More than 75 Dunkirk Little Ships and further supporter vessels are due to arrive at Ramsgate harbour next May to mark the 85th anniversary of Operation Dynamo.
During World War Two, Operation Dynamo helped evacuate more than 338,000 allied soldiers, who were under constant attack from German aircraft and guns, from the beaches of Dunkirk back to Britain between 26 May and 4 June 1940.
The evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo, involved an odd assortment of yachts, motor cruisers, fishing boats and other small craft which were able to sail close enough to Dunkirk’s beaches to pick up troops and ferry them to the waiting freighters, passenger ships and warships, or back to the harbours of Margate and Ramsgate.
The ‘Little Ships’ and the contribution these small civilian vessels and the people on board made to the evacuation, gave rise to the term ‘Dunkirk spirit’.
Some 4,200 ships left from Ramsgate Harbour to rescue troops from Dunkirk and 80,000 men were brought back to safety in Ramsgate. In Margate, 46,722 soldiers were landed. The RNLI of Margate and Ramsgate contributed to this effort.
Since this event these vessels have been referred to as the ‘Dunkirk Little Ships’.
In 1964, 25 years after the evacuation, one of the owners of the vessels decided he would make the crossing on his boat in commemoration. He wrote a letter to the Sunday Times explaining his plan and 43 other ‘little ships’ joined him for the crossing from Ramsgate to Dunkirk.
Following this, it was decided a group should be formed, now known as The Association Of Dunkirk Little Ships (ADLS). This group would be a place for owners of Dunkirk little ships to share stories, knowledge and join together in their passion.
The small ships make the crossing in commemoration of the evacuation every five years except in 2020 – the 80th anniversary of Operation Dynamo – which was postponed due to COVID.
Due to the postponement of the last crossing, it is proposed that 2025 will be the largest crossing since the original operation in 1940.
The vessels are planning on sailing from Ramsgate Royal Harbour on 21 May 2025, arriving 10 hours later (dependent on weather) in Dunkirk.
The ships will arrive before the initial sailing date and will likely be berthed in the inner marina with options to allow the public onto certain vessels to look around.
The flotilla will include a diverse fleet of historic vessels and will be escorted by a Royal Navy “Guard of Honour”, consisting of seven P2000 patrol boats from the RN Coastal Forces Squadron, alongside the RNLI, reinforcing the deep and lasting bond between the Royal Navy and the Lifeboat Service.
The 85th Anniversary Fleet is scheduled to depart Ramsgate at 06:00 on 21st May, arriving in Dunkirk at 16:00 local time. The return journey is planned for the afternoon of Monday, 26th May, weather permitting.
Berthing fees waived
Thanet council is waiving berthing fees and charges for any authentic Dunkirk Little Ships for the weekend before and after the 85th Anniversary event, saving the ADLS members some £16,000.
Berthing fees for any registered charity vessel attending the event will also be waived.
A Thanet council decision notice says: “The memorial crossing for operation Dynamo will be a time of remembrance and charging authentic vessels actively taking part in the event would not be appropriate.”
Ramsgate Tunnels stories appeal
Ramsgate Tunnels, where people took refuge there from the bombardment of a frontline town, is appealing for people who have family stories relating to Ramsgate and the evacuation of Dunkirk to get in touch.
They say: “Did your family talk about being evacuated from the beaches, helped with the removal of the troops, or contributed to the towns efforts to help the returning service men?
“If so please get in touch with us here at [email protected] to share these stories with us. We are looking to use these memories to commemorate the 85th Anniversary of Operation Dynamo and the Little Ships efforts to transport soldiers from the beaches in May 2025.
“We would also love to hear children’s evacuation stories from Ramsgate during 1940. We know that there are still people from Ramsgate that remember being evacuated, or if your family spoke of their evacuation we would love to collect those stories. We will be using these memories to form a commemoration of the 85th Anniversary of this event in 2025. It is a little known fact that our children in Thanet were being evacuated at the same time as the soldiers were returning from Dunkirk.
“These stories work together to build a picture of the town during this short but fraught period of the towns history.”
RNLI Margate and Ramsgate
Ramsgate RNLI coxswain Ian Cannon’s great-great-uncle Alf Moody was a lifeboatman at Ramsgate. He was one of the crew that went to France to help take stranded British troops off the beaches at Dunkirk as part of the operation.
Seventeen RNLI vessels were taken over to Dunkirk by the Navy, but the boats from Ramsgate and Margate went over with their own crews on board – ordinary lifeboatmen prepared to head into war.
Howard Knight, then the coxswain of the Ramsgate lifeboat Prudential, later recalled the moment he informed his crew of their mission: “‘We are going over the other side to fetch our boys off,’ I told them. Not one of them hesitated.”
Prudential had a crew of eight under Howard Knight. They sailed at 2.30pm on May 30, 1940, towing eight wherries filled with water and supplies for the troops at Dunkirk. Once the supplies had been unloaded, her job was to tow these boats, laden with eight troops each, between the beaches and the larger vessels offshore.
Operating for the most part off La Panne and under constant fire, she helped bring off some 2,800 men in 30 hours.
Margate lifeboat The Lord Southborough went over with Coxswain Edward Parker and ten crew. They were given steel helmets, food and cigarettes.
The commander of the HMS Icarus saw the lifeboatmen at work in France and later said: “The magnificent behaviour of the crew of the Margate lifeboat who, with no thought of rest, brought off load after load of soldiers from Dunkirk, under continuous shelling, bombing and aerial machine-gun fire, will be an inspiration to us as long as we live.”
The Margate crew took around 600 men off the beaches, while the Ramsgate crew, who worked continuously for 30 hours, took around 2800 men off the beaches.
Coxswains Howard Knight and Edward Parker were awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for their gallantry and determination, and all crew members received the RNLI’s Thanks on Vellum.
