120. Chocolate!

The Evacuation from Dunkirk in WW2 was certainly considered a miracle. It was a defeat, but thousands of soldiers stranded on French beaches were brought back to England by small boats, many of them pleasure-craft. Margate, in the South East corner of England, was where I was born. And it was an important landing-place for the soldiers who had been evacuated from Dunkirk. Shortly after their arrival we were sent, like parcels, into the country. This is a child's-eyes view of tempestuous times.

CHOCOLATE

They arrived in Margate Harbour,

In dribs and drabs.

Young men,

Though they seemed to me to be old.
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I remember, in particular,

Two, climbing from a rowing-boat.

Soldiers.

Tin helmets,

Slings, bandages, a little blood.
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I was on my way home from school,

As I recall.

There was nothing frightening or dramatic

About their arrival

From Dunkirk;

The exciting thing was the chocolate.
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Soon came the evacuation.

Houses boarded up.

Furniture packed away

'For the duration'.

Children, and I was one of them,

Buttoned into winter coats on a summer's day,

Labeled,

Suitably supplied with gas-masks

In boxes slung around their necks.

(Gas-masks were fun;

One could make rude noises through them.)

There was nothing frightening or dramatic

About being sent to the country.

The exciting thing was the chocolate.
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All the trains were running in one direction only,

Away from the coast.

A train full of children ran alongside

A train full of returning soldiers.

We would pass each other time and again

As we halted in stations,

Or merely stopped in our tracks.

'Here they come!'

We'd shout!
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In through the window

Would fly bags of boiled sweets,

Biscuits, fruit,

All donated by kindly souls

To 'the brave boys'.

It was thrilling!

It was War!

And the exciting thing was the chocolate!
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