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General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: lillian66 on Thursday 10 September 09 13:14 BST (UK)
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I think I know the answer to this will be NO but thought I would ask anyway.
My grandfather was at Dunkirk and his return date to UK was 28/5/1940. He talked about being brought home on a small destroyer.
Is there anyway I could find out which ship/boat picked him up? Or at least maybe narrow it down?
Thanks
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17,804 men were evacuated from Dunkirk on the 28th May. There were approximately 39 destroyers used at various times during the whole of Operation Dynamo.
An excellent account of the whole evacuation from your point of view would be:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=UqEOScq-AjUC&pg=PA55&lpg=PA55&dq=destroyers+at+dunkirk&source=bl&ots=oBaNQTNRZM&sig=Yx_z8iwyhoz6jokkjPKuc-p6CXA&hl=en&ei=rhKpSpKiEInSjAe_hrDsBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9
which names a lot of the destroyers involved. [If the link doesn't work - google "Destroyers at Dunkirk" and click on the one which has "Google Book Result" in its listing.
Good luck,
jds1949
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My Dad was brought back on the Lady of Mann on 30 May:
"There by the side of the jetty, a ship was waiting to be loaded with human cargo. We walked along the wooden pier and back came the planes - it seemed never ending - trying to bomb our ship but without success. We walked along for about a half-mile to the ship we would be boarding. Miraculously, the Mole was still intact, but there was a six-foot gap in the planking where a bomb had gone through without exploding and loose planks had been put across. Another thirty yards and we came to our ship. At the top end of a gangway stood an officer, counting soldiers as they went aboard.
The ship was a ferry ship called The Lady of Mann (how could I forget that name?). How lucky we considered ourselves to be; out of all those thousands of men, we were being given the opportunity to be evacuated. It was almost impossible for men of the same companies to stay together, but that was no consequence at a time like this.
The ferry was fast becoming packed with grateful lads. The Captain would know how many men the ship could carry, but God alone knows what would have happened had a bomb hit us! I was lucky enough to be on deck to see what was happening and it must have been very claustrophobic down below deck. I kept my eyes on the nearest Carley float in case the worst happened. The fact that we had managed to get on a boat was no guarantee that we would reach England because the Luftwaffe was doing its utmost to prevent us. As the ship was filling up, a Padre came and stood on a ladder, called for silence and prayed for our deliverance to England. At last, packed like sardines, the ship started to tremble and, so very slowly, we pulled away from the Mole - it was 1800 hrs."
Being a little taller than many of the lads enabled me to have a panoramic view of the whole length of the beach - how many of those boys would get back to England and how many would be killed or taken prisoner? The beach was as crowded as ever; then suddenly I saw a German fighter plane skimming above them, firing cannons - it reminded me of a row of dominoes being knocked down from one end.
You can read more at http://www.fightingthrough.co.uk/#/prologue-to-war-diary/4541825257
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Thank you for posting this. My great grandfather Tom Woods was the captain of the Lady of Mann. Lovely to hear a first hand account of what it was like at Dunkirk. He made several trips, saved thousands of lives and we are all very proud of him. I know that the ship was packed well beyond capacity on some trips.
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My father was at Dunkirk with the Durham Light Infantry. Later on during the War he saw a notice for volunteers for the RASC as the Army needed office staff to organize in the background. He was accepted but at El Alamein he was delivering supplies in army lorries and had hearing problems from the shelling. So much for pen pushing. Injured playing football he was in the background in the organizing of the Italy Campaign and was given the Italy Star but was not near the battlefield.
German War Crimes were fairly frequent at Dunkirk. Some of their leaders were caught after the war.
I would imagine there are no lists of which soldier sailed in which ship crossing back over the channel.
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It is nice to hear about your Dad. I would love to post some info about him and a few photos if you have any, on my web site at www.fightingthrough.co.uk. My dad and Britain owes him a debt of gratitude.
Paul
Thank you for posting this. My great grandfather Tom Woods was the captain of the Lady of Mann. Lovely to hear a first hand account of what it was like at Dunkirk. He made several trips, saved thousands of lives and we are all very proud of him. I know that the ship was packed well beyond capacity on some trips.
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Dad often mentions the DLI and RASC in his memoirs, in particular paying tribute to the important role in ther war played by the RASC. Re lists of soldiers boarding the Dunkirk craft, Dad certainly implies this was not done. Many soldiers got separated from their units and when they all got back, to Cardiff for many of them, they had to be sorted out carefullt to make sure there were no infiltrators amongst them.
Paul
My father was at Dunkirk with the Durham Light Infantry. Later on during the War he saw a notice for volunteers for the RASC as the Army needed office staff to organize in the background. He was accepted but at El Alamein he was delivering supplies in army lorries and had hearing problems from the shelling. So much for pen pushing. Injured playing football he was in the background in the organizing of the Italy Campaign and was given the Italy Star but was not near the battlefield.
German War Crimes were fairly frequent at Dunkirk. Some of their leaders were caught after the war.
I would imagine there are no lists of which soldier sailed in which ship crossing back over the channel.
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A distant relative was decorated for some of the planning and organisation work behind Dynamo. While I've found the paperwok behind this, I rather hoped to find some documents at Kew about his role but struggled to find any detailed information. I had much less luck than with, for example, War Diaries for the struggle at Monte Cassino. My hope is that there is plenty of original material somewhere which will one day come to light. On the other hand I would imagine that the various ships involved were more concerned to get men home than to keep records of their passengers: and with the army units getting detached and mixed, their War Diaries won't be of much help.
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There's a small article about the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company boats at Dunkirk:
http://www.old-merseytimes.co.uk/manxboats1940.html
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i am new to this site and am not sure how it works. If you give me your email address I can forward a few things of interest.
I have inherited lots of memorabilia relating to my great grandfather. He was in his sixties when he took the Lady of Mann to Dunkirk and went for days without any sleep. I have a list of crew but no passenger lists, am sure it would have been too chaotic for that. Probably the most interesting thing we have is copies of his daily letters home to his wife. The originals are now in the archives of the Manx Museum. Regards, Sarah
It is nice to hear about your Dad. I would love to post some info about him and a few photos if you have any, on my web site at www.fightingthrough.co.uk. My dad and Britain owes him a debt of gratitude.
Paul
Thank you for posting this. My great grandfather Tom Woods was the captain of the Lady of Mann. Lovely to hear a first hand account of what it was like at Dunkirk. He made several trips, saved thousands of lives and we are all very proud of him. I know that the ship was packed well beyond capacity on some trips.
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Dunkirk is my specialist area. If anyone wants to know anything about Dunkirk just ask. I have over 400 books on the subject and close to 1,000 unit war diaries covering the BEFs time in France between Sept 39 and June 1940.
Going back to the original poster. Do you know the unit he was with and what Port he docked at? I may be able to narrow it down with this info. Sadly, I suspect due to the chaotic times, there are no nominal rolls that I know of that list men to evacuation craft.
Cheers
Andy
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Bluebell....
Lady of Mann evacuated a total of 2,906 soldiers as follows:
She arrived at Folkstone at 2212hrs on the 31st May 1940 and unloaded 774 troops and then sailed along the coast to Dover and unloaded a further 870. She then docked at Dover at 0600hrs delivering 18 troops and finally she was back at Dover again at 0710hrs on the 4th June and unloaded 1,244 troops.
It's worth pointing out that the Germans marched into Dunkirk on the 4th June when the finally rear guard was told to lay down their arms, I suspect most of her last cargo would have been French troops.
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Further reading shows she also evacuated troops from the West coast of France after Dunkirk surrendered so without checking I suspect she would have taken part in Operation Cycle and Operation Aerial as well as Operation Dynamo.
I have just found a picture of her in France loaded with troops. Let me know if you'd like to see it.
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Further reading shows she also evacuated troops from the West coast of France after Dunkirk surrendered so without checking I suspect she would have taken part in Operation Cycle and Operation Aerial as well as Operation Dynamo.
I have just found a picture of her in France loaded with troops. Let me know if you'd like to see it.
Would love to see it thanks. There was a photo amongst my great grandfather's belongings that fits this description but there was nothing written on it and we were unsure if it was the Lady or where it was taken. Can you post photos on this site?
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There's a couple of Post Dunkirk pictures of her in this thread below, I know it's Wikipedia but...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lady_of_Mann
I'm just working on the Brest pics
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The pictures I posted on WW2Talk have disappeared when the forum changed service provider - You can see a couple of others in the link below
http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/12917-1940-dunkirk-france-belgium-related-pictures/page-7
See posts 207 and 210
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Sarah - I think the messages below got a bit mixed up but if you are sayong you will send me some material please forward to
Mod comment. Email address removed as per Rootschat anti spam policy. Please use Rootschat Pm system to exchange details instead
Many thanks
Paul
PS Please note when posting a reply to anything you need to position your cursor at the very start of the note to avoid typing into the middle of the previous note
i am new to this site and am not sure how it works. If you give me your email address I can forward a few things of interest.
I have inherited lots of memorabilia relating to my great grandfather. He was in his sixties when he took the Lady of Mann to Dunkirk and went for days without any sleep. I have a list of crew but no passenger lists, am sure it would have been too chaotic for that. Probably the most interesting thing we have is copies of his daily letters home to his wife. The originals are now in the archives of the Manx Museum. Regards, Sarah
It is nice to hear about your Dad. I would love to post some info about him and a few photos if you have any, on my web site at www.fightingthrough.co.uk. My dad and Britain owes him a debt of gratitude.
Paul
Thank you for posting this. My great grandfather Tom Woods was the captain of the Lady of Mann. Lovely to hear a first hand account of what it was like at Dunkirk. He made several trips, saved thousands of lives and we are all very proud of him. I know that the ship was packed well beyond capacity on some trips.
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Thanks to everyone for your posts.
From his service record here is what I can make out. He was originally a driver with the RASC and went out with the BEF on 24/9/1939. His record suggests that after some leave to the UK he returned to France on 30/4/1940 and was posted to 2nd Super Heavy Battery. He returned home on 28/5/1940 which I assume is the date he was evacuated from Dunkirk. He was then posted to 17th Motor Coach Company stationed in "Maben"?? Cant make out this word so any pointers appreciated.
Thanks again
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I
Thanks to everyone for your posts.
From his service record here is what I can make out. He was originally a driver with the RASC and went out with the BEF on 24/9/1939. His record suggests that after some leave to the UK he returned to France on 30/4/1940 and was posted to 2nd Super Heavy Battery. He returned home on 28/5/1940 which I assume is the date he was evacuated from Dunkirk. He was then posted to 17th Motor Coach Company stationed in "Maben"?? Cant make out this word so any pointers appreciated.
Thanks again
I have the 2 Super Heavy Battery War Diary covering this period but unfortunately nearly all of it is missing from the file. It only contains a few entries for March and the April and May months just contain Officer Field Returns.
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my Father was evacuated from Dunkirk, he was with the Royal Engineers date given was 31/5/1940, he was injured and then went to N .Africa and was injured again, finally being discharged due to wounds in 1944.
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my Father was evacuated from Dunkirk, he was with the Royal Engineers date given was 31/5/1940, he was injured and then went to N .Africa and was injured again, finally being discharged due to wounds in 1944.
Do you know what Company he was in?
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Hi
no i dont i'm affraid , will have to have a dig around to see if i can find any other info
his name was Thomas Charles Louch
regards
Dave
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Hi
no i dont i'm affraid , will have to have a dig around to see if i can find any other info
his name was Thomas Charles Louch
regards
Dave
Apply for a copy of his service records from the MoD. They'll tell you all his units, postings etc
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thanks for that, will see what info i can get
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Dunkirk is my specialist area. If anyone wants to know anything about Dunkirk just ask. I have over 400 books on the subject and close to 1,000 unit war diaries covering the BEFs time in France between Sept 39 and June 1940.
Going back to the original poster. Do you know the unit he was with and what Port he docked at? I may be able to narrow it down with this info. Sadly, I suspect due to the chaotic times, there are no nominal rolls that I know of that list men to evacuation craft.
Cheers
Andy
Hi There,
I'm trying to find out names of Dunkirk survivors who were picked up by the Llanthony, the motor yacht owned by Lord Astor that was captained by Robert Timbrell. I realize this is really looking for a needle in a haystack as only 280 men were evacuated on the Llanthony. Any ideas are appreciated.
Many thanks.
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Welcome to RootsChat Mr trimble.
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Welcome to RootsChat Mr trimble.
thank you!
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Had an uncle escaped at Dunkirk myself. Strange no mention on here of the Highland Division abandoned by Churchill & still fighting Rommel at St Valery a fortnight after Dunkirk till the ammo' ran out. A long march into Germany & a bullet for the stragglers followed.
Skoosh.
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The RASC were immobilising motorbikes in store depots in France during June 1940 by smashing them with Sledge Hammers.
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Dunkirk is my specialist area. If anyone wants to know anything about Dunkirk just ask. I have over 400 books on the subject and close to 1,000 unit war diaries covering the BEFs time in France between Sept 39 and June 1940.
Going back to the original poster. Do you know the unit he was with and what Port he docked at? I may be able to narrow it down with this info. Sadly, I suspect due to the chaotic times, there are no nominal rolls that I know of that list men to evacuation craft.
Cheers
Andy
Hi There,
I'm trying to find out names of Dunkirk survivors who were picked up by the Llanthony, the motor yacht owned by Lord Astor that was captained by Robert Timbrell. I realize this is really looking for a needle in a haystack as only 280 men were evacuated on the Llanthony. Any ideas are appreciated.
Many thanks.
Unfortunately not-I could probably tell you the trips she made and when and where she landed disembarked troops and how many but no names or nominal rolls. Nominal rolls would be like finding the Holy Grail ;)
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Dunkirk is my specialist area. If anyone wants to know anything about Dunkirk just ask. I have over 400 books on the subject and close to 1,000 unit war diaries covering the BEFs time in France between Sept 39 and June 1940.
Going back to the original poster. Do you know the unit he was with and what Port he docked at? I may be able to narrow it down with this info. Sadly, I suspect due to the chaotic times, there are no nominal rolls that I know of that list men to evacuation craft.
Cheers
Andy
Hi There,
I'm trying to find out names of Dunkirk survivors who were picked up by the Llanthony, the motor yacht owned by Lord Astor that was captained by Robert Timbrell. I realize this is really looking for a needle in a haystack as only 280 men were evacuated on the Llanthony. Any ideas are appreciated.
Many thanks.
Unfortunately not-I could probably tell you the trips she made and when and where she landed disembarked troops and how many but no names or nominal rolls. Nominal rolls would be like finding the Holy Grail ;)
Okay. thanks for letting me know.
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Dunkirk is my specialist area. If anyone wants to know anything about Dunkirk just ask. I have over 400 books on the subject and close to 1,000 unit war diaries covering the BEFs time in France between Sept 39 and June 1940.
Going back to the original poster. Do you know the unit he was with and what Port he docked at? I may be able to narrow it down with this info. Sadly, I suspect due to the chaotic times, there are no nominal rolls that I know of that list men to evacuation craft.
Cheers
Andy
Andy my Father was at Dunkirk He was paymasters clerk to one of the battalions of the Northamptons.
He would never open up about the horrors of the evacuation, until one drunken night in Ostend on one of the dunkirk vets pilgrimages. The scene was about eight vets sitting around a table of a Small estamine drinking brandy, then the conversation turned to where were you in 1940. the stories were pretty gruesome, it was then that someone said about the Massacres at Paradis and Wormhout and my father said to my suprise that he was so close to one of them that he heard the machine gun fire. Now this is over 45 years ago, and my mind has become a bit befuddled and can't remember the details. But after that night he opened up on a few occasions and the horrors that those guys went through was horrendous.
He was on the beach at La Panne and was strafed by an ME 109. They all cowered down in the dunes, once the plane had gone he turned over and shook his driver who was next to him he was dead two bullets in his back, shook the other guy next on the other side same thing. Although a jovial man all my remembering part of my life, there always seemed to be some underlying sadness.
He was finally picked off the beach at La Panne on the second and disembarked from a Ramsgate trawler at Ramsgate on the morning of the 3rd. And he still had one up the spout when he handed over his .303.
My Mother who was newly married to him in September the year before, said that he suffered flashbacks and nightmares for months after that.
Sadly we lost him just after his 65th birthday and the memories I wished I could have gleaned from him were gone forever.
Time to apply for his war records and find out where he was for the rest of his long war. I know he went to Scotland and Ireland just after Dunkirk but the rest is a mystery as service books were not filled in in time of war.
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He would have been with the 2nd or 5th Battalion.
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I am an amateur family historian, and I am going to attempt to write up my paternal history - I am in the research stage. Recently when interviewing very elderly relatives they referred to an Uncle (Ernest Green) as involved in the 'second wave' rescue at Dunkirk. Would someone be able to interpret that for me please. I don't know Ernest's regiment yet, I have sent for his marriage cert. hoping to get some details from that. Apparently he had a desk job as a clerk in the army, but 2 days before he was sent to Dunkirk he practised with a rifle. So he had next to no experience as an infantry man before experiencing combat.
Thank you
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My uncle was killed on May 26th when C company 9th DLI,s HQ which was a school in Provin recieved a direct hit at 6AM.twenty plus men were killed in that one incident.they were buried in the local churchyard and moved into lille cemetery
Four were unidentified I.d like to think Bob
Was one of them.Fortunately all the Durham battalions got back reasonably intact including his Brother in law.