MILLIONS flocked to cinemas last year to see the Second World War blockbuster, Dunkirk.

The film depicts the dramatic evacuation of Allied troops from the beaches and harbours of northern France in 1940.

But many will be unaware that one of the heroes of the historic battle hailed from Bolton.

James L Cornwell, who lived in Sandham Street, Great Lever, was a naval nurse in the Royal Navy Auxiliary Sick Berth Reserve when he played his part in the evacuation.

He was serving on the HMS Grive — a large commission yacht — when Dunkirk was evacuated.

The vessel crossed the English Channel three times, rescuing soldiers who had become cut off and surrounded by German troops.

On the fourth trip, the Grive docked alongside three British destroyers, when low-flying German Stuka aircraft flew over and dive-bombed the ships.

In the mayhem, the Grive collided with one of the destroyers as they tried to disperse and sank.

Leading Petty Officer Cornwell, who was on the top deck of the Grive when the bombers struck and was blown 40ft into the air and into the Channel.

He was stranded in the water for about four hours before finally being rescued by a Belgian ship which returned him to Dover.

He sustained injuries to his arms and shoulders in the attack but returned to service after a lengthy stay in hospital.

Ironically, Mr Cornwell, a driver on the railway, was in a reserved occupation, so did not have to go to war. But he was determined to do his bit for his country after also serving in Dardanelles, Zanzibar and Egypt, in the First World War .

His son, 86-year-old Ernest Cornwell, now living in Moses Gate his father being called up, after a policeman arrived at his family home, in Sandham Street, Great Lever.

He said: “It was September, 1939 and it must have been about 2am. We got up and a policeman was knocking on the door with my dad’s papers to report back, to Portsmouth I would imagine.

“He had to leave there and then, practically — within 24 hours. I remember walking down to the station with my mother and seeing him off.”

At the time Mr Cornwell was just seven years old, but could sense something important was happening.

He continued: “I knew something was wrong, but being that age you didn’t realise how serious it was.”

After the war, Leading Petty Officer Cornwell returned to his job as a driver on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway.

Mr Cornwell said his father very rarely spoke of his experiences in either war.

He added: “I’m proud of him, definitely, but he was the sort of chap who didn’t want to flash it all about that he had done this or that.

“He was a very quiet sort of bloke. I remember when he came home on sick leave, the people on the street had put up flags and bunting, and a big ‘welcome home’ on the wall of his house and he practically ignored it. He didn’t want to know about anything like that. When he had a job he wanted to do it well,whether it was the railway or the Navy.”

Mr Cornwell was 13 when his father returned from the war, but they grew close, particularly as he followed his his footsteps to the railway and as a first-aider.

“He added: “He was a very private sort of bloke, but he he would help anyone. Being a first-aider, in those days, if someone was ill in the street, they would come and ask my dad what was wrong with them and he would give them a diagnosis.”