Smoking in the non-smoking part of a train

Dad was a civilian and it appears that at the time no one really new what was going on across the channel at Dunkirk. He was travelling on a train - may have been out of Dover - and at one station loads of dishevelled and very tired looking soldiers got on. They piled into the compartments and Dad and other passengers moved into the train corridors, giving up their seats for them. Several soldiers sat in a non-smoking compartment and one lit up a cigarette. Another civilian who was still sitting in the compartment complained and pointed out it was non-smoking. At this point a sergeant spoke to both - ORDERING the soldier to have his smoke and informing the civilian to shut up or he'd be off the train! According to Dad, expletives splattered the sergeant's communication, as if from the machine guns the poor fellows had recently left behind - - -.

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