A crowd gathered to greet a flotilla of Little Ships as they returned to Ramsgate today (May 31) from Dunkirk.
Around 20 Little Ships arrived, including Ramsgate based Brown Owl and Firefly, one of the eldest and smallest of the fleet.
It has been announced through Visit Ramsgate that Firefly will now be moored permanently in Ramsgate. She’s 102 years old and has the smallest draft at 2ft 10 inches.
The crowd, many waving flags, were joined by cadets, veterans, standard bearers and service personnel. Steve Pankhurst at Ramsgate Tunnels sounded the air raid siren and the Ramsgate and Broadstairs Sea Cadets played their bugles.
Some 66 Little Ships, along with 10 escort and 100 supporting boats including the RNLI, set off from the Royal Harbour for Dunkirk on May 21 as part of events marking the 85th anniversary of Operation Dynamo.
The flotilla was due to return on May 26 and be greeted with pipers, Queens Regiment Association Corps of Drums, standard bearers and a cannon salute but bad weather scuppered the plans until today.
The anniversary marked the wartime rescue of British soldiers and Allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940. Some 338,000 soldiers were evacuated, with many civilian vessels, known as the “Little Ships,” playing a crucial role.
This year was the first time the Little Ships had made the journey since 2015. The gathering takes place every five years but was cancelled in 2020 due to Covid.
