Dunkirk

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Looking forward to watching this like. Funny how your tastes change as you age, never had the slightest intrest in war history till I reached my 30's.
I will watch anything about ww1 and ww2 now, the suffering people went through in the last 100 years for a better world and it looks like we are trying to throw it all away atm.
 


My Grandad was at Dunkirk and was awarded the DCM for his actions (see below excerpt from his obituary)...

"...By the end of the month, all three tank squadrons of the regiment were dispersed to three divisions, under whose orders they were told to embark at Dunkirk.
The scene on the beaches which met the eyes of trooper Ted Glynn was one just short of chaos, as a few determined individuals took over from the embarkation staff killed in the bombing and the men waiting to embark were being shelled and dive-bombed. After one bombardment, he left his squadron to help a man wounded by shell splinters and took him to an embarkation point.
Although under almost constant shellfire, for the whole of that night and until noon next day he continued to guide wounded men to the boats. His courage and total lack of self-concern saved many lives, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal."
 
CheersMarra84 said:
My Great Uncle was there and survived Dunkirk, he was later shot in 1942 when he was 20. He was on a Red Cross ship and the Germans sank it, and because he was in the water for so long it weakened his heart. He ended up dying from complications of his heart in 1952. My grandad used to tell me about his Brother's experiences and how he seen his mates blown up off mines etc.

The stuff that the young men of that generation endure was horrendous.
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Seen the film deliverance? Part of the beach scene is taken from a book by the Coldstream Guards who were holding the perimeter. There's a bit where one of the officers is shooting horses 'spooked by the tide'. Always thought that bit was odd to put in a book. Apparently they'd really been freaked out by the dive bombers and run across the line of wounded men waiting for evacuation, killing many of them.
 
One of my Uncles was in the territorial DLI and came back from Dunkirk.
They reckon he was at the point of physical and mental exhaustion and never fully recovered from it. Didn't rejoin the Army as far as I can make out as he was a miner and in a reserved occupation. I seem to recall talk that he was put on a charge for throwing his rifle away on the beach to be able to swim out to a boat.
 
Off to see this at the BFI Imax on Friday and i cannot wait, looks brilliant & Nolan rarely disappoints
 
Read in a Max Hastings book (iirc) that 300k French troops were rescued from Dunkirk. When France surrendered a while later 200k of them went back to France to live under occupation.
 
JohnKay said:
Looking forward to watching this like. Funny how your tastes change as you age, never had the slightest intrest in war history till I reached my 30's.
I will watch anything about ww1 and ww2 now, the suffering people went through in the last 100 years for a better world and it looks like we are trying to throw it all away atm.
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Same here. I remember hating the ITV "World at War" WW2 documentary series on Sunday afternoons when I was a kid. Me parents were glued to it, but it was BORING.

Then about 5 years ago I downloaded the whole series and binged it in a day. Bloody marvellous programming.
 
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