A special series of stamps has been issued to commemorate the Dunkirk evacuation in 2010.
The four stamps released to mark the 70th anniversary of “Operation Dynamo”, feature black and white images depicting the famous rescue of more than 300,000 Allied troops stranded on the beaches of Normandy by the Royal Navy and the “mini-Armada” of civilian vessels in 1940.
The first class stamp shows the evacuation of British soldiers from the beach at Dunkirk queuing to be picked up by a Royal Navy destroyer.
Small vessels making up the fleet of “little ships” appear on the 60p stamp. Relief on the faces of British soldiers on board a Royal Navy destroyer as it arrives in Dover is clear to see on the 88p stamp, while the 97p stamp shows two boats returning from Dunkirk packed with evacuees.
Philip Parker, head of stamp strategy at Royal Mail, said:”Few events in British history sum up the nation’s resilience more than the miracle of Dunkirk and it retains a place as one of the most momentous events in World War II history.
“Seventy years on, the sight of today’s “little ships” completing their commemorative return from Dunkirk to Ramsgate is a moving reminder of the extraordinary events that took place between May 26, 1940 and June 4, 1940.
This set of stamps will remind millions of people across the country and abroad of the incredible work of the Royal Navy and the bravery of the civilian armada during “Operation Dynamo.”
The Dunkirk miniature sheet is part of the Britain Alone stamp set which marked the work of the British people who “did their bit” for the war.
Till so far only one vessel on the stamps id identified, the book B.E.F. Ships before, at and after Dunkirk by John de S. Winser has on page 22 exact the same photo as which is depict on the 97p stamp.
It gives: A drifter crammed full of French troops and astern of her, the Royal Navy-manned motor boat NYDIA carrying a continent of British soldiers. Who can identify the other ships depict?
The NYDIA was built in 1937 as a wooden carvel built motor yacht by the shipyard of Husk in Wivenhoe, Essex.
Displacement 8 tons, dim. 9.75 x 2.74 x 0.91m. (draught)
Engine two BMC diesels.
14 May 1940 the BBC announced that “the Admiralty requested all owners of self propelled craft between 30ft and 100ft to send all particulars within fourteen days” so that they could be requisitioned. This was more an order than a request and by 25th May most of them were called into service.
The NYDIA had only just been completed by Thornycroft for Harold Turner, when the Admiralty took her over.
By “Operation Dynamo” at Dunkirk was she crewed with Navy crew, and ferried troops from the beach to the larger vessels lying off the coast, and at the end she returned back to England fully loaded with British and French troops.
The rest of the war was she used in Chatham Docks.
After World War II returned to Turner for a short time, who sold the NYDIA to a young Naval officer C.J. Deal who had commanded her briefly during the war.
She was then used a motor yacht cruising extensively by a number of owners mainly on the French canals, till she was hit and sunk on the Canal du Midi, South France.
She was salvaged but her owner was not able to carry out the repairs, and after some time she was moved to Simon Evans yard at Sen, France.
The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships in the U.K. took her over and she was moved to their site at Marchwood near Southampton for restoration.
Great Britain 2010 97p sg?, scott?
http://www.dlsrt.org.uk/Nydia.htm Royal Mail press release.