THESE war veterans were on their way to meet an old enemy.

Members of the Dunkirk Veterans’ Association might have had bitter memories of their clashes with German soldiers on French soil during the Second World War. But by October 1967 when this picture was taken, friendship had taken over.

These former British servicemen and their wives had been invited to spend a weekend in Duisburg, Germany, as guests of ex-German paratroopers.

The party is pictured in Cowley Road, Oxford, before setting off by coach.

The presence of an accordion suggested that there was going to be plenty of musical entertainment on the journey.

This was the second time the British and German ex-servicemen had met that year. Our sister paper, The Oxford Times, reported: “After travelling overnight, they arrived in the Ruhr Valley town where they were guests of the Duisburg branch of the Germany Paratroopers’ Association.

“The visit, coinciding with the October Feast in Germany and the new season’s beer brew, was a return one, the Germans staying in the homes of Dunkirk Veterans Association members in February.”

Founded in Leeds in 1953, the association was one of the first ex-service organisations to be formed from personnel who served during the war.

Operation Dynamo was the code name given to the evacuation of the Allied armies from Dunkirk and neighbouring beaches between May 26 and June 4, 1940 – the celebrated “Miracle of Dunkirk”.

During that short period, 338,000 troops reached safety in England after being evacuated, mainly in Royal and Merchant Navy ships, aided by Allied ships and a mixed fleet of little ships, from Dunkirk and from the beaches stretching 10 miles eastwards from the entrance to Dunkirk harbour. Most of those saved subsequently took part in operations in various parts of the world and helped liberate Europe in 1944 and 1945.

The Dunkirk Veterans’ Association was formed to help members and their families in need and to foster a spirit of comradeship among those who had been evacuated. At its peak, it had more than 100 branches in Britain and others in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Canada and North America, with a total of 20,000 members worldwide.

However, as the veterans reached 80-plus, it was decided in 2000 to wind up the association “in good order and with goodwill before age and illness take further toll”.

* Can readers name any of the veterans in the picture above?