As it's the 70th anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuations this week, I thought I'd share with you my Dad's Dunkirk story.
His platoon was approaching the beach at Dunkirk having just managed to stay ahead of the approaching German army. Nearly there and close to possible rescue, they were ordered back into the town to try and prevent or at least slow down the Germans. They were to set explosives to blow up the main road bridge into the town so that the Germans would have to backtrack and come in a different route.
They were all convinced that they would be captured or killed but of course they didn't have a choice, so started on their way back into the town to set the explosives. As they turned away from the beach, Dad looked back and saw dozens of boats of various shapes and sizes approaching the beach and thousands of soldiers clambouring on board to get to safety. It really was an amazing rescue effort and all of those who undertook this dangerous task were risking their lives, as the Germans kept up their relentless bombing campaign. Most of the boats got away, thankfully. But Dad watched as one of the biggest British navy ships was hit by a single huge bomb, which seemed to go right down into the ship's main funnel. It only took a few minutes for the ship to break apart and sink, loosing 3,000 men in a matter of moments.
But there was no time to spare and Dad's platoon went back into the town and planted the explosives as ordered. The road bridge was destroyed and the German advance slowed, giving the British extra time to continue with the rescue efforts by boat.
Dad and the rest of his platoon weren't able to get back to teh beach on time but managed to get out of Dunkirk before the Germans arrived on foot. They managed to get to a small fishing village a few miles further down the coast and were rescued a few days later.
I'm really proud that Dad was able to do something to help at such an important point in the war. They were all heroes in my book, ordinary men who'd signed up to fight for King and Country who achieved extra-ordinary things during the war. Dad would have been 24 years old at the time, just a young man with hopes for a future life without war. I'm not sure I'd ever have been brave enough to do what he and his fellow soldiers did, knowing that there was a good chance they'd be killed or captured, so I think it's important that we honour what they achieved by marking the anniversary.
I know that Dad was shocked by the sight of the bombing of the ship and he realised that he was actually lucky as he could easily have been one of the men who thought that they'd made it to safety by gettting on board.
I'm glad that we're taking the time to remember the events at Dunkirk in 1940 and to appreciate the efforts of all of those people who helped in the rescue effort.
Marie