Next week marks 86 years since Operation Dynamo: the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk during the Second World War. But beyond the history that we all know lies a far more complex human story.

Beginning inside the wartime tunnels beneath Dover Castle, Amy Matthews is joined by English Heritage historian Dr Kathryn Bedford alongside Yves Janssen and Gautier Jacqmaire from the Dunkirk 1940 Museum to explore the pressure, fear and exhaustion experienced on both sides of the Channel.

From sleepless radio operators and WRENs in Dover to French soldiers waiting under bombardment on the beaches themselves, this episode reinterprets Dunkirk through personal stories, oral histories and different national perspectives.

From Britain’s story of rescue and survival to France’s memory of loss and defeat, we look at how Dunkirk has been remembered differently across generations and national borders, as well as why reinterpretation matters and how revisiting familiar stories can deepen our understanding of the past.

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Visit Dover Castle: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/dover-castle/

Musée Dunkerque 1940: http://www.dynamo-dunkerque.com/

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