Memories of Dunkirk from the men, women and children who were saved and help save others in the 'miracle of deliverance.'
"Yes we were scared. It could be seen on the faces of the men. No food didn't help. We stopped to suck pebbles during the day as our tongues began to swell through lack of water... We had an order come through to us one day. Every man for himself. And then the soldiers -- Belgian, French and British -- were side by side in silent soddy ranks in columns, zig-zagged across the beaches. I still believe this was done to minimise casualties. We had to wade out up to our necks in water to get onto a boat, ducking under the water when the Germans tried to mow us down. Eventually I managed to grab a chain hanging off a Naval motorboat, and it was fully loaded but I hung on." --Arthur Thomas Gunn, Walsall
Between May 24 and June 4, 1940 over 900 vessels rescued 338,226 people trapped at Dunkirk. Cut off by the advancing German Army hundreds of thousands of Allied troops gathered on the beaches -- exhausted, hungry and scarred by war. Operation Dynamo saw British destroyers and the hundreds of 'little ships' bring these men safely back to England, where they were welcomed back by the locals with tea and sandwiches, and hailed as heroes.
In "We Remember Dunkirk" we hear stories from the soldiers who made the perilous journey to Dunkirk and came under constant attack from Nazi aircraft as they boarded British ships and attempted to cross the Channel. But we also hear from the nurses who tended the many returning wounded; the young women who, along with the rest of their communities, rallied to make food and gather whatever they could to give the soldiers; and what it was like witnessing all this through a child's eyes. Above all, we see how the solidarity of the British people gave rise to the 'Dunkirk Spirit'.

- This is the fourth instalment in the 'We Remember' series by Frank and Joan Shaw.
About the Author: FRANK AND JOAN SHAW live in Hinckley, Leicestershire. They have four children and nine grandchildren. They were born and raised in Deal, Kent and this is where they spent the war. The idea of the We Remember series came when their granddaughter asked them about the Second World War for a school project. Frank and Joan decided more memories needed to be committed to paper, and they wrote to 700 local newspapers throughout the country asking just that. They were flooded with letters, which they then self-published as five hardback books, raising over 100,000 for the Royal British Legion. Ebury Press are excited to be republishing the series over 20 years later, starting with "We Remember the Home Guard," with all royalties also going to the Legion.