Drake's Drum

1940 World War II: 'Operation Dynamo' continued (ended June 4) the evacuation of British and French troops from Dunkirk.

Ninety-seven out of 99 members of a Royal Norfolk Regiment unit were massacred while trying to surrender at Dunkirk. The German commander, Captain Fritz Knochlein, was eventually hanged for war crimes.

Drake's Drum
Sir Francis Drake's drum was with Drake when he circumnavigated the world and when he died of dysentery off Panama in 1596. The worn drum, with Drake's coat of arms painted on one side, is currently located in the Drake, Naval and West Country Folk Museum at Buckland Abbey in Devonshire, Drake's former home. It is said to beat at times of danger for England. The drum, so it is said, was heard at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, Scapa Flow in 1918 and at the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940. Some said it was even heard when Germany surrendered in 1918. Another version of the legend is that the drum should be beaten to summon Drake in times of danger for England ...

Categories: uk, history, wwII