A WELLINGTON HEATH man is searching for information about a hero cook of the Dunkirk campaign, who kept his father, and other troops, brilliantly well fed under enemy fire.

Nick Dykes and his sister, Rosalie Daubney, are busy compiling a book which will simply be called "Dunkirk".

It will contain passages from their father's war memoirs, which provide an vivid insight of the dark days of 1940 and mention a cook called Phillips, who performed culinary miracles on the front line.

Mr Dykes said: "The important thing is the need or hope to find a picture of the valiant Phillips who went on cooking and feeding the troops, despite shellfire, right up to the last day of the Dunkirk evacuation. He was attached to, or in, the Worcestershire Regiment."

What else of known of the valiant cook comes from their father's memoirs.

David "Basil" Dykes was a Captain with the 7th battalion Worcester Regiment, and he formed part of a rear-guard contingent, to help hold back the advancing German army, as the allies made for the Dunkirk coast, to be evacuated.

Captain Dykes, who after the war worked as a solicitor in the Ledbury area, had nothing but the highest praise for Phillips the cook.

He wrote: "After taking stock of the positions and dividing the Platoon up and organising shifts, H.Q. was established in a house a few yards away from the foot-bridge. It was a good solid house with a good cellar and kitchen. The dispatch rider was sent back to report Platoon in position and we settled down.

"Food was collected from various places and Phillips started on his cooking. Originally we were told that we should be at the bridge for twenty four hours but, as it turned out, we remained from the afternoon of Thursday May 30 until the evening of June 1, and throughout all that time Phillips cooked. Every detachment that went out to the bridges at intervals of four hours, day and night, had a hot meal and every time they came back there was hot tea ready for them. The kitchen was nearly wrecked and covered with dust and debris by a shell burst which blew the window out, but it was cleaned up and Phillips went on with his cooking."

Captain Dykes added: "If there were medals for cooking he deserved one.”

His son, Nick said: " Dad only just managed to get away from Dunkirk on the last day of the evacuation on almost the last boat, the destroyer Venomous.

"If we could, we’d like to find a picture of Phillips but with only his last name to go on, we cannot get anything from army records.

"We’re not even sure if Phillips was in the Worcesters; things were pretty muddled by then, and Dad was in a mixed group some of the time with Dorsets and Camerons."

Anyone who can help with the search for Phillips the hero cook should phone 01531 634504.