CHESTERFIELD TO DUNKIRK
The city of Dunkirk (Dunkerque) in the north east France was the location of the now infamous Operation Dynamo; the Dunkirk Evacuation.
In May 1940 the German armies were tearing their way through
Allied countries; the Netherlands and Belgium were forced to surrender and
France was swiftly being overrun. For the
British army and their Allies all options of retaliation were beginning to look
less promising as the German army moved at pace through the country of
France.
The German advance resulted in hundreds of thousands of
British and Allied troops becoming trapped close to the city of Dunkirk, just
10 Kilometres from enemy occupied Belgium. Winston Churchill was all too aware that the
situation may well result in a devastating defeat and in consequence lead to the
British Isles becoming the next target for an invasion. Something had to be done, urgently. With no means of escape other than by sea, a
feat which until that time would have been deemed an impossibility, Operation
Dynamo was conceived.
As the situation around the French coast of Dunkirk deteriorated,
back in England a call to the British public was issued asking that any vessel
which could sail in shallow waters be commandeered to the cause. The waters around the port of Dunkirk were
too shallow for the British destroyers, up until now the soldiers had been
wading out into the open sea to reach them.
On 27th May 1940 the German Luftwaffe dropped their bombs on
the port of Dunkirk causing devastation. The flotilla of “Little Ships” was now a
necessity if there was to be any chance of evacuating the thousands of soldiers
from the 10 mile stretch of beach where they were now imprisoned.
And so around 850 vessels of all shapes and sizes set sail
from Ramsgate; fishing ships, pleasure boats all sailed across the English Channel
alongside the military personnel ships and destroyers to play their part in
what would become one of the most celebrated events in our history.
The Battle of Dunkirk took place from 26th May 1940
until its completion on 4th June 1940. During this time the rescuers travelled back
and forth from coast to coast, often under enemy fire. It was a perilous journey but they succeeded
in evacuating around 190,000 British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F) and 140,000
French and Allied troops to the safety of British soil. Around 50,000 men were unable to escape;
11,000 of these were killed, the remainder were made Prisoners of War
(P.O.W). Most of the heavy equipment such as tanks and
artillery were sacrificed and left on the beaches, out of 41 Destroyers 6 were
sunk along with 8 personnel ships and approximately 200 of the small vessels.
The operation was deemed a huge success, despite the terrible
losses and the fact that this had been an urgent retreat to safety, the British
people were celebrating and morale was boosted.
The heroic actions of a country coming together became known as the
“Dunkirk Spirit” a phrase we still use to this day.
Chesterfield’s Dunkirk Spirit….
The townspeople of Chesterfield are unlikely to have owned
sea faring ships but that didn’t stop them playing their part; local men were
serving overseas and many people contributed in their own way from the home
front.
The evacuation was made public knowledge on 29th
May, only days later in the early hours of Friday 31st May the first
train load of wounded troops arrived at Chesterfield station, many more arrived
over the weekend. They were greeted by first
aid workers and Air Raid Precaution (A.R.P) ambulances ready to transfer the
men to hospital for review. The
Derbyshire Times wrote how “none of these cases was serious – they were
chiefly men with shrapnel or gunshot wounds or whose feet had let them down
during the strenuous marching and fighting in the past few days – and despite
their injuries all could raise a smile and a cheery word”. The men were described as being from
various regiments and were showing the signs of the dreadful plight they had
just been part of “many were haggard, unshaven and begrimed…… some fully
equipped, others in their shirt sleeves, a few without boots. Torn, mud stained uniforms and battered steel
helmets bore testament to the arduous time their owners had experienced”.
Those who didn’t require inpatient hospital care were then
taken to Bradbury Hall which was the location of Robinson & Companies
canteen. The men were fed and watered,
the girls from Robinson’s weaving sheds gave the men cigarettes and were no
doubt a pleasing vision to the war worn men.
Afterwards they were taken to local A.R.P stations where they were given
the opportunity to wash and shave, they were even “issued with clean
underclothes”. Light entertainment
was provided at the Hippodrome and the town’s cinemas, of which the men were very
appreciative.
The care and compassion which Chesterfield’s inhabitants gave was most
welcomed by the visiting troops, several wrote to the local newspaper to
express their gratitude writing….
“You can make headlines in your paper that we think the
Chesterfield people are marvellous” Sergeant Major Marriott (Hull) of the East
Yorkshire Regiment.
“No other place could give us a better welcome than
Chesterfield did…. No trouble has been too much to make us feel at home”
Sergeant-cook (Birmingham) name unknown
“We all appreciate the kindness that was shown to us by
the public” Driver T Quinn & Lance Corporal J Marriott R.A.S.C
Local men experienced Dunkirk….
Able Seaman E J Witham of 143 Gloucester Road was serving on board a minesweeper which carried out several trips evacuating the Dunkirk troops, including some of the Allies from France and Belgium.
He told how most of the boarding had to be done under the
cover of darkness as they were under heavy fire from both the German shore
batteries and the enemy planes. He spoke
of the situation the men were in whilst waiting to board under enemy fire, but
they still “were perfectly calm and orderly while waiting their turn”.
Life for Able Seaman Whitham and his Navy comrades was on a
knife edge “some of the trips were comparatively uneventful but on the last
one we had five attacks from dive bombers well within an hour. Bombs fell all around us, sending up great
spouts of water and making the ship rock. They did everything but hit us”
Derbyshire Times 14 June 1940 page 8
Private Leslie Wilson made his parents and friends in Chesterfield proud when it was reported in the local newspaper that he had received the Military Medal for his service. It was stated that at the tender age of just 19 years Leslie “is believed to be the youngest soldier of any rank to receive such a decoration during this war”.
The Derbyshire Times dated 14th July 1940 covered
the story alongside a fresh-faced photo of Private Wilson….
“Pte Wilson was in a party of stretcher bearers who went out to succour British wounded lying in the open during the retreat to Dunkirk. Nazis opened fired on them with machine guns. They mowed through the stretcher bearers until only one was left. Wilson instead of dodging back to cover thankful to escape, he deliberately went forward took the nearest wounded man in his arms and brought him back. Then he went out again and carried another man back, another and another. Eight wounded men he brought in altogether during shell, mortar and machine gun fire”.
Private Wilson was the adopted son of Mr and Mrs A Sewell of
18 Sunny Springs, Chesterfield. He
worked in the offices at Chesterfield Tube Works prior to the war.
Derbyshire Times 14th July 1940 page 1
Chesterfield's missing and lost....
Sadly for some families in Chesterfield the action at Dunkirk
would bring personal worry and sorrow. Men
were reported missing in action during the evacuation, others lost their lives.
Private Frederick William Kelley T/53176 of the Royal Army Service Corps was reported as missing in action after the evacuation at Dunkirk. He died on 30th May 1940 at the Zuydcote Hospital in Belgium. Frederick of 164 Tapton View Road left a wife Estella and was aged 45, he had also served in World War 1. Estella was not informed of her husbands death until the spring of 1941. Frederick's story can be read here.
Engine Room Artificer Bernard Harry Hansord was killed in action on 29th May 1940. He was serving on H.M.S Greyhound at Dunkirk. Bernard was aged 20 years of age, the son of George and Mary Hansord of 13 Maple Street, Hollingwood.
Lance Bombardier Thomas Llewelyn Foulkes died on 1st
June 1940. He was serving with the 22nd
Regiment of the Royal Field Artillery.
Thomas was aged 31 years and left a wife Ivy and a young son named
Gordon.
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Lest we forget
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The men named in this blog post will be remembered in more
detail, as I go along, I will add a link to this page for each man’s story.
If anyone has any further information or is a family member
of any of the above Chesterfield families then I would love to hear from you. The “contact” link is located in drop down menu,
top left of this page.
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