All Change at Harbour House is out now! Get your copy here.
I found doing the research for Dunkirk eye-opening, awe-inspiring and humbling. Obviously, most people know about the amazing rescue of over three hundred and fifty-seven thousand troops from the beaches of Dunkirk but I didn’t know the details until I looked into it more deeply for this book.
The small boats, that were organised by the Admiralty to ferry the soldiers from the beaches because to the large ships couldn’t get in close enough, weren’t able to sail directly across the channel. They had to follow a set route to avoid the mines that had been laid so it wasn’t just a case of sailing 22 miles but having to travel for hours and hours in order to get to the beaches without being blown up.
The weather was perfect – if it had been rough the rescue wouldn’t have been successful. The RAF were blamed for not giving enough air support but that was incorrect. They weren’t seen much over the beach as they were fighting, literally to the death, to shoot down the bombers before they reached the British soldiers. However, there was a little truth in that statement as a German invasion was assumed to be imminent after the massive defeat of the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) therefore Britain couldn’t risk every available fighter as that would leave them defenceless.
Rows of engineless small boats were tied together in what was called a trot and they were towed across by boats with motors. When they arrived at Dunkirk they were released and the men inside them then rowed them to the shore. They did dozens of journeys back and forth before returning to England.
The soldiers waiting for rescue were stoic, brave, and remained calm throughout the procedure. There are stories of them playing football in between the bombing with the remains of baguette. A French stick is hard enough to use as a weapon after twenty-four hours so would make a reasonable substitute for a football!
There were also army nurses who’d accompanied the BEF to France who rarely get a mention but these brave women remained at the sides of the injured and refused to be evacuated until their patients were taken to the waiting ships.
As Winston Churchill pointed out it wasn’t a victory, but the British people thought that saving the lives of almost 400,000 servicemen and women definitely was. The equipment could be replaced eventually but what a life once lost was gone forever.
Fenella J Miller