1940 DUNKIRK | WAR IN WESTERN EUROPE | EXCLUSIVE PRIVATE COLOR FOOTAGE

This time travel takes you to one of the most famous scenes of World War II. It is the summer of 1940, when a German soldier uses an 8mm camera to film what remains of one of the greatest rescue operations of the war. On this day, the German amateur filmmaker films the only known color footage of Dunkirk in 1940. Timetravelfootage has digitized the original film reels in 2K. They are still in excellent condition. The footage gives an idea of the drama that took place on the beach at Dunkirk.

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If you are interested in our footage, please write to [email protected].

Diese Zeitreise führt zu einer der denkwürdigsten Momente des Zweiten Weltkriegs. Es ist der Sommer 1940, als ein deutscher Soldat mit einer 8-mm-Kamera filmt, was von einer der größten Rettungsaktionen des Krieges übrig geblieben ist. Es sind die eizigen bekannten Farbaufnahmen von Dünkirchen im Jahr 1940. Timetravelfootage hat die Originalfilmrollen in 2K digitalisiert. Die Filme sind immer noch in ausgezeichnetem Zustand. Die Aufnahmen vermitteln einen intensiven Eindruck vom Drama, das sich am Strand von Dünkirchen abspielte, als die britische Expeditionsarmee erfolgreich evakuiert wurde, bevor deutsche Truppen Dünkirchen erreichten.

Historian Arnulf Scriba of the German Historical Museum in Berlin writes about the historical background: "After the German advance through the Ardennes, which came as a surprise to the Allies, tank units under Heinz Guderian reached the French Channel coast on May 20, 1940. At the same time, the German Army Group B in the north continued its unstoppable advance through Belgium. The Wehrmacht thus cut off hundreds of thousands of soldiers from French and British forces in Flanders and along the Belgian-French Channel coast from all rearward communications a few days after the start of its western offensive. At Dunkirk, therefore, one of the largest rescue operations of World War II began on May 26 to remove British and French units from the grasp of the Wehrmacht.

Adolf Hitler and the generals of the Wehrmacht were surprised by the speed of the German advance. There was disagreement about how to proceed. While the commander-in-chief of the army, Walther von Brauchitsch, as well as Chief of the General Staff Franz Halder, urged a devastating decisive strike by German armored forces against the cut-off Allies, Hitler tactics were cautious. He acknowledged a hold order on May 24, 1940, from the commander in chief of Army Group A, Gerd von Rundstedt, who wanted to spare his panzer units and regroup them. Hitler also relied on Hermann Göring's full-throated announcements that the German Air Force could eliminate enemy formations without Army support.

The halt order allowed the encircled British Expeditionary Corps and French units to retreat to Dunkirk for evacuation by sea through the only port still accessible to them. When the German side realized the British intentions to evacuate, Hitler immediately put the tanks back into action. However, the Germans encountered a deeply staggered Allied defense system at Dunkirk, behind which one of the largest rescue operations of World War II began on May 26, involving boats of all shapes and sizes. Despite German air attacks, by June 4 nearly 370,000 Allied soldiers, including some 139,000 French, had been evacuated to England from the port of Dunkirk and surrounding beaches, leaving behind their heavy weapons. They formed the basis for the rebuilding of the British Expeditionary Corps as well as for a French exile army under General Charles de Gaulle, who were to play a decisive role in the liberation of France after the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944."