Colorized Photos Bring the Real Dunkirk Evacuation to Life

1 minute read

The World War II evacuation of Dunkirk — the subject of Christopher Nolan’s critically-acclaimed new film — remains a memorable moment in European and world history, largely for the fact that civilians successfully helped rescue members of the British armed forces when they were nearly trapped by Nazi forces in May of 1940. Only 30,000 to 45,000 were expected to be rescued, but more than 300,000 troops were able to get off the beach.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the situation, relatively few photographs of the operation on the beach exist. But there are a few, which help capture the danger of that moment in time.

To mark the film’s release, TIME commissioned freelance photo editor Sanna Dullaway — who has previously worked with photos of women’s suffrage marches, Pearl Harbor and much more — to colorize images of the evacuation.

Sanna Dullaway is a photo editor based in Sweden. See more of her work here.

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Crew members of the French destroyer Bourrasque, sunk by mine at Dunkirk, are hauled aboard a British vessel from their sinking life-raft. Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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Crew members of the French destroyer Bourrasque, sunk by mine at Dunkirk, are hauled aboard a British vessel from their sinking life-raft. Hulton Archive/Getty Images; Colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME
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A member of the German Wehrmacht looks through a pair of binoculars on French and British prisoners of war in the harbour of Dunkirk on the Western Front in France in June 1940.Berliner Verlag/Archiv/AP
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A member of the German Wehrmacht looks through a pair of binoculars on French and British prisoners of war in the harbour of Dunkirk on the Western Front in France in June 1940.Berliner Verlag/Archiv/AP; Colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME
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Members of Royal Ulster Rifles waiting on improvised pier of lorries to evacuate Dunkirk during low tide.March Of Time/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Members of Royal Ulster Rifles waiting on improvised pier of lorries to evacuate Dunkirk during low tide.March Of Time/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images; Colorization by Sanna Dullaway for TIME

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Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com