I Was There

The British Expeditionary Force lay trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk, capture and imprisonment by the seemingly invincible forces of Nazi Germany now surely inevitable. This was Britain’s darkest hour of World War II.Over 7 days and nights 338,226 men were evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk, almost exactly 3 times the amount of men rescued from the beaches of Gallipoli.

On August 9th 1940, three hundred German aircraft flew over South-East England and as the Battle of Britain was being fought over the skies, an invasion force was being assembled on the other side of the Channel. Goering had promised the Fuhrer that his pilots would deliver to the Fatherland the “greatest of all victories”, it was simply a matter of time.

On August 23rd 1940 the Luftwaffe launched the biggest bombing attack on Great Britain since “The Day of the Eagle”, striking at British aircraft factories and vital oil storage tanks, as well as the already badly damaged airfields. One flight of bombers, flying off course and confused by a low ceiling of heavy cloud, dropped its bombs and headed for home.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill was concerned that middle-aged men were being cold-shouldered from service, and so, on 14th May 1940, Anthony Eden broadcast to the nation, announcing the formation of the Local Defense Volunteers. Within 24 hours over ¼ million men had offered their services, grateful for the chance at last, to do something for their Country’s defense.

On the 6th June 1944, 19 year old Jim Ryan, a tank driver in the Westminster Dragoons, finally came ashore on “Sword” beach, 3 hours after the start of what would go down in history as “D-Day”. By midnight 57,000 American and 75,000 British and Canadian troops, and their equipment, were encamped on the beachhead, pinned down by heavy German artillery fire. This is one man’s incredible true story.

Winston Churchill became Great Britain’s Prime Minister on 10th May 1940, after the country had finally lost all faith in the great appeaser, Neville Chamberlain – the German invasion of the Lowland countries the final straw for a population now under the constant threat of tyranny.