241848 Pte. William Alfred Adcock British Army 1st Btn. Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment from:Croydon My Dad, Bill Adcock told me about his time in the BEF in France when they were over run by the Germans. He recounted that a small group of them were affecting the run trying to evade capture from the Germans after the fall of France. With no map reading skills, they managed to make their way over a number of days on foot to Cherbourg and escape back to England. This apparently was after the evacuation of Dunkirk.
He recounted that on one occasion they were trapped in a barn and surrounded by the enemy. My Dad asked what the date was and told it was the 29th of May to which my Dad said that it was his 21st Birthday
The reply came back from his comrade that he would be lucky to see 22 !!!
My Dad was born in 1919 so it must have been the 29th May 1940!
Their small group escaped in the end through the French countryside to Cherbourg where they were evacuated back to England.
He later survived the fighting during the Normandy landings, Holland and Germany.
He never really spoke about his experiences until well into his 60s but was immensely proud and looked forward to Regimental reunions in Maidstone, when as a teenager I used to accompany him all through the 70s.
He showed us the craters and dishing left to the lower part of his leg caused by machine gun bullets he was hit by.
We found after he passed away in 1994 that he had also served with the 4th Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment in Normandy Holland and France. He was one of a few I guess that survived the fall of France and went back to help liberate France.
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