In May of 1940, at the start of World War Two, the British Expeditionary force that had been transported to France to fight the invading Nazi army, was quickly overwhelmed and driven back to the shores of the English Channel. What followed was one of the most heroic civilian efforts ever undertaken in a time of war.
The call went out to boat owners across England to register with the British Admiralty and to join what would become the mass evacuation of the British army from Dunkirk, France to England. This month, 75 of those Little Ships as they became known, restored and much loved, will make the trip to Dunkirk to celebrate the evacuation’s 85th anniversary.
The anniversary events are organized by the British Association of Dunkirk Little Ships and will run from May 17 to 26. The fleet will set off from the British port at Ramsgate and will retrace the route taken by many of the rescue craft in 1940. The ADLS runs a nautical pilgrimage like this every five years.
Commodore of The ADLS Kevin Finn said, ‘Ramsgate is my hometown; it will be great to have a fleet of the Little Ships here again for our five-yearly crossing to Dunkirk. Ramsgate and Dunkirk are pulling out all the stops to commemorate, celebrate and educate throughout our stay in the very centre of these two excellent ports’.
(The harbor at Ramsgate soon after the completion of Operation Dynamo)
The 1940 rescue of the British army was called Operation Dynamo. Some 850 private motorized vessels –yachts, fishing boats, coastal tugs and barges– from 30 to 100 feet in length departed from Ramsgate with mostly amateur, civilian crews.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill had hoped to rescue 40,000 soldiers. Thanks to the efforts of the Little Ships in coordination with the Navy and the RAF, 338,000 troops were transported to England. And, of the full Little Ship fleet, 250 boats never made it home.
While the British army’s defeat in 1940 at the hands of the Nazi blitz krieg was ignominious, the rescue of so many men meant that Britain lived to fight another day. The rest is history.
