The “miraculous” rescue of the British army from the beaches of Dunkirk, in northern France, has entered the national consciousness as one of the heroic episodes of the second World War; an extraordinary escape from the jaws of a potentially disastrous defeat. Between 26 May and 4 June 1940, in the course of what was known as Operation Dynamo, more than 300,000 British and French soldiers were evacuated by an armada made up of Royal Navy destroyers and warships, pleasure steamers and hundreds of the famed Little Ships
Today many of these little ships remain ‘alive’ throughout the world, many of which are now based on the River Thames. ’The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships’ was formed in 1966 with the aim to keep alive and preserve for posterity the memory and identity of those ‘Little Ships’ that went to the aid of the British Expeditionary Force in 1940 and took part in Operations Dynamo, Cycle and Aerial and to preserve the “Spirit of Dunkirk” by forming a registered Association of their present-day owners and of those closely associated.
Aside from the commemorative cruise back to Dunkirk held every 5 years, the ADLS have another longstanding event held in conjunction with Weybridge Mariners Club. The Annual Veterans Cruise, conceived in 1991, is based around the concept of bringing together members of the Dunkirk Veterans Association (consisting of those servicemen and women who had been rescued or captured at Dunkirk in 1940) and the Little Ships. The Veterans are treated to a day on the river on board the very boats which came to their rescue decades before, followed by an afternoon lunch at WMC.
As the years progressed the number of actual veterans from Dunkirk has diminished with only a small handful still with us with an average age of 100 years old. To keep the Veterans Cruise as a relevant event, in 2000 it was decided to broadened the event to include Veterans from other WWII campaigns, and in more recent years, the Veterans Cruise has been expanded even further to include Veterans of more recent conflicts such as Falklands and the Gulf and service-related organisations such as War Widows.
In 2005 Ian Gilbert, current skipper of Dunkirk Little Ship Lady Lou, took over responsibility for the event which has now been extended to take place over two days. Due to its growing size and popularity, it is with great pleasure that we can announce this very special event is coming to Chertsey. Both Penton Hook Yacht Club and Penton Hook Marina, have shown great support which has been vital in making this transition from the lower Thames to the Runnymede reach.
EVENT DETAILS
The Annual Veterans Cruise will take place over the weekend 11 – 12th September. On the Saturday 11th September, we will be welcoming some of the very last Veterans from Operation Dynamo, Normandy Veterans, Chelsea Pensioners, Far East Prisoners of War, ladies who served in the WRENS during WWII and Coastal Forces Veterans. Leaving from Penton Hook heading upstream at mid-day and returning around 5pm, the route has many good locations to view the boats and their veteran guests such as alongside Penton Hook and Bell Wier Locks. The Magna Carter playing fields will also provide a wonderful vantage point.
On Sunday 12th September the Little Ships will be hosting some from the South Atlantic Medal Association, the War Widows Association, Korean War Veterans, the Not Forgotten Association, the Argyll and Sutherland Veterans and HMS Britannia Veterans. Departing at 10pm heading downstream to Weybridge mariners. Chertsey and Shepperton Lock as well as the Chertsey Meads will provide a fantastic opportunity to view the fleet and the ADLS welcomes support all along the designated routes and will be delighted to see the public greeting their nation’s war heroes
For more information please see the events section of the ADLs Website www.adls.org.uk