208221 Sgt. George Buckley British Army 2nd Battallion North Staffordshire Regiment from:Measham My father, George Buckley was a Sergeant in the 2nd Battalion of the North Staffordshire Regiment. He joined the Regular Army in 1933 and served in Northern Ireland and Palestine before the outbreak of WW2. The North Staffs were sent into France as part of the BEF. Following the invasion of Belgium and the BEF withdrawal my father was I/C a Bren Gun carrier. During the retreat towards Dunkirk he was involved in a battle with the Germans on the 21st of May 1940 on the River Escaut near Tournai. On that same date Major Matthews of the North Staffs was killed. My father's bren gun carrier was hit by German shellfire and the two other crew members were killed:
Lance Corporal George Reginald Bolton, 23yrs old Army No. 5049586 and Private Eric Wilcox, 25yrs old Army No 5047504, Son of Albert Leopold and Ethel Wilcox of Nottingham. All three are buried in the CWG Cemetery at Esquelmes, Belgium.
My father was left in the Bren Gun carrier for two days, assumed dead with his fellow soldiers. Before the next withdrawal on the 23rd of May the Bren Gun carrier was checked and my father was found to be alive, although severely injured. He was rescued and took part in the Dunkirk Evacuation and was evacuated on HMS Codrington. Following medical treatment he was disharged from the Army on the 5th of September 1940.
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