Le Mémorial des Green Jackets
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Le Mémorial des Green Jackets
3 Digue Gaston Berthe - 62100 CALAIS
The Green Jacket Memorial is next to the Cité du Dragon, on the Calais seafront, LA plage. It faces the sea, facing England. It commemorates the sacrifice of the English soldiers who, in May 1940, fought alongside French and Belgian soldiers to slow down the German army. This fierce resistance in Calais made it possible to begin the evacuation of the British and French units gathered on the beaches of Dunkirk for Operation Dynamo. British troops paid a heavy price at Calais, notably the Queen Victoria's Rifles Regiment, also known as The Green Jackets. The German offensive in the west began in May 1940 in the Netherlands, Belgium and then France. The German advance is lightning-fast. The German army is sweeping towards northern France and its ports. It is crucial for the British to halt this advance towards Dunkirk, the site chosen to evacuate English and Allied troops scattered in northern France and Belgium to Dover (FB). New troops from the British Expeditionary Force landed at the port of Calais on May 23, 1940, just as the Germans were at the gates of the city. Alongside 800 French and Belgian soldiers, the British would defend Calais until May 26, 1940. German firepower and numerical superiority brought down Calais and its defenders commanded by Brigadier Claude Nicholson and Commander Charles de Lambertye. The heroic resistance of the defenders of Calais had bought time, thus contributing to the success of Operation Dynamo. After the war comes the time for reconstruction, for healing wounds and honoring civilian and military victims. It was in a Calais under construction that the Green Jacket Memorial was inaugurated on June 2, 1951. This is an event. Prince Henry, brother of King George VI, is the guest of honor. As in most Commonwealth memorial sites, the Cross of Sacrifice is present. This large stone cross bears a bronze sword pointing downwards. We can read the inscription: "To the glory of God and in memory of alla riflemen of the King's Royal Rifle Corps, the Rifle Brigade and Queen Victoria's Rifle who fell defending Calais 23-26 May 1940?". Did you know that? Two British soldiers who participated in the Battle of Calais subsequently had extraordinary destinies. Sam Kydd was not a global movie star, but was nonetheless a familiar figure to the British public until the 1970s with nearly 300 films and series to his credit. He was a prisoner of war, as was Airey Neaves, the first Briton to escape from Colditz, a German fortress-prison. After the war, he pursued a political career that led him into Margaret Thatcher's inner circle. He died tragically in 1979 in an attack. A few years earlier (1972) he had left a reference testimony on the battle of Calais with "The flames of Calais?: a soldiers battle 1940".
