Project Description

May 1940. The story of a young visually impaired British man who, frustrated by his inability to enlist, goes to extreme lengths to aid the allied forces entrapped at Dunkirk under Nazi assault.

The British forces are concentrated on the beaches of Dunkirk. Our story begins in a small village in Kent called Dumpton Gap, where an 18-year-old boy named Bobby lives alone with his mother. Bobby suffers from a visual impairment which has prohibited him from enlisting. Instead he works as the local post boy, delivering letters notifying the loss of peers and alike.

On the morning of the 29th of May, Bobby encounters a series of events where he is confronted with the pain of loss, which only builds his frustration at his inability to serve. As the desperate call for boats to help with the evacuation plays out across Britain, Bobby decides to do something extreme. Like so many others, he ventures to the coast to find his vessel, only his vessel is a wooden canoe.

Based on truth, this film is the opening to a feature which follows a young man who paddled to Dunkirk by canoe. He did this three times, rescuing three men.

Written by Isabella Webber

Reference Imagery