On 27th May 1940, with the Battle of France all but lost, one of the greatest undertakings of the Second World War began: the evacuation of Dunkirk.

Nine days later, the hastily assembled armada of over eight hundred vessels had rescued nearly 340,000 Allied soldiers from across the Channel and brought them back to England.

A prominent memory in the U.K., sometimes the contribution of the French, Dutch and Belgians alongside the Royal Navy, Merchant Navy and other ship owners is overlooked, as are the pocket defences that distracted attention from Dunkirk, at Calais, Lille and Amiens.

In ‘The Epic of Dunkirk’ Chatterton does not merely tell one story but many, drawn from these different viewpoints: only when woven together can the memory we know be produced.

A keen sailor and former serviceman, Chatterton’s account of the “Miracle of Dunkirk” is a rare narrative history, not only easily accessible but offering a detailed, informed insight.

Edward Keble Chatterton (1878-1944) was a sailor and prolific writer from Sheffield. His voyages across the English Channel, to the Netherlands, around the Mediterranean and through the French canals led to many articles and books. Joining the R.N.V.R. at the outbreak of WWI he commanded a motor launch flotilla, leaving the service in 1919 as a Lieutenant Commander. Between the wars his output included works about model ships, juvenile novels, and narrative histories of naval events; from 1939, his writing focused upon WWII.