Mollett, Roger Pridham - Rifleman

"No soldier photo available"

1st. Bn. Queen Victoria's Rifles

Died 26 May 1940

Aged 22

On 16 May 1940 the British Expeditionary Force started to fall back on Dunkirk before the advance of vastly superior German tanks and. infantry. Meanwhile, the 1st. Battalion, Queen Victoria's Rifles, were ordered to leave England for Calais, where they arrived on 22 May. On 22 May, the Germans attacked Calais from all three sices. The Battalion, short of ammunition and suffering heavy casualties, and under constant air attack, were pushed back into Calais where heavy street fighting ensued. The officers and men were told there would be no evacuation for them, but they were to fight to the last to enable the port at Dunkirk to be kept open. Only 30 men escaped. The rest were either killed or taken prisoner. Rifleman Roger Mollett lost his life in this gallant action.

Roger was the sonn of William James and Aurelia Edith Mollett. He was aged 22.

Roger is named on the Dunkirk Memorial, France. The Memorial stands at the entrance to the Commonwealth War Graves section of Dunkirk Town Cemetery. It commemorates more than 4,500 casualties of the British Expeditionary Force who have no known grave. Roger's name is on Column 118.