That stopped Hitler in his tracks
More debris is on show at the Dunkirk 1940 Museum. Set in 19th-century fortifications, there is weaponry; guns, machetes and bullets and vehicles; remains of lorries and motorbikes dug out of the sand decades later and uniforms.
I stand and look at a sailor’s top; it’s made from wool and I wonder who wore it, if it made him itch and if he survived.
There’s also an arresting collection of black-and-white photographs; injured soldiers and wreckage on the streets, ships being loaded, ships being sunk and desperate civilians trying to get away. There are so many sites to visit that the easiest way to see them is to join a coach tour. My Dynamo tour took me to key places including the East Mole, a stone and wooden jetty from which 200,000 soldiers were evacuated.
During filming, hundreds of extras stood in line in the water – but our guide tells us they were actually standing on shipping containers submerged in the water with white railings nailed on the side.
Next stop was the British War Cemetery where The Dunkirk Memorial includes the names of 4,500 casualties. When the tide is out at Bray-Dunes you can walk across the sands to the remains of two of the Little Ships – the Crested Eagle and the Devonia. The Crested Eagle had taken 600 men from the Mole when she was hit by bombs.
The captain managed to beach the blazing ship, saving 300 men. Burnt out and with her back broken, she has lain in the sand ever since, covered in rust, seaweed and barnacles.
The next day it’s time to head inland to the sleepy village of Esquelbecq, where soldiers fought bravely to hold back the relentless German advance, and home to the newly opened Museum of the Massacre.
This small museum tells the story of a hideous massacre at nearby La Plaine au Bois.
On May 28, 1940, 80 captured British troops – most aged 18-20 – were marched across fields, packed into a tiny cowshed and murdered by SS troops, who first threw in grenades before taking out survivors and shooting them in the back.
Somehow 13 men survived and their story is told via video interviews in the museum.
Today, poppies and crosses smother the inside of a replica barn which stands in the corner of a meadow surrounded by fields of potatoes.
Peaceful now, it is part of a memorial site. An avenue of 80 copper beech trees has been planted in remembrance and leads to a man-made hill looking out over the surrounding countryside.
Back in Dunkirk, as I walk along the iconic beach, which is wide, windy and exposed, I can imagine that the flat sands would have offered little opportunity for the soldiers to take cover.
Everything looks so normal now, like a beachside anywhere else in the world, with people jogging, paddling, going about their business and walking their dogs.
It’s almost impossible to imagine how it would have been in 1940 when Britain held its breath and prayed.
Initially, Operation Dynamo had hoped that 30,000 men might be saved. By a miracle and much sacrifice, 338,000 men were rescued.
Defeat was turned into victory and a new phrase, the Dunkirk Spirit, became part of British vocabulary and personality.
GETTING THERE
Seaways (0871 574 7235/ dfdsseaways.co.uk) offers a three-day short break return from £59 (car and up to nine) including two Dunkirk Passes for the Dunkirk War Museum, Fort des Dunes and Dunkirk Walking Tour. Hotel Borel (dialling from the UK: 0033 3 28 66 51 80 /hotelborel.fr) offers doubles from £85, room only. Dunkirk Tourism: dunkirk-tourism.com