大象传媒

DUNKIRK : SAVED BY THE MANXMAN 1940

By:
Lance Corporal James Wareing
5th Battalion The Border Regiment TA
Age 22 in 1940.

After elementary training in England we moved from Wiltshire to the centre of France to complete our regimental and brigade training. We were then moved to Belgium to stop the Germans.

We only started the war in France when the Germans had started to attack Belgium. For some reason we were ordered back to defend the border between Belgium and France where the Maginot line ended.

It was then that we found out that we were out numbered, out gunned and out manoeuvred. We had to withdraw into France with orders to get to Dunkirk as soon as possible.

At one point in the withdrawal a Belgian farmer attempted to pass through our lines and across the anti-tank trenches to get back to his land, which was already in German hands. Our lieutenant tried to persuade him not to go back as he would be able to tell the Germans how weak our position was. Equally he could have been a spy. Unfortunately the man continued on his way leaving our lieutenant no option but to shoot him.

As we went through Lille we were told that the Germans were in the next street and we had to move quietly to get away without being discovered.

Later we found out that the British were alone with no one to help us. We had to find our own way to the coast and Dunkirk, the only port open to us. During the march we used to soap our socks to avoid blisters from the continual rubbing inside our boots.

When we got to the port there was no movement of steam ships because it was blocked by those sunk by enemy aircraft. So it was onto the beaches where we found our men waiting to be saved. We were so tired we were almost asleep on our feet. We tried to get some kip but there was no rest for us as the enemy kept bombing continuously.

The first morning we were there we found out that there were several small boats coming in to save us. We were then lined up along a wooden pier. Again the Bosch foiled us.

We were lined up on the mole or harbour wall five abreast (three columns of French and two British) and that was how we were to be loaded on board and we were ALL coming to England. While we were on the mole waiting to be checked in, the man in front of me said that when the Red Cap asks you which regiment you were from you told him you were from the same unit as the man in front. Corporal Light was asked this question and he answered Border Regiment, which was not the regiment of the man in front. The Red Cap stood and told Light to get out of the queue, as he should not be there. There was an argument and the Red Cap drew his pistol and was going to shoot if Light did not get back. Poor Lightfoot did not get home that night.

By this time I had had enough. I told my pal Lance Corporal Hartley we would try to get some sleep on the mole as it was safer there. I had just dropped off to sleep when I was awakened by the noise of running feet. Looking up I saw several officers running to the end of the pier. So off we went to join them. When we got amongst the officers we found that there was a little boat tied up to the pier. There was no one on board until a General appeared who seemed to be in charge. The boat was the size of a large lifeboat.

It was then I scrambled down the wooden pier and jumped on board using skills gained as a child in my hometown of Silloth on the West Cumberland coast. I picked up some rope and started to coil it. The General saw me and asked if I knew anything about sailing. 鈥淵es Sir鈥�, I replied and carried on coiling the rope. 鈥淥K Corporal carry on鈥�, was the reply. I was afraid that an honest response, as I had never sailed, would have got me ordered off the boat.

About ten minutes after that the officers who were still on top of the pier shouted to the General that there was a big ship coming in. I dropped everything and started to climb my way up through the woodwork of the pier. The General climbed up using the ladder at the end of the pier. By the time I got to the top the boat was nearly in, so I jumped on board and called to my friend Hartley to join me. To cut the story short we were both on board and ready for sailing. The two of us had spent two nights around the mole waiting to get away after a march of several days from Belgium and we were finally sailing home. We got clear of the harbour and into the English Channel all within half an hour. During this time I saw a Bren gun and tripod on the bridge so I started to assemble the tripod and place the gun in position just as the General came up again. I was packing equipment around the gun and putting it in good working order. The general seemed pleased with his inspection and said, 鈥淕ood, carry on Corporal鈥�.

We were only half way to Dover when a German dive-bomber flew over us. We were lucky as he was not after us but another ship nearby. He dropped his load and it went straight down the funnel and blew out the bottom of the boat.

We arrived at Dover tired, weary and hungry but the Salvation Army was there to help. We were sent into a park for a night before boarding a train. The Salvation Army provided sandwiches and drinks at many stations en route to Northallerton where the regiment regrouped.

When we checked about our journey across the channel we found out that the ship which brought us back was the Manxman, a ferry working between Liverpool and the Isle of Man. Later we found out that the Manxman had been ordered to Dunkirk by the War Office to pick up 50 officers and was one of the last if not the last large ship to get away.

After graduating from Sandhurst I returned to France as a troop commander in charge of five special tanks. Fighting alongside the Canadians I was involved in retaking the channel ports and silencing the cross channel guns near Calais 鈥� a return which provided a great deal of satisfaction.

Back home after the war the Cumberland and Westmoreland Rugby Union selectors informed me that I would not be adding to my pre-war county caps. As a result I signed for the newly formed Workington Town RLFC who were captained by the legendary Gus Risman. In 1952 I was at Wembley winning the Rugby League Challenge Cup with Workington. Another very satisfying victory several years after a failure.

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