Dunkirk #3 - last unseen photos from my collection

Since the last post I put up, there has been a bit of interest in my Dunkirk photos (to say the least), and they've been featured on the websites of the Daily Mail, the Express, the Sun, the Mirror and Bild, plus an article in the printed version of the Times.

I am of course pleased, and amazed, by the level of interest in them, but the articles don't link back to the blog unfortunately, so whether people will see the new photos below - I don't know!

Anyway, here are three final photos. Two are taken from a ship, looking towards Dunkirk and De Panne. The last one is another of captured troops - in this instance men from a Scottish Regiment - and I am sure someone will inform me which one. This is one of my favourite photos, purely for the expressions on the POWs faces - of defiance.

I hope you've found these interesting - I'll be posting items regularly from now on - when I get a chance!

Oil tanks on fire in Dunkirk, with clouds of billowing smoke visible for many miles.

Albert Henry Powell was a lorry driver in the Royal Signals and had been in France since January 1940. His unit was attached to the 3rd Corps, Medium Artillery HQ. He was on the beach, and describes his experiences in an account on the BBC People's War site:

"On the beaches we huddled together in the sand dunes for protection from the constant bombing and machine gunning from the air. The bombing was ineffectual, just blowing up loads of sand, but the machine gunning was another matter. 

Lying across the scene was a huge cloud of smoke coming from the oil tanks on fire in Dunkirk."

This photo is captioned 'La Panne' however it seems that it is most likely to be the oil refinery to the west of Dunkirk (thanks @dunkirk1940).

The expressions of these POWs show a mixture of fatigue and defiance. I believe these men are from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders,therefore this photograph may have been taken after the fall of St Valery en Caux, but this is an educated guess so feel free to correct me.

Unseen photographs from Dunkirk Part #2

Here are a few more photographs which I have picked up over the years showing Dunkirk and the surrounding areas in the summer of 1940.

Grave of an unknown British soldier, burnt out lorry in the background. The grave has been adorned with flowers, presumably by French civilians.

British and French POWs being marched towards the Belgian border

While the reviews of Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk have been overwhelmingly positive, some criticism as been leveled due to the lack of French troops in the movie. Many of the troops fighting in French uniform were from the French colonies, including Senegal, Mauritania and Niger. German troops, as pictured above, often took photos of these men when captured, as colonial troops were seen as a novelty to the German soldiers. Over 100,000 French colonial soldiers were held captive during the war. However, despite the smiling faces in this picture, tragically some POWs were killed by their captors close to the battlefield. See the review of French Colonial Soldiers in German Captivity during World War II for more details.

 German troops on the beach at Dunkirk next to the remains of a crashed plane. In the distance you can see ships, sunk during the evacuation, and a row of lorries used as a temporary bridge to help soldiers reach ships in deeper water.

German soldiers inspecting abandoned vehicles somewhere near Dunkirk. Whether these have been brought to this location after being removed from roads and ditches is unclear. But the sheer number of vehicles gives an indication of the material left behind. Damage to the original negative obscures the picture slightly.

Captured British officers and men, May/June 1940. The man of the right seems resigned but also defiant as he stares at the camera. To the left are more French colonial POWs.  

The beach at Dunkirk, presumably in June 1940. The Germans have been clearing the beach of material and ammunition boxes have been neatly lined up. Note the four Vickers machine guns which have been recovered. In the distance abandoned lorries and boats rest on the beach.

Unseen photos from Dunkirk

I recently supplied copies of a number of photographs from my collection to the Channel 4 documentary Dunkirk: The New Evidence.

The photographs were all taken by German soldiers either during or shortly after the campaign in France in 1940, and show the destruction in Dunkirk and De Panne (also spelt La Panne), further up the coast.

Read an account from James Horner, a Sapper with 253rd Field Company Royal Engineers, who escaped from De Panne.

These photos were not used in the Channel 4 documentary, but I thought they would be of interest - so I am sharing them here. Comments and corrections to my captions are welcome!

Abandoned boats and vehicles, Dunkirk. June 1940.

Material left on the beach, and washed ashore. Dunkirk, 4th June 1940.

Abandoned vehicles and boats, Dunkirk. May/June 1940.

French Sub-Chaser CH-9, Dunkirk. 4th June 1940.

The beach at Dunkirk after the evacuation. In the background is the French Destroyer L'Adroit. June 1940

German troops investigating burnt out Bedford lorries. De Panne, May/June 1940.

Ambulances and lorries, on the beach front at De Panne May/June 1940.

Abandoned BEF vehicle, De Panne. May/June 1940. Note the rifles.

Abandoned vehicles, including ambulances. De Panne, May/June 1940

British soldiers carrying their belongings, including what appears to be tins of food. This photo was taken by one of the German soldiers who was taking them prisoner. May/June 1940. The rear of the photo is marked 'Engländer'

British & French POWs being marched into captivity, June 1940. The German lorry shows the markings of a Panzer unit.

Four British soldiers who did not make it back home. The rear of the photo is marked 'Calais'.