A regular at the outset of the war, Francis belonged to the 663^rd Artisan Works Company of the Royal Engineers and had been sent out to France in late 1939.  By the end of May and beginning of June 1940 things were looking bleak for the British and French as the Third Reich’s forces were sweeping across France and pushing the Allies back and back.

          The British’s last stand was at the small town of Dunkirk, where over a period of under a week four hundred thousand troops were evacuated off the beaches to be taken back to the relative safety of Britain.  Fortunately for the British, low clouds kept the Luftwaffe off their troops for the majority of the first four days but on the fifth, the clouds cleared and the full might of the German Air Force was unleashed and wary and worn remnants of the British Expeditionary Force.

          The operation was ultimately a successful one for the British, where even against insurmountable odds they managed to rescue around 90% of their army.  Unfortunately for the rest of the remaining British stranded on the continent they became prisoners of war or were killed putting up a hard fought resistance against the surrounding German army.

          Francis died a week after the conclusion of the Dunkirk evacuations, most likely from wounds received during the hasty British retreat.  A shortage of medical supplies and staff for the wounded British soldiers meant that many troops wounded in the retreat were to die from their wounds after the Germans took control of the region; this was even though a skeleton British medical staff had remained to look after the beleaguered troops.

          Farline has no known grave – he is commemorated on the Dunkirk memorial and was the son of Francis and Georgina Farline of Filey whilst Francis’ wife Mary lived in Scarborough.  Before the war he had played outside left for Filey Town F.C. and was known locally as ‘Squeaker’ Farline.