ONE of the last survivors of a massacre of captured British soldiers by the Nazis made an emotional pilgrimage to the re-built barn where it happened, writes Julian Seva.
The Redditch Advertiser told the story two weeks ago of Batchley man Bert Evans, 80, who lost his right arm in the atrocity near the northern French village of Esquelbecq on May 28, 1940.
But Mr Evans was one of the lucky ones for almost all the other captured Tommies were killed by grenades thrown into the barn by the SS.
Those who escaped the explosions were shot, including Bert who had made a valiant escape bid by dashing from the front of the barn and diving into a pond.
More than 60 years on, a replica of the barn has been built in exactly the same location so the shocking event can be remembered.
Just before Remembrance Day, a group of Dunkirk veterans travelled to the site, including Mr Evans and his friend Alf Tombs, of Droitwich, one of the other three survivors of the slaughter still alive.
They were guests of honour at a ceremony to dedicate the wooden hut, which will now be classed as a war memorial and featured on French maps.
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