Thames River cruise on Jeff, a little ship of Dunkirk

The "little ships of Dunkirk" were 700 small, private boats which sailed from Ramsgate in England to Dunkirk in France from May 26 and June 4, in 1940 a year after the outbreak of the 2nd World War as part of Operation codename Dynamo, which was intended to liberate more than three hundred thousand troops, caught on the beaches at Dunkirk at the beginning of the Second World War, the codename referred to the dynamo room in the naval headquarters beneath Dover Castle, that housed the dynamo that provided the building with electricity during the war. From the same room British Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsay planned the operation and also briefed Winston Churchill as it was under-way. The evacuation came about after, British, French and Belgian soldiers were surrounded by the German army during the Battle of Dunkirk. The situation of the soldiers, who had been cut off from their progress through France by a pincer movement executed by the German army, which was initially considere! d by the British prime minister Winston Churchill as the most important military defeats for centuries. It seemed likely to cost Britain the whole war, leaving the island prone to invasion by Nazi Germany. Because of the low water depth, British ships had been not capable of approaching the Dunkirk shoreline, and allied troops ended up having to wade out to the warships, most of soldiers waiting a long time in shoulder deep water. In the very first day, just seven thousand men had been recovered, but by the 9th day, more than three hundred thousand troops were rescued by the rag-tag navy of boats.

Even though many of the allied soldiers were in the end in a position to embark via the Dunkirk harbour's see wall onto forty two Royal Navy war ships and other ships, others had no choice but to swim away from the beaches toward the ships, holding out for several hours in order to board. Thousands of these men were picked up by the renowned "little ships of Dunkirk", the flotilla consisted of merchant marine watercraft, fishing vessels, pleasure craft and RNLI lifeboats. On 27th May, the small craft division of the British Ministry of Shipping hunted down boat builders around the country, requesting them to collect all boats with "shallow draft" which would enable them to navigate the shallow seas. Particular attention was initially g the pleasure boats, private yachts and launches moored along the River Thames as well as boats on the south and east shorelines. Many boats had been obtained with the owners' permission ? along with the owners ? while most were requisitioned b! y the government with simply no time for the owners to be approached. Each boat was checked to be sure they were sea worthy, fuelled-up, and transported to Ramsgate to set sail for Dunkirk. They had been manned by RN Officers, Ratings and seasoned volunteers.

The smallest of the "little ships" was the fifteen-foot fishing boat "Tamzine", now which today has pride of place in the Imperial War Museum. Whilst the Dunkirk little ship "Jeff" is operated by its owners Turks to this day and provides a regular Thames River cruise service to this day, taking up to forty five guests for boat trips on the Thames, many of whom are probably unaware of the little boats heroic exploits.