TNA ADM 334 83

EGG & SMITH.
CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS.
GROVELAND HOUSE,
BOW LANE
J. FRANCIS LEGG.F.C.A.
BASIL A.SMITH,LLD.,FC.A.
F.O.S.LONDON,F.G.A.
LONDON, E.C.4.
TELEPHONE: CITY 4301 (2 LINES)
TELEGRAMS: ACCOLEGITH,PHONE,LONDON.
10th October 1940.
CABLES: ACCOLEGITH,LONDON.
W. B. Louard Esq.,
14 Wood Lane,
FALMOUTH.
Dear Louard,
Little Ship Club, Dunkirk.
In reply to your letter of 7th October, the Ministry of Shipping paid for the repairs to "Constant Nymph" and also paid my claim for lost gear, such as compass, etc.
Of course the claim had to be at cost and there is a very considerable loss as everything is costing more to replace and some of the more expensive things, such as compass, were new in the summer of 1939.
No Article on Dunkirk would be complete without referring to our traffic policeman whom I mention in my
Notes. He was an elderly man in his shirt sleeves, smoking a pipe and reading of newspaper, sitting on of kitchen chair outside the wheel house of a Naval Drifter off the North
Foreland. I presumed the Drifter was in wireless communication with the shore, and every ship, this did not affect motor boats carrying only a few troops, closed with this Drifter and asked the shirt-sleeved gentleman where this lot should be taken, and the shirt-sleeved gentleman took the pipe out of his mouth, looked up from his paper for a moment, and gave them the name of the port to receive their packet.
I should like to have been able to show Hitler and
Goering of Air Force fame this terrified gentleman!
Yours sincerely,
Botman difficulties were experienced in regard that there was a bit of a breeze and a little popple on the other side on the morning of the 31st May, which made it very difficult to embark troops, except on the lee side of the ship, during the previous night the water was so smooth that it did not matter which side was used.
(4) It is quite clear, from the time at which I was first warned for duty, that the Navy collected the small boats by way of intelligent anticipation, many of us were

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at could the not basin get anybody to sign me on I was basin with a and by about 18.00 was making signed on and back my little petrol, water breaker and enough tank and deck cargo of crew di two young ratings, a full my way out of the very overcrowded. small sacks of potatoes - raw. The boat lump seemed of raw beef, and two gang for about a week, including provisions a large to last
These and told me that we had got to tow a navy cutter hailed, to us
As we passed out of the basin the Commodore tow nearly as much as my own little craft and had very thick new were brand new boats, fully squipped and weighing Sheerness. pretty that considerable misgivings and was truly grateful for the fact ropes. I must admit that I regarded this idea with my boat had Samson posts and not cleats.
trusting to luck for the rest. The faster boats, which out for Ramsgate, having our own chart of the Estuary and
Orders being orders, we took the cutter in tow and dug also of the bigger and less burdened by their cutters, got were out sight about dusk and another motor cruiser about the in sight. The launch was having continuous engine trouble size as my own and an open launch were the only vessels same left but the other motor cruiser was having a little trouble I
Before it became quite dark a drifter turned up from Sheerness turned back and closed them so that we could keep together. so und informed us that she had been sent out to look after the motor boats. Her Captain decided to anchor for the night and we tacked on to him. The occupants of the open launch went remained on my boat and slept between the intervals of on beard the drifter for the night but my crew and myself up for on deck to be sick, as it was by no means a comfortable popping lie a 24 foot boat under five tons in weight.
the drifter kindly suggesting that she should take the and,
We got under way early in the morning of the 29th and cutters and the defective launch in tow, the other motor three cruiser the reason for these mine sailed independently but keeping more or less company ahead with the drifter until off the Foreland, when in went bright argestions a bit as the course was clear and there was we has never been drifters shipping to indicate safe channels. The number of plenty busy little of explained to me, should about was amazing, one stopped us and but it was very sue weather any how.
trip, so we continued on our way until another stopped the and go to Belgium but could not supply the petrol suggested for we suggested we should go to Holland and offered to take us to tow, be and provide petrol from somewhere later. As this us appeared in when ropes and were towed some miles in the direction of Holland an order from a superior officer we accepted their tow after a Dostroyer had an "Aldis" conversation with the was really had a mine-sweeper and had got to go and sweep mines, which the latter informed us in a kindly manner that Drifter, he so we better double back to Ramsgate on our own and us a course. We arrived at Ramsgate and got tied up in the gave outer harbour in time for a late lunch and I then made engiries about the job in hand.
The course changed sweral times, on
I found that the course to Dunkirk then in operation had would take MO the best part of 24 hours, as I could not count grown to be a round trip of 140-150 miles and as such a trip account fields of mine on doing maximum speed and should have to consider petrol in
15 men, all my boat would hold, was not good business. The any case, 1t seemed to me that a mere dash over to rescue about
Commander whom I saw on the point, like all the Naval Officers with whom we had any dealings, was just as helpful as was possible and agreed with me that the best use for my boat was to go over with two Navy rowing boats in tow to a ship so that we could operate on the beach and fill the ship. After a few enquiries I was told to rendez-vous outside the harbour at
09.30 on Thursday, 30th May, and accordingly had a good night's

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reported cutter to whaler, and took them all back to the up the
I and took him aboard, went back and picked full further the Captain of Jutland that the ship, to the was my leading mark as the British big fire just in-shore up the beach and that I was going there, British a were and the east of this. From then on we worked to this were point just
British; Jutland was filled roughly half and half British the
French came down the beach and mingled with and French.
After we had been going to this point for about three or four trips, a German bomber most inconsiderately dropped the a. large bomb on our large fire and blew it out like a candle, this did not matter very much then as I had other leading marks and the mass of troops had increased so that they were quite visible on the beach.
have
By about03.00, 31st May, Jutland was full and she sailed paffer at once to avoid the dawn bombing, Jerry was trying to bomb the ships as they left loaded and thus get the ships and the way.
men, but his efforts throughout the 10 - 11 hours that I was working on the beach were very poorly rewarded.
Jerry also had some big guns for which aeroplanes were spotting, and they dropped verey lights over the ships, but here again Jerry wasted ammunition without hitting anything that I saw. One of the crumps came as a nasty shock as the at least two bombs explosion actually stopped my boat for a split second, and I
shook the boat, but thought I had grounded as she quivered all over but in the none stopped it.
next moment she went on again and the noise of the crump followed the air push so that I knew it was nothing serious.
On Jutland leaving about03.00 on the 31st May I turned over handania was with the cutter and whaler to Laudania and by aboutos. she filled about 3/4
this time I had used up all my deck cargo of petrol and the too was full, making a total of about 900 men brought off. By
Birtish +1/4 Trouch engine wanted more oil and the grease cups refilled, also there was a certain amount of rotten rope round the propeller german shaft, this I had not been able to cut in time. My two crew were both stoker ratings of four months' service in the Navy only and being stokers were not issued with clasp knives, on my stern-man shouting to me that an odd rope was getting round our propeller, I had to leave the wheel and cut it with my own sheadknife, if he had had a clasp knife he could have done it in time, I was a moment too late.
The cutter had gone aground under a stranded lighter on the windward side of same, a N.W.wind having got up a bit in the morning, and as I could not get near enough to get the cutter aff and the crew, also their young sailors, did not, how to get off, I resoued the crew and brought them off to Laudania
Engine had been in accordance with the Captain's instructions. My boat only stalling, probably just managed to gedouside Laudania with the last whaler load due to cope, relf.
that she could take and the Captain ordered me off with my starter now refused crew and the crew of the whaler, the crew of the cutter being service.
already on board, and turned over my boat and the whaler to a
Naval drifter which was said to have petrol and mechanics on board so that they could be of use further.
The whole of us who had been on the beach work then had our first stand-bysy since 21.30 the day before and my crew and myself had not had anything to eat since 17.30 the day before and nothing to drink since 15.30, and had been continuously employed, as had the two Naval ratings who remained on each of the naval rowing boats during the tow across.
Jerry started his usual effort when the ship left at
08.30 to09.00 on the 31st, but with no results, and plenty of hot tea and bread and butter and jam and a chance to light a pipe had made me perfectly indifferent to anything Jerry did.

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Birth the it Officers' pistols and the A.A.Lewis guns were unable but to
On two the way back to England we avoided a floating-mine, drifting pop so we informed another ship that was outward bound and it was duly popped in due course.
so
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in the flbator nor the popping of it, it was first sighted on
The troops on board Laudania evinced no interest whatsoever off and passed behind it, the troops evidently regarded this as our starboard bady and as the tide was running that way we sheered up to see what happened to it.
entirely a naval matter and I do not think any of them even got
He whole course from Rams gate to
Off the Foreland we enquired of the local Policeman, a
Dunkirk waslike gentleman in his shirt-sãeeves on a drifter, as to which port the main strat would take us and were sent to Margate. Three other ships and
1: busy town.
two destroyers also had loads for Margate and we eventually saffee sweral tied up outside two destroyers and landed the whole issue abreast going each across each ethar about 17.30 on 31.24 may way.
I reported to the Naval Office with my crew of two and we were promptly put in a taxi and sent back to our own port at
Ramsgate, a matter of a few minutes which might have been a dreary Journey by train. As throughout, there was no red tape in the Navy at all, they had ready everything that was necessary and our general instructions were that if we were in any sort of trouble we could close any ship we saw as it would be one of ours.
On arrival at Ramsgate I reported to the Commander = the
Naval Office and within five minutes my crew had been taken off to the temporary barracks established by the Harbour and I was on my way to getting a bed for the night inaan Hotel.
On Saturday, 1st June, I reported at Pier Head abouto9.
and asked for another boat and before lunch time had taken over one which had only been brought into Ramsgate that morning and german put her into commission with a new crew. This boat was an old
Admiral's barge from the last war, to which the only conversion of any importance seemed to be that the steam engine had been fitted where the original funnel existed. The engine was a fourtaken out and a petrol engine substituted, a dummy funnel being cylinder engine with cylinders of enormous size, it had no self-starter and worked with a clutch, being in fact a lorry engine. The engine was a brute to start and the gear lever required a strong man to put it into any position, but the engine was started and run over for a few minutes by the man who stated that he had brought the ship round from the Thames pressing. and he assured me that it was good for 12 knots without undue is not got been over my new crew had
As we were all anxious to go over again, but I did not relish in fact.
the idea of being towed any more, the prospect of being able to in about six hours each way was very welcome, and I decided that go over under my own steam at 12 knots and so make the journey on this occasion we would do what most of the larger motor boats had been doing, namely run over under our own steam, pick up a boat-load and come back with them. I was informed that the new boat only drew 3'2" so that it would be quite possible for the troops to get to the boat without swimming. This still did not strike me as being a very efficient method of getting the troops off but I felt that some real work had been done with Constant
Nymph and I had been informed that morning shat 187, 000 were this boat could already off so that I felt justified in indulging in something men should think have taken 35
more in the nature of a pienic, especiably as cigarettes and other little comforts had been provided on the boat by the owner for the rescued troops. We had already victualled the boat and obtained our water supplies and directly after lunch we cast off to go across the Harbour and get petrol, having as a quite unauthorised passenger an old member of my own Club who

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was in spite far too of a bit of rope round her port
There was a much north rope at Dunkirk, made excellent propeller, there of lop which easterly breeze blowing which headway.
Foreland, a this was was on our starboard was on the raised course a bit the circumstances. just where it was not wanted under the to was she was at the bottom over the main flapping Most of loose the battens carried away and the uanvas patching dry damagerabove water line and she would have quantities been as the bad still only making water in very small damage but as as a chip in reasonably smooth water.
wind without shipping too much and that we should then Foreland
We calculated that we could get round the case and water pretty well astern, and this proved have to the was a so fair that we shipped no more water after that though be there the amount of motion for a time.
point angle of of the light on the water semmed about outside at the Dunkirk, but it was a sunny day and a course just
We had a chart, but no compass, owing to the bomb splinter measure no the dividers on board but using a piece of our to
We had fact we picked up every buoy directly on right. course. In distance on the chart between two string she must found that we were doing approximately 15 knots of the chart, comparing this with the Atitude scale on the buoys bottom and we had to have averaged about 12 knots for the trip and
Soon after go a bit easy before we had rounded the Foreland. although busy drifters we had got through the boom one of the let her which, come as usual, we or uld not read, but we eased signal lamp came pounding after us, flicking her usually a bit, nearer and, as was off to up to and he tell the drifter all he wanted to know patch, about this us seemed to drifter a fine view of our flapping starboard, gave the we gave Cairngorm a bit of a sheer to our starboard which just waved a hand and turned back.
reported Commander about 20.00. As soon as we had reported our crew
We tied up in the motor boat basin, landed and
Mess for yet, and finding this was not so, enquired book us into if we the had dined in charge of the motor boats, he to the dinner at once.
chased the 7th I was duly examined by the Medical Friday
We slept June on board Cairngorn that night, and on
Dunkirk leave. as from the date of expiration of my three days'
signed about off, to two or three different individuals Officer and eventually and
For I this extremely pleasant outing, in the best of all company, was paid at the magnificent rate of £23 & month good and found, as Master of a vessel.
uniform, naval discipline, rohort periods are not provided with under
These temporary employees of the navy, signed on
Club and are not bound to wear any uniform, so one any down as England, and a heap of people who had Thames, and south-east caps and Jackets of nearly every Yacht Club in the saw the met board, I wore them the whole time and club cap they and reefer were. As on I always keep my ship clothes, just including come commissions in the R.N.V.R.
several other members of the Club who had got their