Irish hero who helped WWII mission be slam Dunk'

The evacuation's success depended on those desperately fighting to keep the advancing Germans at bay.

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BRAVE WARRIOR

One of them was Co Cavan-born Captain Marcus Ervine-Andrews, the only Victoria Cross winner from the evacuation.

On May 31, the 28-year-old and his company held off the Germans for 10 hours. He shot 17 of the enemy with a rifle and machine gun before his unit was overwhelmed.

Ervine-Andrews then managed to lead his eight remaining men to safety. They were among the last to escape from Dunkirk. He died, aged, 83 in 1995.

TITANIC SURVIVOR

In 1912, Charles Lightoller was second officer aboard the doomed RMS Titanic.

When the liner hit an iceberg, he oversaw getting people into the lifeboats, only surviving after jumping into the icy Atlantic as it sank.