Military Chat

My grandfather, Ernest Barr, was brought home from the Dunkirk beaches by one of the "little ships" in June 1940. He was picked up without a stitch of clothing, it all having been blown away by shellfire. It was the end of the war for him, as the guns had ruined his hearing. For the rest of the war, he worked as a conductor on Gateshead's trams.
Does anyone else have an ancestor who was involved in the evacuation, or have one who manned one of the little ships?

Lynda

Yes, my maternal grandfather Charles Walker was one of those who was brought home from the beaches. He couldn't swim, would have drowned in the process were it not for his brother Sonny, who was on the beaches with him.

My great aunt Sophie (paternal side) used to tell us how she saw the gathering flotilla of little boats set out on their journey.

Yes, my uncle was captured at Dunkirk and spent the rest of the war as a POW.

On another branch, my first cousins, once removed, who lived on the Isle of Wight went across the channel in their little boat and rescued some of the soldiers. They were just young teenagers at the time.

My late brother-in-law was evacuated from Dunkirk.

He spent many hours in the water waiting to be rescued, and developed pneumonia, which left him with a weakness which led to his premature death, although it didn't mean that he was invalided out of the Army.

He continued to serve after the initial illness cleared up enough to satisfy the Army medics.

Thank you all for your stories about your relatives. It must have been a dreadful experience for all of them

hi my dad was also at dunkirk he was a member of ramc helping rescue and saving lives it cost him hearing in one of his ears
pauline howe (nee middleton)

I bet he ferried my grandmother and family in and out of Gateshead at that time Lynda,,, :-D

Hi,

There used to be a Dunkirk Association of which my cousin was a prominent member. Her husband was captured and held POW, but not before he was hidden by French and then Polish farmers.

The Dunkirk Association disbanded a few years ago now and my cousin is in her 90's, but there are many interesting stories from this time.

Sappho

You may find some information on here:

www.war-experience.org/1940-dunkirk/?