The Battle of Britain Five Months That Changed History, May—October 1940 by James Holland (z-lib.org).epub

George Oakley was not so lucky, however. Although he reached the coast
near Harwich, he then spun in and crashed, killing himself instantly. It was
a sobering start.
On the beaches, some engineers from the 250th Field Company were using
their ingenuity to create a makeshift pier off the sea at Bray Dunes. At
around eight that morning, while the tide was out, they began collecting
abandoned three-ton lorries and driving them out across the sand, and with
the help of other soldiers created a 150-yard-long jetty. Bullets were fired
into the tyres to anchor them, sand was shovelled into the back of them and
the canvas covers were stripped from the superstructures and lashed to one
another. Finally, decking panels from a bridging lorry were placed along the
top of the trucks to create a walkway. More planks were found at a nearby
timber yard. As the tide came in, smaller vessels were able to moor
alongside it. Military Police ensured that only around fifty men used the
jetty at any one time, but it was soon working very effectively.
Stan Fraser was not one of those being shepherded on to the lorry-jetty,
but he and his mates were now down at the water’s edge. One of their
officers kept them all together but when it became apparent that it would be
an impossible task to get them off in one go, they decided it was a case of
every man for himself. There were officers now all along the water’s edge,
with Tommies all around them, eager to get on the next little boat.
Occasionally they would threaten the men with revolvers, but by doing so
managed to keep a semblance of order.