Operation Dynamo - Dunkirk
With the Allies in disarray and cut off, the British Expeditionary Force began to fall back to the Channel ports, concentrating around Dunkirk. Meanwhile, the RAF squadrons fought on, often having to move at short notice when their aerodromes were overrun by German forces. After taking off to avoid encircling German troops at Bertangles aerodrome, Pilot Officer Ian Dromgoole of Lyttelton was shot down and killed in his 16 Squadron Westland Lysander by waiting German fighters on 19 May 1940. Others were more fortunate. Flying Officer Leonard Trent of Nelson had to abandon his meal and bottle of wine and take off hastily in his damaged 15 Squadron Blenheim bomber on 18 May as German troops approached the airfield at Poix. Before leaving, however, he was able to liberate a quantity of wine and liquor in a parachute bag, in order to prevent it falling into German hands. Despite the bag being dropped in the haste to depart, he was able to nurse the aircraft and its unusual cargo back to England, braving both German and Allied fire. He went on to be one of three RNZAF men to win the Victoria Cross in the war for his actions on a raid in Holland in 1943.
As the cut off British and French troops huddled in the town and on the beaches of Dunkirk, a furious battle raged above as the RAF, operating from England, attempted to protect the troops below. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy and volunteer crews (the famous ‘Little Ships’) who were trying to evacuate them, were also under fierce air attack from the Luftwaffe.
Flying Officer Raymond Kean
Pilot Officer Raymond Kean of 206 Squadron described in a letter home home on 4 June 1940 the conditions of operations over Dunkirk in his Hudson:
“It has been a hard week and believe me we are pretty much all in, but we are quite prepared for more. Many a time I have seen a dog fight with nearly two hundred machines in the air, all having a great time…the BEF certainly took a hammering believe me. Dunkirk is just one great huge fire and continuously covered in thick black smoke. Ostend is the same, so we have been wondering whether London will be next….I am quite used to anti-aircraft fire now, and it doesn’t worry me very much. I have got quite used to seeing shells exploding all round my machine. For an hour one day I was under anti-aircraft fire and you don’t know how relieved I was when our job was done and we were headed for good old England again”. 1985/030.5s
Despite the enormous logistical difficulties and constant Luftwaffe bombardment from the air, some 336,000 British and French troops were safely rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk.
One of those evacuated from Dunkirk was one of the most celebrated Kiwi aces of the war, Al Deere. He had been shot down on 28 May 1940 and managed to make his way to Dunkirk. Waiting on the mole, he endured the same sufferings as the troops, and their bitter criticism of the perceived absence of RAF protection over the evacuation beaches. He later wrote in his autobiography:
Wing Commander Alan Deere in his Spitfire later in World War Two
“We set off at once for the causeway leading to the mole, weaving our way through the long lines of troops who still maintained some semblance of order despite the constant attention of the Hun aircraft. Just as we approached the causeway, a formation of three Junkers bombers appeared overhead, hotly pursued by a single Spitfire. There was a mad scramble for cover, available only to those near the sand dunes or to those, of which I was one, who could shelter behind the rock causeway. Mostly the troops just dived into the water, re-emerging at neck level to fire their rifles in desperation and defiance in the general direction of the attacking bombers. From the comparative safety of the causeway, I watched the Spitfire as it closed to attack only to see white smoke begin to pour from its engine as the pilot, obviously badly hit, turned away and glided inland. Silently, I wished him luck. A crescendo of bombs, accompanied by machine-gun fire from the rear-gunners of the aircraft, descended on the beach. In a few seconds it was all over; a number of British soldiers would not now be requiring transport back to England”. Nine Lives, 1959.
