| A merchant sailor assists a wounded British soldier up the gangplank from a destroyer. French poilu (“soldiers”) are behind them. The United Kingdom Home Admiralty returned 5 modern destroyers to Royal Navy Admiral Bertram H. Ramsay’s (January 20 1883 – January 2, 1945) control on May 30, reviving the Dunkirk evacuation effort. Throughout the day, 53,823 soldiers, including 8,616 French pools, successfully made the transit from Dunkirk to Dover aboard Operation Dynamo’s ships. Captain Humphrey E. N. “Bala” Bredin (March 28, 1916 – March 2, 2005) of the Royal Ulster Rifles recalled, “We arrived at Dover, and the only thing I remember after that wa waking up in a train at a place called Headcorn in Kent where the women almost gave us a party. They invaded the train with tea, coffee and buns. It was as if we were a victorious army, and it rather embarrassed us. We felt, damn it, we’d run away.” | |
| Image Filename | wwii0381.jpg |
| Image Size | 2.36 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 4162 x 4998 |
| Photographer | Malindine R. Puttnum |
| Photographer Title | War Office official photographer |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | May 31, 1940 |
| Location | |
| City | Dover |
| State or Province | Kent |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Archive | Imperial War Museum |
| Record Number | H 1622 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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