As they walked towards the building where they had to report their arrival, Kate took a beret from her coat pocket and pulled it over her thick hair, tucking stray strands beneath it. In trousers, a bulky jumper and jacket, she could pass for a young boy. Only her luxurious auburn hair gave her away!

Very soon they found out why their boats were needed. The British Expeditionary Forces were virtually trapped on the coast of France at a place called Dunkirk and had to be rescued. Enemy planes were strafing the beaches, and the opposing army was closing in around them. Every available boat was needed to bring the soldiers off the beaches.

One of the boat owners proposed that he should take his own boat across and suddenly there was a chorus of offers. After a brief consultation among the senior officers, they agreed to the suggestion.

Silently the boatmen listened as they heard what their mission was to be; to bring the men off the beaches to ships anchored offshore. Larger boats could bring as many as they were able to carry safely back across the Channel if they wished. It seemed that off the beaches where the soldiers waited, the water was very shallow and some of the larger vessels could get nowhere near the shore.

‘It’s dangerous,’ they were warned. ‘The enemy are shelling from inland and there’s the Luftwaffe to contend with too . . .’

‘Kate . . .’ She felt Danny’s grasp upon her arm. ‘I really don’t think . . .’

She looked into his brown eyes, her own almost on a level with his. ‘Danny, ya can’t possibly man the boat on ya own and rescue people.’

‘No, Katie. It’ll be dangerous. You’re not coming. I won’t let you.’ His fingers tightened on her arm. ‘What if – what if something were to happen to you?’

‘Something might happen to you,’ she whispered.

They stared at each other and his sigh was cool on her cheek. ‘Please, Katie, stay here where it’s safe.’

She shook her head. ‘No, Danny,’ she said with quiet firmness. ‘I’m coming. I can’t stay here – just waiting – while you’re out there. Besides,’ she added grinning cheekily, trying to lighten what was a very desperate situation. ‘Think I’d let you out alone in France?’

‘All right,’ he said heavily. ‘But if it’s really bad I’ll put you on one of the big ships.’

Kate grinned. She’d argue that when they got there, she thought, but said nothing.

Pulling her beret down well over her hair, she hovered behind Danny as they formed a queue to sign a form. In the mêlée she managed to scribble her signature and was out and following Danny back to the boat before anyone had realized she was a girl.