THE heroic actions of the Lancashire Fusiliers in saving many lives at Dunkirk have been overlooked in a three-part TV documentary, according to a leading war expert.

Author Hugh Sebag-Montefiore said that soldiers who fought in the Lancashire Fusiliers and East and South Lancashire regiments should have been included by producers of last week's BBC2 docu-drama. Bury is the home of the Lancashire Fusiliers.

The documentary celebrated the Dunkirk evacuation of 1940 and charted the daring rescue of 300,000 allied troops from French beaches following a miscalculation of the German's military might.

But Mr Sebag-Montefiore said viewers were left unaware that thousands would have died and Britain's war efforts cast into doubt but for the bravery of the Lancashire Fusiliers who held back a tide of German Panzers which descended on Dunkirk, allowing defences on the beaches to be strengthened and hundreds to make a safe escape.

The author said: "I'm not trying to necessarily criticise the BBC or claim that the efforts of any other regiment have been less worthy and I understand that it's very hard to fit everything in, but I feel that local people will be very upset.

"One of the East Lancashire Regiment soldiers won the Victoria Cross and the Lancashire Fusiliers fought very bravely to secure the outer perimeter on the beaches in Dunkirk while the inner perimeter was secured."

He added: "They fought very bravely and went down fighting. The Lancashire Fusiliers were basically sacrificed and it's a shame their efforts have not been remembered."

But a BBC spokesman defended the programme, saying it was not possible to fit every regiment into the three-hour series.

The spokesman said: "It would have been impossible for us to cover every angle. The director, Alex Holmes, tried to show what happened in broad terms."

A forthcoming book by Mr Sebag-Montefiore will chronicle several allied rescue attempts from the northern coast of France. He would like to hear from soldiers from Bury or their families who were involved in front-line evacuations.

He can contacted at 37 Tanza Road, London, NW3 2UA, on 020 7435 1035 or e-mailed at sebags@dircon.co.uk