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DUNKIRK

Of course I will take a photo for you, and yet another coincidence I've just found a letter in last nights evening mail thanking my brother inlaw for help with the Burma star association meeting.
 
Wow!
...and thanks for the photo offer, I'll look forward to seeing it. :)
 
Dribblinwizard –Yours a lovely but sad story. .

In June 1940 thousands of British troops were taken off the beachhead by anything that could float and brought back safely to England. Some of the boats that brought the survivors of Dunkirk back came into Sheerness. They were then transported by rail to London for eventual disbursement to their newly set up units or hospitals. .

A poem of one soldier’s experience:

Our hopes were so low, as we stood on that shore,
Our homes in Old England, we thought we'd see no more,
For half a million men were there,
With straggly beards and unkempt hair
Never having had a chance,
Since we landed on the shores of France.

The Nazi pounded us morning and night,
Though try as we would, we could not stem his might,
Betrayed we had been and deserted it seemed,
No hopes of rescue for us ever beamed
Surrender, well we never gave it a thought
As onward and onward we gallantly fought.

Dunkirk was ablaze, had been burning for days
Cut off we all were in several ways
Sleep was a thing unheard of for weeks
The water we drank was from dirty foul creeks.
As for washing, oh dear, well we'd no time to spare,
As we hurried and scurried around any where.

A miracle happened, a slim little chance
Was to take us away from that hell hole in France,
As our navy, those fine lads who are in navy blue
Came across in destroyers and e'en rowing boats too
To help us away from that terrible place,
In spite of the dangers they knew they would face.

We waded as far as we possibly could,
Whilst around us the sea was a mass of men's blood
Of men who had lived and had died for their land,
Had been taken away, not deserted our band
To leave them behind in a land far away
From their homes and their people and everything gay.

Frenchmen and Allies struggled there in the sea
The burning thought of each of us was to be
Away from that port of destruction so grim
Whilst we were still sound in both body and limb
But only so many got away safe and sound
For hundreds were wounded or captured or drowned.

The boats they came, and then went away,
The rest, 'poor devils' destined to stay
A short while longer in that 'living hell'
The strong survived, the weak just fell
With nothing to eat and no chance to sleep
A wonder they managed their senses to keep

Then when all their hopes had almost gone,
A boat came in and they staggered on
A motley crowd or so it seemed
On whom Dame Fortune had kindly beamed
They thought themselves lucky, to be safe and sound
Instead of being wounded or captured or drowned

Tightly packed then the boat set sail
Precious cargo of lives in a vessel so frail
As she headed out to sea once more
To leave behind the fateful shore
Of sand and dunes and poor wretched souls
Of English, French,and Czechs and Poles.

The white cliffs of Dover appeared in sight
So the men yelled out with all their might,
While some got down on their knees to pray
To bless the Lord for that wonderful day
And for their escape from a foreign grave
And for the rest of the men this boat might save

William Henry Greenwood June 1940 (Carter Camp Bulford)

We can look at pictures of Dunkirk showing us lines of men patiently waiting for death or salvation - bleeding bodies left on the shore or the joy of those that boarded ships - We could listento radio at the time or we can watch later recreations of Dunkirk in movies - Yet none of these is as powerful for getting inside the minds of those brave men who fought at Dunkirk for giving a peek of the chaos and the suffereing they went through. .
 
My first job upon leaving school was the Co-oP Milk at Hall Green. I was a spare which meant I worked on a different round each day as the assistant had his day off. I forget which day I worked with this man each week but he was an R.S.M. at Dunkirk. He was really a very nice man and I remember one day I had a headache and he knocked someones door and got me two phensics for the pain. He was always very surly and one day his wife told me it was because of what he and his men had endured at Dunkirk. One day on the milk-round a male customer called across the road to Jack, his name was Jack Blakemoor, this man said "Jack you ought to go and see that new film Dunkirk". Jack went ballistic, he said "See it, I was there and I had to leave a lot of my mates there". Thats the gist of it because I cant tell what he really said. As I said Jack was a caring man and since then I have often tried to understand how it must have felt to be in charge of men and see them getting killed. There was many terrifying incidents during our two wars and all our Service personnel were and still are HEROES. God Bless em all.
 
... he said "See it, I was there and I had to leave a lot of my mates there".

That's what always made my Dad cry on Remembrance Day. He left mates there too.
 
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There is an excellent book that I am reading at the moment......
"Dunkirk" Fight to the last man,author Hugh Sebag Montefiore
A penguin Book ISBN978-0-141-02437-0
Well worth reading
 
Thank you for putting the quote to rights for me ChrisM.
I don't know what happened there. :)
 
very moving . iv just discovered birmingham history site and it just gets better and better
 
Anyone who has/had relatives who were at Dunkirk,should read the above mentioned book to see how our heroic troops fought to keep the corridor to Dunkirk open. there is mention of the regiments,& names of some of the men The Royal Warwickshire Regt is well mentioned espcially their Horrific capture at Wormout,and the treatment by the SS.Leibstandarte Rgt.who were taking no prisoners
 
Dennis, they were all heroes, as are todays servicemen/women. The men who did what they could with their little boats were also heroes. Anyone who is able bodied can join the services these days and yet we are short of service personel. Whatever would happen if we needed mass enlistment now as we did for WW2. So many would be unable because of drugs and drink. I suppose all the tough gang members would find an excuse. You know Dennis, all these people were so brave and they did it all for the future of family, friends, king and country. When I see todays MPs. looking sad, facing the Cenotaph hypocrasy springs to mind. I have taught my lad to always do a favour for a person in military uniform and I still have two stepbrothers, both almost ninety now who talk to him so he knows what it was like.
 
im tryin to find out what regiment my granpa was in . i know he was captured at dunkirk and came from birmingham . thanx
 
Hello Sally, if you post your granpa's name and any other details I am sure someone will help. Sometimes replies to these queries can take a while though.
 
brueton he was a captain i think and probably in a warwickshire regiment
 
his father was killed in first war maybe at somme also probably in a warwickshire regiment
 
sallyb, I am sorry I am not able to help you because I wouldnt know how to start looking. I have my dads WW2 army number and his pay/pension number. I also have Mom & Dads marriage lines and When I have done one or two other things I will ask for some to help me. Good luck and I know someone on here will help you.
 
thanx . id just like to say again how great this birmingham history forum is and how friendly and helpful the people of birmingham are . we dont have anything like this in west yorkshre , wish we did . i love reading about the soldeirs storys and peoples memorys . love sally x
 
There is a WW1 medal card for a 'P. Brueton' which has on it 'K in A' (killed in action), the fact that he fought in France from and after 2/5/1915 (the battle of the Somme was late 1916) and a regimental number in the 'R War R' (Royal Warwickshire Regiment) of 4000. [It was the only 'K in A' I saw among the Bruetons.]

It is also inscribed 'correct initial T' and 'see Theaphilas Brueton identical'.

Theaphilas Brueton's card gives the same regiment and number, and by comparison the medal issues were registered on identical rolls and pages.

Therefore, it might be assumed that this Theaphilas (or Theophilus) Brueton was your Great Grandfather - the only minus point is that the rank stated is Private, not Captain.

Without more detail it is not possible to prove one way or the other.
 
oh thank you so much, i have found the name theophilus brueton before . i v never been to birmingham and coming on this site really helps me to feel closer to my granpas family thanks again love sally x
 
What a lovely photo. You are lucky to have one of your grandpa as a child.
 
thanx wendy , i love this photo i think hes holding a pistol in his right hand and dressed in a majors uniform though not sure . my granpa was captured at dunkirk and escaped back to england . i think his father theophulus lived at little shadewll st .
 
Sally,Theophilus Brueton (Private) died 12/10/1916 age 26
his grave is at the Thiepval Memorial in Northern France.
his details state wife Isabella Isetta?,address 3/194 Bloomsbury Street
Theophilus was born 1890 June 6d 291
Isabella was Isabella Rosetta Derrington whom he married in 1912


I have visited Thiepval and it is the most serene place I have ever
visited. The surroundings are so beautiful,so peaceful,the birdsong so clear. Over 70,000 soldiers are remembered there,those who were found are buried there,those who were missing have their names inscribed on the huge piers holding the Memorial.
The site is so well cared for by the CWGC.
 
thanks alberta , iv found out so much i didnt know and your discription of thiepval is lovely . 70 000 soldiers it really makes you think. thanx again x
 
thanks to alberta i have found out so much about my granps family and its been very moving for me
. ilove the photo of my granpa and it means so much more now . what a brave little man . lots of love sally xxx
 
This may be a silly question, but I shall ask it anyway:)

When the men who escaped from the beaches at Dunkirk got back to blighty, was a record made of their names and units. I am clutching at straws here, because the powers that be have lost my old dad's army records.

Barrie.
 
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