They next visited one of the hospitals, where an overworked but friendly English surgeon volunteered a similar suggestion.

Dunkirk, he declared, would give them better opportunities than Calais.
The remainder of the day they spent in getting whatever news had filtered into the city and vainly seeking a competent man for chauffeur.
On the morning of October eleventh they left Calais and proceeded slowly along the buoyed channel that is the only means of approaching the port of Dunkirk by water.

The coast line is too shallow to allow ships to enter from the open sea.
On their arrival at the Flemish city--twelve miles nearer the front than Calais--they found an entirely different atmosphere.

No excitement, no terror was visible anywhere.

The people quietly pursued their accustomed avocations and the city was as orderly as in normal times.
The town was full of Belgians, however, both soldiers and civilians, while French and British troops were arriving hourly in regiments and battalions.