I have a very large number of people to thank. First of all, I have received a huge amount of encouragement and support from Chris Nolan, Emma Thomas and Andy Thompson. I have admired their skill and energy, and enjoyed sharing their vision.
I have greatly enjoyed working with the team at William Collins – Joseph Zigmond, Iain Hunt, Tom Killingbeck and Steve Gove. Every morning, I have looked forward to our chats – notwithstanding the time constraints. Meanwhile, my agents at United Agents, Jim Gill and Yasmin McDonald, have guided me through this unusual project very ably.
Many people have offered their time and advice. Paul Reed, whose knowledge of both the story and the landscape is unrivalled, was as generous as ever. Nobody knows more about the Junkers 87 than Peter C. Smith, and I enjoyed corresponding with him. I spent a fascinating day with Clive Kidd, the curator of HMS Collingwood’s Heritage Collection, who showed me all manner of radio and communications equipment. Giles Milton was very kind in sharing his information on degaussing; Dan Wybo was similarly generous in relation to King Leopold. Dipping my nervous toe into the film world, meanwhile, has brought me into contact with delightful people such as Desiree Finnegan, Con Gornell and Jason Bevan.
Max Arthur reassured me when this task seemed impossible in the time available, while Peter Hart tried unsuccessfully to turn me into a more clubbable historian. Andy Saunders has been a helpful sounding board, and Julian Wilson allowed me to share the benefit of his labours. My thanks go to Terry Charman, Steven Broomfield, Peter Devitt, Gareth Bellis and the National Maritime Museum, and to the Imperial War Museum Sound and Documents archives which have been, as usual, mines of superb information. From the IWM, I would particularly like to mention Richard McDonagh, Richard Hughes and Jane Rosen. And I would also like to acknowledge the help I have had from the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships. The archivist, John Tough, answered my questions, while I enjoyed the company of past commodore, Ian Gilbert, as we travelled to visit a number of Dunkirk veterans.
In fact, over the last year I have been fortunate to meet a good many veterans. Two of those I visited with Ian (Eric Roderick of the Royal Army Service Corps and Harold ‘Vic’ Viner of the Royal Navy) have since passed away. So too has Philip Brown (who served on HMS Sabre, and was introduced to me by his daughter Joanna Wortham) and Charlie Searle (of the Royal Army Medical Corps who was introduced to me by Nic Taylor).
As I write, I learn that Colin Ashford of the Highland Light Infantry is recovering well from a fall and that Les Gray of the Royal Engineers is recovering from pneumonia. I am delighted, meanwhile, to report that Arthur Lobb of the Royal Army Service Corps, Arthur Taylor of the Royal Air Force, Robert Halliday and George Wagner of the Royal Engineers, Ted Oates and George Purton of the Royal Army Service Corps, and Norman Prior of the Lancashire Fusiliers are all fit and well. So is Jim Thorpe, almost certainly the last surviving man to take a Little Ship over to Dunkirk, who now lives in a Maryland nursing home. I thank Dave Wilkins of the University of Maryland for bringing Jim to my attention. We owe all of these men a great deal. Long may they thrive.
I have also recently visited two Battle of Britain pilots – Tim Elkington and Tom Neil – both of whom vividly described the realities of air fighting. I thank both of them, as well as Margaret Clotworthy and Tim’s wife, Patricia, for their wonderful hospitality. I also thank Louis van Leemput, a retired officer of the Belgian Air Force who, as a boy in May 1940, had been one of countless Belgian refugees fleeing from the Germans, and who touchingly shared his memories. And there were others who shared family memories. Susan Cooper, for example, shared the recollections of her father, Jim Baynes, while Lorraine Gill spoke movingly of her father, Cyril Roberts.
At a personal level, there are many to whom I am grateful. I would like to thank Keith Steane, my history teacher at Lyndhurst House School, who retired this year. He was a superb teacher who passed his enthusiasm on all those years ago. I would also like to thank the school’s current headmaster, Andrew Reid, for showing me such generosity earlier this year.
I would also like to mention Santo Massine, an expert on many facets of Dunkirk, who has inspired me with his patience and good humour. And my thanks go to others – Osian Barnes, Turtle Bunbury, Will, Anna, Beau and Gracie Brooks, Lucy Briers, Alexandra Churchill, Richard Clothier, Marshall Cope, Victoria Coren Mitchell, Ruth Cowan, Bob and Susannah Cryer, Simon Dinsdale, Ian Drysdale, Bill Emlyn Jones, Bridget Fallon, Megan Fisher, Simon, Robert, Gillian and Lionel Frumkin, Tanya Gold, Edward Grant, Meekal Hashmi, John Hayes Fisher, Nigel Hobbs, Mishal Husain, Simon Irvine, Katie Johns, Edward, Mollie, Olivia, Rosalind and Lillian Keene, Suzy Klein, Paul Lang, Lionel Levine, Judy Levine, Kim Levine, Marshall and Sue Levine (and James, Katie and Georgie), Mhairi Macnee, Charles Malpass, Emily Man, Dru Masters, Jon Medcalf, Paul Miller, David Mitchell, Harry Mount, Duncan Neale, Fred Perry, Jess Redford, Dora Reisser, Andy Robertshaw, Malcolm Rushton, the Rowes (Chris, Sara, Charlie and Matti), Dorothy Sahm, Tanya Shaw, Michael Sparkes, Chris Spencer, Prem Trott, Orlando and Miranda Wells, David Weston, Mike, Annabel, Henry and Arthur Wood, and all those whom I’ve shamefully forgotten to mention.
Above all, I would like to thank Claire Price who has combined a great deal of (unpaid) work on this book with a sparkling acting career – and managed, at the same time, to carry our first child. This is multi-tasking of the highest order.
Notes and sources can be found on Joshua Levine’s website –
joshualevine.co.uk