So, if this is the ship being shown in the trailer for the movie, it appears to be a misrepresentation of the facts, as the movie shows a fully laden ship. Two crew were killed. Bernard Pheasant is ninth from the left. The Little Ships of Dunkirk were about 850 private boats that sailed from Ramsgate in England to Dunkirk in northern France between 26 May and 4 June 1940 as part of Operation Dynamo, helping to rescue more than 336,000 British, French, and other Allied soldiers who were trapped on the beaches at Dunkirk during the Second World War Although many of those left at Dunkirk had sand poured into the radiators and fuel tanks, a large proportion were salvageable and were used again. To read more about Dunkirk and the ships that were involved, purchase Dunkirk: Little Ships by Nigel Sharp. Every year as December 7 approaches we hear and read that eight battleships were sunk at Pearl Harbor. By the 9 th day of the operation, there would be 338,226 soldiers evacuated by the 850 boats that took part in the operation. Britain needed to train and arm new recruits at the time of Dunkirk, but she was not without any troops. In real life these were called the Little Ships of Dunkirk, and over 700 private boats sailed from Ramsgate in England to Dunkirk … As the timing of this question is co-incident with yet another Hollywood Blockbuster film, let me first say one thing - the film “Dunkirk” is FICTION, and although “based on” fact, should not be considered to be fact. The Luftwaffe in particular met a formidable foe for the first time in the war. The Royal Navy still controlled the Channel, and the Kriegsmarine had lost too many ships in Norway. On the first day of the evacuation, there were only 7,011 soldiers evacuated. 90 ships were sent to the Dunkirk rescue, from Dunkirk to Britain, although many got lost, and some got sunk. To order your copy from The Telegraph … The fighting around Dunkirk had a sobering effect on the German military. Related Questions Asked in World War 2 , … The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships consists of a hundred members, an impressive collection considering many of these were utility boats and yachts at the time, with the youngest being just over 75 years old. Hospital ship PARIS (1790grt), on passage to Dunkirk, was badly damaged at 1915 by German bombing near Dunkirk in 51‑11N, 02‑07E. They lost 240 aircraft in the 9 days of the evacuation; 30 percent of their aircraft were forced out of action between the opening of the invasion in… This was a salivatingly large number for the vehicle-short Germans. Even if Germany had captured the troops at Dunkirk, they were not ready to invade England. PARIS sank on the 3rd. 'We thought the war was lost': readers' stories of Dunkirk The motorcycle brigade of Phantom unit at the barracks in France, 1940. How many people were actually evacuated from Dunkirk? On top of that, a staggering 64,000 vehicles were abandoned. Most of the troops were able to embark from the protection of the harbor, while many others had to wade to the ships from the beaches.