Pte. Robert Kelly
British Army East Lancashire Regiment
from:Oswaldtwistle
Like many survivors my Dad never really wanted to talk about his time in the war. It was only when he passed that I found a few photos and the newspaper cutting. I inherited his Football plaque on the passing of his Uncle who had clearly treasured it since my Dads return. He had been part of the "Long March" and when he finally arrived home he weighed less than seven stone and according to my Grandma he would still scavenge for food that had been thrown to the hens in their neighbourhood for several months. Despite this terrible period in his life he eventually became the most positive and optimistic person I have ever known.
Robert Kelly served with the East Lancashire Regiment during WW2 and was captured at Dunkirk in 1940. Released by the advancing Russian forces in Upper Silesia.
1st and 4th Battalions East Lancashire Regiment who joined the 42nd Division in 1940 prior to Dunkirk. It is not clear which battalion Robert served with however it is more probable that it was the 1st Battalion which formed part of the final defence force around the Dunkirk beaches.
Shortly after the outbreak of war with Germany the 1st South Lancashires and 1st Loyals crossed to France with, respectively, the 4th and 1st Divisions of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). By early October 1939 both battalions were in position on the Belgian frontier, where they were joined in April 1940 by the 1st and 4th East Lancashires, both of 42nd Division.
On 10th May 1940 the ‘Phoney War’ came to an abrupt end when Germany invaded Belgium and Holland. The BEF advanced into Belgium but the Allied front rapidly collapsed before the German ‘blitzkrieg’ and the British force, with its flanks exposed and its rear increasingly threatened, was obliged to make a succession of withdrawals. Ordered back from one defensive line to the next, amid scenes of growing chaos, the four Lancashire battalions fought a number of delaying actions, most notably at Tournai on the Escaut, at Lannoy and at Rousbrugge, before reaching Dunkirk.
Dunkirk 1940
All three of the 1st Battalions then took up defensive positions to cover the evacuation of the BEF. The South Lancashires held the far left of the British line, west of Nieuport, the Loyals occupied the fortified town of Bergues on the right, while the East Lancashires plugged a gap in the centre of the line along the Bergues Canal. All three units held their positions, under constant attack, until ordered to withdraw. On 1st June a determined enemy attack on the Dunkirk perimeter was halted by the gallant stand of B Company, 1st East Lancashires, for which Captain Marcus Ervine-Andrews was awarded the Victoria Cross (the only one at Dunkirk), assisted by a counter-attack by the Loyals. The three Lancashire battalions were among the last British troops to embark on the night 2nd/3rd June.
E3 Blechhammer was a working party area part of the overall Stalag 8b Complex. The prefix E referred to English although other national were included. The Room 42 on the football plaque could refer to a room containing mainly POWs from the 42nd Division.
The whole camp covered the area of 230m x 290m. The crematorium where 1500 bodies were burnt was in the south-east part of the camp. The camp was commanded by SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer Otto Brossmann. During winter 1944/45, as the Red Army was closing fast, the Germans decided to evacute the camp (which became a transfer point for the prisoners from Auschwitz and other camps) and forced the prisoners into columns of 500 men each. They were ordered to march to the West. During the "Death March" people who were suffering from cold (marched barefoot, without proper winter clothing) soon started to die of exhaustion. Those who were unable to march were killed with the butts of the guns by the so-called Nachkommando which followed the columns. The camp was liberated by the Red Army on the 26th of January 1945. There were less than 200 survivors found.
