The War and Robbie's Survival

Chronicles Robbie Turner's harrowing retreat to Dunkirk, his physical and psychological ordeal, and his ultimate death.

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Robbie joins the army

A New Life in Uniform From Prison to Soldier After serving three and a half years for a crime he did not commit, Robbie is released and immediately conscripted into the British Army. He is assigned to the Royal Army Service Corps as a private. The army offers anonymity and a chance to rebuild his life. The Burden of the Past Robbie's prison record prevents him from becoming an officer. He is older and more educated than his fellow soldiers, but he keeps his past hidden. The experience of prison has hardened him; he is determined to survive and return to Cecilia. Training and Waiting Robbie trains in England, writing to Cecilia every week. The war seems distant at first—a "phoney war" of boredom and drills. He volunteers for French liaison work, using his language skills. In early 1940, he is sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force.

The retreat begins

The Collapse The German Breakthrough In May 1940, the German army invades France and the Low Countries. The British Expeditionary Force is outflanked and forced to retreat. Robbie's unit is caught in the chaos. He loses his rifle and is separated from his regiment during a Stuka attack. The Leg in the Tree During the retreat, Robbie sees a child's leg wedged in a plane tree—a severed limb, clean and pale. This image haunts him, symbolizing the innocent lives destroyed by war. He cannot forget it, even as he struggles to survive. The Wound Robbie is wounded by shrapnel in his side. The wound becomes infected, but he cannot stop to treat it. He must keep moving toward the coast. The pain is constant, a reminder of his mortality. He binds it with a strip of his shirt and presses on.

Traveling with Mace and Nettle

Unlikely Companions The Corporals Robbie falls in with two corporals from the RASC: Mace, a big, strong man from Heal's furniture store, and Nettle, a small, sharp-featured Cockney. They are lost in the French countryside and depend on Robbie's map-reading and French. They call him "guv'nor" to avoid the awkwardness of rank. The Bonnet Farm They stop at a farm run by the Bonnet brothers, Henri and Jean-Marie. The brothers' mother is a bitter old woman who hates soldiers. Despite the tension, the brothers share food and wine. They talk about the dead they have seen. The encounter is a brief respite of humanity in the midst of war. The Pig and the Gypsy Near Bray Dunes, Robbie and Nettle capture a pig for an old gypsy woman in exchange for water. The episode is almost surreal—a moment of absurdity that breaks the grim monotony. Robbie's fever is rising, and his thoughts become disordered. He clings to the memory of Cecilia's letter.

The road to Dunkirk

The Long March The Column of Refugees Robbie and the corporals join the mass of soldiers and civilians fleeing toward the coast. The road is clogged with abandoned vehicles, dead horses, and desperate people. They pass a shoe shop where a woman is calmly trying on shoes, oblivious to the chaos—a surreal contrast. The Stuka Attacks The Luftwaffe attacks the column repeatedly. Robbie helps a Flemish woman and her child, but they are killed by a bomb. He survives by throwing himself into a furrow. The horror accumulates: bodies, burning oil, the constant threat of death. Crossing the Canal They reach the Bergues-Furnes canal, the last defensive line before Dunkirk. Robbie pretends to be wounded to avoid being conscripted into the rearguard. They cross the bridge and continue toward the beach. The oil cloud from burning fuel tanks marks their destination.

The beach at Bray Dunes

The End of the Road The Sight of the Sea Robbie and Nettle finally reach the beach at Bray Dunes. Thousands of soldiers are waiting, but there are no boats. The scene is one of chaos and despair: men wandering aimlessly, a football game, a hymn being sung. The navy is not yet organized. The Bar and the RAF Man They go into a bar where soldiers are beating an RAF man, blaming him for the lack of air cover. Mace rescues the man by pretending to drown him, then escapes. Robbie and Nettle find shelter in a cellar. Robbie's fever worsens; he rambles about going back to bury the boy from the tree. The Final Night Nettle tells Robbie that the navy is coming in the morning. Robbie drifts in and out of consciousness, thinking of Cecilia. He remembers her words: "I'll wait for you. Come back." He falls asleep, believing he will be evacuated. But his wound is septic, and he dies during the night.

1939, after release from prison

May 1940

late May 1940

late May 1940

late May 1940