Lane, Wilfred - Battery Quartermaster Sergeant

(No soldier photo available)

51 Light Anti-Aircraft Regt.

Royal Artillery

Died between 27 May and 2 June 1940

Age 29

The German offensive to drive the British Expeditionary Force from the Continent began on 10 May 1940. The first British withdrawal began in Belgium on 16 May. They then made a fighting retreat towards the port of Dunkirk. The evacuation of the British and French forces from Dunkirk was ordered on 26 May. By 4 June over 338,000 Allied troops were in England. Battery Quartermaster Sergeant Wilfred Lane was a member of a Territorial unit which took part in the campaign. Nothing was ever discovered of his fate, not even the date of his death.

Wilfred was the husband of Gladys Matilda. He was aged 29. Both were associated with St.James' Church.

Wilfred is commemorated on the Dunkirk Memorial, France. It stands at the entrance to the British War Graves Section of Dunkirk Town Cemetery. On entering the cemetery through the columns of the Dunkirk Memorial, 450 graves from the 1914-1918 War and 800 from the 19391945 War can be seen. The Dunkirk Memorial itself commemorates more than 4,500 casualties of the 1939-1940 campaign who have no known grave. Wilfred's name is on Column 7.