Wonder whether I ought to explore the woods. But we seem to get them up quicker than the Construction Companies. About ten o'clock a single aircraft flies over making a peculiar throbbing noise. Next there should be a right turn; but I only have seven trucks instead of eight.

Henry Straubenzee and John Stevens in Intelligence have little news but have set up their battle map with blue marks (for the enemy); parachutists at Assche and Alost, Belgians fighting in the Ardennes, a few towns bombed. Then I see that the railway bridge has been demolished. There are several boats lying at the waters edge without oars. At midnight a message arrives, the explosives lorries have been found. Down on the canal Gus Galloway, a little dark haired Canadian in 59 Coy, is building folding boat rafts under the trees. access through a ground floor window. Clean-looking people stand beside the road waving and throwing flowers. The Adjutant, Paul Hodgson, tells me to hold the fort in the morning because he has to go and check on the aggregate barges; delivery is a bit slow. Soon after he has gone, 59 Fd Coy HQ Section move in bringing with them a wounded man who groans in a corner of the hut under the doctors supervision. By 1800 hrs we have used up all the decking and all the lashings, and the shelling has come too close to be comfortable. The sprinklers have won after all! It works. Clear moonlit night with continual red flickering to the east. He expresses surprise. When the CRE dismissed me I thankfully set off for our new billet, arriving about midnight.

We drive up to the black mass of the factory and tumble oat. I retire with Geoffrey to the loft allotted to officers and collapse on the wooden floor.

Somebody runs back, and a long half minute passes. After a long minute everything is peaceful again. No time for me to get hold, of the CRE even if 1 knew where he was. Contact has been made with the French in the Ardennes. They are very orderly with carts, perambulators, cars topped with mattresses, household utensils suspended, donkeys behind and dogs underneath. We shall not need the transport again now so I get Corporal Wilkinson to drain out the oil and run the engines hard. We hold it clear of the lorries. Twenty minutes later we start. In the orchard there is another victim. Another group joins us led by an officer with a flashlight. "You staff officers are all alike; none of them will help me". When I ask Denise why she replies, "On dit que vous vous faites toujours chez vous". Reassure them. Set up the office and notify companies by DR. In the mist offshore the dark shapes of ships can be seen, blue lights winking from mastheads.

The news is that we are to fall back behind the line of the Dendre now held by 3 Div. From now on all aircraft are treated as hostile.

I explore the house.

It must be German because shelling starts at about 1600 hrs, falling several hundred yards away near the Bofors gun. We are a late serial, but the Doctor has to leave early as advance party taking one depatch rider (Leeming) and the cooks truck. We relax and offload for supper. The RSM says the men are tired. It is a fine windy morning with sand blowing along the beach. I knock on the door until a man emerges, his wife behind. History of the Royal Engineers, Volume 8, pages 22 to 42. I suggest he sits down and relaxes. Then he goes to sleep on the lawn while I proceed to find a billet for the RSM.

Three Weeks to La Panne A Diary of Dunkirk by Ralph Lionel Clarke Lieut-Col R L Clarke, MA, C Eng, FI Mech E, FIEE, FI Prod E, MIWM, MInstMC A diary of the events leading up to and including the Dunkirk evacuation by a young officer in the British expeditionary Force. I go further down after him and meet him halfway back with the flames leaping behind him Suddenly there is a click, a rushing noise and we are both drenched. Move off before dawn, leaving the wood which has served us so well and cross the canal bridge at Adinkerke, prepared for demolition by 48 Div RE. "Pigeons monsieur?

Dunkirk and La Panne.

I cut them short and ask the way to Resseghem but they do not seem to have heard of it.

They are sitting mournfully in a basement by candle light. Time to think about accommodation for the night, so the doctor sets off one way while 1 take Sauervein the other. At last it comes free with a lot of pushing and the convoy sets off back down the lane. I take Sauervein and meet him on site where he points out the suspect house, guarded by a few sappers.

The advanced party has a meal ready in the billet alongside.

I also find Bill Hedley of 225 Fd Coy. I am surprised to see red tabs under his jerkin. At Croise Laroche I call in and say goodbye to the Rouzets, Madame kisses me and weeps. She is a Flamande from Blankenberge and calls me her "autre enfant". Gregory turns up later in the morning having followed an RASC convoy along the main road. 3 Div are already crossing the frontier for Louvain, and 4 Div is to move in reserve to Brussels where we are to prepare the bridges for demolition. Crossing the bridge at one of these locks I see to my horror that it is prepared for demolition with the detonators in position and no one on guard. Ten minutes later he is back for another lot of people, but drives the whaler onto the beach and sticks fast. His hand clamps like a vice onto my shoulder, and then relaxes. They must have been firing blanks. Div HQ has settled in a large white house overlooking the River Lys valley and visible for miles. There are fields of roots and occasional dark woods, and I stand up in my 8cwt truck carrying Driver Hewitt's rifle ready loaded. Sauervein is frantic.

As we drive back through the zig-zag we hear the clanging of a fire engine's bell. The sector is now humming with activity. "No verra bad; ten minutes". What did I want him to do with them? They are pleased to see that things are happening. I drive off to find Gillespie, making slow progress because the road is now full of refugees observing no traffic rules and abandoning their gear whenever an aircraft appears. I give them ten minutes to pack their belongings and get out.