After navigating those hazardous inshore waters, 1642 01:40:29,520 --> 01:40:32,240 the little ships faced their next danger. 1643 01:40:32,240 --> 01:40:33,600 Getting stuck. 1644 01:40:35,520 --> 01:40:40,400 The gentle slope of the beach means that the water stays very shallow 1645 01:40:40,400 --> 01:40:42,120 a long way out, 1646 01:40:42,120 --> 01:40:45,320 plus the tide ebbs and flows very quickly, 1647 01:40:45,320 --> 01:40:49,560 meaning that there was a real risk of small ships being stranded 1648 01:40:49,560 --> 01:40:53,520 as the tide moved, and they were beached until the next high tide. 1649 01:40:56,080 --> 01:40:59,160 Your little boat can be swamped in the swell. 1650 01:40:59,160 --> 01:41:02,440 You can have a load of desperate men trying to come towards your boat. 1651 01:41:02,440 --> 01:41:04,280 That may risk it as well. 1652 01:41:04,280 --> 01:41:08,480 There are even accounts of naval personnel 1653 01:41:08,480 --> 01:41:10,200 having to draw their weapons, 1654 01:41:10,200 --> 01:41:13,880 even fire warning shots, to prevent these, you know, 1655 01:41:13,880 --> 01:41:18,080 understandably desperate, scared men from swamping the boats 1656 01:41:18,080 --> 01:41:19,880 that are lifting them off. 1657 01:41:19,880 --> 01:41:23,840 Getting the men onto the little ships was proving dangerous 1658 01:41:23,840 --> 01:41:27,160 and slow, but then a military police officer 1659 01:41:27,160 --> 01:41:29,480 came up with an ingenious idea. 1660 01:41:29,480 --> 01:41:33,000 Lieutenant Harold Dibbens had grown up around boats 1661 01:41:33,000 --> 01:41:34,440 on the Isle of Wight. 1662 01:41:37,080 --> 01:41:41,040 He'd been overseeing the embarkation at De Panne Beach at the eastern end 1663 01:41:41,040 --> 01:41:44,280 of the pocket still in Allied hands. 1664 01:41:44,280 --> 01:41:46,520 Gibbons headed into the dunes, 1665 01:41:46,520 --> 01:41:49,040 where he found a group of military engineers. 1666 01:41:49,040 --> 01:41:52,680 He suggested that together they try and build a makeshift jetty, 1667 01:41:52,680 --> 01:41:56,480 using the hundreds of abandoned lorries that littered the seafront. 1668 01:41:56,480 --> 01:41:58,960 It was a long shot, but if it worked, 1669 01:41:58,960 --> 01:42:01,080 it could transform the evacuation. 1670 01:42:03,560 --> 01:42:06,080 The engineers had only just arrived in the dunes 1671 01:42:06,080 --> 01:42:08,040 after an exhausting march. 1672 01:42:08,040 --> 01:42:11,960 Normally 250 strong, they were down to just 30 men, 1673 01:42:11,960 --> 01:42:13,920 but they agreed to help. 1674 01:42:13,920 --> 01:42:18,240 The engineers drove the trucks into the shallows at low tide, 1675 01:42:18,240 --> 01:42:22,400 and then built a walkway on top using scavenged floorboards. 1676 01:42:25,040 --> 01:42:27,960 By mid-afternoon, this is what they'd built. 1677 01:42:27,960 --> 01:42:31,800 Now, small boats could come alongside this improvised jetty - 1678 01:42:31,800 --> 01:42:33,800 soldiers and other troops could make their way 1679 01:42:33,800 --> 01:42:36,800 along these boards into the deeper waters, 1680 01:42:36,800 --> 01:42:40,640 where they could step off into boats without fear of capsizing. 1681 01:42:41,920 --> 01:42:44,600 And I'm stood exactly where it was built. 1682 01:42:44,600 --> 01:42:47,040 I mean, you can see here the hotel, 1683 01:42:47,040 --> 01:42:49,560 the Kursaal, which stands to this day, 1684 01:42:50,800 --> 01:42:53,840 so many of the buildings around it were damaged. 1685 01:42:53,840 --> 01:42:57,920 The area was completely strewn with old vehicles and munitions. 1686 01:42:57,920 --> 01:43:00,600 And look, even over here, you can see the iconic 1687 01:43:00,600 --> 01:43:02,400 towers on that building. 1688 01:43:05,680 --> 01:43:07,520 The jetty was so successful, 1689 01:43:07,520 --> 01:43:10,320 troops up and down the beach started building others. 1690 01:43:10,320 --> 01:43:14,640 Possibly they'd had the same idea at the same time as Dibbens, 1691 01:43:14,640 --> 01:43:16,600 but ten were built that day. 1692 01:43:16,600 --> 01:43:19,040 This ingenious solution 1693 01:43:19,040 --> 01:43:22,240 allowed the little ships to be hugely effective. 1694 01:43:25,560 --> 01:43:28,000 But, as the little ships continued to rescue soldiers 1695 01:43:28,000 --> 01:43:31,440 from De Panne Beach, a very different scene was unfolding 1696 01:43:31,440 --> 01:43:33,720 that evening at a luxury beachfront villa 1697 01:43:33,720 --> 01:43:35,680 that used to stand just up there. 1698 01:43:39,600 --> 01:43:42,600 The villa was a residence of General Gort, 1699 01:43:42,600 --> 01:43:44,360 commander of the British Army. 1700 01:43:44,360 --> 01:43:45,560 It was chosen 1701 01:43:45,560 --> 01:43:49,080 because it had a direct dial international phone line. 1702 01:43:49,080 --> 01:43:51,800 This was the only line back to England 1703 01:43:51,800 --> 01:43:53,960 in the entire Dunkirk pocket. 1704 01:43:53,960 --> 01:43:56,560 For 11 days, Gort had been 1705 01:43:56,560 --> 01:43:59,280 desperately attempting to save his army. 1706 01:44:01,080 --> 01:44:04,040 Here in De Panne, they were on the most easterly edge 1707 01:44:04,040 --> 01:44:07,120 of the pocket. With the front line only a few miles away, 1708 01:44:07,120 --> 01:44:10,520 it meant they were, in fact, in range of the German artillery. 1709 01:44:13,440 --> 01:44:16,560 The threat to Gort was growing every day. 1710 01:44:16,560 --> 01:44:20,440 So, the new British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, 1711 01:44:20,440 --> 01:44:22,600 decided he should be evacuated. 1712 01:44:22,600 --> 01:44:25,800 The order wasn't well received. 1713 01:44:25,800 --> 01:44:29,280 He got his nickname, Tiger Gort, because he's so courageous. 1714 01:44:29,280 --> 01:44:31,640 After all, this is a man who's won a Victoria cross. 1715 01:44:31,640 --> 01:44:33,280 There is no higher decoration. 1716 01:44:33,280 --> 01:44:35,480 He's a brave, loyal man, 1717 01:44:35,480 --> 01:44:37,880 and he will die with his last man, given the choice. 1718 01:44:37,880 --> 01:44:40,760 But of course, Churchill's like, "Uh-uh. That is a PR disaster. 1719 01:44:40,760 --> 01:44:43,600 "What, they're going to get our top military head, 1720 01:44:43,600 --> 01:44:46,400 "and go back with it to Germany? No, mate. You get on that boat." 1721 01:44:46,400 --> 01:44:50,040 Churchill told Gort it would be "a needless triumph 1722 01:44:50,040 --> 01:44:51,920 "to the enemy to capture you." 1723 01:44:51,920 --> 01:44:55,440 So, Gort reluctantly agreed to leave. 1724 01:44:55,440 --> 01:44:59,160 That evening, he hosted a final dinner at the villa. 1725 01:45:03,760 --> 01:45:06,960 It was a rather extraordinary dinner party. 1726 01:45:06,960 --> 01:45:10,160 Senior officers sat down to a three-course meal, 1727 01:45:10,160 --> 01:45:12,760 including champagne and fruit salad, 1728 01:45:12,760 --> 01:45:15,400 as artillery shells fell around them, 1729 01:45:15,400 --> 01:45:17,960 and exhausted soldiers clambered into little boats 1730 01:45:17,960 --> 01:45:19,520 just outside their window. 1731 01:45:22,040 --> 01:45:25,280 They could have raised a toast that night because had it 1732 01:45:25,280 --> 01:45:29,160 been the most successful day of the evacuation so far. 1733 01:45:29,160 --> 01:45:31,120 Thanks to the little ships, 1734 01:45:31,120 --> 01:45:34,040 and the bad weather holding off the Luftwaffe bombers, 1735 01:45:34,040 --> 01:45:37,760 almost 30,000 troops were evacuated from the beaches, 1736 01:45:37,760 --> 01:45:41,440 whilst over 24,000 were taken from the Mole, 1737 01:45:41,440 --> 01:45:43,880 the breakwater being used as a jetty. 1738 01:45:43,880 --> 01:45:49,240 In total, 53,823 evacuated 1739 01:45:49,240 --> 01:45:53,520 in just this one day - a near miraculous achievement. 1740 01:46:00,400 --> 01:46:03,280 And in the early hours of the following morning, 1741 01:46:03,280 --> 01:46:06,040 there was another miracle of salvation for the British. 1742 01:46:06,040 --> 01:46:09,800 The hundreds of German tanks that were descending on Dunkirk 1743 01:46:09,800 --> 01:46:12,160 were ordered to withdraw 1744 01:46:12,160 --> 01:46:16,360 because Hitler didn't want to risk his precious tanks in the final, 1745 01:46:16,360 --> 01:46:18,360 difficult assault on the town. 1746 01:46:18,360 --> 01:46:21,120 This is not tank terrain, 1747 01:46:21,120 --> 01:46:24,040 and we've made sure that is especially the case. 1748 01:46:24,040 --> 01:46:26,120 We've opened the sluice gates. 1749 01:46:26,120 --> 01:46:29,960 We've flooded what were originally marshlands, wetlands anyway. 1750 01:46:29,960 --> 01:46:31,960 What doesn't like marsh? 1751 01:46:31,960 --> 01:46:33,680 A big, heavy Panzer, 1752 01:46:33,680 --> 01:46:36,000 and a Hitler only has so many Panzer tanks. 1753 01:46:36,000 --> 01:46:38,440 I mean, you know, he doesn't have an infinite supply. 1754 01:46:43,200 --> 01:46:46,360 It meant that one of the greatest threats to the thin line of soldiers 1755 01:46:46,360 --> 01:46:49,240 holding the perimeter, like Lieutenant Langley 1756 01:46:49,240 --> 01:46:51,440 and his platoon in the farmhouse behind me, 1757 01:46:51,440 --> 01:46:54,000 would have been removed, which was just as well 1758 01:46:54,000 --> 01:46:56,280 because they didn't actually have any weapons 1759 01:46:56,280 --> 01:46:58,080 that could have destroyed German tanks. 1760 01:46:59,280 --> 01:47:02,760 But, the British and French troops were still overwhelmingly 1761 01:47:02,760 --> 01:47:05,040 outnumbered by the German infantry. 1762 01:47:05,040 --> 01:47:07,280 Although, with the German tanks gone, 1763 01:47:07,280 --> 01:47:10,640 they might just be able to hold out a little longer. 1764 01:47:13,000 --> 01:47:15,600 But, would it be long enough? 1765 01:47:20,800 --> 01:47:23,640 A desperate situation at Dunkirk wasn't helped by the 1766 01:47:23,640 --> 01:47:26,200 rapidly deteriorating relationship 1767 01:47:26,200 --> 01:47:28,480 between Britain and her French allies. 1768 01:47:30,000 --> 01:47:33,840 Anglo-French relations are very rocky, to say the least, 1769 01:47:33,840 --> 01:47:36,920 because the French genuinely feel that the British are deserting them. 1770 01:47:36,920 --> 01:47:41,120 There were certainly examples of the French trying to get on board 1771 01:47:41,120 --> 01:47:43,320 ships to take them back to England, 1772 01:47:43,320 --> 01:47:46,480 and priority being given to the British. 1773 01:47:46,480 --> 01:47:49,680 So, when Churchill hears that it's almost exclusively 1774 01:47:49,680 --> 01:47:51,880 the British Army that's being saved, 1775 01:47:51,880 --> 01:47:53,840 he's like, "We've got to turn this around." 1776 01:47:53,840 --> 01:47:56,920 That morning, Churchill flew to Paris for a meeting 1777 01:47:56,920 --> 01:47:58,920 with the French Prime Minister, Reynaud. 1778 01:47:58,920 --> 01:48:04,080 He had to admit that, of the 165,000 men evacuated so far, 1779 01:48:04,080 --> 01:48:06,920 only 15,000 were French. 1780 01:48:09,440 --> 01:48:11,400 Churchill is aware of the situation, 1781 01:48:11,400 --> 01:48:13,280 and don't forget, he's also a pragmatist. 1782 01:48:13,280 --> 01:48:15,440 He is a politician. He knows he has to cut a deal. 1783 01:48:16,640 --> 01:48:19,400 So what he did, in a very Churchillian manner, 1784 01:48:19,400 --> 01:48:22,840 he mimes arm in arm, 1785 01:48:22,840 --> 01:48:24,800 he said, "Bras dessus, bras dessous!" 1786 01:48:24,800 --> 01:48:27,960 In other words, from now on, they'll be going arm in arm, 1787 01:48:27,960 --> 01:48:30,920 and large numbers of French were taken from that point. 1788 01:48:30,920 --> 01:48:34,120 But you know, the bitterness felt by the French 1789 01:48:34,120 --> 01:48:36,360 remained for years and years and years. 1790 01:48:38,440 --> 01:48:41,000 RAKSHA: While these negotiations played out, 1791 01:48:41,000 --> 01:48:45,400 hundreds of little ships were again arriving at Dunkirk. 1792 01:48:46,840 --> 01:48:49,400 But the sea was far rougher today, 1793 01:48:49,400 --> 01:48:52,840 and German artillery was bombarding the beaches. 1794 01:48:52,840 --> 01:48:56,920 Sailing into this maelstrom on her second mission 1795 01:48:56,920 --> 01:49:00,800 was Janthea, who had already been damaged on her first. 1796 01:49:02,960 --> 01:49:04,800 On the way to the beaches, 1797 01:49:04,800 --> 01:49:06,720 she was machine gunned by aircraft, 1798 01:49:06,720 --> 01:49:10,520 and on the way out, a Stuka landed a bomb 1799 01:49:10,520 --> 01:49:13,080 about 30 metres away from the stern. 1800 01:49:15,520 --> 01:49:18,680 And it loosened all the planks in the back end. 1801 01:49:18,680 --> 01:49:20,880 When she got back to Ramsgate, 1802 01:49:20,880 --> 01:49:24,400 they filled the bilges with pitch to stop it leaking... 1803 01:49:24,400 --> 01:49:26,360 As you do! As you do. 1804 01:49:26,360 --> 01:49:29,160 She went back on the 31st. 1805 01:49:29,160 --> 01:49:31,880 All we know is that she brought 50 Frenchmen, 1806 01:49:31,880 --> 01:49:34,440 I don't know how, out to a trawler. 1807 01:49:34,440 --> 01:49:38,480 And then she brought 23 Frenchmen back to Ramsgate. 1808 01:49:38,480 --> 01:49:41,920 23 people on this tiny boat. 1809 01:49:41,920 --> 01:49:42,920 Amazing. 1810 01:49:44,080 --> 01:49:45,960 It's pretty incredible story. 1811 01:49:45,960 --> 01:49:51,040 I mean, she was completely battered and almost blown to smithereens, 1812 01:49:51,040 --> 01:49:53,760 but still managed to go back out there. Yeah, absolutely. 1813 01:49:53,760 --> 01:49:55,720 How many soldiers do you think she managed to save? 1814 01:49:55,720 --> 01:49:57,200 We just don't know. 1815 01:49:57,200 --> 01:49:59,200 Unfortunately, the crew didn't log it, 1816 01:49:59,200 --> 01:50:02,360 as not many of them did, you know? 1817 01:50:02,360 --> 01:50:04,120 Nobody made notes. 1818 01:50:04,120 --> 01:50:07,520 People didn't think the world was going to last much longer. No! 1819 01:50:07,520 --> 01:50:10,680 What do you think about the people who took these little boats over 1820 01:50:10,680 --> 01:50:12,880 and rescued all of those soldiers? 1821 01:50:12,880 --> 01:50:16,560 We're very proud of the ships and what they did. 1822 01:50:16,560 --> 01:50:20,280 I always said that the Dunkirk spirit 1823 01:50:20,280 --> 01:50:23,480 is sort of the attitude - just get on and do it. 1824 01:50:23,480 --> 01:50:26,480 And that's what the Dunkirk spirit is all about, 1825 01:50:26,480 --> 01:50:29,720 and that's what the people at the time must have been thinking. 1826 01:50:38,520 --> 01:50:42,480 But not all the boats at Dunkirk were as lucky as Janthea. 1827 01:50:42,480 --> 01:50:44,880 De Panne, at the eastern end 1828 01:50:44,880 --> 01:50:47,480 of the ten miles of beach held by the British, 1829 01:50:47,480 --> 01:50:51,320 was increasingly coming under intense artillery bombardment 1830 01:50:51,320 --> 01:50:55,800 from the Germans, who were now amassing at Nieuport. 1831 01:50:55,800 --> 01:50:59,520 This is... Just must have been the most terrifying place 1832 01:50:59,520 --> 01:51:01,720 to have been on Earth that day 1833 01:51:01,720 --> 01:51:04,880 because, you know, it is constant bombardment. 1834 01:51:06,600 --> 01:51:10,120 The little ships that had bravely fought through the heavy surf 1835 01:51:10,120 --> 01:51:14,120 to the beach now started to be hit by German shells. 1836 01:51:14,120 --> 01:51:16,080 Dozens of boats were sunk, 1837 01:51:16,080 --> 01:51:17,840 and others forced back. 1838 01:51:20,320 --> 01:51:23,800 The British soldiers making their way through De Panne 1839 01:51:23,800 --> 01:51:26,400 towards the beach had to run through a nightmare of 1840 01:51:26,400 --> 01:51:29,160 fire, shrapnel and falling glass. 1841 01:51:29,160 --> 01:51:31,920 When soldiers arrived at the beach, 1842 01:51:31,920 --> 01:51:34,440 they found no boats waiting for them. 1843 01:51:34,440 --> 01:51:38,400 So many little ships had been destroyed by German artillery 1844 01:51:38,400 --> 01:51:42,360 that the decision was made that the evacuation of De Panne beach 1845 01:51:42,360 --> 01:51:44,040 would be abandoned. 1846 01:51:44,040 --> 01:51:46,680 The 6,000 already exhausted troops 1847 01:51:46,680 --> 01:51:50,880 were ordered to begin marching the five miles up the coast 1848 01:51:50,880 --> 01:51:53,200 to the beaches outside Dunkirk. 1849 01:51:54,680 --> 01:51:56,680 They get there, this wonderful promised land 1850 01:51:56,680 --> 01:51:59,360 from which they're going to retreat back home to England, 1851 01:51:59,360 --> 01:52:02,080 but in fact, you know, the vessels aren't waiting for them. 1852 01:52:04,200 --> 01:52:07,880 The relentless German bombardment meant the already small pocket 1853 01:52:07,880 --> 01:52:11,640 of coastline available to the British was shrinking even further. 1854 01:52:13,880 --> 01:52:19,640 On May 31st, almost 23,000 British and French troops were evacuated 1855 01:52:19,640 --> 01:52:23,000 from the beaches - 7,000 fewer than the previous day. 1856 01:52:23,000 --> 01:52:26,000 But, because low cloud held off the Luftwaffe, 1857 01:52:26,000 --> 01:52:30,840 an amazing 45,000 were taken from the Mole by large ships. 1858 01:52:30,840 --> 01:52:34,840 This was the most evacuated on any day from Dunkirk - 1859 01:52:34,840 --> 01:52:37,680 68,014. 1860 01:52:39,240 --> 01:52:42,560 And, amongst those troops was their leader, General Gort, 1861 01:52:42,560 --> 01:52:45,200 who travelled to the beach under the cover of darkness. 1862 01:52:46,760 --> 01:52:49,400 Like his soldiers before him, he made his way 1863 01:52:49,400 --> 01:52:52,120 onto one of the hastily built lorry piers. 1864 01:52:53,640 --> 01:52:56,240 But, in the darkness and confusion on the beach, 1865 01:52:56,240 --> 01:52:58,840 Gort became separated from his staff 1866 01:52:58,840 --> 01:53:02,400 and somehow managed to end up on the wrong pier. 1867 01:53:03,840 --> 01:53:08,320 While his staff boarded the Royal Navy flagship HMS Keith as planned, 1868 01:53:08,320 --> 01:53:13,400 Gort ended up being taken to a minesweeper called HMS Hebe. 1869 01:53:14,960 --> 01:53:18,040 It was a mistake that would soon threaten his life. 1870 01:53:19,240 --> 01:53:23,880 Because the Navy was about to suffer a day of carnage. 1871 01:53:34,280 --> 01:53:38,720 General Gort, the recently relieved commander of the BEF, 1872 01:53:38,720 --> 01:53:43,080 was on board the minesweeper HMS Hebe just off Dunkirk. 1873 01:53:43,080 --> 01:53:45,400 He shouldn't have been there. 1874 01:53:45,400 --> 01:53:49,040 Gort had become separated from his staff, 1875 01:53:49,040 --> 01:53:52,960 who were correctly on the destroyer, HMS Keith. 1876 01:53:52,960 --> 01:53:55,640 Both ships were picking up hundreds of soldiers, 1877 01:53:55,640 --> 01:53:58,320 who were being ferried out from the beaches. 1878 01:54:00,520 --> 01:54:04,240 For two days, German bombers had been kept away by rain 1879 01:54:04,240 --> 01:54:07,000 and low cloud that blanketed the beaches. 1880 01:54:07,000 --> 01:54:09,480 But, in the early hours of the morning, 1881 01:54:09,480 --> 01:54:13,160 the clouds began to clear and the weather started to improve. 1882 01:54:13,160 --> 01:54:17,200 Suddenly, the rescue ships offshore began to realise just how vulnerable 1883 01:54:17,200 --> 01:54:19,800 they were going to be from attack from the air. 1884 01:54:22,840 --> 01:54:24,800 To find out what happened, 1885 01:54:24,800 --> 01:54:28,600 I've come to meet naval historian Richard Holdsworth 1886 01:54:28,600 --> 01:54:32,520 on board the World War II destroyer, HMS Cavalier. 1887 01:54:34,000 --> 01:54:36,760 Hello, Richard. Hi, Raksha. 1888 01:54:36,760 --> 01:54:39,040 Gort has finally been evacuated. 1889 01:54:39,040 --> 01:54:41,800 Was he rescued on a ship like this? 1890 01:54:41,800 --> 01:54:44,520 He should have been on a destroyer like this. 1891 01:54:44,520 --> 01:54:46,400 He should have been on board HMS Keith, 1892 01:54:46,400 --> 01:54:49,080 the flagship of the offshore fleet. 1893 01:54:50,200 --> 01:54:54,280 Armed destroyers like HMS Keith were fast, manoeuvrable 1894 01:54:54,280 --> 01:54:58,200 and the safest option to keep the famous general safe. 1895 01:54:59,480 --> 01:55:02,920 But, during the night, he ended up on the wrong pier and ended up 1896 01:55:02,920 --> 01:55:05,320 on the minesweeper Hebe, which set off to sail, 1897 01:55:05,320 --> 01:55:07,920 and he must have thought he was safe. 1898 01:55:07,920 --> 01:55:12,520 But the air attacks then started as the cloud cover disappeared 1899 01:55:12,520 --> 01:55:14,080 and daylight dawned. 1900 01:55:14,080 --> 01:55:16,720 What happens to the minesweeper? Does it come under attack? 1901 01:55:16,720 --> 01:55:19,120 Literally, the whole of that fleet spent the morning 1902 01:55:19,120 --> 01:55:23,000 being attacked by swarms of Stuka dive-bombers. 1903 01:55:26,560 --> 01:55:28,080 And Hebe was no exception. 1904 01:55:29,920 --> 01:55:33,720 Gort himself came to the bridge to join the captain, 1905 01:55:33,720 --> 01:55:38,760 and is known to have stood there completely undisturbed 1906 01:55:38,760 --> 01:55:41,320 by the carnage going on around him. 1907 01:55:41,320 --> 01:55:44,400 Setting that example for which he was most famous. 1908 01:55:44,400 --> 01:55:46,080 Was Gort in real danger? 1909 01:55:46,080 --> 01:55:49,600 He was in as much danger as everybody offshore that morning. 1910 01:55:49,600 --> 01:55:52,000 It's one of the realities of life on a warship. 1911 01:55:52,000 --> 01:55:55,360 The senior commander is in as much danger as the most junior member 1912 01:55:55,360 --> 01:55:56,520 of the crew. 1913 01:55:56,520 --> 01:55:58,240 He was in the thick of the action. 1914 01:56:00,800 --> 01:56:03,880 But, during a lull in the Luftwaffe attacks, 1915 01:56:03,880 --> 01:56:07,680 the crew managed to transfer Gort to HMS Keith. 1916 01:56:08,840 --> 01:56:12,160 She was then quickly sped to Britain on a high speed 1917 01:56:12,160 --> 01:56:16,320 motor torpedo boat, and only just in time. 1918 01:56:19,800 --> 01:56:22,600 Shortly after Gore gets away from Keith, 1919 01:56:22,600 --> 01:56:26,600 Keith itself comes under very, very violent attack from dive-bombers. 1920 01:56:29,600 --> 01:56:31,520 So she's racing full ahead. 1921 01:56:31,520 --> 01:56:33,200 High speed turns. 1922 01:56:34,880 --> 01:56:36,600 She then takes a direct hit... 1923 01:56:37,880 --> 01:56:40,480 ..and has sunk by about 9:40. 1924 01:56:43,640 --> 01:56:47,560 Ships like these have a crew of 200, 225. 1925 01:56:47,560 --> 01:56:52,480 Most destroyers were taking between 800 or 900 soldiers off at a time, 1926 01:56:52,480 --> 01:56:54,680 and they were crowded on the upper deck 1927 01:56:54,680 --> 01:56:56,880 because they didn't want to put people below 1928 01:56:56,880 --> 01:57:00,640 in case the ship was hit and sank and they'd be trapped below decks. 1929 01:57:00,640 --> 01:57:02,480 It must have been like hell on Earth. 1930 01:57:03,800 --> 01:57:07,400 A further four destroyers, one minesweeper, 1931 01:57:07,400 --> 01:57:11,920 and at least three passenger ferries were lost that day. 1932 01:57:13,120 --> 01:57:15,840 You know, we're talking about thousands and thousands of men, 1933 01:57:15,840 --> 01:57:18,560 who thought they were safe, and then discovered that they weren't. 1934 01:57:18,560 --> 01:57:21,160 Inevitably, hundreds of people lost their lives, 1935 01:57:21,160 --> 01:57:23,560 really within sight of shore. 1936 01:57:23,560 --> 01:57:25,520 It's heartbreaking, really, isn't it? 1937 01:57:25,520 --> 01:57:28,760 To think that you're almost there, that you're being rescued, 1938 01:57:28,760 --> 01:57:31,720 you're within arm's reach of those white cliffs of Dover. 1939 01:57:31,720 --> 01:57:34,200 But actually, you're not safe at all. 1940 01:57:41,920 --> 01:57:45,120 The troops defending the canal on the Dunkirk perimeter 1941 01:57:45,120 --> 01:57:48,080 had enjoyed two days of relative peace. 1942 01:57:48,080 --> 01:57:53,000 But, at 11am, the Germans launched a massive attack. 1943 01:57:53,000 --> 01:57:57,040 Their aim was to overrun Dunkirk that day. 1944 01:57:57,040 --> 01:58:01,840 Lieutenant Jimmy Langley was among the troops who had to stop them. 1945 01:58:03,680 --> 01:58:06,640 Langley and his platoon of Coldstream Guards 1946 01:58:06,640 --> 01:58:08,560 were keeping watch from the farmhouse 1947 01:58:08,560 --> 01:58:10,120 that they had carefully fortified. 1948 01:58:10,120 --> 01:58:13,800 They'd knocked tiles out from the roof and machine guns poked out. 1949 01:58:13,800 --> 01:58:16,240 A low mist hung over the fields. 1950 01:58:16,240 --> 01:58:20,000 As it burnt off, Langley spotted 100 Germans 1951 01:58:20,000 --> 01:58:23,360 making their way across the fields on the opposite side of the canal. 1952 01:58:23,360 --> 01:58:25,960 He ordered his machine gunners to open fire. 1953 01:58:29,520 --> 01:58:31,120 All of them were killed. 1954 01:58:33,560 --> 01:58:37,040 The Germans fired an incendiary shell into the roof. 1955 01:58:37,040 --> 01:58:39,920 Langley and his men managed to tumble down the stairs 1956 01:58:39,920 --> 01:58:42,040 moments before it exploded. 1957 01:58:44,640 --> 01:58:49,200 But then they went straight back up and started firing again. 1958 01:58:49,200 --> 01:58:52,480 An officer from the unit next to them made it to the farmhouse 1959 01:58:52,480 --> 01:58:55,000 and told them that they could hold out no longer 1960 01:58:55,000 --> 01:58:56,520 and that they were going to retreat. 1961 01:58:56,520 --> 01:58:59,160 His men were exhausted and the Germans were massing 1962 01:58:59,160 --> 01:59:00,800 for a huge assault. 1963 01:59:00,800 --> 01:59:03,800 But Langley's commanding officer told them that they must 1964 01:59:03,800 --> 01:59:06,200 hold the line and that any man that would retreat 1965 01:59:06,200 --> 01:59:10,160 past a mile marker that he pointed at would be shot. 1966 01:59:10,160 --> 01:59:11,680 We don't have enough men, 1967 01:59:11,680 --> 01:59:14,320 so if it means, you know, you've got to stay in your position 1968 01:59:14,320 --> 01:59:16,880 or I'm going to shoot you, then that's what it takes. 1969 01:59:16,880 --> 01:59:18,680 A short while later, 1970 01:59:18,680 --> 01:59:21,720 Langley spotted the officer and two of his men 1971 01:59:21,720 --> 01:59:23,360 near the mile marker. 1972 01:59:23,360 --> 01:59:26,520 Suddenly, they started to run towards Dunkirk. 1973 01:59:29,000 --> 01:59:32,400 Langley and his commanding officer both fired. 1974 01:59:35,160 --> 01:59:37,760 And they saw the officer fall. 1975 01:59:41,520 --> 01:59:44,560 The two other men ran back to their positions. 1976 01:59:45,720 --> 01:59:48,920 No-one else attempted to retreat, but shortly after, 1977 01:59:48,920 --> 01:59:51,760 while Langley was manning a machine gun in the roof, 1978 01:59:51,760 --> 01:59:56,160 he felt a huge wave of heat and dust as he was knocked from his feet. 1979 01:59:58,360 --> 02:00:01,000 An artillery shell had come through the roof. 1980 02:00:01,000 --> 02:00:03,240 He wrote in his memoirs that, 1981 02:00:03,240 --> 02:00:06,880 "there was a long silence and I heard a small voice 1982 02:00:06,880 --> 02:00:08,800 "saying, "I've been hit", 1983 02:00:08,800 --> 02:00:11,000 "which I suddenly realised was mine." 1984 02:00:11,000 --> 02:00:14,840 Funnily enough, I had similar thoughts when I was hit. 1985 02:00:14,840 --> 02:00:16,400 I knew what the risks were. 1986 02:00:16,400 --> 02:00:18,280 I knew where the statistics lay. 1987 02:00:18,280 --> 02:00:20,640 But you just don't think it's going to happen to you. 1988 02:00:20,640 --> 02:00:24,000 And, when one of your platoon is badly wounded, 1989 02:00:24,000 --> 02:00:27,440 it can have a devastating impact on everyone else. 1990 02:00:28,840 --> 02:00:31,960 When you see someone you know, get injured, get hurt. 1991 02:00:31,960 --> 02:00:34,800 It's not just a body, a piece of meat. 1992 02:00:34,800 --> 02:00:37,200 It's someone you know, it's someone you respect. 1993 02:00:37,200 --> 02:00:38,440 It's someone you love. 1994 02:00:38,440 --> 02:00:41,920 Being able to put that to one side and carry on with your job 1995 02:00:41,920 --> 02:00:45,120 is difficult because, obviously, you might even just think 1996 02:00:45,120 --> 02:00:47,320 if that can happen to him, it can happen to me. 1997 02:00:47,320 --> 02:00:49,480 And if you think like that, you just can't do your job. 1998 02:00:49,480 --> 02:00:50,800 You just can't fight. 1999 02:00:50,800 --> 02:00:53,160 You must put it to one side. 2000 02:00:54,280 --> 02:00:58,440 Pretty wild when I look back at it, but...that's the job. 2001 02:01:02,120 --> 02:01:04,560 Langley's arm was severely wounded. 2002 02:01:04,560 --> 02:01:08,760 After patching him up, his men loaded him onto an ambulance, 2003 02:01:08,760 --> 02:01:10,400 which headed to the beaches. 2004 02:01:12,240 --> 02:01:15,120 They then returned to the fight. 2005 02:01:22,080 --> 02:01:23,400 Seven miles away, 2006 02:01:23,400 --> 02:01:27,080 William Tennant, the Navy officer overseeing the evacuation, 2007 02:01:27,080 --> 02:01:28,480 was on the Mole. 2008 02:01:28,480 --> 02:01:33,240 Five days earlier, he'd volunteered to come to Dunkirk from Britain, 2009 02:01:33,240 --> 02:01:37,600 and he and his men had brought significant order to the chaos. 2010 02:01:39,800 --> 02:01:42,040 Tennant set up his communications base 2011 02:01:42,040 --> 02:01:44,480 in a concrete bunker at the foot of the Mole. 2012 02:01:44,480 --> 02:01:47,280 It gave him some protection from the artillery 2013 02:01:47,280 --> 02:01:48,800 that was falling on the Mole itself, 2014 02:01:48,800 --> 02:01:52,560 and from the German aircraft that had continued its onslaught 2015 02:01:52,560 --> 02:01:54,320 now that the weather had cleared. 2016 02:01:58,040 --> 02:02:01,320 The shells and bombs blew holes in the Mole's walkway, 2017 02:02:01,320 --> 02:02:03,800 which had to be patched with planks and doors. 2018 02:02:03,800 --> 02:02:08,320 Ships loading at the Mole and waiting offshore suffered terribly. 2019 02:02:08,320 --> 02:02:11,800 In total that day, 31 were sunk, 2020 02:02:11,800 --> 02:02:14,320 and 11 others were badly damaged. 2021 02:02:19,240 --> 02:02:22,680 It was the blackest day of the evacuation for Tennant. 2022 02:02:22,680 --> 02:02:25,680 The losses were so great that he agreed that the next day 2023 02:02:25,680 --> 02:02:28,560 there would be no daylight evacuation. 2024 02:02:29,880 --> 02:02:32,680 The British and French troops gathered on the beaches 2025 02:02:32,680 --> 02:02:37,480 would have to wait until the cover of darkness to board any ships. 2026 02:02:37,480 --> 02:02:40,040 While it was hard enough for the able bodied at Dunkirk, 2027 02:02:40,040 --> 02:02:43,080 things were even worse for the injured. 2028 02:02:43,080 --> 02:02:46,080 This included Lieutenant Jimmy Langley. 2029 02:02:48,320 --> 02:02:51,560 When Langley arrived here on the beach in his ambulance, 2030 02:02:51,560 --> 02:02:54,760 he was stretchered out to lifeboats waiting in the sea. 2031 02:02:54,760 --> 02:02:57,320 But, when he told the crew he was unable to stand, 2032 02:02:57,320 --> 02:03:01,600 he was turned away because he would take up the same space as four men. 2033 02:03:01,600 --> 02:03:05,560 Sadly, this was the case for many severely wounded soldiers 2034 02:03:05,560 --> 02:03:07,120 all along the beach. 2035 02:03:13,920 --> 02:03:17,800 Many injured men were taken to a requisitioned mansion in Dunkirk, 2036 02:03:17,800 --> 02:03:20,080 known as Chapeau Rouge, 2037 02:03:20,080 --> 02:03:23,280 which had been turned into a medical clearing station. 2038 02:03:25,920 --> 02:03:28,880 There were over 300 wounded soldiers here, 2039 02:03:28,880 --> 02:03:31,280 many of them too injured to be evacuated. 2040 02:03:31,280 --> 02:03:33,800 When Langley arrived here in the afternoon, 2041 02:03:33,800 --> 02:03:36,840 the doctors and the orderlies drew lots to decide 2042 02:03:36,840 --> 02:03:40,080 which of the medical team would stay behind with the injured. 2043 02:03:40,080 --> 02:03:42,560 They knew that that meant that they would be captured, 2044 02:03:42,560 --> 02:03:45,680 or worse, because there was a rumour swirling that the Germans 2045 02:03:45,680 --> 02:03:47,240 were taking no prisoners. 2046 02:03:48,360 --> 02:03:50,240 It must have been terrifying. 2047 02:03:50,240 --> 02:03:54,800 The doctors and nurses operated on injured soldiers by candlelight, 2048 02:03:54,800 --> 02:03:58,040 with shells bursting in these gardens. 2049 02:03:58,040 --> 02:04:01,440 Very different to my own experience in Afghanistan. 2050 02:04:01,440 --> 02:04:06,000 When I was injured, I was evacuated to a hospital within one hour. 2051 02:04:06,000 --> 02:04:10,280 I was back in the UK from the other side of the world within 48 hours. 2052 02:04:10,280 --> 02:04:13,640 Now, I've been involved in triaging guys in the past, 2053 02:04:13,640 --> 02:04:15,960 but it was minor injuries - 2054 02:04:15,960 --> 02:04:17,560 deciding who goes first, 2055 02:04:17,560 --> 02:04:21,800 but not the idea of having to decide who goes at all. 2056 02:04:21,800 --> 02:04:25,280 Guys here that were so badly wounded that they couldn't make it home 2057 02:04:25,280 --> 02:04:28,640 and would have to be left to the fate of the Germans. 2058 02:04:28,640 --> 02:04:31,080 And the medical team that stayed with them. 2059 02:04:31,080 --> 02:04:33,200 I mean, that is unbelievable bravery. 2060 02:04:43,560 --> 02:04:46,120 While Langley was taken to Chapeau Rouge, 2061 02:04:46,120 --> 02:04:49,080 his men have been valiantly defending the farmhouse 2062 02:04:49,080 --> 02:04:50,480 on the canal. 2063 02:04:50,480 --> 02:04:54,760 But that night, along with all 4,000 British soldiers 2064 02:04:54,760 --> 02:04:59,160 holding the perimeter, they were ordered to surreptitiously withdraw. 2065 02:04:59,160 --> 02:05:03,640 While they headed to the Mole, French troops took over the defence. 2066 02:05:08,560 --> 02:05:11,920 So many ships were now involved in the evacuation 2067 02:05:11,920 --> 02:05:13,520 that, despite the terrible losses, 2068 02:05:13,520 --> 02:05:19,000 on June 1st, nearly 64,500 soldiers were evacuated. 2069 02:05:19,000 --> 02:05:22,200 Only 4,000 fewer than the previous day. 2070 02:05:23,760 --> 02:05:26,960 More than half of those evacuated were French. 2071 02:05:35,120 --> 02:05:38,160 The 4,000 men who'd just withdrawn from the perimeter 2072 02:05:38,160 --> 02:05:42,000 were almost the last British soldiers still in Dunkirk. 2073 02:05:42,000 --> 02:05:44,720 But, when they arrived at the Mole, 2074 02:05:44,720 --> 02:05:48,160 they found no ships waiting to take them home. 2075 02:05:48,160 --> 02:05:51,080 Following the terrible losses the previous day, 2076 02:05:51,080 --> 02:05:54,920 Tennant had ordered the last ship to leave before dawn. 2077 02:05:56,040 --> 02:05:58,760 The men, including the troops of the Coldstream Guards, 2078 02:05:58,760 --> 02:06:01,480 who had held the line against overwhelming odds, 2079 02:06:01,480 --> 02:06:04,080 were told they would have to wait an entire day 2080 02:06:04,080 --> 02:06:06,200 until the ships returned that evening. 2081 02:06:08,120 --> 02:06:11,960 They trudged off back to the dunes, hoping that the thin line of French 2082 02:06:11,960 --> 02:06:15,200 troops who were defending them could hold out for another day. 2083 02:06:16,960 --> 02:06:19,760 But, with the Germans now only four miles away, 2084 02:06:19,760 --> 02:06:21,960 that hope was fading fast. 2085 02:06:31,280 --> 02:06:35,000 By June 2nd, over 200,000 British soldiers 2086 02:06:35,000 --> 02:06:37,520 had been evacuated from Dunkirk. 2087 02:06:37,520 --> 02:06:39,280 About 7,000 remained - 2088 02:06:39,280 --> 02:06:43,240 mostly the troops who'd put up the final line of defence. 2089 02:06:43,240 --> 02:06:47,120 They'd taken shelter in the dunes and were waiting for nightfall 2090 02:06:47,120 --> 02:06:49,960 when they hoped the rescue boats would return. 2091 02:06:49,960 --> 02:06:53,160 The area was being constantly pounded 2092 02:06:53,160 --> 02:06:55,440 by German artillery and bombers. 2093 02:07:01,560 --> 02:07:04,560 William Tennant and his Royal Navy team also remained, 2094 02:07:04,560 --> 02:07:08,760 and the 300 injured soldiers at Chapeau Rouge. 2095 02:07:08,760 --> 02:07:11,000 Medics had found three lorries 2096 02:07:11,000 --> 02:07:13,800 to transport some wounded to the Mole. 2097 02:07:15,080 --> 02:07:17,960 When they arrived, Tennant sent a message from his bunker 2098 02:07:17,960 --> 02:07:19,880 at the foot of the Mole, saying, 2099 02:07:19,880 --> 02:07:24,560 "Wounded situation acute. Hospital ship should enter during the day. 2100 02:07:24,560 --> 02:07:27,720 "Geneva Convention will be honourably observed. 2101 02:07:27,720 --> 02:07:30,040 "Enemy will refrain from attack." 2102 02:07:32,120 --> 02:07:36,040 Two hospital ships were sent from England at 1:30pm. 2103 02:07:36,040 --> 02:07:40,760 But, despite the red crosses, both were attacked by the Luftwaffe. 2104 02:07:40,760 --> 02:07:44,280 SS Worthing had nine bombs dropped near her, 2105 02:07:44,280 --> 02:07:47,240 and was forced to return home damaged. 2106 02:07:47,240 --> 02:07:53,200 Then, at 7:15pm, SS Paris was sunk off Dunkirk. 2107 02:08:00,080 --> 02:08:03,280 No hospital ships made it through to Dunkirk that day. 2108 02:08:03,280 --> 02:08:05,360 The wounded here at Chapeau Rouge, 2109 02:08:05,360 --> 02:08:09,120 including Langley of the Coldstream Guards, would be left behind. 2110 02:08:09,120 --> 02:08:12,080 They suspected that their fate at the hands of the Germans 2111 02:08:12,080 --> 02:08:13,480 would not be good. 2112 02:08:18,600 --> 02:08:21,240 As night fell, a last flotilla of ships 2113 02:08:21,240 --> 02:08:23,240 began to arrive at the Mole. 2114 02:08:23,240 --> 02:08:26,240 The remaining British were waiting here for them, 2115 02:08:26,240 --> 02:08:28,000 along with thousands of French. 2116 02:08:29,240 --> 02:08:32,080 They included the survivors of Langley's platoon. 2117 02:08:32,080 --> 02:08:35,720 Within only a couple of hours, they had all been boarded. 2118 02:08:37,560 --> 02:08:40,120 Tennant spent most of his sailors home as well. 2119 02:08:41,480 --> 02:08:44,360 Only Tennant and a few of his team remained. 2120 02:08:44,360 --> 02:08:47,080 Except for them, the Mole was deserted. 2121 02:08:47,080 --> 02:08:49,280 The French troops had stopped arriving, 2122 02:08:49,280 --> 02:08:51,640 many of them were still holding the perimeter, 2123 02:08:51,640 --> 02:08:54,760 and the commanding officers had not told them to evacuate. 2124 02:08:54,760 --> 02:08:57,800 At 11pm, Tennant sent his final message home - 2125 02:08:57,800 --> 02:09:01,440 "Operation complete. Returning to Dover." 2126 02:09:01,440 --> 02:09:04,960 Tennant stepped onto a fast motor torpedo boat, 2127 02:09:04,960 --> 02:09:07,360 with his staff, and returned to England. 2128 02:09:13,280 --> 02:09:14,800 On June 2nd, 2129 02:09:14,800 --> 02:09:18,000 another 26,256 men 2130 02:09:18,000 --> 02:09:20,280 were evacuated from Dunkirk. 2131 02:09:20,280 --> 02:09:23,680 All British troops, apart from the severely wounded, 2132 02:09:23,680 --> 02:09:25,920 had now been rescued. 2133 02:09:25,920 --> 02:09:29,880 This extraordinary achievement made Dunkirk a byword 2134 02:09:29,880 --> 02:09:33,600 for British grit and determination against all odds. 2135 02:09:33,600 --> 02:09:36,440 But, it wasn't the end of the story. 2136 02:09:42,400 --> 02:09:45,240 Many French soldiers remained in Dunkirk. 2137 02:09:45,240 --> 02:09:48,480 The ships bravely returned the following evening 2138 02:09:48,480 --> 02:09:51,560 and picked up over 45,000. 2139 02:09:51,560 --> 02:09:56,080 At 3am, a motor torpedo boat made a final check of the harbour. 2140 02:09:56,080 --> 02:10:00,760 It was the last British ship to leave Dunkirk. 2141 02:10:10,280 --> 02:10:12,680 Knowing no more ships were coming, 2142 02:10:12,680 --> 02:10:15,360 the French surrendered later that morning, 2143 02:10:15,360 --> 02:10:17,600 and the Germans entered the town. 2144 02:10:17,600 --> 02:10:22,400 Soon, they were marching up the driveway of Chapeau Rouge. 2145 02:10:22,400 --> 02:10:24,920 When they arrived here at Chapeau Rouge, 2146 02:10:24,920 --> 02:10:27,880 Langley was lying here on a stretcher on the drive. 2147 02:10:27,880 --> 02:10:30,400 He'd been carried out to greet the Germans 2148 02:10:30,400 --> 02:10:32,960 for they feared all the wounded would be murdered. 2149 02:10:32,960 --> 02:10:35,320 Shortly after, the first German arrived. 2150 02:10:35,320 --> 02:10:37,800 He was exhausted, covered in dust, 2151 02:10:37,800 --> 02:10:40,640 and he slumped down next to Langley. 2152 02:10:40,640 --> 02:10:43,840 The battle of Dunkirk had been just as hard for them. 2153 02:10:43,840 --> 02:10:47,880 Langley pointed up at the Red Cross that was flying above the house, 2154 02:10:47,880 --> 02:10:49,600 and the German leader nodded. 2155 02:10:49,600 --> 02:10:52,880 He gave Langley a drink of water from his own bottle. 2156 02:10:52,880 --> 02:10:55,400 It was an act of kindness and solidarity. 2157 02:10:55,400 --> 02:10:58,920 Both sides had faced horrors in the last two weeks. 2158 02:11:01,920 --> 02:11:04,600 German doctors had to amputate Langley's arm, 2159 02:11:04,600 --> 02:11:08,600 but, five months later, he escaped into Vichy France. 2160 02:11:08,600 --> 02:11:12,800 In 1941, he was repatriated back to Britain, 2161 02:11:12,800 --> 02:11:14,800 where he joined MI6. 2162 02:11:20,080 --> 02:11:23,960 The events of Dunkirk left both the Germans and the British 2163 02:11:23,960 --> 02:11:26,160 depleted and exhausted. 2164 02:11:26,160 --> 02:11:29,240 They suffered similar numbers of casualties. 2165 02:11:29,240 --> 02:11:34,000 In total, 3,500 British soldiers lost their lives, 2166 02:11:34,000 --> 02:11:38,560 and 13,053 were wounded. 2167 02:11:38,560 --> 02:11:43,560 It wasn't just comrades left on the beaches of Dunkirk. 2168 02:11:43,560 --> 02:11:46,440 Tens of thousands of trucks and motorbikes. 2169 02:11:47,640 --> 02:11:49,920 Thousands of tonnes of ammunition, 2170 02:11:49,920 --> 02:11:52,080 hundreds of thousands of tonnes of supplies, 2171 02:11:52,080 --> 02:11:53,760 machine guns, rifles - 2172 02:11:53,760 --> 02:11:55,920 vast amounts of equipment was left behind. 2173 02:11:57,800 --> 02:12:01,200 Nazi propaganda was all over Dunkirk. 2174 02:12:01,200 --> 02:12:03,760 There were pictures full of soldiers that had had to abandon 2175 02:12:03,760 --> 02:12:05,360 all of their equipment, 2176 02:12:05,360 --> 02:12:08,360 and them getting excited about how just one unit alone 2177 02:12:08,360 --> 02:12:10,080 had had to discard 200 guns. 2178 02:12:13,400 --> 02:12:19,800 But, an astonishing 338,226 British 2179 02:12:19,800 --> 02:12:23,440 and French soldiers were rescued from Dunkirk. 2180 02:12:23,440 --> 02:12:26,320 You can replace tanks, you can replace guns, 2181 02:12:26,320 --> 02:12:30,320 you can't replace men quite so quickly and quite so easily. 2182 02:12:32,720 --> 02:12:34,920 The troops arriving back in Britain 2183 02:12:34,920 --> 02:12:37,960 weren't sure what kind of reception awaited them. 2184 02:12:37,960 --> 02:12:39,440 As the troops came home, 2185 02:12:39,440 --> 02:12:41,760 they were expecting to be treated 2186 02:12:41,760 --> 02:12:44,520 as the sort of remnants of a shattered army. 2187 02:12:45,920 --> 02:12:48,680 I've talked to a lot of veterans, and that's the impression I've had, 2188 02:12:48,680 --> 02:12:50,920 that we were embarrassed about what happened to us 2189 02:12:50,920 --> 02:12:54,280 and we were astonished to find we were being treated as heroes. 2190 02:12:57,000 --> 02:13:00,400 We were being bought drinks in pubs, we were being slapped on the back, 2191 02:13:00,400 --> 02:13:03,200 we were being thrown sandwiches as we came home on the trains. 2192 02:13:03,200 --> 02:13:05,040 We were heroes. 2193 02:13:05,040 --> 02:13:08,720 We got our boys back onto British soil. 2194 02:13:08,720 --> 02:13:12,200 It is the makings of a great story, 2195 02:13:12,200 --> 02:13:14,960 and stories carry the morale of a nation. 2196 02:13:14,960 --> 02:13:20,080 The mood in the country goes up because we're still fighting. 2197 02:13:24,480 --> 02:13:29,440 Through tenacity, acts of individual bravery and sacrifice, 2198 02:13:29,440 --> 02:13:33,280 the British had managed to overcome the formidable odds they faced. 2199 02:13:33,280 --> 02:13:37,520 It would be too much to claim that victory had been snatched 2200 02:13:37,520 --> 02:13:40,640 from the jaws of defeat on the beaches of Dunkirk. 2201 02:13:40,640 --> 02:13:44,920 But it meant that the badly battered and bloodied British Army 2202 02:13:44,920 --> 02:13:47,200 could limp home, lick their wounds, 2203 02:13:47,200 --> 02:13:49,440 and prepare to fight another day. 2204 02:13:54,880 --> 02:13:58,360 Four years later, the men rescued at Dunkirk 2205 02:13:58,360 --> 02:14:02,400 were the core of the British Army that landed in Normandy 2206 02:14:02,400 --> 02:14:06,640 in the decisive assault that would ultimately defeat the Nazis. 2207 02:14:06,640 --> 02:14:10,400 If the Dunkirk evacuation hadn't taken place, 2208 02:14:10,400 --> 02:14:13,720 huge numbers of people just simply wouldn't be here today. 2209 02:14:13,720 --> 02:14:16,480 We'd be living in a different world. 2210 02:14:16,480 --> 02:14:19,240 In the dark days of 1940, 2211 02:14:19,240 --> 02:14:23,040 Dunkirk gave the British people a glimmer of hope. 2212 02:14:23,040 --> 02:14:26,400 It demonstrated that, with fortitude and ingenuity, 2213 02:14:26,400 --> 02:14:29,480 we could withstand the Nazi onslaught. 2214 02:14:29,480 --> 02:14:33,240 It gave Britain the courage and resolve, as Churchill said, 2215 02:14:33,240 --> 02:14:37,080 to "ride out the storm of war", and "never surrender". 2216 02:14:37,080 --> 02:14:42,040 Those 14 days in the spring of 1940 saved Britain.