The King's Other Speech.

In May 1940, King George VI called for an unprecedented week of prayer throughout Britain. On 26 May 1940 the Archbishop of Canterbury led prayers, and they were offered in synagogues and churches throughout Britain on that day. That same day, one of the most celebrated military events in British history began. Code-named Operation Dynamo, what was it?

I'll bet Annette will know, not too sure about the rest of you....are you going to prove me wrong again??

I'll be back. Nancy.

Annette

Certainly, Churchill's words still resonate.

Good subject for today, Nancy.

Cynthia

Nancy.

Nancy.

Anyway, he is still one of my all-time favorites!

Cynthia

Annette

Nancy.

Since we all know and it is a school night and I need to shut down, I will say Operation Dynamo was the rescue of British and many French troops from Dunkirk.

"...we shall not flag or fail...we shall never surrender."

Sorry I've been late posting this weekend. I've been working outside and have just come in to turn on the computer and make dinner.

I have a friend who owns a 'Little Ship' - kinda cool. His kids grew up on it, on the Rideau Canal in summers. They swear it is haunted!! How could it not be. It came over to Canada on one of our aircraft carriers, in the 50's. I believe has just been fully restored for the umpteenth time - these craft are a truly a labour of love!! She took Best Boat in Show, at the 1935 London Boat Show!! Hard to imagine such a small(35'), lovely vessel was up to such a grim task.
I just wanted to add two more bits of trivia here, sort of a 'Nancy Light' reveal:

Sundowner(58'): owned by Charles Lightoller, former second officer of the Titanic, was requisitioned by the Admiralty on 30 May. Lightoller insisted that, if anyone was going to take her to Dunkirk, it would be him and his eldest son, Roger, together with Sea Scout Gerald Ashcroft. Leaving Port of Ramsgate at 10:00 on 1 June, the yacht crossed the Channel in company with five other ships. On their way, they rescued the crew of the motor cruiser Westerly, which had broken down and was on fire. On arrival at Dunkirk, Lightoller realized that the piers were too high, and so drew alongside the destroyer HMS Worcester and started to take on soldiers. Seventy-five men were crammed into the cabin, and another fifty-five on deck, a total of 130. Sundowner then returned to Ramsgate, avoiding fire from enemy aircraft through evasive manoeuvres on the way, though the greatest danger was being swamped by the wash from fast-moving destroyers(the Sundowner was capable of a top speed of 8 knots). After disembarking the troops at Ramsgate, she was preparing to return, but by then only ships capable of doing 20 knots were allowed to go.

In the end, Germany captured Dunkirk, of course. But the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who escaped France that day lived to fight another day against Germany. Four years later, almost to the day, a great many of those men were on ships headed back to France, on D-Day.

So, for Annette, Cyn, Chuck (yes, Cyn, he is getting his own stars!!!) and mnswgal:

Thanks for playing!! I'm glad no one was offended by the 'war' theme today! As Lorna so eloquently noted - it is more about angels.

Nancy.

I agree, this was not about war as much as about the heroic actions of civilians.

Thanks for the stars Nancy. I think it was a thoroughly appropriate choice as it speaks to the courage of ordinary folk during extraordinary crises. Angels indeed.