‘I cried because it’s never the end’ – Dunkirk veteran
Ken Sturdy wept after watching Dunkirk. The 97-year-old Welshman had been there, aged 20, “picking them out of the water” as more than 300,000 Allied soldiers surrounded by German soldiers were evacuated in “a miracle of deliverance”.
After watching Christopher Nolan’s new film at his local cinema, he said: “Tonight I cried because it’s never the end. It won’t happen. We the human species are so intelligent and we do such astonishing things. We can fly to the moon but we still do stupid things.”
Mr Sturdy, who now lives in Canada, spoke to the Canadian Global News Hour at 6 after the premiere of the Second World War epic about the massive 1940 operation to save hundreds of thousands of servicemen from advancing Nazi forces.
It was one of the key battles of the Second World War where the Germans outclassed the Allies in what Prime Minister Winston Churchill described as “a colossal military disaster.”
Mr Sturdy, who lives in Calgary, wore his Royal Navy medals as he watched the film.
He described watching the film as a privilege and said: “I never thought I would see that again, it was just like I was there again.”
A Signalman with the Royal Navy, he said: “I was in those little boats picking them out of the water.
“I had the privilege of seeing that film tonight but I’m saddened by it because of what happened on that beach.
“I was 20 when that happened, but I could see my old friends and a lot of them later died in the war. I went on convoys after that in the North Atlantic. I had lost so many of my buddies.”
Mr Sturdy had a message for those who plan to see the film, which is being widely praised. He said: “Don’t just go to the movies for entertainment. Think about it. And when you become adults, keep thinking.”
Filmgoers hugged and kissed Mr Sturdy at the cinema. Kelly Kwamsoos said: “At the end of the movie I ran down the stairs and he was wiping his tears away when I was able to shake his hand.”
However, the Welsh involvement at Dunkirk doesn’t appear to be represented in the movie.
A maritime expert for the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea, David Jenkins, previously told the BBC that records about the smaller boats or for those from farther afield is often confused.
He said: “The German advance through France only began on May 10, so Vice-Admiral Bertram Ramsay had little more than a fortnight to put together operation Dynamo.
“It was quite ordered at first, but as the pace needed to pick up, more and more vessels joined, and there wasn’t always time to document them.
“Often we find out about the role of Welsh ships and boats from the recollections of rescued servicemen rather than official records.
“It seems incredible that boats left Welsh ports, and were able to get to Dunkirk in time to play a part in the evacuation.”