The enormous shroud of fine mineral dust particles now stretches from the Arctic Circle in the north to the French Mediterranean coast in the south, and from Spain into Russia.

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What strikes the author most is the uncertainty and flux of their lives as they and their circle improvised their way through the confusion of French, Spanish and British jurisdictions in the West Indies and America, and through the creeping, morphing status of the British in India.

ECONOMIST: Retracing the steps of one 18th-century Scottish family

On Sunday afternoon the veterans and French and British dignatories attended a ceremony of remembrance at which 60 small ships formed a circle out at sea, while a Lancaster bomber flew over.

BBC: Veterans remember Dunkirk rescue