Escape from Dunkirk

My dad was at a training camp somewhere in France when Germany invaded Belgium. They were immediately ordered to Belgium by train but could only be taken to the Belgian border. By the time they had reached the border, the retreat to Dunkirk had been ordered so they set out to walk.

By the time they reached Dunkirk, dad had holes in the soles of his boots and was using card to keep out the wet. He tells me that the worst part of everything that happened was having to leave mates who had been injured.

Dad could not swim so waited on the breakwater wall to be evacuated, and he was finally taken off at midnight on June 2nd. As they boarded the ship, their rifles (the only kit they had left) were taken from them and thrown into the sea. Only 19 out of 100 men from his regiment made it back to Britain. When they arrived at Ramsgate, they were given a loaf of bread and a tin of corned beef to share between four. As they had no knives they had to tear the food apart - this was dad's first meal for seven days.

Whilst waiting to be moved from Ramsgate, men went to a cinema and when the newsreel came on showing Stukka's diving, everyone dived for cover!

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