It's now been exactly 65 years since the greatest military evacuation in modern history and although following on the heels of the catastrophic defeat of the the British, French and Belgian armies in France, it was probably the turning of the tide against the German Axis forces in allowing the allies to regroup and eventually mount the D-Day Normandy invasion four years later.
I recently spoke to a couple of Dunkirk veterans whose eyes clouded at the horrific memories of the struggle across the beaches to evacuate nearly 340,000 allied troops during the end of May to early June 1940. Having destroyed what was left of their equipment to prevent it from falling into enemy hands, they found themselves virtually defenseless against the merciless pounding from the Luftwaffe and these two veterans clearly remember the cry on the lips of those trapped on the beaches... "where's the RAF?". Churchill was of course conserving every available fighter for the "Battle of Britain" which he was sure would follow the collapse of France.
It was into this hell that over 700 ships of all sizes sailed into the Normandy beaches where there are countless tales of heroism about the crews who manned them. Contemplating "Medway Queen's" outstanding contribution to Dunkirk, I was interested to know how many paddle steamers actually took part in "Operation Dynamo". With help from Russell Plummer's "Paddle Steamers at War" and Chris Collard's "On Admiralty Service" I decided to take a look and here's a synopsis of what I found.
23 Paddlers "officially" took part in operation Dynamo with a further 4 "widely regarded as having played some part". 6 paddlers were lost.
Number of crossings in (brackets)
"Official " number of troops safely landed in <brackets>
Brighton Belle (1) <800> SUNK struck submerged object May 25 returning from Dunkirk, all transferred to Medway Queen
Brighton Queen (2) <160> 600 on board when SUNK by air attack with June 1st returning from Dunkirk.
Crested Eagle - (1) Full complement on board when SUNK May 29 at Dunkirk with significant loss of life.
Devonia - (1) <0> BEACHED at Dunkirk June 1 and lost
Duchess of Fife (3) <1,801>
Emperor of India (1) <642>
Essex Queen (?) - not officially listed
Freshwater (?) - not officially listed
Glen Avon (2) <888> Lost in storm Sept 1944
Glen Gower (3) <1,235>
Golden Eagle (3) <1,751>
Gracie Fields (2) <281> 750 on board when SUNK May 29th returning from Dunkirk
Laguna Belle (?) not officially listed
Marmion (?) <713> survived but sunk Harwich April 1941
Medway Queen (7) <3,064> But generally credited with rescuing at least twice that number.
Oriole (ex Eagle III) (5) <2,587>
Plinlimmon (ex Cambria) (1) <900>
Portsdown (1) <618> Sunk Spithead Sept 1941
Princess Elizabeth (4) <1,673>
Queen of Thanet (4) <2,500>
Royal Eagle (3) <2,657> Survived 43 air attacks during the evacuation!
Sandown (3) <1,861>
Snaefell (ex "Waverley") <981> Sunk River tyne July 1941.
Thames Queen (?) - not officially listed
Waverley (1) - 600 on board when SUNK May 29th leaving Dunkirk
Westward Ho (3) <1,686>
Whippingham (1) <2,700> In one crossing!
You can see from the list that "Medway Queen" justly deserves her title "Heroine of Dunkirk" with her remarkable 7 crossings (more than any other paddler and most other vessels) and although only officially credited with evacuating 3,056 troops, it's widely held that she saved more than twice that number. Even the "official" number exceeds those rescued by most other ships taking part in Dynamo including Royal Navy Destroyers, Corvettes, and a Cruiser.
I still shake my head in disbelief when I read "Medway Queen" has STILL not been accepted for inclusion on the Core Register of historic British ships.
PJ
Victoria, BC Canada
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