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1940 - Siege of Calais

(Audio enhances reading experience) 21 May 1940

“My good men, I come to you with grave news. The beaches of Calais will continue to be lonely tomorrow. There will be no boats at dawn. 

Word has come from London and it seems lads, ‘home’, has just been turned to a mere word of nostalgia and not something we can hope to see, ever again. 


The fat politicians sitting in parliament have sent their gravest apologies and perhaps think that we have surrendered to the Germans already. The Prime Minister has personally put in his apology through the wire too, cursing our enemy to his full capacity. 


I did not bother noting down all that. Because I don’t for one moment believe in surrender, or defeat. Yes, even defeat.

We men of war may lose our lives in the coming hours but with God himself as our witness I can assure you good lads.. A soldier never dies in vain nor defeat! 


‘Home’, has just been turned to a mere word of nostalgia and not something we can hope to see, ever again. And that… That is the most potent drug you can give a soldier. So use it.


Tonight! We march out to Calais and make sure every round in our barrels is fired. I will not give you false hope today. Hope seems to be too precious a commodity nowadays. The enemy far outnumbers us. We don’t stand a chance. There will be roars of Panzers threatening to maul us to death. Screeches in the air from the Luftwaffe will echo through the sky as you watch your comrades die to the shelling from above. 


We are already dead men. And with that strength, we march. March fearlessly, all the way to Citadel, braver than the enemy… for dead men do not fear death nor defeat.


Comrades, I ask you to put up such a fight that the ammunition we unload, pierce more than mere flesh and bone and strike the heart of Berlin. Today, we have a chance to look fear directly in the bloody eye and laugh at it. These, my good men, are our final hours. So celebrate, drink, eat and laugh! In an hour's time, the Luftwaffe and reinforcements to the enemy's line of defence will arrive.


In an hour’s time, we give our lives more meaning than one could imagine. Every life you take at Calais tonight is a life saved in Dunkirk tomorrow.


Hope is important. But when hope abandons us, all we need is a reason to fight back nature’s will and hope shall return like the early rays of the sun at dawn. ”



Dunkirk 1940

The following work of prose is a work of imagination inspired by 'Dunkirk' and 'Darkest Hour'. Such might have been the words of the brave men who in spite of abandonment of hope, unleashed hell upon those who questioned their resolve. In doing so, these men surpassed all medals of honour that can be given by man. For they reminded mankind precisely what led it to becoming demigods of Terra.


Then out spake brave Horatius, the Captain of the gate:

‘To every man upon this earth, 

Death cometh soon or late. 

And how can man die better 

Than facing fearful odds, 

For the ashes of his fathers, 

And the temples of his Gods.’

-Excerpt from Horatius


Three of the armada of 'little ships' which brought the men of the BEF to safety


Image Credits: https://www.iwm.org.uk
Inspiration: Darkest Hour, Dunkirk (2017)
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