Dunkirk


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	The men from Lincolnshire were called up on 1st September 1939, two days before the war broke out and reported to their depots at Lincoln and Grimsby. A few weeks later, the two batteries came together when they set off for Bordon in Hampshire. They called themselves "The Lincolnshire Gunners". They were issued with 18-pounder guns. Thinly-armoured 4-wheel drive vehicles called "quads" towed the guns and the limbers, whilst the crew rode inside. There were no windows, so it was dark and stuffy.


	Some of 237 battery's men shortly after the outbreak of war.


	An 18-pounder gun with limber and quad


	On the 1st January, 1940 the regiment left for France. When the Germans invaded Belgium and Holland on the 10th May, the 60th Field Regiment moved into Belgium. It looked as though the Germans were repeating their plan of 1914. But the Germans had a much larger force further south and once they had crossed the River Meuse they moved rapidly through France. Within a few days they had reached the Channel and the British army was cut off from the French army. 237 battery went into action on the Ypres-Comines canal, whilst 239 battery held up the advancing Germans at Nieuport in Belgium until they ran out of ammunition. Captain Sugg was awarded the Military Cross for this action. He later told his troop that the award wasn't just for him but for the whole troop. "In that case, sir," someone suggested, "perhaps we could all take it in turns to wear it for a day or two". The regiment had to destroy all their guns and vehicles and the men had to make their own way to Dunkirk the best they could.


	With his crew out of action and wounded in one arm by shrapnel, Sergeant Phil Brown (23) loaded and fired his gun with his good arm by himself. He received the Military Medal. It was the first time he had been in action.