264875 Bmbdr. Thomas James "Badge" Pooler British Army 23rd Field Regiment, 89/90 Bty. Royal Artillery from:St. Asaph My father, Tom Pooler, known as "Badge", joined the Army as a Boy Soldier aged 14. He joined at the recruiting Office at Wrexham.
He later joined the 23rd Field Regiment of the Royal Artillery and when WWII began he was attached to the 51st Highland Regiment which was eventually trapped by Rommel at St. Valery in France at around the time of the Dunkirk evacuation.
Although efforts were made by the Royal Navy to evacuate the troops who were trapped there, heavy German fire kept them at sea and eventually it was decided that a rescue would not be successful and General Fortune, the Officer Commanding, had no alternative but to surrender.
Many troops tried to escape to the beaches but the rugged nature of the cliffs which surround the fishing village meant that they sadly fell to their deaths.
My father was fortunate enough to find a small boat with a group of other men including officers, mainly from the Scottish Regiments. They managed to row out into the Channel under heavy German machine gun fire. Once out of range they began to take stock of their situation and decided to follow a course which eventually led them to being offshore of Dieppe further up the coast. Fortunately some Frenchmen rowed out to them with a small amount of food and told them to row away as they were within sight of the Germans.
After several other adventures and a number of days at sea without supplies or water they were picked up by a passing Dutch Steamer and delivered to a port on the East Coast of England.
Tom was recommended for an award for his Escape and Evasion but although a date was specified for the citation to appear in the London Gazette the entry did not. I applied for his medals and no such award was included. I would like to know why.
He was fortunate to see the War out, but not without being seriously wounded.
He made a full recovery and told me part of this story, but I wish I had listened more carefully.
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