Remembering World War 2 in Chesterfield

  Photo with kind permission of David Baxter Happy Days - Fred and his wife Estella, children Freda and William  Frederick William Kelley was one of the men to feature in the previous blog post " Chesterfield to Dunkirk ".  His story is one of family, love and dedication.  Please join me in remembering him.... Frederick William Kelley was born at Albion Road in Chesterfield, Derbyshire on 26 th September 1894.   He was the youngest son of John and Esther Kelley.   John was a baker and confectioner, he ran his own business from the family home at 351 Chatsworth Road.  They already had one son named George who was born in 1892. Fred and George were most likely educated at their local school, Brampton Board Boys School.   An entry in the school log book dated 2 nd August 1906 records a Fred Kelley having won 2 nd place for the geranium plant he entered in the “Chesterfield Flower Show”.   Fred would have been 12 years old at the time. ...

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 be...