Dunkirk

[lillian66]

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

[jds1949]

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

[paulcheall]

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

[Bluebell66]

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.

[barryd]

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.

[paulcheall]

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.

[paulcheall]

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.

[GrahamSimons]

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.

[KGarrad]

There's a small article about the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company boats at Dunkirk:
http://www.old-merseytimes.co.uk/manxboats1940.html