Watching the weekend TV broadcast commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuation, my memory took me back to the spring of 1940 when I was an 11-year-old evacuee.
Each day we would go to Folkestone harbour to watch the soldiers of the BEF sailing to France, never for one moment thinking many would return from Dunkirk on brave little rescue ships within a couple of months.
My school pals and I would witness sea battles in the English Channel, including U-Boat attacks on allied merchant ships. One such torpedoed Dutch ship, Nora, crashed into the pier at Deal.
Every day we would walk along the beach and find crates of fruit and food washed up from sunken vessels. Unexploded mines were a common sight on Folkestone beach, and most were unguarded so we were able to actually touch them.
Another memory evoked by the TV coverage was of the film Mrs Miniver (Greer Garson) in which her husband (Walter Pidgeon) skippered one of the “little ships” to and from Dunkirk. I was thrilled to be invited to lunch with Greer Garson on a business trip to Dallas in 1976. I would enjoy reading any other memories brought alive by the Dunkirk anniversary commemoration.
Alan Coombe, Portisham Place, Strensall, York.
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