Friday 11 November 2011

Operation Dynamo


Late May 1940.

One packed beach,
A foxhole,
Twenty thousand cans of bully beef,
One army chef,
Heavy artillery,
Retreat to a safe hole,
Leave the beef,

Eight hours,
Return to the beef,
Twenty thousand cans opened by ammunitions,
One army chef very relieved,
Eight hundred and fifty boats and ships,
One hundred and thirty nine thousand nine hundred and ninety seven Frenchmen,
One hundred and ninety eight thousand two hundred and twenty nine British troops,
Nine days,

Early June 1940,
One empty beach,
A successful evacuation,
Five more years of bloodshed.
Brave Tommies

Freedom

Lest we forget.


This post was written in response to the 100 Word Challenge prompt "... lest we forget..." at Julia's Place. There are other fabulous pieces of work linked there. I recommend that you take a peep and possibly even join in.

6 comments:

  1. The way you included the numbers really adds impact to this piece. Sums up the brutality, the hope, the courage, the humanity.

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  2. The numbers, the bully beef, the war - the enormity of it all, the mundane and the tragedy. A very poerful poem.

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  3. A journey from the mundane to the enormous - well done.

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  4. Lovely clash of priorities. Robin

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  5. It is great to see WW11 written about Ian. This is a great piece. I could picture a scene from the Longest Day but of course yours was real. Powerful poetry!

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  6. Thanks everyone for your comments. The chef was my Grandad and I remember him telling me this story when I was doing a project at school.

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