Dunkirk

[j.sabourn]

#44.. this was going the other way Ivan so wouldn't have that long to wait. Cheers JWS.

[Fouro]

The Forgotten Heroes of Dunkirk.

https://m.liveleak.com/view?i=d55_1275174745

Fouro.

[eric fisher]

My old friend, now 95, was taken back to Blighty from Dunkirk in 1940. He was in the Territorial Army.
Soon after, the family house in Crewe was demolished during an air raid, fortunately, none were injured badly. He and family were moved to N.Wales. Returning to Crewe much later, he also returned to work at Rolls Royce until coming to Canada in 1956, the same year as I did.
On his own now in Long Term Care, we still keep in touch. He refers to me as ' A Lad', but he is slowly fading away. Sad, but he doesn't complain. Cheers, Eric

[Keith at Tregenna]

The Red Duster

On all the seas of all the world
There passes to and fro
Where ghostly icebergs travel
and spicy trade winds blow
a gaudy piece of bunting
a Royal ruddy rag
The blossom of the ocean lanes
Great Britains Merchant flag.

BEF Spit on a Merchant Navy Sailor | WW2Talk

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Keith.
Is that our Hugh who has put a post in there?
Cheers Des

[Fouro]

Thank you for the film FOURO it ended rather abruptly, think there must be a second part lurking somewhere.

Hello Marian , I've managed to find the second part.

https://m.liveleak.com/view?i=815_1275178426

Fouro.

[eric fisher]

#48, Mistake, Old friend is 99 as of past March

[Fouro]

Britain and its people exist on a a diet of myths. Dunkirk was a major success in terms of saving many lives and an illustration of the courage of individuals. Britain would "never abandon her ally in her hour of need" bellowed Churchill, but at the same time he didn't think twice about ditching men of the 51st Highland Division.
The "Dunkirk Spirit" might be said to have a second meaning, eg-the sacrifice of people, of Scots, bloody Jocks (and others serving with the 51st). They were heroes but heroes largely written out of the story of Dunkirk. The flag waving hurrah over Dunkirk will go on for a long time, but does plucky British heroism conceal a shabby and uncomfortable reality of bravery plus sacrifice?.
Captain Ian Campbell, General Fortune's intelligence officer said:
"It has always been abundantly clear that no division has ever been more uselessly sacrificed. It could have got away a week before, but the powers that be owing I think to very faulty information, had come to the conclusion that there was a capacity for resistance in France which was not actually there".

Fouro.

[j.sabourn]

The film Dunkirk put me in mind of the movie " Western Approaches" in about 1944. It was made for a boost to the spirits of a flagging British public. Made at I think at Ealing Studios must have been filmed on some large stretch of inland water. But looked very authentic to those who didn't know better and was taken I think from the tanker story which was I believe the San Demetrio which was abandoned. And then reboarded after being torpedoed in the North Atlantic. As I was about 8 at the time it left a lasting impression with me. I hope the film Dunkirk may do the same for some of the younger generation of today. I never heard many complaints from the civilian public during my boyhood apart from the shortage of rations, and they carried a large brunt of the war themselves. JWS

[j.sabourn]

Marian I think one of the bravest men I ever met was a councillor in the town I lived in ,in the uk, apart from a councillor he was also a magistrate. This was in the days when one wasn't paid for being a councillor. He also owned and worked in his own sweet shop. He also had no arms both being lost on his tank being brewed up in the early part of the war. His wife used to have to dress and undress him and do all the necessary things that an armless person needs doing, his false arms and hooks could be used to a certain extent. Both himself and his wife were heroes. I never saw either complain, there was only one time I saw him anywhere near angry but even then he had a grin on his face. He was in the chair in the magistrates court when he had this yobbo in front of him. The yobbo kept insisting that he wasn't going to be tried by a robot. Every time he said anything deflamatory he fined him 5 pounds, it was way up in the hundreds when this piece of flotsam saw the light. When he was telling me afterwards about the case he had to sit at, you could see it hurt him to probably be thinking I lost my arms for riff raff like that , but he still had a smile on his face when he said at least he had an expensive time in shooting his mouth off. He was probably one of the very many who managed.to put a brave face on what he had given to his country for an insolent bunch of illiterate and useless slobs. Cheers JWS