大象传媒

During the evacuations at Dunkirk. James was stationed at a village near the town of Lens. They were ordered to march to the coast, where they were to be picked up by boat and taken to England. This march took several days and if they heard the slightest sound of a plane they dived into a hedge or another means of cover since any sign of marching soldiers would be a 鈥渟hoot鈥� sign for and lufwaffe pilot flying overhead.
Eventually James鈥� company arrived at Dunkirk beach. The soldiers were told that no boats were available to take them out to the waiting ships as they were all being used to take the wounded over. So to get on board they would have to wade/swim out.
The water was very deep where the ships were anchored and James couldn鈥檛 swim, but he could float, he also had a very tall friend who towed him as he floated. The only thing he was able to carry was his cornet.
This was the second time James had escaped with nothing but a cornet. During the First World War he was a soldier in Egypt and the boat he was going home on was mined/torpedoed and his cornet was the first, and only thing he could take with him onto the lifeboat (my mother still has it, I think.)
When James eventually arrived back in England, he sent a telegram to his wife (my great grandmother Mary Anne Milne) which said 鈥渂ack safe, not a scratch.鈥� Mary was very puzzled. It did not make any sense untill several days later when it was announced on the radio that the Dunkirk evacuations had taken place

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