Investigated by Nicholas Harman
Forty years ago, during nine days of May/June 1940, the British Army in France was evacuated from Dunkirk. It was a brilliant escape from a military defeat. Ever since, the ' Dunkirk spirit' has become part of our national mythology-a particularly British catchword for muddling out of disaster with a stiff upper lip and a strong cup of tea.
But this investigation is not a military history; it looks instead at the creation of a legend and reveals that the truth we think we all know about Dunkirk is not quite the truth after all.
Those taking part include: GENERALMAJOR HEINZ GUDERIAN, French historian
JACQUES MORDAL and Dunkirk veterans in Britain
Film cameraman MARTIN PATMORE Film recordist GRAHAM HARE Film editor DAVID THOMAS
Produced by HARRY HASTINGS