By 1940 the North of France was engaged in the upheaval of war. Germany’s quick advance pushed French and British troops to the English Channel at Dunkirk. Trapped like fish in a barrel, their only hope was a naval rescue.

Allied soldiers managed to hold a small defensive area and makeshift camp on the beach while they waited for salvation, but as the Germans advanced, evacuation became more difficult. They targeted the beach, ships and dock. Over 5,000 French and British soldiers were killed from torpedos, mines and air raids. The German aerial warfare branch, the Luftwaffe, gained control of the skies. Anti aircraft guns did little to help. In an evacuation attempt, the destroyer Wakeful was torpedoed and sank in 15 seconds with the loss of 600 lives.

The naval dock was congested and constantly under attack, and the shore was too dangerous for large ships. Aware of their desperation, Winston Churchill launched Operation Dynamo, a civilian led evacuation. English pleasure boats sprung into action with a mission to transfer men from the harsh beaches to the vessels off the coast. Anything that floated crossed the Channel to Dunkirk: pleasure yachts, fishing boats, tugboats and even paddle steamers. Over 1,300 small ships took part in the transfer, and even personally returned 28,000 men across the English Channel, all navigated by English civilians.

The paddle steamer, Princess Elizabeth, took part in Operation Dynamo. In four crossings, she successfully evacuated 1,673 soldiers, 500 of which were French. Today she is celebrated and opened to the public.

Thanks Operation Dynamo, more than 330,000 soldiers were evacuated from beaches and port of Dunkirk over 9 days. The soldiers and civilians were cheered as they returned home. The spirit of Dunkirk sparked English patriotism and inspired courage moving forward in the war against Nazi Germany. The Operation is still celebrated today as a miraculous victory.