That the defence was characterised by fortitude and a soldierly spirit of the highest order is very clear. The garrison numbered at the most some three thousand English soldiers, and about eight hundred French. The outer perimeter, which had been manned by two battalions and part of a third, was about eight miles long. The men were short of food and water and ammunition. They were, before the end, most agonisingly short of sleep. And against them was employed the whole strength of at least two Panzer divisions: probably more.
There was a Chaplain who organised the evacuation of wounded, and whose gallantry under fire, whose efficiency in confusion, are praised by all who saw him at his work. But the gallantry, the stubborn energy, the coolness under fire of many a platoon commanded by a junior officer, of isolated sections under a Corporal or a Sergeant, who fought in tumbling houses or held a barricaded road till the last of their strength was gone, their last round fired, were seen by none save themselves and the enemy: their virtue cannot be localised with a name and a regimental number, and perhaps it need not be, for it must have been general. One of the forty-seven men who escaped from the breakwater said wonderingly, “No one seems to have come back who can tell about the. actual fighting in the town itself.” That is their just and appraising tribute: they fought to the end.
It is a tale of defeat, but when defeat is characterised by valour of a certain pitch and quality, its memory may outlast a tale of victory. And like the Burghers who came with ropes about their necks, to offer their lives that a whole people might be spared, the men who fought at Calais, and helped to save a British army, will surely be remembered.
A Note on the Author
Eric Linklater was born in 1899 in Penarth, Wales. He was educated in Aberdeen, and was initially interested in studying medicine; he later switched his focus to journalism, and became a full-time writer in the 1930’s. During his career, Linklater served as a journalist in India, a commander of a wartime fortress in the Orkney Islands, and rector of Aberdeen University. He authored more than twenty novels for adults and children, in addition to writing short stories, travel pieces, and military histories, among other works. He died in 1977.
Discover books by Eric Linklater published by Bloomsbury Reader at
www.bloomsbury.com/EricLinklatervg
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The Army at War Series:
The Defense of Calais
The Highland Division
The Northern Garrisons
For copyright reasons, any images not belonging to the original author have been removed from this book. The text has not been changed, and may still contain references to missing images.
This electronic edition published in 2014 by Bloomsbury Reader
Bloomsbury Reader is a division of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP
First published in Great Britain in 1941 by His Majesty’s Stationery Office, London
Copyright © 1941 Eric Linklater
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eISBN: 9781448214365
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The Defence of Calais Page 4