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This story has been submitted by Alison Tebbutt, Derby CSV Action Desk on behalf of Allan Orme. The author has given his permission.

This story is part two of www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ww2/a7187277

On reaching the beach we were astonished to see thousands of troops, some lined up into the sea waiting to get into small boats, which in turn took them to larger vessels. We three reported to an officer who asked what regiment we belonged to, and when we told him Sherwood Foresters he said they had gone two days and we should have to wait until some more came as he had to keep the various regiments together. Meanwhile the German bombers were having a field day. There were no RAF planes anywhere to be seen and the German bombers came so low we could see the pilots and the bombs as they left the plane, they were machine gunning us as we dived for cover in the sand. Those who had ammunition were firing at the planes, with very little success. All we could do was lie in the sand and pray and hope for the best.

The three of us were very hungry so we decided to go on to the promenade and look for something to eat, but there had been many others with the same idea and we couldn’t find anything edible. The bombs were dropping too frequently so we dived down a cellar and looking round we found a bottle of Pernod Fils. Tasting it we found it rather nice so we drank the whole lot, and that really put new life into us, in fact we were ready to take on the whole German Army, but on going back to the beach we fell asleep until the next morning, and were awakened by the bombers attacking us again. The weather was quite warm so it was no hardship spending the night on the sands, in fact we had not had any sleep for three or four days, and were so exhausted we could have slept anywhere, especially after drinking that Pernod.

Going further down the coast we reported to another officer who asked which regiment, this time we said Staffordshire (we had seen some Staffordshire lads go through) and he told us to join a queue which was lined up for the boats. After moving slowly and getting nearer the boats which would take us to the larger vessels, the water was up to our necks, and we were all hanging on to each other in case the waves knocked us over, but we hung on expecting to get on the next boat. As the sailors who were rowing the boat got nearer they called out ‘Sorry, they can’t take any more on this trip.’ We were to wait for another ship coming in, so it was back onto the beach once more. Our friend who had cut his hand on the bully beef can was jumping around as the salt water got into the wound, so we put on a fresh dressing and he had no more trouble with it afterwards.

Eventually a large ship was seen coming in and we prepared to get in the sea and line up for the rowing boats again, but at the same time the Luftwaffe spotted the ship and started bombing and machine gunning it. The ship and some of the small boats were hit and put out of action, which meant a fresh start once more. The stretcher bearers were very busy taking the wounded about a mile down the coast from us to a hospital ship which was moored by a jetty. It was a large ship with large red crosses on it, unmistakably a hospital ship, but that didn’t stop the Germans from bombing it. Throughout that day and during the night we tried to get on a boat and having no luck decided to go down the coast to the jetty as soon as it was light. The enemy were on the outsides of Dunkirk, and were being held by a brigade of guards supported by anti tank guns, but their big guns were dropping shells on the beaches which was worse than the bombing, as one never knew when or where they were going to drop, whereas when one heard the planes coming it was time to get in a hole in the sand and stay there where one was reasonably safe unless there was a direct hit. Even so there were some terrible sights of casualties of men who had been blown up, and many were sick at seeing such things before their remains could be buried in the sands.

On the promenade were the remains of horses which were victims of the bombing and the stench from them was sickening. The French soldiers had been using horses for pulling their big guns whilst the Germans were all mechanised, which really showed why we were being pushed back, we were not prepared for a war like this. In fact before we went to France we were told that most of the German tanks were made of wood to give the impression they had a large number of them, but we soon realised the truth when we were shooting at them and the bullets were flying off. This war was going to last a lot longer than we thought before we left home.

Now looking down the beach at Dunkirk there were fires burning and large oil installations which had been bombed were giving off thick black smoke and we were making our way in that direction towards the jetty where we hoped to get on one of the ships taking the troops away. Once again we gave an officer in charge the name of our Regiment and he let us through to join hundreds of others all waiting for a boat. A destroyer was coming in and tying up and things were looking better for us when a bomber came over, there was nothing we could do on the jetty but lie down and hope for the best. The destroyer opened up with anti aircraft guns and the bomber wheeled away and dropped his bombs, one of which fell on the jetty which left a gapping hole. There were soon long planks spanning the gap, but when we came to cross them we could see the carnage that had been done by one bomb, dozens of men had been lying there a few minutes before.

We dashed across over the planks and could see the destroyer beginning to pull away from the jetty so we ran and jumped and were pulled in by the sailors, we were very lucky to make it, some were not so lucky as they fell between the quay and the ship. The sailors took our rifles and threw them in the sea saying they could not carry them any extra weight as they were already overloaded. The decks were really crowded and we thought how fortunate we were to be going back across the English Channel, but even then the bombers came again dropping bombs all around us. The Navy were firing at the aircraft and this must have distracted them because once again we came through unscathed and were lucky to get away. There were boats of all sizes coming and going between Dover and Dunkirk but they were not all as fortunate as us.

We were given bread by the sailors and as we had not had anything to eat since we had the bully beef three days previously we thought it was great, they baked it themselves on the ship, so it was really fresh. Apparently they had been making trips across the Channel for many days, bringing troops out and they said they had been baking bread non atop because all the men wanted something to eat and it didn’t seem to matter that there was nothing to put on the bread.

On reaching Dover we were taken to the railway station where we met by ladies of the Salvation Army who were serving cups of tea to the men as they got to the train, they also gave us a post card to address and sign, then they stamped them and sent them home, which was very good. Our people back at home were hearing about the evacuation from Dunkirk but they didn’t know who were being brought out, or where we were, so the cars sent out by the Salvation Army were most welcome, at least they knew we were in England. We were eventually taken to a camp on Salisbury Plain where we got cleaned up and were able to eat and sleep for two or three days whilst the authorities tried to find out where the 2/5 Battalion Sherwood Foresters were.

They were eventually located at Belle Vue Manchester were we were promptly despatched to join them. They were wondering where we had got to as they had been back in England days before us, but the officers who had sent us to guard the bridge knew very well where we had been, and they had not sent anyone to relieve us because they had made their way to Dunkirk. Sgt Creswick also joined up with the rest of the Battalion in Manchester and when he asked why we had not heard any more from our officers at the bridge in Teteghem he could not get an answer.

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