Dutch and Belgian Ships at Dunkirk

[jerryasher]

Does anyone have a list of Dutch and Belgian ships that assisted at Dunkirk between May 19th and June 5th? If there is a narrative that I could retrieve that would also be of interest. Many thanks in advance.

[Prosper Vandenbroucke]

Hello jerryasher,
Some information about the Belgian ships :
The Belgian Army, commanded by King Leopold III, had surrendered to the Germans on 28 May. However, numerous ships from the fishing fleet and small Corps de Marine were involved in Operation Dynamo. In total, 65 Belgian ships participated, including 54 fishing boats, 4 Corps de Marine units, 4 tugs and 2 patrol vessels. The Belgian fishing fleet itself transported 4,300 British and French soldiers to the English coast.
Among the notable Belgian ships to participate in the evacuation were:
Patrol vessel A5
Z25 De Ruyter
Belgian ship H75
The Belgian fishingboat H 77 ‘’Gilda’’
And many others, (O227, O274, O322, Z21, H37, H56 ,N64 ) but I don’t have an entire list of them.
The letter O stands for Oostende, the letter Z stands for Zeebrugge, the letter H stands for Heist and the letter N stands for Nieuwpoort.
Hope it helps.
Kindly regards from Belgium.
Prosper

[jerryasher]

Thank you Prosper Vandenbroucke: This certainly does help. Does a printed narrative exist that you know of and can share? Found your response very clear and full of data. Again many thanks. Can read French, and usually can understand the pattern of any list.

[jerryasher]

The book "Sands of Dunkirk," by Richard Collier available from Internet Archive seems to have an excellent listing of the ships. The Dutch ships manned by the Royal Navy are listed by name. There is also a very extensive list of "foreign" ships which may include the Belgian craft; but will need more time to check.

[Prosper Vandenbroucke]

Hello jerry,
Here below a link (in dutch language), but with the national flag of the country for each ship who was at Dunkirk in may-june 1940:
https://nl.xcv.wiki/wiki/List_of_ships_at_Dunkirk
Regards
Prosper

[jerryasher]

Hi Prosper: You made that easy and fun. Thank you very much. Stay healthy.

[Prosper Vandenbroucke]

Hi Jerry,
Don't worry, I'll be carefull.
Here below an other link in french language, but I think that only british and french ships are concerned.
http://dkepaves.free.fr/
That website tells only about the shipwrecks in the Dunkirk area, but there are plentyfull interesting links (see "Liens") and numerous maps.
Surf and enjoy
Spend a good day
Prosper from Belgium.
NB Sorry for my poor english

[jerryasher]

Hi Prosper: I have had a marvelous day--surfing the links you have provided me with and will continue to do so for many days. Have to get back to my own specialty --Sino-Japanese stuff and Russian Amur River till 1945. Your English is fine--I'm the one who is limited. Many thanks for your response.

[Prosper Vandenbroucke]

Hi Jerry,
Just a little text about Belgian ships in Dunkirk, I Found it on following website:
https://sites.google.com/view/depanneth ... tie-dynamo
Here below, you will found a translation of the text in dutch language:
88 Belgian ships transported 6.611 soldiers to England.
74 trawlers and other ships were at Dunkirk, 9 of them were sunk by german bombs, hit by seamines or collided into the darkness.
1 pilot vessel (bateau-pilote) the A5
5 harbortugs, 4 of them were sunk by german aerial attacks.
6 other pilot vessels, 4 of them were sunk on the 30rd of may 1940, 2 at Bray-Dunes.
The merchantship ‘’Antverpia’’ was bombed on the 21st of may 1940 and sail to the port of Boulogne.
The Yacht ‘’Aloha’’ exploded on the 22nd of may 1940, sunk by seamine.
4 trawlers were sunk on the 2nd or the 4th of june 1940, they were named: "Témoin du Christ (N 59), Maréchal Foch (O.274), O.L. Vrouw van Vlaanderen (N 49), Sunny Isle (H 5).
Sorry but I don’t have some more information
Kindly regards
Prosper

[jerryasher]

Hi Prosper: Many thanks once again. My computer warned me off the google site. So I will have to forego the narrative. I have learned so much from this exchange.

[reedwh52]

Another source is the list of ships from the web site of the "Association of Dunkirk Little Ships"
https://www.adls.org.uk/the-list

[jerryasher]

Thank you reedwh52 for your participation. I could not ask for anything more.