Walking in the Footsteps of the British Expeditionary Force 2008 to 2009

Some of the Communication Equipment in the complex built under the Cliffs at Dover. It was thought to be here where the direct telephone line with Gorts HQ at De Panne ended. There was also a telephone exchange of the French side at Sangatte near Calais.






Satisfied all that could be done was being done Churchill must of headed back to London with what must have felt the whole world on his shoulders..

Then


Now

 

Now at the end of our trip (4 trips in total) and indeed sadly the end of this thread we have really come to the grasp the whole situation during those dark days back in 1940.

From the inactivity in late 1939 to the early successes of 1940 (I remember reading an account of a soldier in the BEF asking why they were being ordered to retreat when we are beating the Germans).

How emotions of betrayal and feeling let down must of got the better of soldiers when they heard the Belgians and French were not doing as well as perhaps they might.

The most important part for me - The sheer bravery of men defending the line and gallant actions of individuals that inspired many a man to do likewise-I hope I have done some of these men justice with the stories I covered. It's surprising more VC's were not earned during this campaign. It did undoubtedly give me a sense of pride and reminded me that the ‘Esprit de Corps’ within the British Army was alive and well then as it is today.

Knowing that we both had relatives , Andreas far closer than mine, fighting and surviving in the areas we walked made the whole experience that much more personal for us and although their exact details are not know yet we hope that what we have done will give some idea to others who had relatives fighting in France in 1940 who are not in the fortunate position to visit the places we did.

Lastly Andrea’s relatives had to wait another four years before they returned to France and pick up where they left off. I like to think that in 1944 they went back to show the Germans they actually ‘just caught them on a bad day’ and the British Army were back then as they are today the finest soldiers in the world.

Luckily for me and Andrea we don’t have to wait four years to return to France –Our Operation Overlord starts in January with the planning and we are landing on the beaches in September!

The next and last post has a few general shots from Dover Castle defences and a rather apt ‘Then and Now’.

Cheers
Andy and Andrea

 

The Battle of France is over and The Battle of Britain begins:

Then


Now

 

So much history, so little time!
I wonder why they are dropping it in schools?
Excellent research Andy, you are a credit to your subject. I can't help wondering though why the SS did what they did this early in the war when 'they seemed like they were winning' and hundreds of thousands of POW Allies were marching East anyway. I mean its not is if it was 1943 and it was all going horribly wrong??

 

Happened upon what I believe to be a picture including Private Charles Daley of the Royal Warwickshires, a survivor of the Wormhout Massacre, seen here in Stalag VIIIB on the left in the attached photo. I have never seen this picture before, hence I am posting it up. The caption states:
"Pte Gregory Coogan of the 2nd Batt Irish Guards in Stalag V111 B. He is on the right of the photo. The man on the extreme left is a soldier from the Warwickshire regiment and is a survivor of the SS barn massacre, I believe his name is Charlie Daly. I understand that all three men lost a leg"

His testimony at the War Crimes Trial:
(from this posting of Drew5233)

'I, Charles Edward Daley, formerly of the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, and now discharged from the Army say as follows: .... The Battalion was in the neighbourhood of a place called Wormhout, and was in action for about two days in defence of that place, against a force of Germans who were attacking with overwhelming superiority. By the afternoon of the 27th or 28th May or thereabouts, although we had not yielded our positions we had been surrounded, and our ammunition given out, we surrended and made prisoners of war. A German solder armed with a revolver shouted at me "Englander Schwein" and shot me in the shoulder. From this point with some other ranks from the Cheshire Regiment and the Royal Artillery we were marched to a barn some distance away.... According to my estimate there were about ninety altogether who were herded into the barn, more or less filling it. A German soldier at the door stooped to pick a hand-grenade from his jackboot. Captain Lynn-Allen who was commanding 'D' Company, and who was the only officer amongst the prisoners, protested against what appeared to be his intention, namely to massacre the prisoners. He also protested that there was a number of wounded, and that the accomodation was insufficient to give them room to lie down. The German soldier shouted back, "Yellow Englishman, there will be plenty of room where you're all going to". This man spoke fluent English, with a strong American accent. He and others then threw bombs into the barn. Some of these bombs were smothered by the heroic action of Sergeant Moore and CSM Jennings who threw themselves on them and were immediately killed. One bomb in the direction of Captain Lynn-Allen appeared to wound a man in his company called Evans, and I saw Captain Lynn-Allen take advantage of the Germans taking cover from the explosions of the bombs, to drag Private Evans out of the barn, and try and make an escape.... Following this throwing of bombs into the barn, the Germans began taking the prisoners of war out of the barn five at a time and shooting them. I was rather towards the back, having been first amongst those to enter the barn. When the men infront of myself and the others had been taken out of the barn and shot, it came on to rain, and the shooting was finished off in the barn. We were ordered to turn around, and we were shot through the back.... Later on, the Germans fired Tommy-Guns into the barn, and I was hit again and became unconcious. When I recovered, I found that my right leg had been shattered by a group of bullets from a Tommy-Gun, and that my left leg had also sustained a wound. I lay in the barn for from two or three days....'

From forum: The Wartime Memories Project - STALAG 8b POW Camp (344) - Page 2, re: Gregory Coogan

 

Andy
thank you
great job with the pics looking forward to seeing it first hand
and thanks for the direction with
Le Paradis and gt uncle sammy
cheers Davey

 

only just seen this, read it comletely from beginning to end, absolutely superb stuff!

cheers

ed

 

ANDY
Great adventure, thanks for the trip and the photos its opened my eyes to what my old man's friends faced .

 

Major Angus McCorquodale


http://www.cwgc.org/search/certificate.aspx?casualty=2776905

 

Is that photograph really of someone less than 34 years old ?

 

Nice photos. Great to see something that one never has a chance to get to
David

 

With the 70th Anniversary for many of the actions covered in this thread fast approaching I thought I'd bump this thread up.

(If you get a red x where a picture should be I find hitting the refresh button helps)

Enjoy
Andy

 

Great stuff. Very interesting.

I see that the Union Flag at the barn is upside down and wonder if this is deliberate as a sign of distress??

 

Here's a beautiful picture of the inside of the barn, unfortunately I cannot remember where I lifted it from.
.jpg]
...and The Sacred Tree
View attachment 29730

 

I know this is a fairly old post but I can confirm that this chateau (chateau coquelle, known to the BEF as chapeau rouge) was home to the 12th C.C.S. My father was captured here on 28th May 1940.

 

I know this is a fairly old post but I can confirm that this chateau (chateau coquelle, known to the BEF as chapeau rouge) was home to the 12th C.C.S. My father was captured here on 28th May 1940.

Correct. What units was your father with ? 12 CCS or was he a casualty there?

 

Welcome to the forum, Malo. It's never too late to add information to a '1940' sub-forum thread. We don't do transient !