Finlay Marshall RIP

The Trust is sorry to have to announce the death of Finlay Marshall.

Finlay first became involved with Endeavour following the public meeting that was held in 2002 when the Endeavour Trust was initially established.

During his long association with Endeavour, Finlay was involved with the restoration of the boat, learning many new skills. He became a regular crew member, and was on the boat when it returned to Dunkirk in 2005, describing it as "one of the best sails I’ve had in my life."

He went on to become a respected Committee member and a Trustee. He turned his hand to whatever was needed on the boat, and had helped to paint her from top to bottom numerous times.

Finlay was one of the crew members on Endeavour when she appeared in Christopher Nolan's 2017 film Dunkirk.

Finlay used his long career in the press to manage all the news information for the Endeavour Trust Newsletter, and he would constantly badger folks for 'copy'. He was a great storyteller, and had countless local children enthralled with his many school presentations on the history of Endeavour, which he loved doing. He even met, and was interviewed by Pudsey Bear for Children in Need.

Together with Endeavour, Finlay proudly became involved with the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships, and regularly attended reunions with the boat, and where he was much respected. He felt honoured to help veterans onto the boat, and he was proud to be involved in the D-Day celebrations on Endeavour in Portsmouth in 2019.

David Norman MBE, Chairman of the Endeavour Committee, described Finlay as "an absolute stalwart of the Endeavour project from the outset. He turned his hand to anything, from crewing our boat on the Dunkirk run to preparing press releases and organising events. He was also a good-humoured participant in our Committee meetings and brought considerable expertise to our proceedings."

He will be sorely missed by his colleagues and friends at the Endeavour Trust. As fellow trustee Mike King put it, he was "Mr Dependable. He was always there." He was a lovely man.

We send our condolences to Linda and family for their sad loss at this time. They will be in our thoughts, as will Finlay.