Letter from Dunkirk
Peter brought in a letter from his father's brother (Bruce Gray) to his mother relating his experiences of rescuing troops from the beaches of Dunkirk. It was sent from Granville Hotel, Ramsgate on 2 June 1940. The letter starts by asking his mother matter of fact for his driving licence and a list of guests to send wedding invitations to. It then tells of how Bruce boarded a 300-ton boat and helped rescue 300 troops from the beach. It talks of Bruce grabbing a Bren gun for the boat to protect it from German airplanes. They spent over 3 hours in Dunkirk under fire. Bruce was in the army at the... Mehr ...
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Dokumenttyp: | Text |
Erscheinungsdatum: | 2024 |
Schlagwörter: | British history / European history (excl. British / classical Greek and Roman) / International history / Their Finest Hour / World War Two / Aeroplane / Africa / African / Air Raid / Aircraft / Airplane / Armed Forces / Armies / Army / Battle of Dunkirk / Battle of Europe / Belgian / Belgium / Bomb / Bombed / Bombing / Bombing raids / Bombs / Britain / British / British Army / Child / Childhood / Children / Civilian / Civilians / Dunkerque / Dunkirk / Europe / European / Fire Arm / Firearm / France / French / German / Germany / Gun / Letter / Letters / North Africa / North African Campaign / Plane / Sea / UK |
Sprache: | unknown |
Permalink: | https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-28522955 |
Datenquelle: | BASE; Originalkatalog |
Powered By: | BASE |
Link(s) : | https://doi.org/10.25446/oxford.25901509.v1 |
Peter brought in a letter from his father's brother (Bruce Gray) to his mother relating his experiences of rescuing troops from the beaches of Dunkirk. It was sent from Granville Hotel, Ramsgate on 2 June 1940. The letter starts by asking his mother matter of fact for his driving licence and a list of guests to send wedding invitations to. It then tells of how Bruce boarded a 300-ton boat and helped rescue 300 troops from the beach. It talks of Bruce grabbing a Bren gun for the boat to protect it from German airplanes. They spent over 3 hours in Dunkirk under fire. Bruce was in the army at the time. He later served in the North Africa Tank Regiment. Peter knew Bruce well - he had no children so he doted on Peter. Here's a transcription of the handwritten letter from Bruce Gray to his mother: "Granville Hotel, Ramsgate, 2/6/40 My dearest Mother, Before giving you my news there are two things I would like as soon as possible (1) my driving licence and (2) your list of persons to whom wedding invitations should be sent, or a copy if Joan has the original. It has been a most interesting though hard week, and I've had hardly any sleep for more than 48 hours, so this must be a brief letter. We've tried to keep our course going, to mount various guards, to look out for parachutists or other enemy landing and to assist the disembarkation of the B.E.F and allied forces; all this at the same time. The course was soon discontinued and there is still talk of an early move for all of us. Devon has been ground --- , so xxx has it, and Bournemouth is now first favourite, yet no-one seems to know. British, French, and Belgian troops have been landing here in thousands. Where there have also been wounded xxxx xxxx, we have been assisting in various ways. Whom not otherwise seen said - and it has been most interesting and enlightening. Boats of all shapes and sizes have been plying between this coast and Dunkirk, and Friday morning they run asking for volunteers to take Bren guns on board and man them for protection from low ...