Abandoned equipment on the beach at Dunkirk, 1940

Photograph, World War Two (1939-1945), 1940.

German propaganda photograph of British equipment and vehicles, including carriers, abandoned on the beach after the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940.

Although around 450,000 British and French troops were evacuated from Dunkirk, Cherbourg and Brest in June 1940, the British Expeditionary Force suffered 68,000 casualties. Most of its equipment, including 64,000 vehicles, 20,000 motorcycles and 2,500 guns, was also lost.