At the age of 17, Elaine was engaged to Belgian officer Edgar Callant. However, her life in Belgium was disrupted when the Second World War spread to the country with the German Invasion of France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Together with her 19 year old Aunt, Simone Duponselle, she set off for the coast where the pair took part in the Dunkirk Evacuation. Sheltering in a barn they were discovered by three British soldiers, Knocker, Smudger and Gary. Although another source has the soldiers passing them in a car and offering a lift. The five made their way to Dunkirk together. Elaine recalled, "When we got to Dunkirk about 11pm, the whole place was on fire. I’ve never seen anything like it, even in films. I thought my last moment had come.” Knocker and Smudger gave the women their great coats and tin helmets to disguise them as soldiers. The three men stood around them to help Elaine and Simone blend in. Gary told them, "Say you're the Dorsets, if you're challenged". Elaine remembered they wore "greatcoats, tin hats, gas masks, everything except the trousers”. The women were spotted when climbing down a rope ladder into a trawler, given away when their legs were noticed. However, the captain gave them his cabin when she said she was English. Upon reaching the United Kingdom Elaine stayed with her aunt in Streatham.