TOUR 1
Allow a day
This tour, which follows the line of the outer perimeter and the initial positions held by 2 Welsh Guards, whose task was to block and cover all routes into Boulogne from the East, has been set out as a tour by car due to the distances involved. There is no reason why it cannot be undertaken by cyclists or indeed keen walkers however, since a walk around the suggested route will provide insights into the distance travelled by some companies after disembarkation, all of it on foot. Indeed, ‘walking the course’ may well be the best way of understanding the difficulties faced by both officers and men in terms of the enormous front one infantry battalion was expected to cover.
From the Tourist Office at 24 Boulevard Gambetta follow signs for Le Touquet, Abbeville, Arras and Montreuil and drive south on the D940, along the Boulevard de la Poste and the Boulevard Diderot, along the eastern bank of the River Liane. This road turns into the Boulevard d’Alembert after approximately two kilometres. Continue until the road merges with the D96, the Route de Paris at a major junction. Take the left hand lane following the signs for Ostrohove and Centre Sportif de la Waroquerie and turn left across the carriageway taking the road directly in front named the rue Apolline. Follow the road up the hill and park the car with care on the raised pavement just after the road bends to the left. Leave the car and retrace your tracks to the junction of the D940 and the D96.
This is the road to St. Leonard and Samer covered by two platoons of 2 Company, 2 Welsh Guards under the command of Major Cas Jones-Mortimer on the afternoon of 22 May 1940. His task was to block and cover the road to Samer and he established his HQ in a house near a railway bridge, now demolished, some 250 metres from the junction back towards Boulogne along the Route de Paris. 2 Company, along with 4 Company, had originally been ordered to march out to a rendezvous in the village of St. Leonard, two kilometres from where you are standing, out along the D940 towards Samer from where they marched to take up their positions on the outer perimeter. Note how the road falls away to the Pont de Pitendal which crosses the Ruisseau de la Fontaine de Bourreau stream as you look to the south and then rises on the other side of the Ravin de Pitendal. The road here was cratered just in front of the Welsh Guards’ posts by the Royal Engineers to assist in the defence of the perimeter. The explosions ruptured a gas main from which flames belched forth continuously; their fierce glow clearly illuminating the immediate vicinity as darkness fell.
The junction of the D940 with the D96 near Ostrohove. The Pont de Pittendal is in the dip. Here the road was cratered by the Royal Engineers rupturing a gas main.
Retrace your steps back uphill along the rue Apolline towards the heart of 2 Company’s positions. Note the terrain to your right beyond the houses and particularly how the ground falls away sharply to the stream below and then rises on the other side of the valley. The high ground is the long shoulder of Mont Lambert, the summit of which lies three kilometres to the north-east. The A16 Autoroute now runs along the top of the Mont Lambert ridge following almost exactly the route of the 1940 road through the hamlet of le Chemin Vert. The Welsh Guards of 2 Company saw German armoured vehicles patrolling the ridge during the evening of 22 May.
It is clear that some of the steeper slopes on this eastern sector were not ideal for the German armour but roads and tracks still snake down from the Mont Lambert spur, just as they did in 1940, at several points further up the valley where the slopes are less steep. These access points were not easy to defend given the nature of the terrain and the fact that fire positions were not linked, leaving ‘dead ground’ between companies, platoons and sections due to their being stretched along the front in this sector.
Return to the car and drive on up the Rue Apolline. The first turn on the right, the Rue Bel Air, was the approximate site of an anti-tank gun, one of three which were deployed on the forward slopes of the ravine to the east to cover the roads and tracks into the village of Ostrohove. Drive on until the road bends slightly to the left and at this point take the road off to the left called the Rue du Mont d’Ostrohove. There is ample parking in the Place de l’Orme just behind the annexe to the Mairie on the main road.
Another platoon of 2 Company were responsible for defending the roads leading to the village but the defence of the village itself was the responsibility of HQ Company under the command of Captain R B Hodgkinson. Lieutenant Colonel Stanier set up his first battalion HQ in the schoolhouse in the north-west corner of the square during the afternoon of 22 May 1940. In 2001 the building was still in use as a school. Sometime around 9.00 pm on 22 May, Stanier moved his HQ back about 400 metres along the Rue du Mont d’Ostrohove to a cottage at a waterworks near a light railway line, all of which have long since disappeared. It was whilst Stanier was at this cottage that he became embroiled in an argument with the French manager of the waterworks. Returning late, tired and hungry from inspecting his battalion’s positions on the night of 22 May, Stanier was greeted by his second in command, Major John Vigor and his Adjutant Captain Robin Rose-Price, who told him that the French manager of the waterworks was incensed about burly guardsmen trampling all over his flower and rose beds. He was waiting to see Stanier. At that point a huge explosion rocked the cottage and everyone ducked to avoid what they thought were German artillery rounds. In fact the HQ petrol cooker had exploded along with Stanier’s supper. Quartermaster Bray threw a feather mattress on the cooker to extinguish the flames which produced such odious fumes that the British had to don their gas masks. The French manager, bereft of a mask, fled coughing and spluttering from the cottage, never to be seen again.
Walk to the east side of the Place d’Orme and rejoin the main road which has now become the Rue de l’Orme. Before leaving the square remember that the Germans had attacked 2 and 3 Companies at 7.30 am on 23 May and by 11.00 am 2 Company had been in action for three-and-a-half hours. German artillery registered accurately on the light railway 300 metres or so to your rear from about 9.00 am and one platoon of 2 Company suffered as a result. As further attacks fell on 2 Company – and on HQ Company in positions close to where you are standing – Lieutenant Colonel Stanier’s company commanders warned him of the strong possibility of encirclement. Stanier decided to readjust his line by moving back 300 – 400 metres to the north-east to the line of houses on the Rue Henri Malo. This was behind the light railway, parts of which are now a footpath on the line of the Rue du Tir a l’Arc. Before this re-adjustment was complete Stanier received orders to withdraw further back towards the town. Note also that a second anti-tank gun was sited a little way down the forward slope of the valley at a point opposite the junction of the Rue Apolline and the Rue du Mont d’Ostrohove.
Turn left and after 100 metres or so you will see a ‘no through road’ sign off to your right. This is the Rue Patin and down this road was the site of the third anti-tank gun covering the approaches to Ostrohove. This track was the only one marked on the maps issued to 20 Brigade HQ which linked Ostrohove with the road along the crest of the Mont Lambert spur on the other side of the valley. The road forks after a short distance and the tracks now lead to private houses.
Return to the car and continue to drive up the hill along the Rue de l’Orme towards the village of St Martin-Boulogne. The buildings on either side of the road begin to thin out after 500 metres or so. Note how the ground drops away steeply to your immediate right. The terrain here has not changed much from 1940 apart from the intrusion of the Autoroute along the crest of the ridge. Note also how the ground rises to your left towards la Madeleine. After another 250-300 metres take the road which bears sharp left up the hill onto the Rue du Four a Chaux. Turn right after another 250 metres as the road levels out and park in front of the sports ground a little way down this road on your left. Leave the car and retrace your tracks back to the junction. Turn left and walk down the slope until the Rue du Four a Chaux meets the main road.
The Rue Patin. A third antitank gun covered this approach into Ostrohove.
You are now standing on the extremity of the right flank of the sector held by 3 Company under the command of Major Jim Windsor-Lewis. 3 Company’s initial rendezvous had been the village of Ostrohove but Windsor-Lewis was ordered to move further ‘to the left’ and hold the line from Ostrohove as far as the crossroads north-west of Mont Lambert. The right flank here was held by 7 platoon under Second Lieutenant Hesketh (Hexey) Hughes with posts covering the knot of roads and tracks around the small hamlets of la Madeleine and Varoquerie – now shown on maps as Waroquerie – a little further along the road to the north-east. Turn left onto the main road and walk on until you come to a small group of houses on the corner of a junction with a road to your right. This road crosses the valley and passes under the A16 Autoroute on its way to the villages of Echingen and Questinghen and eventually the town of Desvres. It was one of the routes taken by German armour of Combat Group Prittwitz after they had captured Desvres. Note from the map how an unimpeded advance by this route could take tanks to within spitting distance of the harbour in the heart of the town.
The road junction at la Madeleine, held by sections of Second Lieutenant Hexey Hughes’ 7 Platoon, 3 Company.
In 1940 la Madeleine consisted of little more than four small houses, two cottages and an estaminet clustered around the road junction. Second Lieutenant Hexey Hughes was in position at a post just south-west of the junction when his isolated platoon was attacked by four German tanks coming down the road from Echingen at around 10.30 am on the morning of 23 May under cover of an artillery and mortar barrage.
Hughes had managed to dig one anti-tank gun in to cover the junction with some success and he had another to the rear. One tank advanced towards the junction and moved north across the gentler slopes behind the estaminet. Note how the ground to the north of the road to Echingen is far less steep and rugged than that to the south. A second tank knocked out Hughes’ second anti-tank gun and soon he noticed two more working their way around him. He reasoned that he would soon be surrounded so he decided to withdraw his men to the other side of the road to obtain a better line of fire. The decision proved fatal for Hughes and some of his men who were killed as they moved out of cover and crossed the open ground.
The road east towards Echingen.
Walk on and then take the next sharp left which will complete a rough triangular circuit taking you back to your car parked at the sports ground.
Retrace your tracks, driving south-west, and turn left at the junction. Turn left at the main road and then first right onto the narrow road to Echingen. Drive up to the top of the slope and park the car before the motorway underpass. Turn around and look at the panorama of Boulogne laid out in front of you. This is a panzer crewman’s eye view of the positions of 2 Welsh Guards on the line of the road running along the western slopes of the ravine at the bottom of the hill and also of the ultimate prize in the distance – Boulogne. Note the line of the road as it snakes down towards Hexey Hughes’ position at the bottom of the hill and then follow it up and over the ridge through la Madeleine on its way into the town. From here on a clear day one can see the docks and, further to the right, the unmistakable dome of the nineteenth century Basilique de Notre Dame in the medieval walled Haute Ville. Further right still on the horizon one can make out the rectangular outline of the church tower in the village of St. Martin which was held by 4 Company. Look closely and between these two landmarks one can make out the Colonne de la Grande Armée topped by the figure of Napoleon Bonaparte. Scanning the horizon still further to the right will bring your eye to the radio masts on top of Mont Lambert which overlooked the positions of two sections of 8 platoon of 3 Company under Second Lieutenant Ralph Pilcher. Half left, on the high ground beyond the docks and the western bank of the River Liane, lies the village of Outreau and the south western perimeter held by 2 Irish Guards. From this vantage point the almost impossible task handed to 20 Brigade can be appreciated.
Head back down the hill and turn right at the junction towards Mont Lambert along the road which has now become the Rue de la Croix Abot. Two sections of 8 platoon of 3 Company were spread out along this road up to the junction with the present D341 the Rue de Desvres, (beware, the road to St. Omer a little further north is also numbered D 341 on the IGN map just to confuse the issue!). Follow the road keeping Mont Lambert to your right as far as the junction with the D 341. The wartime junction has now disappeared to make way for the cutting of the motorway interchange.
The new road deviates slightly to the west before joining the main road at this busy junction. Parking is a little difficult here so turn left at the junction and drive west towards St. Martin for 250 metres or so. There is ample parking outside one of the large new buildings on your right. Leave the car and walk east up the slight rise back towards the junction.
Major Windsor-Lewis deployed two sections of Pilcher’s 8 platoon to cover the crossroads which would have been where the present day overpass now straddles the motorway. As you walk towards the junction and leave the buildings behind note how the ground opens up into a hollow on your left. It was in a farm house on approximately this spot that Major Windsor-Lewis had his 3 Company HQ with two anti-tank guns a little further forward in the hollow to your left. It was whilst he was here on his rounds that Lieutenant Colonel Stanier peered over a wall and saw three German tanks come bursting out of the village of Mont Lambert – the houses of which you can see beyond the motorway bridge up the road in front of you – at around 7.30 am on the morning of 23 May and started firing at the men holding the cross roads and the anti-tank guns which were just in the hollow to your left. Note the house on your right. This house is on the site of a cottage which was held by Windsor-Lewis’s 9 platoon being held in reserve on that morning.
Walk on to the junction of the road you have just driven up from Ostrohove. In front of you stood a monument to the south of the crossroads close to which Second Lieutenant Ralph Pilcher had set up his platoon HQ. To the north of the crossroads were two more sections of 8 Platoon.
Although the road layout has changed, imagine the men of 8 Platoon like Doug Davies and Arthur Boswell dug into one and two-man foxholes to the north and south of the road a little way ahead of you. These men were at the apex of the Welsh line, which described a rough arrowhead pointing to the east and they felt the full force of the German blow, which started with a fusillade of machine gun fire accompanying the tank attack.
One of the tanks set fire to the makeshift barricade blocking the road with machine gun fire and at one point stopped so close to Second Lieutenant Neil Perrins commanding 9 platoon, who was out on patrol at the time, that he was able to stand next to it undetected! Captain Hamil Carter was wounded in the arm whilst in position just to the left of the crossroads. Even as late as the evening of 23 May during the evacuation Lieutenant Colonel Stanier, who had been told about Carter’s wound, thought that he had been evacuated. At that time Stanier thought that his battalion would be surrounded and captured and that Carter would be able to tell those at home all about what had happened but Carter had been taken to hospital in Boulogne and was still there when the Germans came. He was unable to write with his damaged arm for the rest of his life. The men of 8 Platoon were ordered to withdraw as best they could as they were in danger of being surrounded and some escaped under machine gun fire in the direction of the motorway to the north.
It was also at this time that anti-tank guns manned by Sergeant Green and Corporal Joseph Bryan, sited around 3 Company HQ in the hollow you have just passed on your left, made a spirited response to the tank threat, putting at least one out of action.
Return to the car and drive west along the D 341 towards the buildings of St. Martin. Turn right after 500 metres – you cannot go straight on due to the one-way system in operation – and then turn left at the traffic lights at the next major junction, the Route de St. Omer. Drive on until you see the church tower and take the left turn immediately after the church. Turn right immediately into the public car park. You are now in the Place d’Hotel de Ville in the heart of the village of St. Martin-Boulogne. Note the proximity of the Hotel de Ville and the church.
St. Martin was held by the men of 4 Company under Captain Jack Higgon from 22-23 May 1940. Their task was to secure the northern flank of the perimeter along the Desvres road (the D 341) from 3 Company HQ as far as the church in St. Martin itself by blocking all roads leading from the north. This would also mean that the route to St. Omer was blocked.
Leave the car and walk towards the church. The centre of the village has been re developed but it was in this area that Guardsman Syd Pritchard went to wash himself at the village pump early on the morning of 23 May and saw a German spotter plane circle above 4 Company positions. The German attack started soon afterwards.
Head for the church, taking the road to your right, the Rue de Desvres and walk for some 500-600 metres until you come to a crossroads with traffic lights. Take the road to your right the Rue Giraux Sannier. Walk a little way down the hill and then stop near the bend where the road overlooks the valley of St Martin. From this vantage point it is possible to see right across the valley to the line of the road defended by 3 Company. Second Lieutenant Peter Hanbury’s platoon, which included Guardsman Charles Thompson, was originally dug in on the slopes of the valley to your left. In 1940 the light railway wound its way up the far side of the valley from Ostrohove and would have passed the spot where you are standing on its way towards the church at St Martin. Several patrols went out into the valley during the evening and night of 22 May. At 10.30 pm Hanbury set out on a patrol of the valley which headed out along the line of the railway then circled round to your right almost as far as the church before coming back to his position along the ground behind you. He and his men expected to run into Germans but the only living things encountered were rats scuttling around on a rubbish heap which startled his men.
the church of St Martin with the top of its tower shot off. the same view today.
Retrace your steps back towards the church.
Retrace your steps back towards the church. Hanbury was ordered to occupy new positions in the centre of St. Martin near the church after ‘stand to’ on the morning of 23 May. He established his HQ in the building on the corner of the Route de St. Omer and the Place J Moulin. The exterior of this building, now a bar and billiards room called Le Regent, has been substantially altered in recent years. Before the alterations it was still possible to see marks to the left of the doorway on the corner made by bullets which, Peter Hanbury felt, had been fired by a sniper in the church tower. He was not alone in thinking this. Guardsman Charles Thompson, one of Hanbury’s platoon, recalled firing at a sniper hiding, ‘behind the parapet of the church tower’ at the time he was wounded. Hanbury decided to investigate and began to climb the stairs leading to the tower when the local priest pulled him down. He went back to his men and ordered Guardsman Bartlett and another man to neutralise the fire with two Bren guns. They claimed to have seen a rifle drop from the tower. Other accounts record that Cyril Heber-Percy, the commanding officer of 1 Company, which had moved up to block all the roads around and to the north of the church on the left of 4 Company at around 3.30 pm on 22 May, dug up some railway sleepers with the aid of Second Lieutenant Peter Black and elevated an anti-tank gun on them. It is recorded that they blew the top off the tower although there is no mention of any bodies ever having been recovered.
Enter the St. Martin Communal Cemetery extension, which is off the Rue Francois Boulanger opposite the church and walk through the civilian cemetery, past some hedges and down some steps to the far south-west corner. There are twenty-two Commonwealth War Graves here, twelve of which are the graves of Welsh Guardsmen killed in action during the fighting on the outer perimeter. The body of Second Lieutenant Hexey Hughes lies here in Row E, Grave 2, as does that of Doug Davies’ friend Doug Morton in Row B, Grave 3, their final resting place forever looking out over the valley and the ground towards Mont Lambert and la Madeleine on which they fought and died.
Return to the car and follow the one-way system east past the church and then turn left and left again onto the Route de St. Omer coming back on yourself in an anti-clockwise circuit. Pass the church and drive down the hill towards Boulogne. This road follows the line of the withdrawal of 1, 3 and 4 Companies towards Boulogne during the afternoon of 23 May. Drive on until you come to a signpost indicating a left turn marked Abbeville, Arras, Le Touquet, Montreuil and Stade de Libération which also shows a distinctive green and white Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) sign. Follow the Rue Framery and turn first left into the Rue de Dringhen and park the car near the entrance to the southern section of the Cimetiâre de Est to your right. This is a large civil cemetery, which lies just beyond the eastern corner of the Haute Ville. The CWGC cemetery forms a long narrow strip along the western edge of the southern section of the civil cemetery and is easily identified by locating the Cross of Sacrifice. Begun during the First World War when Boulogne was one of the three main base ports used by the
The bar known as le Regent BEF, the cemetery holds almost 6,000 1914-18 in the village square of St graves and 200 casualties from 1939-45 are Martin. This building, commemorated, including Welsh and Irish recently refurbished, was Guardsmen killed in the Boulogne fighting of 1940. the HQ of Second Guardsman Brynmor Pugh, killed in action between Lieutenant Peter Hanbury the bogey wheels of a railway ambulance carriage on the morning of 23 May. during the final stand at the Gare Maritime on 24 May, was a comrade of Syd Pritchard. His body lies in Plot 13, Row C, Grave 16. Captain John Duncan also lies here in a grave next but one to that of Pugh (Plot 13, Row C, Grave 18). Duncan was killed by a bomb which burst close to him, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Stanier and the padre as all three sheltered together under a railway truck on the quayside just prior to the evacuation of the battalion on the evening of 23 May. Stanier and the padre got up, Duncan didn’t. Stanier later recalled that the twenty-eight year old, ‘must have been killed by the shock’. Other graves belonging to members of the Pioneer Corps, RAMC, Royal Signals, Royal Engineers and the Royal Artillery killed in action between 23-25 May bear witness to the contribution of those units in the defence of Boulogne.
Ex-Guardsman Syd Pritchard, 4 Coy, 2 Welsh Guards, returns to Boulogne (1999) to pay his respects to those of his comrades who fell in the fighting in May 1940.
The bar known as le Regent in the village square of St Martin. This building, recently refurbished, was the HQ of Second Lieutenant Peter Hanbury on the morning of 23 May.
Return to the car and drive straight on up the Rue Dringhen turning left almost at the top and then left again at the junction with the main road. Drive back towards town and take a left turn at the next major junction onto the Rue Porte Neuve. You are now following the route taken by German troops during the morning of 24 May as they advanced to lay siege to the Citadel of the Haute Ville held by French forces under General Lanquetot commanding 21 Infantry Division. The area was known as ‘Le Dernier Sou’ in 1940 after a cabaret bar which stood nearby. Note the Porte Neuve otherwise known as the Porte de Calais and the thirteenth century walls of the Citadel to your front. Note also the imposing domed edifice of the Basilique Notre Dame. Drive towards the old walls and turn right into the car park just before the gate itself.
The medieval walled town is well worth a visit in itself as it has much to offer the visitor historically above and beyond the scope of the 1940 battle as well as being an atmospheric location for a lunch or coffee stop.
It is possible to walk the 1,400 metres along the top of the ramparts which were themselves built on the ancient remains of earlier Gallo-Roman walls between 1227 and 1231, taking in the four main gates and the seventeen towers along the way. This walk is rewarded by some stunning views of the surrounding countryside from the vantage point of the ramparts near the Porte des Degres, particularly to the south and the high ground beyond Outreau from which direction came the southern German Assault Group. From here the great strength of the walled citadel can be appreciated. Little wonder that the walls resisted wave after wave of German attacks and a battering by artillery, mortars and heavy flak guns from just after lunchtime on 24 May until they were finally breached in the early morning of 25 May after two German 88mm flak guns were brought up to fire at the walls at point blank range. One of the guns fired on the walls a little way down the hill from the Porte de Calais along the Boulevard August Mariette whilst the other fired from a point round the corner near the Rue Flahaut just north of the Porte des Dunes on the western wall. Also, a little way down from the Rue Flahaut opposite the ramparts you will see a row of houses. It was in a house along this row that Brigadier Fox-Pitt set up his first HQ.
The area known as ‘Le Dernier Sou’ taken from the Porte de Calais after the battle.
Whilst standing near the the Porte de Calais and just in front of the Cathedral, note that German storming parties used a ladder which – according to General Heinz Guderian himself – had been taken from the kitchen of a nearby house to scale what remained of the ramparts and finally broke into the Citadel. Note also that the 300 or so exhausted defenders of the ancient Château built in 1231 by Philippe Hurepel, Count of Boulogne, marched out of this gate at 10.30 on 25 May under the admiring gaze of Oberstleutnant Decker commanding 2 Schützen Regiment who was fulsome in his praise of their heroic resistance. These men under the command of Commandant Berriat, had defended the Château oblivious to the fact that Lanquetot had given the order for the garrison to surrender some two hours earlier. It was only after a message from Lanquetot himself got through that the men in the Château finally laid down their arms
Now: the same view today.
Walk through the Porte de Calais and turn take the second left onto the Rue de Château and then on to the Château itself. The ramparts in this corner were held by infantry under Lieutenant Colonel Santini and the remnants of 13 Regiment Regionale under Colonel Wimet who had fought their way up to the Haute Ville on 23 May. The Château itself; a masterpiece of medieval military architecture, complete with underground passages, was held by Berriat’s men and its great strength helped the French garrison resist the German onslaught until ordered to surrender by General Lanquetot.
The Château also has a special connection with British military history in that the body of Britain’s Unknown Warrior rested overnight in its chapel, the Chapelle Ardente, on 8 November 1920 on its way from St. Pol to its final resting place in Westminster Abbey two days later. On 9 November the body of the Unknown Warrior was taken from the chapel and left the Citadel via the Porte de Calais on its way to the Quai Gambetta drawn in a French army wagon followed on foot by the then Adjutant General Sir George Macdonagh and Marshal Foch. The body was then transported across the channel aboard the destroyer HMS Verdun, a ship specially chosen in honour of the French sacrifice in defending that town.
It is also interesting to note that the Château was used as a prison after the Second World War up until 1974. Today it is a museum housing the town’s important collection of exhibits including Gallo Roman, Greek and Egyptian relics. (Telephone: 00 33 321 10 02 20 for details of opening times – closed on Tuesdays.)
After exploring the architectural gems of the Haute Ville return to the car, turn left out of the car park and follow the road system towards the Pont Marguet and the harbour via the Rue Dutertre and the Rue Faidherbe. Park along the front near the Quai Gambetta, (pay and display), which in 1940 had many more buildings along the quayside including the customs house and the area where Doug Davies first sheltered behind a dustbin after his withdrawal from 3 Company positions near Mont Lambert. It is worth a walk back along the quay heading south to the Pont de l’Entente Cordiale and turning left onto the main road, the Rue de la Lampe, back into town and uphill towards the Grand Rue. After passing the third street on your right, the Rue Nationale you will come to St Nicolas’ church in the Place Dalton. It was in this square that Sergeant Arthur Evans of 2 Irish Guards and his comrades of an anti-tank platoon attached to 20 Brigade formed up after disembarkation on 22 May, Evans went in search of food and walked round the back of a restaurant in the south east corner of the square. The restaurant, Chez Alfred, is still there. Evans got no food and returning to Place Dalton found it empty of men. After hitching a ride on a lorry heading for Calais he was finally reunited with his men by mid-afternoon not long before the Germans attacked the Irish Guards positions in Outreau. There is a market in the Place Dalton on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. Walk back down the Grand Rue to the car parked on the Quai Gambetta to complete the tour.