BEFORE DUNKIRK

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 218, 13 August 1940, Page 4

BEFORE DUNKIRK

DIARY OF NEW ZEALANDER. An account of incidents which occurred a lew days prior to the embarkation of the -British Forces at I>unkirk is given in the diary of a sergeant of the Auxiliary Military and Pioneer Corps, who is a. former Palmerston North resident and who left New Zealand last November for England to join the unit. He was with the British Expeditionary Force in the evacuation at Dunkirk. Though simple in form, the diary shows to some extent the ordeal through which the troops passed day after day.. Extracts are as tollow: —On May 12, at Farbus the members of the corps saw three German planes shot down. On May Id the Germans were very active and the roads were crowded with refugees. Those from Pas do Calais wore well organised. “Why?’’ asks the writer. A bombardment by enemy artillery caused concern among the men, especially when shrapnel was fired. Again on May 23, aerial activity and bombings were heavy. On May 25 nine men were lost in the course of a night march from Calvert. Shrapnel fire from the German artillery was heavy. A large ammunition dump was hit and continued to explode all day. Enemy infantry raked the roads at Fromells on May 27 with machine-guns, but there were no casualties in the corps. The unit had to retire from Metern on May 28 under strong attacks from enemy tanks. There, an A.S.C. unit was joined and the men were transported to Bergues. From Bergues to Dunkirk the journey was made on foot, as the roads were blocked by tanks, guns and transports that had been abandoned. Everything was in a state of confusion. Dunkirk was reachat 2 o’clock on the afternoon of May 29. The men were subjected to heavy fire from the German artillery and to attacks by enemy planes, which came over in waves. The embarkation was effected in a destroyer on May 31. The ship was twice hit by enemy shells and there were many casualties, the steering gear and guns being put out of actioi. The corps arrived at Dover on the same day and proceeded by trail! to its barracks.