#Dunkirk80: At this time 1940 the Battle of the Dunkirk Perimeter was in full swing. It covered a much larger area than most imagine, crossing into Belgium, & large numbers of French troops were a linchpin of the defence. [thread]

#Dunkirk80: Back in February myself & @BattlefieldBen & @airbornemedic23 drove the Dunkirk Perimeter. This is Bergues on the Western corner of the perimeter defended by 1st Loyals.

#Dunkirk80: we then followed the Bergues-Furnes Canal. At Warhem we visited graves of men killed in the defence of this sector in May 1940.

#Dunkirk80: further graves from this sector were also found at West-Cappell.

#Dunkirk80: This is a typical section of the Bergues-Furnes Canal with British positions on the left bank. All bridges across it were blown.

#Dunkirk80: we then continued to the Belgian border where this French frontier line bunker was used by 1/Dukes in May 1940.

#Dunkirk80: the dead from this sector are buried in nearby Hondschoote.

#Dunkirk80: Across the border in Belgium we then visited communal cemeteries around Veurne which contain casualties from the defence here in May 1940.

#Dunkirk80: then at La Panne we visited the large cemetery here, often overlooked but many Dunkirk graves here.

#Dunkirk80: La Panne was also the location of Gort’s HQ during Op Dynamo but all that remains of it is this plaque in the town hall.

#Dunkirk80: then ending by travelling onto the beach at La Panne, this was one of the main evacuation beaches in May 1940 until these positions gradually fell to the Germans.