Interview with a Dunkirk Survivor

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Recently, I interviewed my 94 year old neighbor, Fred, about his experience of fighting first hand at Dunkirk, an important battle in WWII (1939-1945) that occurred from May 26-June 4th, 1940. Dunkirk or Dunkerque as the French spell it, was when the Germans forced back the English troops to the northern part of France without many weapons or other Allied help. The English, 400,000 in all, were forced to wait for English ships to rescue them as the Germans dive- bombed them. In all, 330,000 of the Allied troops were able to ferry across the English Channel to safety; luckily, my amazing neighbor, Fred, was one of them. Read his approximate answers to the questions, and hear his voice recording below .

How old were you?
“I was 21 years old when I fought at Dunkirk. The French actually spell the name of the place ‘Dunkerque’. I spent four days there.”

How did you come to enlist in the British Army? Were you part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF)?
“I was in the territorial army, a sort of volunteer army or technical unit. I signed up willingly so I wasn’t conscripted.”

How did you feel when the Germans effectively closed you in and pressed forward on the attack?
“The Germans had pushed us down to the point at Dunkirk. England sent down boats to rescue the soldiers, and I fought alongside the BEF. The Germans used dive-bomber planes, which had something on the end of the wings to exacerbate the screaming, despairing sound. The noise was used to scare the predominantly English troops. We felt hopeless, like “sitting ducks” because we didn’t have many weapons. We were vulnerable and confused. The dive-bombing noise was a soul destroying sound.”

How did you escape from Dunkirk?
“I was taken to the hospital there because I was wounded in the hand (a piece of shrapnel hit it). I thought ‘to hell with it’ so I took a bike and rode out of the chaos at Dunkirk. I picked up another man with injured legs and rode him out as well. Eventually, we saw an English police officer who took us a field hospital. From there, the other man and I were put on a Destroyer across the English Channel. I tried to contact the man I saved years later, but no luck. I don’t know if he lived or died.”

What soldiers who were with you do you remember?
“All the soldiers had good camaraderie. I remember a man died of a heart attack right beside me.”

What happened after you were rescued?
“I was taken to another hospital at Sheffield (north England) that was in front of an insane asylum. The doctor must have given me my piece of shrapnel, but I’ve lost it since then. I met my wife Josie at the hospital; she was a nurse there. We were married for 15 years; we were both quite young when we met.”

Did you hear of any PTSD cases?
“We didn’t know about PTSD during the war, but the screaming German dive-bombers were horrible.”

Did you engage in combat later in the war?
“No. I left the military after Dunkirk.”

What did you do after the battle?
“I went to a Central School after I left the military. England took good care of its soldiers (like the GI Bill). I went to London in a car one time and drove down Oxford Street; there was incredible damage. I also went back to the beaches of Dunkirk with my wife; it was bittersweet and also quite touristy. A Dunkirk Memorial was there, and I was part of the Dunkirk Veteran Association. I received two medals: one for fighting at Dunkirk and one for being in WWII.”

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