Royal Scots to hold Zoom commemoration of battle to allow Dunkirk evacuation in WWI

The Royal Scots are set to mark the 80th anniversary of the last stand at Le Paradis in May 1940, an operation which allowed the Dunkirk evacuation to take place.

The 1st Battalion The Royal Scots were ordered to ‘stand and fight to the last man’ at Le Paradis on between May 25 and 27 1940, to allow the evacuation of 337,000 allied troops from the Dunkirk beaches 30 miles away.

By the end of the operation 141 men in the 770-strong 1st Battalion had been killed, while over 350 were wounded.

While a handful of the survivors escaped to British shores, 292 Royal Scots were made prisoners of war – most of whom were wounded.

A commemorative event was due to take place with 50 Royal Scots in Le Paradis on Saturday, but due to the pandemic it has been cancelled.

Instead there will be an event on Zoom today, which will be recorded and uploaded to the Royal Scots website.

George Simpson, who recently celebrated his 100th birthday at his home in Danderhall, was one of the soldiers who was captured, and spent five years as a prisoner of war.

“I still remember everything from my time in the war. I lost a lot of good friends and I won’t forget them,” he said.

He joined the Royal Scots in 1937 at just 17, and sailed to Cherbourg in 1939.

He previously told the Evening News of the ‘terror’ he had felt at Dunkirk, knowing that he and his fellow soldiers would be captured.

“We couldn’t get away, we knew we were going to be prisoners,” he said. READ MORE: Midlothian WWII veteran and former POW celebrates 100th birthday with socially distant street party

Charles William Johnstone was a Company Sergeant Major who was left in charge of A Company when all the officers were killed or wounded.

He was also captured and became a POW.

“It’s a very interesting story and he was very lucky to have survived,” said his son, Ian Johnstone, 73, who also served in the Royal Scots and now lives in Linlithgow.

“It was a vicious battle. They fought on until they had no ammunition left, and they were trying to get back to headquarters when they were captured by SS soldiers.

“My father was lined up in a field and they were ready to shoot him, as they had done with C Company.

“An SS Warrent Officer was on the point of pulling the trigger when a Staff Officer arrived, they had an argument, and the Staff Officer walked up and shook my father’s hand. He said ‘we cannot shoot such men as these, they fight like tigers.

“He then spent five years as a POW – he was a troublesome prisoner, he saw that as his duty.”

There are also reports of a German officer handing over some wounded Royal Scots soldiers to a chaplain at a hospital after the battle saying the men ‘fought like lions’.

Charles William Johnstone returned to the UK, staying in the Army as a Pipe Major.

He served 34 years and was awarded the MBE. He died in 1966 at the age of 55 of brain cancer.

Colonel Martin Gibson said: “This is a soldier’s story. Though the Royal Scots had been in continuous action for 17 days, had travelled over 200 miles and had suffered heavy casualties their fighting spirit was undaunted.“The Royal Scots, professional soldiers doing what they had signed up to do, fought ferociously to the last man at Le Paradis. Their contribution to Dunkirk was vital. We should never forget that the vast majority of those who survived spent the next five years as prisoners of war.”