Dunkirk: From the Beach to Swanage

The film shot where it happened: filming began on 23 May 2016 in Dunkirk, at the location of the real evacuation, with beach and mole scheduled around the tides. On screen, Tommy flees through the perimeter held by French troops to a beach where thousands await evacuation, then rushes a wounded man on a stretcher onto a hospital ship at the single, vulnerable mole. Street scenes were shot in nearby Malo-les-Bains, since most of Dunkirk's buildings were destroyed in the war. Late in the story, the pilot Farrier glides his Spitfire onto this beach, far beyond the perimeter; a real Spitfire was filmed landing here.

Location precision: The sources name the Dunkirk beach and mole but no exact spot; the pin marks the town's beach at Malo-les-Bains.

Early scenes of the film were shot at Weymouth harbour. In the story, civilian sailor Dawson and his son Peter set out from Weymouth in his boat Moonstone, rather than let the Navy commandeer her. Moonstone was a small 1930s motor yacht that served for six weeks of filming. The harbour forms the mouth of the River Wey as it enters the English Channel; the current harbour started to develop in the 12th and 13th centuries. Today it is home to pleasure boats and private yachts.

Visitor guidance: A working harbour with pleasure boats and private yachts.

The Channel crossing was filmed on a lake. Production spent four weeks in Urk, a Dutch town on the IJsselmeer with the largest fishing fleet in the Netherlands, and Moonstone's most demanding scenes, with up to sixty people on a boat designed for fewer than ten, were shot on the lake to avoid the challenge of the Dunkirk tides. In the story, the crew save an officer shell-shocked after surviving a U-boat sinking, and Peter pulls the pilot Collins from his sinking Spitfire. The film's aircraft flew to Urk from Lelystad Airport.

Location precision: The sources name Urk and the IJsselmeer but no exact mooring or stretch of water; the pin marks Urk's harbour.

The pilots' cockpit scenes were filmed far from Dunkirk. The cast members Hardy and Lowden spent the final stages of the shoot on a cliffside in Palos Verdes, inside purpose-built cockpit gimbals, and the production spent two weeks at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center and Lighthouse in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. On screen, the pilot Farrier, knowing his fuel is running out, decides to keep flying to chase down German aircraft. The lighthouse is closed to the public, but its grounds are open on the second Saturday of each month.

Visitor guidance: The lighthouse is closed to the public; grounds are open every second Saturday of the month, 10am to 3pm.

The journey home ends here. In the story, Tommy and Alex board a train with the other evacuees, and are heralded by the public on their arrival at Woking, not shunned as they feared. The final scenes of the film were shot at Swanage railway station, on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset. The passenger station, goods shed and locomotive facilities have been restored to their 1937 configuration, and the Swanage Railway began a steam service at the Swanage end of the line in 1982.

Visitor guidance: A station of the Swanage Railway, restored to its 1937 configuration.