- Contributed by听
- billyw
- People in story:听
- WILLIAM ERNEST WIDER
- Location of story:听
- DUNKIRK BEACHES
- Background to story:听
- Army
- Article ID:听
- A2325106
- Contributed on:听
- 21 February 2004
My name is William Ernest Wider (commonly known as Bill). I am 83 years old and was fighting the rear guard action in the days leading up to the evacuation from Dunkirk. I was a gunner and tank driver.
When we finally arrived at the evacuation area thousands of troops had already gone, my division was one of the last to arrive. We had to join the lines of men waiting for the boats to take us to the waiting ships. I remember being very close to the front of the line, perhaps only 4 or 5 men in front of me. That was when my world fell apart. The commanding officer on board the boat shouted out that the boat couldn't take any more men, it was full to capacity and not only that, but the ship would be the last one to leave the evacuation. We just stood there feeling absolutely devastated.
I trooped back out of the water, which had been waist deep and made my way back to the beach. There seemed to be no hope with the Germans approaching and the constant gunfire. All we could do was try to bed down for the night ahead.
The following morning my mate Sammy noticed some men trying to board an old flat bottomed sail barge which had been beached. We made our way over and managed to climb on board. The top of the boat was only about 2 feet above the level of the sea and the threat of capsizing was a real problem. We tried to ditch as much as we could to float the vessel higher in the water.
It seemed to take forever for the boat to float as we waited for the incoming tide, but eventually we were adrift. With the engine of the boat refusing to work properly some of the men put up the sail and after many anxious hours we managed to get away from the beaches.
It took 2 or 3 days for us to make our way across an unusually flat channel, just as well it was very calm due to how low we were in the water. The fact it was a flat bottomed vessel also made all the difference, as when we were finally picked up by a royal navy ship about 15 miles from the English coast, we were told we had come through a mine field!
It was all a terrifying experience and I often wonder how we ever made it back at all. I suppose I was lucky because a lot never made it back.
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