AS the film Dunkirk deservedly gathers plaudits for its moving portrayal of soldiers under fire, here is the real thing.
Weary soldiers in their tin helmets finally getting on board a boat for home from Dunkirk.
The War Department did not specify which ship the men were or on which day of the evacuation it was taken before passing it on to The Herald for publication.
They might have sent it as the soldier at the front seems in a jocular mood as he chats to the officer. Others behind him just look utterly fed up.
The picture is worth a study though. Have a gander at the soldier on the right in the raincoat. He ap;pears to have a sword with him - presumably the spoils of war picked up from the battlefield somewhere. He seems to be eyeing up the officer, trying to assess whether he is going to get any grief for bringing it on board. Perhaps that’s his mate in front trying to soften the officer up.
It was at the end of May, 1940, that the British Expeditionary Force had retreated under the German onslaught to Dunkrik near the French/Belgian border and it was feared they would be trapped.
In the end over 300,000 were rescued, helped by a flotilla of civilian craft which could take soldiers off the beaches.
I would recommend the film - breathtaking and memorable. Didn’t see anyone with a sword though.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here