My grandfather's memories of Dunkirk are just one chapter of a remarkable story
I have been steeped in the story of Dunkirk since I was a boy.
My grandfather used to talk about it often and 30 years ago his escape from the beach was compelling, but then there were so many other veterans with similar stories.
However, with the passing of each decade the number of survivors has dwindled and now at the grand age of 95, Captain Alan Gilbert is becoming a rarity.
His war started with the drama of Dunkirk but included so many other extraordinary episodes in north Africa, winning the Croix de Guerre with the Free French, Montecasino and finally ending up in Syria, that Dunkirk was just one chapter of a remarkable story.
Now here I am about to embark on a commemoration of the miracle of Dunkirk setting sail in the morning on the motor yacht Janthea, which helped to rescue dozens of British and French servicemen.
The flotilla comprised more than 900 “little ships”, but tomorrow just 48 will make the voyage back to northern France to remember the brave rescue in the teeth of a relentless German advance.
My grandfather can’t remember the exact day he was evacuated from Dunkirk, but it must have been late in Operation Dynamo.
He says he was worried about how he would be received back in Britain, perhaps perceived as a failure or a coward.
But right away he and his fellow soldiers were given an orange, a sandwich and the warm embrace of a nation grateful to have its boys back home.
Churchill admitted Dunkirk was “a colossal military disaster”, but later in his famous June 4th "We shall fight them on the beaches” speech described it as a "miracle of deliverance”.
Certainly I wouldn’t be here today were it not for that miracle, and the fate of countless other families across Britain would have been changed forever had the armada of civilian and naval vessels not put their lives on the line to bring the British Expeditionary Force back home.