On 28th May the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth unveiled a plaque at Portsmouth Point in a moving ceremony commemorating the ‘little ships’ which assisted the evacuation of over 300,000 British and allied servicemen from Dunkirk in May and June 1940. The unveiling was followed by refreshments kindly provided by the Spice Island Inn and the opportunity to visit MY Estrallita, a contemporary vessel typical of those used in the evacuation.
Speakers drew attention to the continuing need for the ‘Dunkirk Spirit’ – a willingness to put personal issues aside and focus on the task in hand – and to the Royal Navy’s later sacrifices carrying out operations Cycle and Aerial: the later evacuations from ports in Normandy, Brittany, and Biscay.
The plaque was sponsored by SNR(S) to replace an earlier memorial on Portsbridge to the north of Portsea Island, which disappeared (presumed stolen) in 2010. Its unveiling was originally planned for the 80th anniversary of the operation but was postponed because of the Covid lockdown. Our thanks are due to committee member Jane Smith for initiating the project and seeing it through to completion.
