Anne and Theo's trip to Dunkirk - Anne & Theo Van't Hof

We joined the Endeavour crew on the Friday evening at Dunkirk and spent the next two days attending commemorative services and visiting the museums to learn as much as we could about what happened at Dunkirk.  We were also very fortunate to hear personal accounts from some of the veterans who were staying at the same hotel, including, Eldon Roberts aged 93, pictured here, who had flown over from Canada for the event (Eldon was mentioned in the last newsletter).  He told us in brutal detail how he had to make snap decisions to preserve his own life and those of his men and we felt very privileged to be able to be able to hear these moving accounts from one of the last remaining Dunkirk veterans.

Endeavour stood out amongst the other Dunkirk little ships moored together at the quayside, in her simplicity and lack of cabin facilities.  It was another stark reminder of the scale of the task of evacuating the troops and the difficult journey back to the UK coast.  We scoured the museums looking at the exhibits and photographs and were very pleased to find a photograph and description of the Endeavour, see below, in the Dunkirk museum in one of their interactive slide displays. The Dunkirk evacuation commemorations take place every 5 years and it is sad to think that there will probably be very few if any of the veterans at the next event.  We were made to feel very welcome by the residents of Dunkirk and particularly enjoyed wandering around the town, visiting the beaches and seeing all the little ships together in the harbour.