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Volunteers were asked to stay behind and hold back the German army and allow the British army to withdraw from Dunkirk. My father was one of six who stepped forward - it was a suicide mission and the Red Cross were told to pack up and leave.

Below is my father's account of what happened:-

'10th June 1940 - All that was left of the Platoon at about 2 p.m. outside Venables and after all other support for us had been either overcome or withdrawn, comprised of;-

1 Platoon Sgt Major
1 Lance Sergeant
1 Corporal
3 Privates

(names withheld)

Weapons - each had a rifle. 3 Bren Guns, still in good order. All other weapons, grenades etc had been exhausted.

Positions:- Rifle (Private) - on extreme right to protect Sgt if threatened on that flank.
Bren (Sgt) - 15 yds left and fwd of Private.
Rifle (Plat. Sgt) in charge of Platoon and to left of Sgt.
Bren (Pte) 25 yds to left of Sgt.
Rifle (me) close to and left of Pte, directing fire and covering own front
Bren (Pte) - 25 yds to left of Pte.

At 2 p.m. went to ploughed field and on the way told Sgt (he was asleep) that enemy were moving up again. He said 'I'll deal with it' I was fired on by a heavy machine gun but was able to get over the hill and saw enemy light tanks going up the road. We were now completely cut off. On the way back mortar bombs were falling on our position. I told Sgt about the tanks. All were too busy now as Jerry was 300 yds away. Orders were nobody to leave position on any account. No 'walking wounded'

Soon after 2 p.m. we were surrounded and completely overrun.

First Bren to be silenced was Sgt ... who was wounded 5 or 6 times and each time struggled back to the gun, finally to be finished by a long burst from an automatic weapon, across the stomach.

Then Pte ... went - wounded, bullet to head through tin hat, bullet neck, bullet thigh, bullet base of back and arm - left him paralysed.

Next to go was Platoon Sgt .... - bullet taking out both eyes and nose severely damaged.

Bren gun on my left stopped - Pte ....killed. Then I ordered Pte ... to remove the magazine and take the gun and go - get out (evidently he took Plat Sgt ... with him)

I then ran towards Pte ...'s Bren and had to jump the barbed wire to get to it. As I leapt over a German was to the left of the gun (I could hear shouts of Achtung! Achtung! Tommy, Tommy!) He immediately opened fire with an automatic weapon, damaging webbing equipment on my right shoulder. This caused my haversack to fall to the left and I fell to the ground. I was soon up again and saw the Jerry running back. He must have thought he had hit me. I was soon on the gun and all in front fell to the ground for cover. There was a magazine on the gun and on firing it (sic) only had about 15 rounds. As soon as I started to change the magazine up they came. When I got the new full magazine on, down they all went again with the exception of one brave Jerry who knelt down (only 10 yards away) tok steady aim and got me.'

My father and Pte ... had been without food for more than three days and no water at all on the last day.

My father was shot in the face just near the left cheekbone - the bullet came out at the back of his neck and this is where it caused most damage, severing nerves. (My father was in pain for the rest of his life - he said that the LHS of his face felt as though it was swollen to double its size and occasionally he would hold his head stiffly - we would ask 'Are you all right Dad?' to which he would answer 'Fine, fine!' It was only after some questioning that he would acknowledge his pain was worse - I used to massage his neck and he claimed that it gave him relief. My father also had a shrapnel wound in his thigh - near Abbeville. Shrapnel in left foot - Neu-Chateau. Phosphorous burn on his back (it went right through his backpack!) Stomach wound - due to mortar bomb.)

My father was gritting his teeth when the bullet went in and his back teeth were shattered and his jaw locked. He was completely paralysed and could only stare helplessly as a jet of blood flew out and covered his face. The Germans then came round killing the wounded! They thought my father and Pte ...... (who had been shot 7 times) were already dead. My father had to lie helplessly and watch that!

Later the paralysis left my father's left side and he dragged himself to a nearby old water pump but there were some Germans there and they threw him and Pte ... into the back of a lorry. They were taken to a courtyard with other wounded. An SS Officer on horseback enjoyed trampling on some of the wounded, killing them! One SS Officer spoke to my father and complimented him on his German (learned at Bradford Grammar) He said that they (the Germans) woul soon be in central London and that the British would be slaves in German households.

My father was moved around in several prisoner of war camps. He was listed as 'Missing - killed in action' and when his mother received the Telegram she had a heart attack (not fatal) His father would not believe he had died. When the war was over my father's paralysis had all but disappeared though occasionally his left leg would 'give way' with no warning and Dad would fall.

The villagers in Venables stage a ceremony each year on the 9th and 10th June at the graves of the British soldiers buried in their cemetery. The villagers emerged after the fighting and picked up the British dead.

My father was a hero to us, of course, but it may not be known that soldiers actually volunteered to hold back the German Army. In fact, an SS Officer told Dad that if they had known that there were so few British soldiers - 'We would have marched straight over you'

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