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  • Published: 17 July 2017
  • ISBN: 9780552162340
  • Imprint: Corgi
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $27.99

I Fought at Dunkirk

Seven Veterans Remember Their Fight For Salvation



The last survivors tell their stories of the Battle of Dunkirk.

SURVIVOR STORIES FROM DUNKIRK, NOW THE SUBJECT OF A MAJOR FILM FROM CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

When Britain declared war against Germany in September 1939, thousands of young men sailed across the English Channel to fight for their country. Among them were the seven soldiers who share their stories in this book. Some joined up out of patriotism, others for adventure or the prospect of a secure wage. They were fit, trained and proud to wear the armband of the British Expeditionary Forces.

For many, the first months were strangely peaceful, but when the Germans invaded in May 1940 they advanced with shocking speed. The German armoured columns sliced through neutral Holland and Belgium. The French Army collapsed and within a week the soldiers of the BEF were forced to retreat. Fighting tough and bloody rearguard actions, they endured relentless shelling and fearsome dive-bomb attacks. Constantly on the move, and facing a German onslaught on three fronts, they were soon exhausted, hungry and low on ammunition. They headed finally to their one chance of salvation: the beaches of Dunkirk.

Mike Rossiter tells the stories of seven veterans who went through a hellish baptism of fire in the first battles on the front line, and fought in the last-ditch defence of Dunkirk. They saw their comrades bombed and drowned off the beaches. Their accounts give us a fascinating and privileged insight into the reality of the war and what it was really like to face the German Blitzkrieg in 1940. They take us from the confident, idyllic days of the phoney war in the French countryside to the sudden shock of battle, from the fear and confusion of retreat to the wait for an uncertain rescue. These are the compelling stories of seven men who are proud to say I Fought at Dunkirk.

  • Published: 17 July 2017
  • ISBN: 9780552162340
  • Imprint: Corgi
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $27.99

About the author

Mike Rossiter

Mike Rossiter is an independent documentary film-maker, whose work has been nominated ofr BAFTA and EMMY awards. He won the Golden Fleece at the Dijon Film festival for his documentary on the attempted recovery of a B29 bomber from northern Greenland. In 2001 he filmed the search and recovery of the body of Donald Campbell and his record-breaking jet boat, Bluebird, from Coniston Water. In 2004 he filmed the discovery of the wreck of the Ark Royal. He lives in North London.

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