Scenery from Christopher Nolan's film "Dunkirk".

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M.Libert / 20 Minutes

At the heart of history.

In May, Dunkirk should have celebrated with great pomp the 80th anniversary of Operation Dynamo, which saved 338,000 British soldiers from falling into the hands of the German army.

Except that, due to the coronavirus epidemic, all the commemorations have been canceled.

Yet this key WWII episode has seen renewed public interest since the 2017 release of Christopher Nolan's film

Dunkirk

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A popular success from which the city has largely benefited through memory tourism.

It is in this context that the application for smartphones called Operation Dynamo was released in early August.

In mid-May 1940, the meteoric advance of the German army forced the French soldiers and their British allies to fall back towards Dunkirk.

Nearly 500,000 men had to be evacuated by boat to Great Britain to prevent them from being killed or captured by the Germans.

Churchill therefore authorizes Operation Dynamo with the aim of saving 40,000 men.

Evacuation can only be done from the eastern pier of the port or from the beaches, all under bombardment.

What we call the Battle of Dunkirk will have evacuated nearly 340,000 men but will also have caused the destruction of the city at 80%.

Of traces of this episode, there is almost nothing left.

Avatars inspired by real characters

"Thanks to 3D and augmented reality, the application makes it possible to relive scenes of this operation such as the strikes of German planes, the place Jean Bart on fire or re-embarkation scenes", explains Marie-Noëlle Wattier, the screenwriter of the application.

This is done through courses that follow the path of three characters: a little girl, a French soldier and a British soldier.

“We were inspired by people who have existed.

For the little girl, for example, we found letters from a child in which she recounts this period, ”continues the screenwriter.

Graphically, it is very well done, which explains the significant weight of the application and the 18 months of development.

On the other hand, we can only use it in Dunkirk, the assumed goal being to bring people to the site.

But the interest is not only tourist, it is also historical.

“For many, this episode is still considered a defeat.

It is an idea which had been put forward by the propaganda of the Vichy government and which has remained anchored, ”deplores Marie-Noëlle Wattier.

Even in Nolan's film, the role of French soldiers, without whom the operation would have been a failure, is not highlighted.

"Through the character of the French soldier, we want to re-establish the truth about what actually happened," she insists.

The application should soon be enriched with a fourth character (Marcel the fisherman) and, therefore, a new route which extends from Leffrinckoucke to Bray-Dunes.

It is also a question of a feature that will allow the discovery of the last remaining vestiges of Operation Dynamo: the many shipwrecks off the coast.

For the commemorations, it will be on the occasion of the 81st anniversary, in May 2021.

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  • History

  • Second World War

  • Mobile app

  • Dunkirk