A DUNKIRK veteran from Bradford has died, aged 101.

John Allen was 20 when he took part in the Dunkirk evacuation and he went on to survive the Battle of Monte Cassino, one of the longest battles of the Second World War.

Last year Mr Allen told the Telegraph & Argus how he dodged German bullets and air raids as he and six other British soldiers made their way to Dunkirk beach, where he was taken to safety by a fishing boat.

Mr Allen, who grew up in Dudley Hill, joined 13th Infantry Division (Anti-tank) and was sent to France. “We got orders to go to Dunkirk. We walked for miles, passing abandoned army vehicles and French villages that were destroyed. We took refuge in a deserted farmhouse, when we saw 100 Germans coming we ran. They’d have shot or captured us,” he recalled. “When we got to Dunkirk we were put into groups of 50. There were lots of German planes, they came so low I could see the pilots. We were dodging shellfire all the time. The officers wanted us in small groups so if one got hit there wouldn’t take so many men out.”

The evacuation of Allied soldiers from Dunkirk in northern France took place between May 26 and June 4, 1940. Hundreds of thousands of British, French and Belgian troops were surrounded by Germans but a sudden halt, ordered by Hitler, gave the British time to organise Operation Dynamo, and over eight days more than 300,000 men were rescued by a hastily-assembled fleet of boats. By the time John Allen was wading out to sea in shoulder-deep water, he had endured a long, gruelling walk to Dunkirk, then days of Luftwaffe shelling.

“When we reached the town we waited for four days before being sent to the beach,” he told the T&A. “We didn’t know what was going to happen, I don’t mind saying I was scared.”

To the men shivering on the beach and in the water, the flotilla of vessels - including Naval boats, merchant marine boats, fishing boats, pleasure cruisers and lifeboats - heading across the Channel was a welcome sight. “We were told to get in line then we waded out in the water for about 50 yards. A little fishing boat picked us up, I was so glad to get on it. They really looked after us, those fishermen,” said Mr Allen. “Before we climbed on board we had to throw our kit and weapons into the sea. German planes were following the boats, we thought it was the end. I saw a Stuka drop a bomb onto a bigger boat, it went straight down the funnel. I was one of the lucky ones - only 40 from our battery got back.”

Mr Allen later trained with the 10th Indian Division and served in Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Italy, fighting in the Battle of Monte Cassino. “I didn’t know if I’d live to see another day,” he said. “I once woke up to find shrapnel all over my groundsheet. Others around me weren’t so lucky.”

After the war Mr Allen worked at Brocklehurst print firm at Church Bank. He and his late wife, Marian, had three children, Barbara, Pat and Geoffrey, eight grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.

In recent years Mr Allen lived in Shelf with his pet dog. Reflecting on Dunkirk, he said: “I’ve never forgotten those lads, and how we kept each others’ spirits up on that long road to Dunkirk.”

Mr Allen’s family said: “To quote Irving Berlin, ‘His song may have ended but his melody will always play on’.”