Dunkirk: The Men They Left Behind (58 page)

Jim Pearce was among the many POWs who returned home from war only to find it difficult to settle down. It was only after his leave was complete and he returned to army discipline that he began to come to terms with no longer being in captivity. Pre-war, Pearce had been a porter in a block of flats in London’s Maida Vale, however post-war he moved into the catering industry, eventually working as a catering manager for a large oil company in Essex. His experience during the war years had heightened his faith in God, a faith he still retains.

Eric Reeves, the pre-war Territorial who never reached the minimum height for an infantryman, returned home to Reigate. In later years he joined the Dunkirk Veterans Association and acted as a ‘company commander’, leading parades during the Association’s annual pilgrimages to the town. He is also the Vice-Chairman of the National Ex-Prisoner of War Association, working closely with Les Allan to promote a greater understanding of life in a POW camp.

Despite his bad experience of war and captivity, Second-Lieutenant Peter Wagstaff returned home from Germany and decided to remain in the army. He took a commission in the Royal Scots Regiment and served throughout the world, seeing action in many regions including Malaya and Korea. He retired with the rank of major and later joked that he and his family had moved from one country to another as the British Empire contracted around them. Ever thankful to have survived the war, and grateful to have been spared the psychological damage that affected so many of his fellow POWs, he continues to enjoy life in a quiet Oxfordshire village.

Prologue
1  Nigel Nicolson,
Alex: The Life of Field Marshal Earl Alexander of Tunis,
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1973

Introduction: Victory or Defeat?
1  Frederick Foster. Imperial War Museum 01/4/1

Chapter 1: Missing the Boat
1  Major R.L. Barclay. Imperial War Museum pp/mcr/3732  National Archives CAB106/2603  National Archives WO32/46104  National Archives CAB106/2605  National Archives WOl67/7626  Major W.W. Wagstaff. Imperial War Museum 93/11/1. (Walton Wynter Wagstaff adopted the name Peter to avoid being known as Walt or Waldo.)7  National Archives CAB106/2488  National Archives CAB106/2929  National Archives CAB106/29210  Major W.W. Wagstaff. Imperial War Museum 93/11/111  National Archives WO197/9912  National Archives CAB106/24813  National Archives WO167/80714  L.B. Shorrock. Imperial War Museum 80/12/1

Chapter 2: The Round Up
1  John Lawrence,
A POW’s Story,
Woodfield Publishing, 19912  Captain Munby. Imperial War Museum 87/25/13  Sergeant Stephen Houthakker. Imperial War Museum 98/5/14  National Archives WO167/8045  National Archives WO167/8046  National Archives WO167/8047  National Archives WO167/8048  National Archives WO167/8049  National Archives WO167/80410  National Archives TS26/65b11  National Archives TS26/20512  National Archives TS26/40013  National Archives TS26/224

Chapter 3: The Fight Goes On
1  National Archives WO167/7102  National Archives WO167/7103  National Archives WO167/8184  National Archives WO167/4555  National Archives WO167/7106  Captain Peter Royle. Imperial War Museum 99/72/17  National Archives WO167/4558  Captain Peter Royle. Imperial War Museum 99/72/19  National Archives WOl67/45510  John Forbes Christie. Imperial War Museum 88/47/111  National Archives WO167/81812  National Archives WO167/81813  National Archives WO167/45514  National Archives WO167/70415  National Archives WO167/45516  National Archives WO167/45517  National Archives WO167/45518  National Archives WO167/47319  Captain Peter Royle. Imperial War Museum 99/72/120  National Archives WO167/70521  National Archives WO167/705

Chapter 4: The Death of a Division
1  H. Watt. Imperial War Museum 03/10/012  H. Watt. Imperial War Museum 03/10/013  H. Watt. Imperial War Museum 03/10/014  John Forbes Christie. Imperial War Museum 88/47/15  John Forbes Christie. Imperial War Museum 88/47/1

Chapter 5: The Wounded
1  National Archives WO32/107462  Geoff Griffin. Imperial War Museum 92/10/13  Geoff Griffin. Imperial War Museum 92/10/14  John Forbes Christie. Imperial War Museum 88/47/15  L.B. Shorrock. Imperial War Museum 80/2/16  L.B. Shorrock. Imperial War Museum 80/2/17  L.B. Shorrock. Imperial War Museum 80/2/18  W. Simpson. Imperial War Museum 96/41/19  W. Simpson. Imperial War Museum 96/41/110  W. Simpson. Imperial War Museum 96/41/111  Major W.W. Wagstaff. Imperial War Museum 93/11/112  Geoff Griffin. Imperial War Museum 92/10/113  National Archives FO916/259114  National Archives FO916/13315  National Archives WO309/85716  National Archives TS26/22217  National Archives TS26/22218  National Archives TS26/22319  W. Simpson. Imperial War Museum 96/41/1

Chapter 6: The First Men Home
* In his published memoirs Fred Goddard stated that he was evacuated from Brest, from where the organized elements of his regiment were indeed rescued. However, the author believes Goddard was actually evacuated from St Nazaire since his account includes vivid recollections of German aerial activity and the bombing of ships in the harbour. Records show that no Allied ships were lost to bombing at Brest.1  J.F. Sweeney. Imperial War Museum 85/18/12  Don Clark,
Cede Nullis: A Personal History of the 1940 Normandy Campaign,
Pentland Press, 20003  National Archives WO167/8184  National Archives WO167/4735  Fred Goddard,
Battlefields of Life,
Finial Publishing, 20046  V. Tatton. Imperial War Museum 01/57/17  S.D. Coates. Imperial War Museum 06/42/18  S.D. Coates. Imperial War Museum 06/42/19  Sergeant Wally Hewitt. Imperial War Museum 67/378/110  Corporal Charles Raybould. Imperial War Museum 75/12/111  Corporal Charles Raybould. Imperial War Museum 75/12/112  J.F. Sweeney. Imperial War Museum 85/18/113  J.F. Sweeney. Imperial War Museum 85/18/114  Corporal Charles Raybould. Imperial War Museum 75/12/115  J.F. Sweeney. Imperial War Museum 85/18/116  J.F. Sweeney. Imperial War Museum 85/18/1

Chapter 7: The Long Way Home
* More than sixty years later both these newspapers did get such stories into print when they published features on the author’s book
Hitler’s British Slaves: Allied POWs in Germany, 1939–45.
1  National Archives FO371/245072  National Archives FO371/245073  John Forbes Christie. Imperial War Museum 88/47/14  Major G.S. Lowden. Imperial War Museum 80/6/15  Major G.S. Lowden. Imperial War Museum 80/6/16  D.N. Peterson. Imperial War Museum 90/4/17  John Forbes Christie. Imperial War Museum 88/47/18  John Forbes Christie. Imperial War Museum 88/47/19  John Forbes Christie. Imperial War Museum 88/47/110  National Archives FO371/2432611  National Archives FO371/3190812  National Archives FO371/2450713  John Forbes Christie. Imperial War Museum 88/47/114  National Archives FO371/2432615  National Archives WO222/1616  National Archives FO371/2450717  National Archives FO371/2450718  National Archives FO371/2450719  National Archives FO371/2450720  John Forbes Christie. Imperial War Museum 88/47/121  John Forbes Christie. Imperial War Museum 88/47/122  National Archives FO371/3190823  National Archives WO222/24524  National Archives FO916/4725  National Archives FO916/4826  Geoff Griffin. Imperial War Museum 92/10/127  Geoff Griffin. Imperial War Museum 92/10/128  Geoff Griffin. Imperial War Museum 92/10/129  National Archives FO916/54030  Geoff Griffin. Imperial War Museum 92/10/131  National Archives FO916/53932  National Archives WO32/1075733  National Archives WO32/1075734  National Archives WO32/10757

Chapter 8: The Journey East
1  National Archives TS26/2072  National Archives TS26/204 – United Nations War Crimes Commission3  National Archives WO32/184894  National Archives TS26/2145  National Archives FO916/25916  National Archives FO916/25917  H. Watt. Imperial War Museum 03/10/018  National Archives TS26/2119  National Archives TS26/20710  R.P. Evans. Imperial War Museum 90/18/111  R.P. Evans. Imperial War Museum 90/18/112  National Archives WO32/1848913  W. Bampton. Imperial War Museum 94/49/114  W. Bampton. Imperial War Museum 94/49/115  Sergeant H.S. Houthakker. Imperial War Museum 98/5/116  Sergeant H.S. Houthakker. Imperial War Museum 98/5/117  John Forbes Christie. Imperial War Museum 88/47/118  National Archives TS26/20719  National Archives TS26/21120  W. Kite. Imperial War Museum 94/26/121  National Archives TS26/65A22  National Archives TS26/20723  National Archives TS26/22124  R.A. Wilson. Imperial War Museum 83/41/125  John Forbes Christie. Imperial War Museum 88/47/126  W. Bampton. Imperial War Museum 94/49/1

Chapter 9: The Journey Continues
1  National Archives CAB106/2602  W. Bampton. Imperial War Museum 94/49/13  Fred Kennington,
No Cheese After Dinner,
privately published, 20044  National Archives TS26/2075  National Archives TS26/2076  Tommy Arnott,
A Long Walk to the Garden,
privately published, 20057  L.B. Shorrock. Imperial War Museum 80/2/18  W. Bampton. Imperial War Museum 94/49/19  L.B. Shorrock. Imperial War Museum 80/2/110  Ronald Holme,
Adventures of a Brown Job,
Imperial War Museum 19/82/111  Tommy Arnott,
A Long Walk to the Garden,
privately published, 2005

Chapter 10: The First Year
1  E. Vernon Mathias. Imperial War Museum 85/8/12  National Archives WO32/184893  Sergeant H.S. Houthakker. Imperial War Museum 98/5/14  E. Vernon Mathias. Imperial War Museum 85/8/15  Major W.W. Wagstaff. Imperial War Museum 93/11/16  E. Vernon Mathias. Imperial War Museum 85/8/17  Sergeant H.S. Houthakker. Imperial War Museum 98/5/18  Fred Kennington,
No Cheese After Dinner,
privately published, 20049  R.P. Evans. Imperial War Museum 90/18/110  National Archives CAB106/21411  Tommy Arnott,
A Long Walk to the Garden,
privately published, 200512  National Archives FO916/13313  National Archives FO916/257414  National Archives FO371/2607

Chapter 11: Five Years
1  National Archives WO32/107572  National Archives WO311/1463  National Archives FO371/296074  National Archives FO371/296075  National Archives WO32/107466  National Archives WO32/107577  National Archives WO32/10757

Chapter 12: Going Home
1  National Archives WO32/107572  National Archives WO32/107573  National Archives WO32/107574  National Archives WO32/107575  National Archives WO32/107576  National Archives WO32/107577  National Archives WO32/107578  National Archives WO32/107579  National Archives WO32/1075710  National Archives TS26/6311  National Archives TS26/63

Published sources
Leslie Aitken,
Massacre on the Road to Dunkirk,
William Kimber, 1977Anon,
The Diary of a Staff Officer,
Methuen, 1941Anon,
Infantry Officer,
Batsford Books, 1943Tommy Arnott,
A Long Walk to the Garden,
privately published, 2005W.H. Aston,
Nor Iron Bars a Cage,
Macmillan, 1946Earl of Cardigan,
I Walked Alone,
Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1952Field Marshal Lord Carver,
Britain’s Army in the Twentieth Century,
Macmillan, 1998John Castle,
The Password is Courage,
Souvenir Press, 1954Don Clarke,
Cede Nullis: a Personal History of the 1940 Normandy Campaign,
Pentland Press, 2000Richard Collier,
The Sands of Dunkirk,
William Collins, 1961Saul David,
Churchill’s Sacrifice of the Highland Division, France 1940,
Brassey, 1994John Elwyn,
At the Fifth Attempt,
Leo Cooper, 1987C. Denis Freeman and Douglas Cooper,
The Road to Bordeaux,
Cresset Press, 1942Fred Goddard,
Battlefields of Life,
Finial Publishing, 2004Alistair Home,
To Lose a Battle,
Macmillan, 1969Nicholas Harman,
Dunkirk, the Necessary Myth
, Hodder & Stoughton, 1980Gordon Instone, MM,
Freedom the Spur,
Burke Publishing Company, 1973Fred Kennington,
No Cheese After Dinner,
privately published, 2004Sam Kyd,
For You the War is Over,
Bachman & Turner, 1973John Lawrence,
A POW’s Story,
Woodfield Publishing, 1991Walter Lord,
The Miracle of Dunkirk,
Viking Press, 1982Mac MacIntosh,
The Bolo Boys,
Victoria Press, 1989William Moore,
The Long Way Round,
Secker & Warburg, 1986Airey Neave,
The Flames of Calais,
Hodder & Stoughton, 1972Nigel Nicolson,
Alex: the Life of Field Marshal Earl Alexander of Tunis,
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1973Keith Panter Brick,
Years Not Wasted,
The Book Guild, 1999Anthony Rhodes,
Sword of Bone,
Faber & Faber, 1942David Rolf,
Prisoners of the Reich,
Leo Cooper, 1988Warren Tute,
Escape Route Green,
J.M. Dent, 1971Adrian Vincent,
The Long Road,
Allen & Unwin, 1956Adrian Weale,
Renegades: Hitler’s Englishmen,
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1994