Thanks, to a Tough man in time of real crisis. Let us give Thanks to a man of Grace , who was a leader in vital and dangerous times.
Paul Hackforth-Jones, eventually levered me into the Rotary Club of Melbourne. A wonderful friend to many in Rotary and elsewhere. He passed away in 2013.
Five years in the British Army, including Dunkirk. Some years after the war, on coming to Australia, he married the daughter of Sir Henry Gullett, who had died in the Canberra air crash in 1941 with several of Mr Menzies’ war-time cabinet. Quite some time later, your Thanks giver today did not quite marry one of Sir Henry’s granddaughters.
Paul and I would often have lunch together. We shared stories. He once told me of how in the time of real crisis, he broke a some serious rules. As he sat beside the driver speeding their truck towards the Dunkirk Beach. Keep your eye on me when we bog down and tell the thirty fellows in the back of the truck to do the same. Wham! As the truck came to a sudden halt in the sand, Paul jumped down and quickly marched, jogged across the beach to the nearest pier, politely climbed up the steps which were already very busy and moved very smartly along the pier, where lay moored a Scottish ferry, the Duchess of Argyle.
Immediate negotiations with the Captain started at a low level, but tough firm and diplomatic Officer Hackforth-Jones repeated his demands and suggestions and the likely benefits all round. Yes. Said the captain, although we are breaking several maritime and safety regulations.
Paul beckoned back up the beach, and his thirty British soldiers raced for the pier, approaching carefully, trained to be polite as required and soon arrived at the ferry, where the Captain was opening the emergency trapdoor to down below. The men quickly worked in out. Lie low. On the keel of the ship, Breath. Relax . As a bonus, Paul stayed in the wheel-house with the captain.
Thirty more soldiers home in England a couple of hours later. Unlike some forty thousand British soldiers left to the Germans for the next five years.
Lovely smiling Paul. Might we give Thanks or Grace today to Paul and other wonderful Rotarians.
