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Le Paradis 27 May 1940
As our troops tramped in retreat to La Panne,
who was it who held the enemy back?
The Royal Norfolks were part of the plan
to hold the line against German attack
till the last man and the last round was spent.
In Duriez Farm holed up, surrounded,
exhausted, many wounded, in torment
with no means of escape they surrendered.
The Totenkopf lined them against a wall,
ninety-seven gunned down, piled in a pit.
Yet Pooley and Callaghan survived to crawl
from that heap – years on in a court to sit
and bear witness to this massacre crime
which led to the hanging of Fritz Knoechlein.
Copyright ©
Lisle Ryder
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