Since this account was written, we are sad to announce that Arthur Oates has died, just a month before the 7^th Anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuation. The War and Peace Show staff and organisers salute the memory of this brave war veteran, and offer sympathy and condolences to his friends and relatives.

Arthur Oates, from Rainham, Kent, was a driver with a Territorial Service Corps when orders to evacuate via Dunkirk came. But his initiative ensured he was on the beaches for just 24 hours. This is his story.

BECAUSE it was carrying food, the truck in which Arthur Oates travelled was allowed onto the promenade at Bray Dunes. Others were halted at the perimeter and destroyed.

Long lines of uniformed men snaked down to the water's edge, and Arthur, now 94, took his place at the back.

"I watched the Stukas attacking the shipping," he said. "A destroyer was hit. So was the paddle steamer Crested Eagle. It drifted ashore and you could see men jumping over the side.

"Then they attacked the beaches. We dived into the sand dunes for protection and stayed there overnight. It was very frightening."

The next day, which was Friday, Arthur once more took his place at the back of the queue. But nothing seemed to be happening.

He decided to break ranks. One or two men were wandering down at the water's edge and he decided to join them.

"There were bodies in the water," he said. "But you couldn't do anything. They'd gone.

"Then a small boat came in, from one of the destroyers I think. I waded out. I'd still got my tin helmet, rifle and kitbag with my water bottle and a 24 hour ration.

"I couldn't swim and the water came up to my chest. Someone must have helped me into the boat. I don't think I could have got in otherwise.

"Then a few others came out and we were rowed out to a destroyer two or three hundred yards offshore. It's to my great regret that I never got the name or number of the boat that picked me up.

"The deck of the destroyer was crowded but I found a little space and squatted down on the deck. At Dover we were given a cup of tea and a sandwich, and it was straight on the train for Chesterfield."

As war clouds gathered, Arthur, then living in Birmingham, had joined a Territorial Army Service Corps, and crossed to France in January 1940 as the driver of a 13 hundredweight Bedford truck, carrying supplies for troops nearer the front.

He recalls his last delivery before the Germans broke through Allied lines was to a field ambulance unit near the coast.

Shortly before reaching Bray Dunes, just east of Dunkirk, his unit came to an abandoned NAAFI store, and they loaded their trucks with food, wine and cigarettes before continuing to the coast. Only the larger trucks made the journey. Arthur's Morris was blown up, to prevent it falling into enemy hands.

The supplies were later shared among soldiers on the beach.

On a night out after his arrival at Chesterfield, Arthur was among a group of evacuated soldiers invited onto the stage of a local theatre, to the delight and applause of the audience.

But there was still a war to be fought. His unit was transferred to Hereford and given new three-ton Commer trucks. Arthur's job would be to transport ammunition.

The Commers were exchanged for 10-ton American Macks and British Albions. Almost three weeks after D-Day Arthur and his unit crossed to France again.

This time he was on the winning side.