大象传媒

My dad is just an ordinary bloke but he's got a special story to tell. He won't tell it though because it upsets him too much so I'm going to try and do it for him. I hope I do him and all his pals justice!

My dad was born in 1918 in Hull and by the time he was called up as part of the BEF he was married to my mum, Mary and had a son. When war was declared they were all at the Beverley barracks at an open day. The families were all sent home immediately. Within days dad and his pals were sent to a place called Morgesbury Manor for further training. My dad was a bren gun carrier driver and by then was a corporal.

I don't know where he disembarked but he said that the king came to inspect them and he certainly landed at Cherbourg. They eventually made their way to Northern France and he was billeted at a town called Anoulin. When the Germans invaded Belgium they moved up and after the inevitable fighting the East Yorkshire regiment found itself on the road to Dunkirk.

Dad said that it was awful because all the refugees were blocking up the roads and the German stuka bombers were firing on the people. He and the other bren gun carrier drivers took their carriers down into the fields to try to keep moving. He said that it was terrible to leave the people but they had their orders. Where they could they tried to get the people to come off the roads but there were so many of them. It was only recently that he told us that he had seen women and babies blown up.

When they got to Bray dunes they were told by their officer to throw hand grenades into the carriers so that they Germans couldn't make use of them. This really seemed to upset dad. They were then told to get onto the beaches and it was every man for himself. I think he must have been amongst the last to get to the beaches. Dad has never been too specific about what happened next but he certainly saw friends and refugees blown up. He said that they would try to dig into the dunes and get in when the stukas came over. He said the sound was the most frightening thing!

He met up with another pal from the East Yorks and they joined a group of men who were being marshalled out into the sea. By this time he had decide he would try to swim back if he had to, he just wanted to get home to my mum and his baby son. They were in full kit with back packs and rifles around them. They came up to a coggy boat being manned by a merchant sea man. The lad in front of my dad was only small and as he tried to get on board he was taken under. My dad went under for him but couldn't see him. He puuled himself onto the boat and as he came over the side of the baot the sailor took a knife to his backpack and threw it into the sea. Dad was furious because he had presents in it for my mum and brother. But it was simple- the weight of the backpacks was the weight of another man. My dad helped the sailor get more men on board and they all threw their packs into the sea. They got 15 men onto the boat which took them out to a tawler called the SUN Four and dad and his pal got on board. They found a corner and drank a bottle of rum between them! At about this time they saw a hospital ship attacked by the stukas and the entire ship went up! By his own adnmission they were terrified.

They landed at Ramsgate and as they came down the plank officers were waiting for them. One said to my dad "soldier where is ypour gun? You should have brought it back" to which my dad replied "it's at the bottom of the ------- sea and you get it if you want it!" My dad was put on a charge!

For many years my dad would not talk about Dunkirk and we only pieced the stroy bit by bit. Eventually when he was getting older he decided to join the DUnkirk veterans in Hull and he and my mum would go on the annual pilgrimage. At the 50th anniversary he was chosen to lay the wreath for the East Yorkshire regiment. Some time after my mum died and he said he would never go back. He gave me all his memorabilia of the war which included a simple postcard sent from Ramsgate on the 2nd June printed SAFE IN ENGLAND and a qick scribble saying "hello sweetheart".

About a year ago now we conned dad into to going with my husband and I to Belgium and whislt there he decided to go visiting. We got the map out and found Anoulin and we even found the house where he had been billetted and where he used to take the washing! We went to Bray dunes and Dunkirk and we found the East Yroks pals who were buried at the Dunkirk cemetary. I think dad has laid his ghosts to rest. He says he will not go back.

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