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Discuss BBC Documentary: "Little Ships of Dunkirk" in History on Navy Net; Originally Posted by 'Navy News' (Oct 09 Edition) The BBC is planning to make a documentary on the Little Ships of Dunkirk and would like to speak to Royal Navy veterans who took part in ...
  1. 05-10-09, 09:00 #1
    sgtpepperband
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    BBC Documentary: "Little Ships of Dunkirk"

    Quote Originally Posted by 'Navy News' (Oct 09 Edition)
    The BBC is planning to make a documentary on the Little Ships of Dunkirk and would like to speak to Royal Navy veterans who took part in the evacuation.

    Linda Sands is the producer/director for the one-hour BBC4 project, which is due to be filmed and broadcast next year.

    Linda is keen to make contact with those on ships during Operation Dynamo in 1940, including Royal Navy personnel who commanded the Little Ships.

    Initial contact would be in the form of a chat so that Linda can get an idea of their experiences, with a view to following up some individuals at a later date on camera.

    Linda can be contacted at linda.sands@bbc.co.uk or at 028 9033 8270 (work) or 07876 754606.

    Operation Dynamo, in the early summer of 1940, was instigated when Allied troops became trapped by the German Army's thrust to the Channel coast.

    With the threat of a significant part of the British Army being captured or destroyed, a hastily-assembled flotilla of warships and merchantmen was sent across the Channel to bring the soldiers to safety.

    Although the large proportion of the work was done by warships - many of them destroyers - in a carefully co-ordinated operation, it was the Little Ships which captured the public imagination.

    Many small craft made the trip across the Channel, largely crewed by RN and Reservist personnel, and were most commonly used to ferry the troops from the beaches out to the warships, while overhead the RAF went head-to-head with the Luftwaffe.

    More than 330,000 troops were spirited away from under the noses of the Germans, with a further 220,000 being rescued from other ports, though at least 5,000 men died and more than 230 ships were lost.
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  2. 05-10-09, 17:00 #2
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    Re: BBC Documentary: "Little Ships of Dunkirk"

    Wandering around Woodbridge one afternoon I spotted a plaque screwed to the front of the cabin on a trim little wooden launch proclaiming that it had been a 'little ship' in its day. Wonder how many are still afloat.

    For the story generally, and how the evacuation was pulled together and made to happen, try 'Full Cycle', the biography of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, by Rear Admiral WS Chalmers.
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  3. 05-10-09, 17:10 #3
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    Re: BBC Documentary: "Little Ships of Dunkirk"

    Quote Originally Posted by Seaweed
    Wandering around Woodbridge one afternoon I spotted a plaque screwed to the front of the cabin on a trim little wooden launch proclaiming that it had been a 'little ship' in its day. Wonder how many are still afloat.

    For the story generally, and how the evacuation was pulled together and made to happen, try 'Full Cycle', the biography of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, by Rear Admiral WS Chalmers.
    Several of the boats are shown here (click on each one for details) on the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships website but I don't think the list is exhaustive.
    Quote Originally Posted by Hansard 7 Mar 2011
    Mr Robathan: Savings from the withdrawal from service of HMS Ark Royal in December 2010 are estimated at £10 million in financial year 2011-12, £25 million in 2012-13, £35 million in 2013-14 and £35 million in 2014-15.
    N.B. A single RAF Typhoon costs £126 million excluding support.
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  4. 05-10-09, 22:26 #4
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    Re: BBC Documentary: "Little Ships of Dunkirk"

    At the same time as 'Dunkirk' there was another evacuation taking place in France. Operation 'Ariel' got underway. At St Nazaire members of the BEF who had struggled down through France were picked up by a Fleet of ships. On the 17th June 1940 one of them, the SS Lancastria, was bombed and sunk with the loss of thousands of lives. It is the biggest disaster at sea. My Father managed to get off the beach and was succesfully evacuated. I am still trying to find out on which ship he was brought home. The details of the sinking of the 'Lancastria' are not allowed to be divulged until 2040.
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  5. 06-10-09, 13:59 #5
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    Re: BBC Documentary: "Little Ships of Dunkirk"

    Quote Originally Posted by (granny)
    At the same time as 'Dunkirk' there was another evacuation taking place in France. Operation 'Ariel' got underway. At St Nazaire members of the BEF who had struggled down through France were picked up by a Fleet of ships. On the 17th June 1940 one of them, the SS Lancastria, was bombed and sunk with the loss of thousands of lives. It is the biggest disaster at sea. My Father managed to get off the beach and was succesfully evacuated. I am still trying to find out on which ship he was brought home. The details of the sinking of the 'Lancastria' are not allowed to be divulged until 2040.

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  6. 06-10-09, 14:05 #6
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    Re: BBC Documentary: "Little Ships of Dunkirk"

    There may well be a few of the boats left, but realistically how many of the 87+ year old crews would still be alive for interview?


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  7. 06-10-09, 14:11 #7
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    Re: BBC Documentary: "Little Ships of Dunkirk"

    Quote Originally Posted by stirling
    Quote Originally Posted by (granny)
    At the same time as 'Dunkirk' there was another evacuation taking place in France. Operation 'Ariel' got underway. At St Nazaire members of the BEF who had struggled down through France were picked up by a Fleet of ships. On the 17th June 1940 one of them, the SS Lancastria, was bombed and sunk with the loss of thousands of lives. It is the biggest disaster at sea. My Father managed to get off the beach and was succesfully evacuated. I am still trying to find out on which ship he was brought home. The details of the sinking of the 'Lancastria' are not allowed to be divulged until 2040.

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  8. 06-10-09, 14:22 #8
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    Re: BBC Documentary: "Little Ships of Dunkirk"

    Thanks Wreck.

    My signiture seems even more poignant.
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  9. 03-06-10, 23:25 #9
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    Re: BBC Documentary: "Little Ships of Dunkirk"

    This programme is available to watch on iPlayer until 12 June via this link: BBC2: Little Ships

    Quote Originally Posted by BBC iPlayer
    To mark the 70th anniversary of the 'miracle of Dunkirk', 50 of the surviving little ships which made the original perilous cross-channel voyage are returning to France. Dan Snow tells their extraordinary story: their role in the evacuation and the people who struggled to keep them afloat during those fateful days in 1940, when the future of Europe hung in the balance.
    So sad that James 'Lofty' Christmas died before the programme was broadcast.
    Quote Originally Posted by Hansard 7 Mar 2011
    Mr Robathan: Savings from the withdrawal from service of HMS Ark Royal in December 2010 are estimated at £10 million in financial year 2011-12, £25 million in 2012-13, £35 million in 2013-14 and £35 million in 2014-15.
    N.B. A single RAF Typhoon costs £126 million excluding support.
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  10. 04-06-10, 08:08 #10
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    Re: BBC Documentary: "Little Ships of Dunkirk"

    With the exception of the Lancastria disaster, Operation Aerial is a success story almost forgotten; perhaps it's because it wasn't as dramatic as Dunkirk, it just hasn't entered the national consciousness.

    On the other hand, Operation Cycle, the evacuation from Pays-en-Caux (Le Havre/Dieppe/St Valery) was one big balls up thanks to the French, Churchill, Rommel and the weather.

    You'll be able to read about both in the July edition Navy News. Shameless plug.

    Just the small matter of finishing the supplement left now...
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