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<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=365712" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>Dunkirk</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">They came from a line of fishermen, <br>Way back, two hundred years, <br>The sons of a dour old Kentish man, <br>Who'd braved the First World War; <br>When Joe went off to the Army, then, <br>The old man's face was grim, <br>'You go and fight for the country, lad, <br>We can't rely on him! '</div><div style="margin:10px 0">He scowled on down at the eldest lad<br>Who sat there, mending nets, <br>For all he knew was the salt, the sea<br>And a life of cheap regrets.<br>The black sheep of the family<br>Was all that his father saw, <br>For Jack had refused the Army call: <br>'I don't believe in war! '</div><div style="margin:10px 0">A feather came in the post next day, <br>As white as a cotton sheet, <br>The father turned his back on him<br>For shame, and refused to speak.<br>While Joe went off with the B.E.F.<br>To help the beleaguered French, <br>Jack was mending his fishing nets, <br>And sat with his fingers clenched.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Their fishing boat, the Pelican, <br>Lay stranded in Sandwich Bay, <br>Just twenty feet, and clinker built, <br>With the deckhouse cut away.<br>When the Panzers swept down to the coast, <br>Reaching the channel first, <br>The B.E.F. had retreated back <br>To the beaches at Dunkirk.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The Navy sent destroyers then, <br>Their frigates and corvettes, <br>But couldn't get close to the beaches there<br>Because of the shallow depths, <br>The Navy's own small vessel pool<br>Then called for the help of those<br>Whose boats were a certain shallow draught<br>To ferry the soldiers home. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">When Jack came in, the news was out, <br>His mother sat, dismayed, <br>The Army was stranded along the beach<br>Where Joe lay low, and prayed.<br>The Stuka's screamed, and dropped their bombs<br>And the lines of men were strafed, <br>Three hundred thousand men despaired<br>As the Panzers lay in wait.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'So much for you, ' the father said, <br>As the tears poured down his cheek, <br>'So much for the lunacy of war, '<br>Said Jack, when he could speak.<br>'Your brother's out there, risking all, <br>My son, my shining light! '<br>But Jack stalked out with a bitter laugh, <br>And cried, once out of sight.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">He strode on out to the Pelican, <br>The tide was coming in, <br>He dragged and pushed it to meet the sea<br>As he floated it again, <br>He kicked the inboard into life<br>And he sailed for Ramsgate then, <br>The boats were gathering by the score<br>To save their countrymen.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">They sailed that night in convoys, groups, <br>And lines of little boats, <br>While Jack prayed long at the tiller<br>That the Pelican stayed afloat, <br>She'd never been out as far as this, <br>She was just a coastal craft…<br>But Joe stood out in the water, then, <br>And thought of his brother, Jack.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The Stuka's bombed the Naval ships, <br>They strafed the lines of men, <br>Joe didn't know if he'd ever get back<br>To his homeland, once again.<br>The Foudroyant was bombed and sank, <br>A destroyer ran aground, <br>Then a hundred boats, with the Pelican, <br>Finally sighted land.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Jack took the Pelican close inshore<br>And he loaded his twenty men, <br>He ferried them out to a waiting ship<br>Then turned to the shore again, <br>He plucked the men from the waters there<br>And he looked for his brother Joe, <br>But Joe was safe on a steamer, then, <br>Though his brother didn't know.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">For hours he turned, and turned about, <br>He saved five hundred lives, <br>He worked himself to exhaustion there<br>Like a man who the devil drives, <br>Eight hundred ships and boats were there<br>In the smoke and the swirling murk, <br>To bring those thousands of soldiers home<br>From the beaches of Dunkirk.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Joe walked unsteadily through the door<br>To the cries of his folks, alone, <br>They couldn't speak for the pure relief<br>Of seeing him safe at home, <br>But his father suddenly pulled away, <br>And wept, while turning his back, <br>'We've just been told by the foot patrol…<br>We've lost your brother, Jack! '</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'They said the Pelican's hull was holed<br>With a burst of cannon rounds, <br>The men on board were saved, I heard, <br>But three of them were drowned.<br>They left the bodies to float out there; <br>Oh God; now, what have I done? '<br>He shook his head as he cried, and said, <br>'I've lost my eldest son! '</div><div style="margin:10px 0">They placed a plaque on the Harbour wall<br>For Jack and the Pelican, <br>While the father stared most days to sea<br>As he cried there, off and on, <br>Then he took a match and some tinder wood<br>For a pledge he'd made before, <br>To burn a pure white feather there<br>For a son who hated war.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">14 June 2008</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=David+Lewis+Paget">David Lewis Paget</a><div class=q>
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<script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=365712" data-title="Dunkirk de David Lewis Paget" data-description="They came from a line of fishermen, 
Way back, two hundred years, 
The sons of a dour old Kentish man, 
Who'd braved the First World War; 
When Joe went off to the Army, then, 
The old man's face was grim, 
'You go and fight for the country, lad, ..."></div>
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