Missing The Boat: War Stories of Thomas Alan Dirkin

59 My father was cut off from the main force of soldiers retreating towards Dunkirk. The rear guard was now in disarray and effective communication was nonexistent. Groups of 3-4 soldiers trying to figure out their next step, unsure of what the next minute would bring. My dad ended up in a light house at Cap Gris Nez with a couple of his mates and it was there that surrender was the only sane option. As was recounted earlier this is where my dad heard these words from the lead German soldier: “For you, Tommy, the war is over” From the lighthouse he was marched about 7-8 kilometers to the French town of Ambleteus. German war records (see ICRC document in Appendix) my father was officially registered as a POW. When all was done following the evacuation of the BEF from Dunkirk, 338,000 troops made it back to England. Approximately 25-30,000 were killed and 40,000 were captured and started their new role: prisoner of war. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill instructed the press to downplay the plight of the 40,000 men left behind at Dunkirk. For public relations reasons, which I can understand, Churchill’s job was to bolster the confidence of the British public. Dunkirk was a “victory” for British resilience enabling Britain to regroup and fight on. At the sixtieth anniversary of the evacuation of Dunkirk in June 2000, an elderly veteran of Dunkirk yelled across a group of visitors to the French town. “Hey, what camp (POW) were you in!?” His friend said, “How did you know he was an ex-POW?” “It’s simple,” said the first man. “Look at his chest. The blokes with the least medals are always old POW’s”. The Long March East: January-April 1945 Immediately following his capture the Germans set up carrels of barbed wire in fields. These were the holding cells, used to house individual and small groups of BEF prisoners. Following the successful German start to fighting in WW II, it was evident that no real plan was in place as to what to do with POWs. This was also true for the allies. Consequently, only partial plans existed for placement of POWs, feeding them, housing them or transporting them to a camp.