For days he had battled to hold back Hitler’s army so tens of thousands of Allied troops could escape from the beaches of Dunkirk.
Lewis Earl and his comrades were low on ammo but manned their 18 and 25-pounders until the very last.
Then, when the order “Every man for himself” was given, they blew up their guns and fled to the beach. But Lewis, then 20, and his 15 pals feared they may be too late.
On May 26, 1940, a flotilla of fishing boats, pleasure craft, yachts and lifeboats had begun evacuating the stranded British Expeditionary Force in a mission Churchill dubbed “a miracle of deliverance”.
But a week later, there was not a vessel in sight... and Lewis, known as Lew, believed he needed his own miracle.
He says: “Behind us, Dunkirk was all on fire – it was devastation. So we hid in the dunes all night, waiting.
“Then I saw this fishing trawler and thought, ‘How the hell do we get down there?’ It was pitch black but we waited for the swell to bring the mast closer, then jumped on to slide to the deck.
“We laid down, feeling relieved. But I was thinking about all the injured mates we had to leave behind and the ones who didn’t make it. It was brutal and bloody, and a lot of lives were lost. But someone must have been smiling on us.”
Lew was one of the last soldiers off the beach 80 years ago this month. Now, he’s one of the last surviving men evacuated in Operation Dynamo, in which almost 340,000 Allied troops were rescued.
And as he turned 100 yesterday, he said his greatest wish is to make contact with any others still going strong. The Royal British Legion has vowed to help and Lew has raised £1,230 for them by asking for donations instead of birthday gifts.
Speaking at home in Rustington, West Sussex, Lewis says: “I’ve heard people talking about the Dunkirk spirit getting us through this coronavirus crisis. I know they mean ‘grit your teeth and get on with it’ but there’s no comparison to what we went through.”
Dunkirk was just the start of Lew’s Second World War journey – one he made with lifelong pal Joe Clark. Lew, from Bermondsey, South East London, was 17 when he followed Joe, three years his senior, into the Territorial Army.
When war broke out they joined the 5th Division of 91st Field Regiment Royal Artillery.
On October 2, 1939 they were sent to France. Lew says: “I soon realised the Territorial Army was just playing at soldiers – this was the real thing.
"We made our way to the border with Germany and started off digging trenches and gun pits.”
In May the following year, the Battle of France was under way and Lew’s division saw heavy action as the Allies were driven back. Landing in Kent after Dunkirk, Lew, Joe and their mates were sent up north to reform and get new kit.
“Then we were off again,” says Lew. “We went to Ireland for nine months, then South Africa before invading Madagascar in 1942. Many of the lads got malaria and we had to bury a lot at sea.” Then it was on to India, Persia and Syria, where Lew got malaria, surviving several bouts – as well as dysentery.
After a spell in Egypt, his unit invaded Sicily in July 1943 and fought up through Italy, where Lew earned his Sergeant’s stripes. But in 1944, Joe was injured in the Battle of Monte Cassino and shipped home. Lew sheds a tear as he recalls saying farewell and remembering another pal killed in the same attack.
“It was hard,” he says, “but you just had to pull yourself together and get on with it.” Lew fought on through France and into Germany – where, on May 8, 1945 he heard the Nazis had surrendered. He says: “We could hear German troops cheering so we went and found them.
“And we shook hands with them.... after relieving them of their watches and stuff, of course.”
Lew made it home on leave in January 1946 and got demobbed in July.
He wed childhood sweetheart Doris and they had children Stewart and Wendy. He also caught up with Joe, who married and became a builder. He died five years ago and Lew misses him terribly. Lew went to work in a newspaper wholesale business but got bored, so in 1952 he joined the Parachute Regiment’s territorial unit for three years.
In 1960, he and Doris moved to West Sussex and started a business selling heating paraffin. Doris died in 2012 but Lewis has his family nearby and dotes on his five great-grandchildren – two of whom are named Lewis. He admits he is finding the lockdown tough as he can’t get to the bowls club.
But yesterday, his pals joined him for a socially-distanced fish and chips lunch in the garden to celebrate his birthday.
“I can’t believe I’m 100,” he laughs. “I know I’m a bit mutt and jeff and the old pins let me down occasionally. But in my head, I still think I’m 20 – the same age I was at Dunkirk. I’m just lucky to have had such a very good life, when so many good lads never made it home.”
- Help mark Lewis’ birthday at justgiving.com/fundraising/lewisearl100/
