Corrected entry: In the approach to Dunkirk, Robbie is carrying a pistol, complete with webbing holster. He has no rifle and is carrying a bayonet on his haversack, presumably not having the usual belt frog to carry it more easily. As a Private (this is emphasized in the dialogue) in an infantry regiment, he'd have carried a rifle and not a pistol. Although he might have acquired the pistol during the retreat, he's less likely to have changed his webbing order to match. This may be a deliberate directorial choice. The dialogue emphasizes his natural "officer qualities", and that his prison record has prevented him from becoming one. The wearing of officer's equipment, even if historically inappropriate, also reinforces this and distinguishes him from his comrades.
www.translingua.com.mx
19th Nov 2007
Atonement (2007)
19th Nov 2007
Atonement (2007)
Corrected entry: The BEF was a professional army and was not staffed with conscripted prisoners.
Correction: Robbie wasn't conscripted [forced into service], he was offered parole in exchange for joining the army. He was a free man once he entered the army.
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Correction: It is quite possible that Robbie would be carrying a pistol with appropriate webbing, even though only a private. One commander of a BEF battalion complained that one third of his soldiers were "only armed with pistols" in 1940. Usually this happened when the unit was a motorcycle or armoured unit being used as infantry. Individual privates, eg drivers or despatch riders, might also be equipped with pistols.