When our new pram nearly went to war

FUrTHEr to recent letters regarding the filming of Dunkirk in southeast Kent in 1958 (Mail), I was a police constable stationed at New romney. With my colleague and our sergeant, I liaised between the film company and the locals. We closed off the main A259 through the town, diverting it round the outskirts, while the western end of the High Street was turned into a French village: all English language signs were removed and French ones, including advertisements, were put up. During a lull in the filming, my wife was out walking with our two young daughters, one still a baby in a nearly new perambulator. She asked a nearby ‘soldier’ if she could cross the road. ‘Of course, it’s all right, love,’ said the ‘soldier’ — John Mills, who was very friendly to all. Later, my wife declined a part as an extra along with our children, playing a French family fleeing the Germans, as it meant them all diving into a ditch beside the road at Camber Sands; she thought the pram would get damaged. Our children have never forgiven us for not letting them take part in the filming of Dunkirk!

Bernard Pay, Herne Bay, Kent.