The first eyewitness account describes two enemy groups that crossed a canal and were then dealt with while a reserve company restored the battalion's right flank. The officer remembers passing out and next becoming aware of events in a first-aid post beside a badly wounded sergeant major. Even the detail of jellified brandy pills conveys the improvised comforts available amid exhaustion and injury. The passage gives a ground-level view of Dunkirk in which tactical success, physical collapse, and casualty care followed one another almost immediately.
Notable Point · 4:54-5:28
Canal fighting, battlefield casualties, and first aid
A Royal Norfolk officer's testimony moves from restoring a canal flank to waking in a first-aid post, showing how quickly small-unit action became a casualty and medical problem.