TNA ADM 234 360

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THE EVACUATION FROM DUNKIRK
CHAP. XII
were the trawler Saturn which An brought unknown 418 drifter troops to England, and the
Gulzar which brought 140. Maud, while brought 90, and
abandoned Dover by a destroyer by her crew, on the and 5th were June. up mid-Channel and towed to
boarded the sailing barge Beatrice picked in she was lying at
the staff of Rear-Admiral Pier at 2230, Maintenance on
Pier for the embarkation on A. H. Taylor, "Dynamo" R.N., West
The Leda paid tribute in her this report night. to the Commander excellent arrangements at
him assumed number of charge men they at the could Centre take quickly. and then Commander getting making the Troup ships French fast, officers finding to out Officer, assist the
embarked at least 10,000 troops.
to embark the troops estimated that he
Embarkations at the East Pier
despite a hold up which threw out the programme of ships entering the harbour
Meanwhile, there had been some heavy liftings of troops from the East Pier
and caused great congestion in the entrance. The flow of French troops to
the East Pier was better than on the preceding night, though there were some
bad pauses.
The first ship to arrive off the pier was the destroyer Whitshed at 2215, with
Commander H. J. Buchanan, R.A.N. and pier party on board. In consequence
of the fresh easterly wind and the westgoing tide the ship could not get alongside
the East Pier, where there was nobody who could be persuaded to take a line.
However, after disembarking part of her pier party into Rear-Admiral Wake-
Walker's M.T.B. for transfer to the pier, she got her bows alongside the per-
sonnel ship Autocarrier and her stern alongside the Sabre and commenced
embarking troops. The Sabre had been working since 30th May with a com-
pass damaged and rendered unreliable by a shell splinter, and had been led
across by the Venomous. She got away from the East Pier at 0025 with 592
troops and followed other ships towards England until they were lost to sight
near U buoy at the south end of the South Falls. This was within hearing of
the North Goodwin Light Vessel, which the Sabre located by sound, subse-
quently proceeding from buoy to buoy until she reached Dover at 0500.
When the Autocarrier left in her turn at 0035 she carried 712 French troops.
The Canterbury left ten minutes later with 659, while the Côte Argent had
shoved off from the pier five minutes earlier with 1,349 troops. After these
three practically simultaneous sailings of personnel ships some time elapsed
before another bunch got away. The Princess Maud had berthed at the
extreme end of the pier, and sailed at 0150 with 1,270 troops and dogs of all
kinds" that managed to get aboard. The Lady of Mann which berthed about
the time when the first three personnel vessels left, took 1,244 troops at 0200.
The Tynwald seems to have been the last to leave the East Pier. She sailed
at 0305 with the record lift, only equalled by the Scotia on 29th May, of 3,000
French troops : in 4 trips she had evacuated 8,953 men. With a single ex-
ception all destroyers had now gone; the Malcolm went at 0245 with 736
troops, Vanquisher at 0240 with 414, and the Venomous, which had arrived at
0245 to find the harbour very congested and ordered to wait outside until
0130, 5 took out no less than 1,200 troops. In four was days the Venomous had made
trips, evacuating 4,410 men in all,
to fog, did not arrive at Dunkirk until 0230 on the 4th. She left half an hour
The British pier party was taken off by the destroyer Express which, owing
later, having embarked 611 troops.
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