Daily Express

Cyclist shows spirit for family’s Dunkirk hero

- By Ben Mitchell ● To support John visit justgiving.com By Paul Jeeves

A CHAMPION of the Forces is hailing his Dunkirk hero grandfa- ther with an epic bike ride.

John Carpenter, 54, will ride the distance from the French beaches to Dover every day of the 80th anniversar­y.

The area fundraisin­g manager for Help for Heroes launched his solo effort after its Big Battlefiel­d Bike Ride was cancelled because of the virus crisis.

Instead, for each of the 10 days of the Dunkirk evacuation­s – from May 26 to June 4 – the father-of-two is cycling 46 miles (75km) in memory of grandfathe­r Michael Mooney.

Michael was part of the British Army in France and Belgium and one of over 300,000 brought home by 800 small boats.

On May 29, 1940, the 21-yearold arrived at De Panne beach with his Royal Artillery unit and was ordered to swim to the boats.

Unable to swim he walked to Dunkirk harbour where he boarded HMS Javelin and arrived in Dover the next day.

John, from Chandler’s Ford, Hants, said: “My grandfathe­r was a huge role model for me, especially during my teenage years.

“Dunkirk is such an important part of British history, so to imagine him being part of that is amazing. On the 80th anniversar­y of Dunkirk it feels important to mark what he, and so many others, had to go through.”

Michael was sent to India to reinforce the British defences against the Japanese before being transferre­d to Burma.

In June 1944, he was wounded in the right thigh and spent three months recovering in an Indian hospital, returning home in 1945.

In 1946 Michael developed TB and spent two years in hospital and had to isolate himself from his children. He even had to have separate cutlery and china.

Michael, died in 2016, aged 97, after having seven children.

Ready for battle...a Bristol Beaufighte­r, with a wingspan of 60ft, in World War II

A DOG walker is stunned to stumble upon the remains of a Second World War fighter plane – which was dredged up by moving sands.

Graham Holden and partner Debi Hartley had never seen the 41ft-long Bristol Beaufighte­r before during their 20 years of strolls on the beach.

RAF records show the maritime attack plane crash-landed in 1944 after both engines failed soon after take-off from North Coates, Lincs.

The two men on board, a pilot and navigator, escaped unscathed.

Graham, who was walking his dog Bonnie near the Humber Mouth Yacht Club in Cleethorpe­s, said: “I never expected to find anything like this in my life – it’s an amazing find.

I went out there just last week and it wasn’t there. It could be covered up by the sand again soon. Who knows when it will next be uncovered – perhaps in another 80 years?”

He and Debi photograph­ed the plane then gave Cleethorpe­s Coastguard the pictures so it can be properly documented.

The RAF thinks it is aircraft serial number JM333 of 254 Squadron, which crashed on April 2, 1944.

Of the 6,000 Beaufighte­rs built in the war there are just five complete versions left.

● Do you know the crew? Email paul.jeeves@reachplc.com

 ??  ?? Graham takes close-up snap, inset above, of the wreckage on the beach. Left: crew and their bombers at North Coates, Lincs in wartime
Graham takes close-up snap, inset above, of the wreckage on the beach. Left: crew and their bombers at North Coates, Lincs in wartime
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