Dunkirk 1940 photos some never before seen.

Part 1 The Beach.
Here is a link to some of my original [ some taken from original negatives ] 1940 Dunkirk photos, over a 120 + part 1. copyright 2018 Keith Brooker collection .

Keith

 

Excellent viewing Keith and many thanks for posting.
Sure Andy will be more than interested.
Regards
Tom

 

Thanks Tom, I have put a new soundtrack on it. Part 2 is now on line.
Keith

 

Great photos Keith. Nice idea to make a video presentation of them. I might have a go at doing one with my POW photos.

 

Nice job Keith,
Now we know where all the german panthers/tigers originated from.?

Graham.

 

Give it a go, the hard bit is knowing what to put in or keep out
Part 2. Dunkirk 1940. Inland, France & Belgium is now up and running.
Part 3 Soon. Beach, Trucks, POWs RAF, KIA not to sure about the last one, but want to show War is not a game.
Keith

 

You sent me that one a while back. It is a fantastic picture. I think we might have another photo from the IWM collection that has the man staring at the camera (front row middle) 7th Argylls possibly.

 

looks like him

 

My dad fortunately was evacuated from Dunkirk and I remember he was sent straight home on a few days leave. I remember playing with his rifle in our kitchen as a young lad with strict instructions from Mam not to wake him up. I think he slept for a couple of days. What with the trauma of the evacuation he also endured a bout of malaria contracted from his peacetime regular service in India before the war. The truck he was driving toward the French coast took a hit by a shell and all the lads in the back were killed. Dad fortunately survived but lost his hearing nearest the explosion. It is only now in my dotage and seeing these photos of all the vehicles, stores and material left behind, one realises what a defeat this country sustained. Happily we had Churchill at the top to carry on; had we had Lord Halifax who the Conservative party really wanted, I think he would have packed it in on Hitler's terms!

 

Thank you Jetson , what unit was your dad in.

 

8th Worcs R morrisc8. I suppose he would have been classed as a little old for infantry, he was 33 on the outbreak of war and 39 on demob. During his prewar regular engagement, he was in the 1 Leicesters and transferred in a reinforcing cadre within weeks to 8 Worcs which were a TA embodied unit. I understand they went to France about Nov 39. He spent most of his wartime service with the MT having done the long MT course at Hounslow with a pass cert to prove it prewar.

 

One more from my collection.
Keith

 

All the Morris and Bedford trucks in these photos, some appearing to be little damaged or sabotaged. It would be interesting to know how many were put back into roadworthy condition and used by the Werhmacht. I do recall reading an article by a former German Captain who said they took a Morris to Russia with them and it never let them down, only abandoning it somewhere in Eastern Europe when it ran out of fuel. He mused that some farmer there might still be using it!

 

HI

Thanks for these. They are a poignant reminder of how bad things were. No wonder my father, a driver with 11 AFW RAOC, never talked about his time there.

His unit was evacuated on the SS Killarney on 29th May 40.

SS Killarney was a 2050 tonne, Liverpool Registered, Irish Steam Ship Company owned former cruise liner, turned troopship. According to "Epic of Dunkirk" by E Kebel Chatterton.

She was off Dunkirk harbour at 0500 on 29 May when the ship directly next to her, the SS Mona Queen struck a magnetic mine and sank in just 2 minutes. She entered the Harbour and picked up 900 troops (including my father) from the east mole. She left at around 1100 and turned west onto 'Route Z' and was spotted by a coastal battery at Gravelines. The first volley of three shells fell short of the port side by the bridge.The Master, Captain R Hughes made smoke and turned the ship north to present the stern to the guns, sped up and started zigzagging. The Germans fired a total of 90 shells at her over a period of 45 mins. One shell hit home, landing on the aft boat deck. There were 8 killed (inc one crew member and three from my fathers unit). 15 mins later she was spotted by a German bomber but before it could drop its bombs it was itself attacked and shot down by a spitfire. The ship was not seriously damaged and 3 RAF Bombers escorted the ship during its journey home. It picked up a French Officer and 2 Belgian seamen who were found floating on a makeshift raft along with two tins of biscuits, six demijohns of wine and a rusty bicycle. Everything except the bike was rescued.

The Killarney made Dover early on the morning of the 30th May 1940 and Captain Hughes decided that one trip was enough. By 1942, the SS Killarney was an accommodation ship based at HMS Culdrose at Rosyth.

Gus

 

One more original photo from my collection. Humber on the beach.

 

Two Humbers on the beach, I think

 

Yep, i should have known as i had one. That`s my ATS driver . Photo of the Humber in Holland.
Keith

 

Very interesting. As for KIA, I personally think that it is important to show for your reason.

 

I wondered the same thing.