--- title: Dunkirk: See Footage and Photos of Real WWII Evacuation description: Relatively few photos exist of the real events behind the movie, but it's still clear from what does exist that those days were harrowing. canonical: https://time.com/4864460/dunkirk-evacuation-photos/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-21T13:00:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:08.663Z article:section: History og:title: Dunkirk: See Footage and Photos of Real WWII Evacuation og:description: Relatively few photos exist of the real events behind the movie, but it's still clear from what does exist that those days were harrowing og:url: https://time.com/4864460/dunkirk-evacuation-photos/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32bdb0845d5027cd/6988d647fb4eac624f892f94/battle-of-dunkirk-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1543 og:image:height: 868 og:image:alt: Battle of Dunkirk og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Dunkirk: See Footage and Photos of Real WWII Evacuation twitter:description: Relatively few photos exist of the real events behind the movie, but it's still clear from what does exist that those days were harrowing twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32bdb0845d5027cd/6988d647fb4eac624f892f94/battle-of-dunkirk-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See Harrowing Footage of the Real Evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940 > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Dunkirk - Archival Footage [Watch (HLS stream): Dunkirk - Archival Footage](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/my2pOFFk.m3u8) (1:15)  _Published 2017-07-20. See archival footage from Dunkirk, courtesy of the Imperial War Museum_ by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Jul 21, 2017 1:00 PM UTC  Members of Royal Ulster Rifles waiting on improvised pier of lorries to evacuate Dunkirk during low tide. Members of Royal Ulster Rifles waiting on improvised pier of lorries to evacuate Dunkirk during low tide. H.E.N. Bredin/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Jul 21, 2017 1:00 PM UTC Though the characters in Christopher Nolan’s new film [_Dunkirk_](http://time.com/4864051/dunkirk-review) are fictional, the events among which they find themselves are based on a very real moment in World War II history, and the daring rescue of British forces who had reached a point of no return after fleeing from a German blitz in May of 1940\. Relatively few photographs made it out of [Operation Dynamo ](http://ti.me/2ubwWvJ)but it’s clear from what does exist — a sampling of which can be seen above — that those days in Dunkirk were harrowing ones. And, though photographic and video documentation of the real events may be sparse, some of the actual artifacts of that time have been well preserved. For example, some of the most memorable scenes in the film involve [Tom Hardy as a Spitfire pilot sparring with Germans ](http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-reviews/dunkirk-review-tom-hardy-soars-10777042)and the “little ships” that helped to rescue British forces — one such real Spitfire plane and little ship can be found in the collection of the [Imperial War Museums,](http://www.iwm.org.uk/) from whose collection the archival video footage below is also taken.  Tamzine was the smallest vessel to participate in the Dunkirk evacuation and is now on display at IWM London. Courtesy of Imperial War Museums The fishing boat pictured at left, Tamzine, was one of more than 1,000 “little ships” that civilians provided to ferry stranded men from the shallow beach at Dunkirk to the bigger Navy ships parked in a deeper part of the English Chanel between May 26, 1940, to June 4, 1940\. Midway through the evacuation, the Germans Luftwaffe carried out air raids — as if the rescue effort hadn’t already been harrowing enough — and the Spitfire pictured below was shot down on a French beach, where it was covered by sand and not dug up for about 50 years. (It was restored to good condition before being displayed.)  This Spitfire flew its first and only mission at Dunkirk – after shooting down an enemy dive-bomber, the Spitfire was itself shot down and crash landed on a French beach. Courtesy of Imperial War Museums John Delaney, one of the museum’s experts on the collection, explains that at that point in the war, the British armed forces hadn’t gotten together an effective system of propaganda newsreels. As a result, news cameraman Charles Martin of the news agency Pathé is said to have been the only one documenting the event, and because when he joined in to help with the evacuation there are few photos in general of the operation. “All these guys were abandoning everything they had, any worldly possessions, to get on the boat and get out, because they didn’t want the boats to get weighed down with their cameras,” says Delaney. “You’d expect it’d be the Army who would save the civilians, in this case it was the civilians who saved the Army.”  Members of Royal Ulster Rifles waiting on improvised pier of lorries to evacuate Dunkirk during low tide. H.E.N. Bredin/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Two of the many small boats which helped to bring the Allied troops in the emergency evacuation across the English Channel from Dunkirk, France, are shown on June 4, 1940 in World War II. AP Photo  A dense smoke rising several thousand feet marks a burning oil tank destroyed by the Royal Air Force at Dunkirk, France, on June 5, 1940. AP Photo  As bombs were bursting and Nazi machine-gun bullets were raining down on the beach at Dunkirk soldiers took what cover they could find in the unprotected sands. Rescuers help a soldier aboard in France on June 8, 1940. AP Photo  Soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force wade through shallow water to a rescue vessel that will take them back to England from Nazi-occupied Dunkirk, France, on June 13, 1940. AP Photo  A British soldier napping in rear guard action covering the withdrawal of BEF troops at Dunkirk, France on June 13, 1940\. One shoe has been removed by the soldier who piled into the bottom of a hastily constructed trench. AP Photo  Thousands of troops poured into England during the night, after heroically fighting their way out of Northern France and Belgium. French troops with the dog they rescued, seen during a halt at a wayside station on June 24, 1940\. A large number of dogs have been brought over by the gallant Allied soldiers. 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