Belfast OutReach

   In danger. It was the afternoon of May 30th 1940 and John McCoy, a young soldier from Newtownbutler in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, stood with his friend Sam Gibson on a hillside overlooking the burning town of Dunkirk in Northern France. World War II was  just nine months old and already the Nazi war machine had driven allied troops to the coast. On the beaches beneath him John could see thousands of his comrades massing to await evacuation from France. Overhead, the drone of aircraft engines provided a constant reminder of the danger from Luftwaffe bombers. John had joined the Royal Artillery in October 1939 and soon after had been posted to France as an army driver. Subsequent months had been around Dunkirk where his regiment was charged with defending a canal. Now British and other defenders of France were under severe pressure from the Germans. In previous days John had been near death on more than one occasion and had witnessed other young men being sent to Eternity