DUNKIRK veteran Arthur Taylor felt "enormous tears" as he laid a wreath at the Allied Beach Memorial in memory of those who died during the Second World War rescue mission.

Mr Taylor, 94, from Christchurch, was one of seven veterans of the famous 1940 evacuation to return to the French port town for the 75th anniversary commemorations.

Accompanied by proud family members, they were joined by standard bearers from British, French and Belgian veterans' associations and currently serving personnel from the Royal Navy and the French army and navy.

After a reading by local school children from an article in the newspaper France Soir, written about the horror of the evacuation just days after it happened, French and British dignitaries, including Prince Michael of Kent, the honorary admiral of the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships, laid wreaths at the foot of the memorial wall, just yards from Dunkirk beach.

Flanked by his two military grandsons - Royal Marines Major Stuart Taylor, 41, and Warrant Officer Second Class Ian Taylor, 39, of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers - Mr Taylor laid his own wreath for the Bournemouth branch of the Dunkirk Veterans Association.

He had also paid tribute earlier this month during a ceremony in the town.

After the three men proudly saluted the memorial the crowd broke out into spontaneous applause, an appreciation for the debt they owe those Dunkirk veterans.

After the service, Mr Taylor said: "I appreciated them all clapping when I laid the wreath.

"I didn't expect it, it was spontaneous and the only one, the clapping of the veterans."

Asked how he felt, he said: "Enormous tears."

Major Taylor, who was on his first trip to Dunkirk, said: "I am incredibly proud. We have had a fantastic couple of days so far and it is a real honour to be here.

"It is a very proud moment for me, it is great to see everybody here as well and the reaction of the people."

He joined the RAF on May 15, 1939, training as a wireless operator.

In January 1940 he joined the 13th Lysander Squadron at Arras and was despatched to the Royal Signals.

On May 10, he and his comrades advanced to the River Dyle line in Belgium but they were forced to retreat, making their way back to the Bergues Canal, where they proceeded by foot to Dunkirk.

It was May 29, 1940.

Speaking to the Daily Echo ahead of the 70th anniversary in 2010, Arthur said: “At this point we’d had no drink or food for days. We went to a café and were told there was no water in Dunkirk because the Germans had blown up all the water mains.

“Instead they filled our bottles with vin rouge.”

On arrival in the stricken town, Arthur discovered massive queues for the boats.

“We were queuing for 36 hours to get to the pier. The line was 20 people wide. For 36 hours we were bombed and shelled.

“We saw people machine-gunned right before our eyes.

“You didn’t think about what was happening – you just got on with it. That was the true Dunkirk spirit.”

On May 30, at 7.30am, Arthur managed to get to the East Mole jetty and The Lord Grey.