John Geoffrey Draycott
- Family History
- Military history
- Extra information
- Photographs
Son of Frederick William Draycott and Lydia Draycott, of 4 Crown Street, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.
Siblings: Frederick Baden (1901), Ethel May (1902), George William (1906), Phyllis Elsie (1913) and Albert who died at or shortly after his birth in 1915.
Frederick snr died in 1941.
The three battalions of the Grenadier Guards where sent to France in late 1939. As the B.E.F was pushed back by the German Blitzkreig they formed the rear-guard during the Battle of France and the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk.
The inscription on John's CWGC headstone is " WE WAITED IN VAIN"
June 4 was the final operational day of Operation Dynamo (the Dunkirk evacuation), the exact morning the rearguard pocket finally collapsed and German forces fully captured the harbor. Since his battalion had successfully boarded ships on the night of June 2, a date of June 4 indicates he was either part of a final detached rearguard element left behind to hold the perimeter, or he died of severe wounds in a local field hospital just as the town fell.
No photos