Dunkirk survivor who smuggled back his French bride — disguised as a squaddie
Continuing our nerve-jangling, minute-by-minute account of the greatest wartime rescue of all
A NEW film is retelling the miracle of Dunkirk, a brave rescue mission that turned defeat into an unlikely triumph. But the real story needs no embellishment from Hollywood. On Saturday, we told how a flotilla of little ships was mobilised in 1940 to save British and Allied troops from the relentless German bombardment as they waited, trapped on the French coast. Today, in this gripping minute-byminute account, we reveal the astonishing acts of courage that made it all possible . . . THURSDAY, MAYAY 30, 1940 8am:
Waiting in the hallway lway of Churchill’s flat in Admiralty House is a young g man in a sodden Army uniform. He is the Prime Minister’s inister’s nephew, Johnnie Churchill, and he arrived at Dover this morning having been sent on a mission to France to report on the evacuation. Winston and his wife Clemmie come downstairs in their dressing gowns to greet him.
‘Johnnie! I see you have come straight from battle!’
‘I have been sent by General Alexander to say that in his opinion the most urgent need is for small boats to get the troops off the beaches out to bigger ships.’
‘Why are you so wet? Have you come straight off the sea?’
‘Yes, and I will be pleased to go back again in a fast motorboat to give everyone encouragement.’ 10am: The exhausted soldiers arriving at Dover and Ramsgate are being greeted by local ladies with sweet tea and sandwiches. Stamped envelopes are provided for the men to write messages to their families. The manager of the Pavilion Theatre in Ramsgate donates his entire supply of chocolate and cigarettes. 2pm:
Churchill has returned to Admiralty House to have his daily post-lunch nap. 5pm:
Standing on the deck of HMS Malcolm, sailing up the Channel towards Dover, FirstLieutenant Ian Cox watches amazed as an unlikely armada appears over the horizon, consisting of yachts, fishing boats, barges and lifeboats. It’s his first sighting of the little ships. Deeply moved, Ian launches into Shakespeare’s Henry V: ‘ And Gentlemen in England, now abed shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here.’
One ship is the flat-bottomed Dutch ‘ skoot’ boat, Horst. As her lifeboat pulls for the shore to pick up men, the lifeboat crew can hear the Horst’s radio, which is tuned to the BBC’s Children’s Hour.
Royal Engineer Leonard Howard has reached the beach and he is shocked to see men overturning boats in their panic to be saved. One soldier in the water who refuses to let go of the side of a boat is shot in the head. Even though there are Stukas dive-bombing the beach, Leonard is so exhausted he goes to sleep in the dunes. 9pm:
The destroyer HMS Windsor pulls up alongside the East Mole — breakwater — at Dunkirk. A Scottish officer with his arm in a sling, leading a soldiers in kilts, calls up to the bridge: ‘ What part of France are you taking us to?’
‘We’re taking you to Dover!’ comes the reply. ‘Well, we’re not bloody well coming!’ the officer shouts. The Scots turn and head back towards the town to carry on fighting. 11pm:
Churchill is chairing the Defence Committee meeting — his third long meeting of the day. The meeting hears 120,000 men have been taken off the beaches, including 6,000 French soldiers. Churchill urges that more French are evacuated as not to do so ‘might do irreparable harm to relations.’ Tomorrow he’s flying to Paris to persuade the French to fight on. FRIDAY, MAY 31 6am:
The troops on the beaches and in the harbour are waking up to the worrying sight of the smoke above the town clearing in a stiff onshore breeze. The German gunners, who are now in reach of the harbour, can see their targets clearly. There is now also a strong surf, so it’s harder for the little boats to come close to shore. 10.30am: A group of dignitaries is waiting at Villacoublay airfield outsideThere is Paris some for concern, Churchillas histo arrive.plane shouldago. Then have someonelanded half spotsan hour the aircraftthere is a with great its shout fighter of escort,relief. and
out Whenof the the aircraft, Prime it’s Ministerclear he stepsis a good reckons mood. it’s One because British Churchill General enjoyed the dangerous journey — German fighters north of Paris had forced them to detour. 1pm: The latest armada of little ships, many not powerful enough to cross the Channel, is being towed towards France by tugs, Dutch skoots and motor cruisers. The line of boats stretches for five miles. 2.30pm: In the building of the Ministry of War in Paris, Winston Churchill is facing aggressive questioning from Allied Supreme Commander General Maxime Weygand about why only 15,000 French troops out of 165,000 have been rescued from Dunkirk so far.
Tears appear in Churchill’s eyes. ‘We are companions in misfortune,’ he says. ‘There is nothing to be gained from recrimination over our common miseries.’ 4.30pm:
At the meeting in Paris, the wording of a telegram is read out, saying that French troops were to make their way to the coast, with ‘the British forces embarking first’. Churchill suddenly roars: ‘ Non! Partage – bras dessus, bras dessous!’ (‘No! Sharing — arm in arm!’) Midnight:
Churchill and his staff are spending the night in Paris. Major General Sir Edward Spears is writing in his diary: ‘One sentence seems to float over the conference in my memory — like a wisp of cigarette smoke circling over the table — Winston’s phrase [about Britain and France] “The partner that survives will go on . . .” ’ Churchill fears Britain will soon be fighting alone. SATURDAY, JUNE 1 9am:
At the Kent and Sussex Hospital in Tunbridge Wells, nurse Mary Morris is looking after John Evans, the injured captain of the paddle steamer Brighton Belle which was sunk on May 28.
John tells Mary how he misses his ship, which has carried holidaymakers since the Boer War. He describes the evacuation fleet. ‘Never such a fleet that went to war before. Some were tatty with car tyres for fenders; others bright with new paint.’ Torpedo boat MTB 102
has been busy for the past three days carrying troops to Dover. Now she has a new role. After the loss of his flagship HMS Keith the day before, Rear Admiral Frederic Wake-Walker, the officer in charge of co-ordinating the movement of ships offshore, is now monitoring events from MTB 102. The crew realise that with Wake-Walker on board they should be flying a Rear Admiral’s flag. So they make one out of an old dishcloth. 1pm:
A motor yacht named Sundowner is sailing slowly towards Dunkirk harbour. Standing at the bow is an elderly man in a black beret. Earlier he’d taken off a white peaked cap as it presented the Luftwaffe with too much of a target.
The man is 66- year- old Commander Charles Lightoller, and he is used to adventure. In April 1912, he was Second Officer on the largest and most famous ship in the world, the RMS Titanic, and was one of the last to leave the stricken liner.
A German Messerschmitt comes at Sundowner. Charles remembers advice from his son Brian, a pilot killed in the early days of the war — a fighter raises its nose just before it fires. As the yellow nose lifts, Charles shouts at Gerald Ashcroft, the young Sea Scout at the helm: ‘ Hard a- starboard!’ Sundowner turns and the bullets hit the water. Charles says a silent ‘thank you’ to his dead son. 2pm:
With a German invasion a possibility, Kenneth Clark, the Director of the National Gallery, has written to Churchill suggesting the gallery’s paintings should be sent to Canada for safekeeping. Churchill is writing a note in reply. ‘No! Bury them in caves and cellars! None must go — we are going to beat them!’
As Sundowner enters Dunkirk harbour, Gerald Ashcroft is having to push away corpses with a boat hook. Charles Lightoller goes aboard the destroyer HMS Worcester and when the captain asks him how many men Sundowner can take, Charles says: ‘Oh, about 100!’ Sundowner has never had more than 21 on board. 5pm:
The motor yacht Naiad Errant has run out of fuel just outside Dunkirk harbour and is in danger of drifting into the wall, or being run down by another vessel. Naiad Errant cost her owner a great deal of money to build just 12 months ago, but Samuel Palmer, the able seaman in charge, has no choice. He orders that the cabin doors be broken up and used as paddles. The small crew, fortified by a tot of rum, slowly steer Naiad Errant to safety.
Meanwhile, Sundowner is once again under attack from a Messerschmitt. This time the boat is laden with almost 130 soldiers, who have thrown their rifles overboard to help keep Sundowner afloat. Some of them have heard Charles Lightoller was on the Titanic, and think if he can survive that, he can survive anything.
Once again, as the fighter’s nose lifts, Charles shouts: ‘Hard a-starboard!’ Sundowner turns and the bullets miss. The pilot tries once more but Charles Lightoller and Sundowner are too quick for him. 6pm:
Lieutenant Jimmy Langley, of the Coldstream Guards, is being transported by ambulance to the beach. He was wounded while defending the perimeter around Dunkirk and was carried to safety by his comrades in a wheelbarrow. In the ambulance, blood is dripping on to his face from a man above him.
The ambulance stops and Jimmy’s stretcher is carried over the dunes and towards a lifeboat on the water’s edge.
A naval officer asks Jimmy if he can walk. He can’t. ‘Well, I’m very sorry, we cannot take you. Your stretcher would occupy the places of four men.’ Jimmy is too tired to argue and so he’s carried back to the ambulance. 10pm:
Sundowner has arrived in Ramsgate. A naval officer on the quay is counting the troops as they clamber off. ‘God’s truth, mate! Where did you put them?’ SUNDAY, JUNE 2 7am:
Operation Dynamo is becoming increasingly hazardous. Attacks by the Luftwaffe and shelling from German artillery are almost continuous. The evacuation is too dangerous in daylight and so is halted until evening.
In their sodden and bloody uniforms, the evacuated British troops men continue to make journeys by train from the South Coast ports.
They had expected a hostile reception — they had been
defeated after all — yet they are passing gardens with banners saying ‘Welcome Home, Brave Lads’ and ‘Well done, Heroes’. Food and drink is offered from the platform of almost every station. Great Western Railway employees are handing out postcards and asking the men to write ‘Am safe’ on them with their name and address. They then post them free of charge. 11am: British troops on the beaches capture a German pilot. Erich von Oelhaven parachuted into the dunes after his Junkers 88 was shot down by a Spitfire. Now he is hiding in a trench with the enemy, as his comrades bomb the beach. 3pm: Captain Richard Pim, who asked Churchill for four days’ leave to assist at Dunkirk, has returned to his duties in the Admiralty War Room. Pim led a flotilla of 20 small boats that rescued more than 3,000 men. Churchill spots him and with a twinkle in his eye says: ‘So you’re back again to do some work.’ 6.30pm: Churchill tells his War Cabinet he hopes 22,000 men will be brought to England overnight in a final evacuation. The French have asked for three divisions of British Dunkirk evacuees ‘ of tested fighting value’ to be sent back immediately to France to fight the advancing Germans. Churchill is irritated. Captured pilot Erich von Oelhaven is being marched along one of the Dunkirk jetties built from Army trucks. At the end of the jetty, men are being loaded onto a trawler. Erich has no desire to be taken to England as a PoW or die on the journey, so seeing that his guards are half asleep, he dives into the water and comes up for air under the trucks. He’s not been followed. The oily water makes him retch.
MONDAY, JUNE 3
8am: One hundred and twenty German bombers are attacking Dunkirk harbour, constantly harried by squadrons of Hurricanes and Spitfires. Luftwaffe pilot Erich von Oelhaven is still hiding under the truck jetty. The trucks and the water around him shake with every explosion. Midday: It’s clear that the evacuation is not over — there are thousands of French troops who have been fighting to keep the Germans back, who must be rescued. ‘We cannot leave our Allies in the lurch,’ Vice-Admiral Ramsay tells his officers, and he orders one final push. A terse telegram is sent to the Allied Supreme Commander General Weygand from the War Cabinet: ‘We are coming back for your men tonight. Pray make sure the facilities are used promptly. Last night for three hours many ships waited idly in much danger.’ Many British soldiers have befriended French dogs and have brought them back to England. A terrier, nicknamed Kirk, came on board the destroyer HMS Windsor at the start of the evacuation and has since made several trips across the Channel. Today Windsor has made her last trip to Dunkirk but Kirk’s future is safe — one of the ship’s officers is going to keep him. As Kirk is led off the ship, the crew cheer. It’s not just dogs that have been rescued from France. One soldier has brought a gramophone, one man 6,000 cigarettes and another a live goose. Private Bill Hersey of the 1st East Surrey Regiment has his new French bride Augusta with him. She was determined to go to England with her husband and has been given a British Army uniform so that she can blend in with the other troops. Midnight: The river paddle-steamer Medway Queen is making her seventh trip to Dunkirk. The crew can hear the frightening sound of machinegun fire — the Germans are in the suburbs of Dunkirk. The Medway Queen’s crew heads to the harbour desperately looking for French soldiers to evacuate. They take on board 400, but many are reluctant to come. As they pull away, a Royal Navy officer plays his mandolin to cheer up the Frenchmen slumped on the deck.
TUESDAY, JUNE 4
3.40am: The destroyer HMS Shikari is the last British warship to leave Dunkirk. The final push has been successful — 26,000 troops, mostly French, have been brought out. 6am: Lieutenant Jimmy Langley, of the Coldstream Guards, who three days ago wasn’t allowed on a boat as his stretcher would have taken the place of four men, has been taken to a field hospital. The Germans are at the door. Jimmy asks some orderlies to carry him on his stretcher to meet them. He spots a book on the ground called Fifty Filthy Facts About Hitler and hastily stuffs it into his pocket. The Germans enter the hospital, looking exhausted. Jimmy points to the Red Cross flag flying above the hospital and asks them for water and a cigarette, which they give him. Jimmy asks if he can give anything in return. ‘Marmalade’, the soldier replies. An orderly heads off to find some. Jimmy Langley becomes a PoW in France, but after having an arm amputated in 1941, he is repatriated to England where he sets up a network helping PoWs to escape. 9am: The French army formally surrenders Dunkirk and a swastika is hoisted. After almost two days hiding under the truck jetty, an exhausted Erich von Oelhaven wades onto the beach. It is deserted. 2.23pm: Operation Dynamo officially ends. Vice-Admiral Ramsay leaves Dover and drives to Sandwich to play golf. 3pm: It’s RAF Ground Gunner James Merrett’s first moment back home in Plymouth. He walks into his favourite pub for a well- deserved drink. Bill, the local postman looks up from his pint. ‘I said if there’s only one bugger come back, it’ll be him.’ 6pm: Churchill is informing the Commons about the evacuation. He concludes: ‘We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender . . .’ Churchill had expected 45,000 men to be evacuated. In fact 338,226 were brought to England — 229,000 of them British, the rest French and Belgians. In all, 222 Royal Navy vessels and more than 800 civilian vessels made the rescue possible. Nearly half of the little ships were sunk.