Whilst doing a bit of research for someone on the 1st Loyals I came across this entry in their war diary. Anyone know of anymore? I must say its the first I've heard of civilians being evacuated from Dunkirk.
Andy Thanks for drawing my/our attention to this item. Had never heard of this before and intend to follow it up. Ron
Brilliant - I hoped you would Ron through your contacts. Any info ref refugees being evacuated through Dunkirk etc would be great. If I'm honest I'm really surprised to see the BEF/RN allowing civilians to embark there at the end of May, beginning of June. I wonder if they were wanted/required in the UK. ie skilled in some form of specialist field like scientists etc. Regards Andy
Andy Passed this on to Martin Sugarman, Senior Archivist to AJEX and received this immediate comment: Yes this did happen and any examination of Dunkirk war diaries of regiments will show this. I have seen it portrayed in movies and also read in some of the books. BUT this excerpt is important to note Martin Thanks again for the "heads-up" Ron
Cheers Ron, When you have time can you ask him if he knows of any other mentions in 1940 BEF war diaries. If he can ID the unit or diary I'll dig them out and add them to this thread too. I'd also be interested in any Dunkirk related books he's read it in too. Cheers Andy
Private Clark of the 2/4 KOYLI left St. Nazaire with a few men after arriving at the port to find the ships had left. After comtemplating what to do a small convoy left and sadly Clark can not recall what port that arrived at next. On arrival they pushed their vehicles off the end of a pier and passed through a MP checkpoint to enable them to get onto a boat. As they attempted to board they were confronted by a Rabbi and a group of Jewish refugees asking to be taken onboard the ship but they were told the ship could only take British citizens. The Rabbi pleaded for sanctuary but was refused. As a last desperate attempt to get away, the families offered £1,000 for any British soldier who would marry one of the young girls. Again a Major in charge refused and finally the group gave up and walked away. Clark watched them as they turned and walked southwards. The ship left port on the 19th June arriving at Plymouth on the 25th June so I think I might be able to narrow down the port if you are interested Ron. Cheers Andy
Andy The ship left port on the 19th June arriving at Plymouth on the 25th June so I think I might be able to narrow down the port if you are interested Ron. I will always be interested in matters of this kind so please keep me in the loop. I'm still trying to dig up some data on your earlier enquiry : When you have time can you ask him if he knows of any other mentions in 1940 BEF war diaries. If he can ID the unit or diary I'll dig them out and add them to this thread too. I'd also be interested in any Dunkirk related books he's read it in too. and will come back to you when I have anything to report. As always, many thanks Ron
Hi Ron, I've checked my books but don't seem to be able to find an exact match fo those dates. I think the dates are wrong as the ships details I have are showing them only spending a few days at sea. He appears to have been at sea 6 days according to his account. I'll ask Roy Martin - He's an expert on these things Cheers Andy
Hi Andy/Ron, Please give me until tomorrow to see which sailings match. Ron, as Andy said, six days seems far too long for the passage, but I will check sailings and arrivals at those dates. Roy
Hi Andy/Ron, Please give me until tomorrow to see which sailings match. Ron, as Andy said, six days seems far too long for the passage, but I will check sailings and arrivals at those dates. Roy Hello Ron, I can't be sure which ships are which, so I have attached a table showing all the ships that I know of in Operation Aerial. It is difficult to generalise about the merchant ships, but I have never come across a record of them refusing to evacuate Jewish people at that time. Warships may have been more difficult in that they were not keen on loading civilians, unless they were diplomatic, government etc. Regards, Roy
