NEW light has been shed on the astonishing story of the Miracle of Dunkirk in a TV documentary featuring a Barnsley historian.
Paul Reed, 50, of Birchin Bank, Elsecar, was one of the main historical advisors and an on screen presenter in Dunkirk: The New Evidence, shown on Channel 4 on Sunday night.
Analysis of recently declassified photographs, interviews with survivors and relatives of survivors as well as the discovery of previously unreleased photographs helped build a colourful picture of the dramatic rescue of more than 300,000 soldiers stranded on Belgian beaches as Hitler’s army pressed into Europe in 1940.
The Royal Navy and a flotilla of small ships - including civilian vessels crewed by volunteers - performed a daring rescue. But there was at the time a feeling the RAF had been no help at all while the men on the beach were bombed from above and shelled and shot from behind by the Germans.
“The photographs and new information really show the true level of casualties and destruction,” said Paul.
