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TNA / MT 40 36 Pt 2

TNA MT 40 36 Pt 2

TNA MT 40 36 Pt 2
Collection details

TNA MT 40 36 Pt 2

A second digitised section of MT 40/36: Ministry of Transport papers on the Dynamo small-craft pool, special-service planning and claims procedure.

Holding archive
TNA
Collection reference
MT 40 36 Pt 2
View the archive catalogue entry ↗

Source: The National Archives, Kew, MT 40/36 Pt 2. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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DUNKIRK EVACUATION
In connection with this work the Admiralty asked for the use of five of our ships which are normally employed in the conveyance of goods between Portsmouth, or Southampton, and the Isle of Wight. The following ships were taken: -
Ship.
Crew
M.V. 'BEE'
4
"
'Bat'
4
11
'Chamois'
2
77
'Hound'
3
"
'M.F.H'
4
With only two exceptions the members of the crews insisted on going with their ships. All returned safely, but an account of their experiences in summarised form may be of interest.
M.V 'Bee'₁.
After lying 3 miles off the shore all one night, was placed along shore and took 360 British
Troops aboard. These were later transferred to a tug.
Later 10 British and 5 French troops were taken from small boats and brought back to England.
M.V "Bat"
On the first day and in a rough sea they rescued 15 of the crew of a French Destroyer which had capsized owing to bombs.
This occupied two hours, and they then returned to Port. They then returned, being bombed on the way.
They put in close to shore on the West side, but found that all the remaining troops had been taken off in a Destroyer, so they proceeded to the East side, being machine gunned and shelled on the way. On this occasion they got on board in small boats about 100
men. These they brought safely back to England, having been without sleep for 92 hours, and the engines having been running continuously all the time.
M.V. 'Chamois'
After being sent back into Port twice on account of air raids they succeeded in getting within two miles of Dunkirk where they encountered two transports who were being heavily bombed. They went to the rescue of the survivors, who were French and Belgian troops. The cloths of many of these were on fire and the ammunition in their pockets was exploding. They managed to rescue
120 men, whom they transferred to a French Trawler for medical attention.
Daylight prevented them reaching Dunkirk that day, so they returned to England, and were allowed a day's rest. Following this they again went to Dunkirk but were unable to remove any troops as, owing to shelling and bombing, there were none on the beach, so they returned to England.
Bat Bee Chamois England Hound Crews Day May Miles West

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Unformatted machine-generated OCR for document page 22.

DUNKIRK EVACUATION
In connection with this work the Admiralty
asked for the use of five of our ships which are normally
employed in the conveyance of goods between Portsmouth,
or Southampton, and the Isle of Wight. The following
ships were taken : -
Ship.
Crew
M.V. 'BEE'
4
"
'Bat'
4
11
'Chamois'
2
77
'Hound'
3
"
'M.F.H'
4
With only two exceptions the members of the
crews insisted on going with their ships. All returned
safely, but an account of their experiences in summarised
form may be of interest.
M.V 'Bee'₁.
After lying 3 miles off the shore all
one night, was placed along shore and took 360 British
Troops aboard. These were later transferred to a tug.
Later 10 British and 5 French troops were taken from small
boats and brought back to England.
M.V "Bat"
On the first day and in a rough sea they
rescued 15 of the crew of a French Destroyer which had
capsized owing to bombs.
This occupied two hours, and
they then returned to Port. They then returned, being
bombed on the way.
They put in close to shore on the West
side, but found that all the remaining troops had been
taken off in a Destroyer, so they proceeded to the East
side, being machine gunned and shelled on the way. On
this occasion they got on board in small boats about 100
men. These they brought safely back to England, having
been without sleep for 92 hours, and the engines having
been running continuously all the time.
M.V. 'Chamois'
After being sent back into Port twice on
account of air raids they succeeded in getting within
two miles of Dunkirk where they encountered two transports
who were being heavily bombed. They went to the rescue
of the survivors, who were French and Belgian troops. The
cloths of many of these were on fire and the ammunition
in their pockets was exploding. They managed to rescue
120 men, whom they transferred to a French Trawler for
medical attention.
Daylight prevented them reaching Dunkirk
that day, so they returned to England, and were allowed
a day's rest. Following this they again went to Dunkirk
but were unable to remove any troops as, owing to shelling
and bombing, there were none on the beach, so they returned
to England.