John Cotterill in the churchyard at West Cappel - both the site of the last stand of 5 Platoon , Number 2 Company, 1st Battalion, The Welsh Guards on 29 May 1940 and the last resting place of many of them
"The one in here was 380mm in diameter!" - Vern explaining the details of cross-channel artillery duels at Batterie Todt, near Cap Gris Nez
"They don't get much bigger than this" - for bunker-spotters, here are some well-known GBG members dwarfed by the V2 site at Le Blockhaus d'Éperlecques
"Guiding in the rain" - the group at the gates to the West Cappel Chateau, the site of a 1st Welsh Guards defensive battle on 29 May 1940
Tony Scott:
John,
Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the Calais weekend, especially the Sunday despite the rather inclement weather. Thank you for your hard work putting it all together and leading us around Dunkirk which was first class, thank you also for the excellent handouts that I actually sat reading through last night for a couple of hours with my books and maps (Instead of preparing my Assignment 6 work as I had planned!)
A great trip with great company. Hopefully see you at the AGM.
Richard Barnes:
Many thanks for all your efforts this last weekend. It is always a pleasure to be with somebody who "knows his sh*t “.
Gordon Hill:
John
Many thanks for your guidance and information on Sunday. I am already planning to revisit the area with my son ASAP.
With regards to the fight at the canal. The gentleman I referred to as having been involved was a pre-War regular by the name of Jim UPTON. I remember him regaling me with the story of wading through the ditch to avoid capture and he was in either the East Lancs or the South Lancs. As he and his son have both passed away, I cannot now get personal accounts verified, so I would be grateful if you can throw some light on the story and verify one way or the other whether he was involved. What he related must have been a fairly common experience during the retreat, and everyone seems to have been the last man off the beaches. He did mention however he was in the rear-guard which fits and was very lucky to get away.
It’s one of these situations where you kick yourself for not being more thorough recording old soldiers experiences, but in those days I was not in the Guiding business.
Thanks again for helping to make a great week-end.
Bob Darby:
John/Chris
Just a brief line to thank you both for a very informative and truly successful weekend!! I am not going to go into overdrive with a 'What They Said' piece, but I know how much effort goes into preparing these events - something which escapes most members.
I thought the highlights were the V3 gun at that place with an unpronounceable name and West Cappel, an action I had no knowledge of. I agree with John about the sturdiness of the Regular soldier who held his ground against all odds. Many historians cannot accept this and look on Dunkirk as a crushing defeat as of course it was, but it wasn't due to a lack of effort by the 'Tom' on the ground.
For those of us that came up from Normandy it was well worth the effort.
Dave Platt:
I wanted to say thank you for the great presentation you did on the evacuation, I learned a lot and it was well presented.
Bit wet for me being a biker but we are a hardy bunch so if you have the right gear it’s all in our stride!
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