The Brigadier told them next day “The 5th Division are embarking for England tomorrow or the next day. Two of your regiments will go with it and two will stay behind. As I cannot make up my mind, the best thing is to toss for it.”
The result was the 97KYFR was required to hand over its guns to the defenders, and march to the beaches.
The next morning they smashed up their vehicles with pick axes, and marched away with sad hearts,.
Colonel Lushington recounts “It was dark when we reached the beach commander. Some three hundred men, stragglers from every unit in the British Army, were gathered in the street outside, silently and wearily waiting for orders. I asked where our boats were. He told me I must be mistaken. There were no boats, Nothing had been arranged for us. We could sleep on the dunes outside if we liked and he would see what he could do in the morning….