A final #Dunkirk80 related thread from me with in collaboration with @Dunkirk_1940 on the actions by Captain Harold Ervine-Andrews of 1/East Lancashire Regiment which resulted with him being awarded a Victoria Cross.

Ervine-Andrews was OC of B Company.
The 1/East Lancs held the section of the Dunkirk Perimeter on the Bergues-Furnes Canal as seen once more on this map. The photo is of the area by the Canal is where the VC action took place.

On 1 June a 3 Hour Bombardment heralded the start of German attack. At his Coy HQ Ervine-Andrews was informed that one of his forward sections was in danger of being overrun as its Bren Gun had jammed limiting the firepower of the Section. In his own words Ervine-Andrews..

..described what happened next. "One of my sections had a tremendous onslaught on them and was in a very, very bad way. They now asked for urgent help. I had no reserves whatsoever...

...I picked up my rifle and ammunition and, looking at the few soldiers with me in Company Headquarters, said 'I’m going up. Who’s coming with me?' Every single man came forward"

Ervine-Andrews went forward and took it upon himself to go on the roof of a burning barn to fire on the attacking Germans. It's the one you can see to the left of the photo with the solar panels on the red tiled roof.

Our friend @Dunkirk_1940 has been in the barn. While we do not know precisely how Ervine-Andrews got on to the roof it's highly likely he may of done so from the top of the internal wall.

Here Ervine-Andrews takes up the story himself. "My men didn’t fire much because we were too short of ammunition. They realised it was better that I should do the firing rather than waste the few bullets we had. If you fire accurately & hit men, then the others get discouraged...

...It’s when you fire a lot of ammunition and don’t do any damage that the other chaps start being very brave and push on. When they’re suffering severe casualties, they are inclined to stop or, in this case, move round to the flanks.

Ervine-Andrews accounted for 17 Germans with his accurate shooting over the open ground. In the meantime the stoppage in the Bren Gun had been cleared. Ervine-Andrews again took it upon himself to fire the Bren Gun from the shoulder.

During a lull in the fighting at around 3pm on 1 June, Ervine-Andrew received the order to hold his position until the final round. By early evening that final round has been fired. The Germans had been held here for 10 hours. The wounded were evacuated by Bren Carrier.

Ervine-Andrews and the 8 remaining men of B Company pulled back on foot and took to wading and swimming the many small waterways behind this position, starting with the small tributary just to the right of the Barn on this Google Earth Image.

Ervine-Andrews and his men reached Dunkirk on 3 June 1940 and were evacuated. The following month he heard about the award of a VC on the radio during a BBC news bulletin.

Every August during the school summer holidays I'm lucky enough to guide a @LegerBattleTour Dunkirk Tour. I always ask the youngest member of the group to read his VC citation on the banks of the Bergues-Furnes Canal. We're passing the story along.
The Kids are Alright.