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JULY 2010
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Rev. Eric Freeman |
There was an
article in the May issue of Saga magazine which set me off
thinking. It was about the paddle steamer “Medway Queen” which
did sterling service during the evacuation at Dunkirk, seventy
years ago. She made a total of seven crossings and saved over
7,000 men. Then I remembered that several of the pleasure
steamers which plied their trade on my home river Clyde had also
done a lot of war service. In fact one of them – the paddle
steamer Waverly was actually sunk at Dunkirk by dive bombers.
She was actually the second vessel to bear that name – and a
third was eventually built in 1948. This one is still sailing
and visiting ports around Britain to this day – claiming to be
the only ocean going paddler left. |
When I started
to look at these little ships I discovered that many were used
as minesweepers all through the war – in company with many, many
trawlers – often with members of their original crews still
serving as RNVR recruits. These little ships of the Coastal
Forces probably saved the British nation – for without their
dedicated work, many of the convoys which supplied the war
effort would not have made it.
Sadly over 400
of the little ships perished – together with over 5,000
shipmates. This is a part of the overall picture which is often
overlooked unfortunately – for their record is a very proud one
and they deserve to be remembered.
"Till
the seas be no more, we will remember them!"
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