Poignant St Valery commemorations across Ross-shire mark major milestone in Highland history
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COMMUNITIES in Ross-shire marked a major milestone in their history yesterday in a variety of ways.
The battle of Saint-Valery-en-Caux in northern France on June 12, 1940 has sometimes been dubbed "the forgotten Dunkirk" but touched communities the length and breadth of the Highlands.
The battle, whose 80th anniversary was marked yesterday, mainly involved the 51st Highland Division and resulted in the deaths of 1000 men.
At least 4000 men were wounded and 10,000 were taken prisoner.
They had remained in France following the successful mass evacuations at Dunkirk and had fought almost continuously for 10 days against overwhelming odds until finding themselves surrounded by German forces.
A poignant ceremony was staged in Dingwall involving members of the Seaforth Highlanders Regimental Association.
Ullapool Museum said it was "blown away" with the beautiful flowers that were put outside the houses of St Valery Place in the village yesterday.
It said: "Well done to all who participated."
Bob Shanks, chairman of the Seaforth Highlanders’ Regimental Association and a military history enthusiast, has previously visited the graves of the fallen at Saint Valery, which is twinned with Inverness.
He outlined why the men from the 51st Highland Division – including soldiers from the Black Watch and the Queens Own Cameron, Seaforth and Gordon Highlanders – did not have a Dunkirk-style evacuation.
Having been detached from the main British forces, the plan was to retreat west for a similar escape using a flotilla of ships which had sailed from Britain.
“They were tantalisingly close, but unfortunately things were working against them,” Mr Shanks said.
“The mist came down and the Germans advanced very quickly.”
With the ships unable to make it to shore and German artillery above the town, evacuation was impossible and the division commander, General Victor Fortune, took the difficult decision to surrender on June 12.
His men were exhausted and virtually out of ammunition.
“He could have attacked but he would have lost more lives,” Mr Shanks said.
“Certainly there was nothing to be ashamed of in the surrender under those circumstances. The boys did their best and could hold their heads high.
“The Germans were so strong and it was not possible to hold out against them.”
Those captured were marched to prisoner of war camps in eastern Europe where they endured hardship for the rest of the war but in a bid to maintain public morale, little was mentioned of the surrender and many did not speak about it afterwards.
Mr Shanks said: “Many myths came up – a lot of people suggested Winston Churchill had allowed them to be taken and sacrificed but a number of books say this was not the case.”
To ensure future generations will know what happened, armed forces charities Poppyscotland, Legion Scotland and Royal Caledonian Education Trust have come together to launch new learning resources.
