大象传媒

My Grandfather was one of the many tens of thousands of soldiers who were rescued from Dunkirk in the famous evacuation of 1940.

Originally joining the army in the winter of 1939/40, he was part of the Wimpey Pioneering Companies that in turn was part of the Royal Engineers. In his civilian life he had been employed as a mechanic and fitter for the transport division of Wimpey Construction. With the outbreak of war he became part of the firms contribution to the war effort. Beginning basic training in the January, he was stationed in Essex and the Orkney's before heading to France in the March of 1940.

Talking to him now, he can't remember where he was based in France when the Germans began their advance although he thinks it was near Lille. He was helping to build an RAF airfield at the time the orders came through to move out.

In the chaos and confusion that ensued in the days following the first attacks, his unit was forced to abandon their lorries and most of their equipment and begin the long march to Dunkirk on foot.

After 5 or 6 days on the move with little or no sleep and hardly any food, he reached Dunkirk.

His most vivid memories of being there are the smoke and flames coming from the town and the burning port. It was whilst waiting to be evacuated and in the middle of an air raid that he used his gun for the one and only time in the war. He can remember trying to take aim at a Stuka dive bomber as it came down into attack, to this day he doubts he hit it but it did make him feel better.

After a couple of aborted attempts to leave the beach, he was transported via one of the little ships to a destroyer and the safety of Dover. He can't remember the name of the ship but he does know he was eternally grateful and fell asleep the minute he got on deck.

From Dover he was transported by train to North London and an army depot. By a happy coincidence while passing through London on the train he saw someone he recognised and was able to get them to pass a message to his family that he was safe.

After 5 more years service in the Royal Engineers in which he served at Duxford, North Africa and Italy, his happiest memories of the war are getting married in 1941, and playing football for the Army when stationed near Carcossone at the end of the war in 1945.

He is now 87 years old and lives in Kent.

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