# Southend-on-Sea excursion boats, 1919 to 1950, that did Service at Dunkirk



## smnco1937 (Jun 24, 2015)

I was born in Southend on Sea, my Dad and his Business partner owned a number of the pleasure boats operating from the so-called "golden mile" - between the bottom of Pier Hill, and the Kursaal Entry; - and at the moment I'm trying to track down details - and if possible pre-war photos - of all the 12 pleasure-boats requisitioned by the RN on May 28th 1940. Plus details and pictures of two of the five private motor yachts that were requisitioned on May 28th, 1940, and did Dunkirk Evacuation Service. I have good pictures of all the boats Ian Boyle shows on his 'Simplonpc' website for Southend; - in fact I donated several of them to him from our family Archives, and he has gifted me with several for my Family history. But I don't have good pictures and details for the following "Westcliffe Belle, San Toy I, San Toy II, Skylark II, British Queen, Silver Queen, and Seafoam". I have 2 good pictures of the "Princess Maud" lost at Dunkirk though not enough specification-details, - but I don't have any of her 1947- launched "War-Loss Replacement", built by Cook's Yard at Maldon. I am also seeking any information about the privately-owned motor yachts "No Name II" and "Shunesta". Any gifts of fresh information on this subject will be gratefully received.
A 1938 aerial photo of the section of beach between the Pier Pavillion and the Kursaal also shows 17 pleasure boats - and I'm very curious as to why the RN only requisitioned 12 of them for the Dunkirk Evacuation. What were the names of the others, I wonder, And why weren't they requisitioned, too?


----------



## Dartskipper (Jan 16, 2015)

Hello smnco 1937. Russell Plummer's book, "The Ships that saved an Army" gives details of just about every vessel that went to Dunkirk, or was requisitioned. It contains a lot of photos, nearly all from that time. My own copy is temporarily mislaid, so I can't verify how much information will be of interest to you. He does include a section listing the Southend pleasure boats.
I enjoyed many a day at Southend and Thorpe Bay as a lad, and remember the boats running off the beach, particularly Dreadnought, The New Prince of Wales, and occasionally, Westcliff Belle.
Regards.


----------



## smnco1937 (Jun 24, 2015)

*Southend excursion boats and motor yachts at Dunkirk Evacuation.*

Thank you for that contribution.
I forgot to mention that I already have copies of Richard Collier's "The Sands of Dunkirk"; that I was one of the contributors to Walter Lord's "Miracle of Dunkirk" and have a copy of that; and also have my own copy of Plummer's "The Little Ships that Saved An Army". I also have the family archives of our Southend motor navigation Co. Ltd. 
The answers to the questions I have posed on this Site are NOT to be found in any of those places. They are to be found with persons of a certain age, who knew the Southend Foreshore's excursion Trade from the inside, because of family involvement, from the pre-war poeriod up to about 1950.
And the Archivist of the ADLS doesn't know the answers either, because he's working from the same Sources used by those three Authors, Collier, Lord, and Plummer. No-one else - before me -has tried to look in depth at the contribution made by Southend's boat-owners.


----------



## acapps1 (Jan 1, 2016)

smnco1937, I have just joined this site as I continue to research my family history. I wanted to ask you a question and throw in a little bit of information. One of my uncle's on my mother side was a chap by the name of Don Feaver. The family lore is that he was a boyhood friend of the Gilpin family who I believe owned fishing vessels either in Leigh or Southend. During Dunkirk as a young 15-year old he went with members of the Gilpin's to Dunkirk as part of Op. Dynamo. Apparently he never told my grandmother who was furious when she found out. He eventually went into the RN and was on convoy duties to Russia. I have a couple of photos of him in his RN uniform. I was wondering whether you might know anything about the Gilpin's and the role they played. By way of note, my grandfather - Don's father - was Chief ARP warden of Southend.

Alan


----------



## smnco1937 (Jun 24, 2015)

*Six Cocklers from leigh on Sea went to the Dunkirk beaches, in May, 1940*

@ Alan. I never heard of a "Gilpin" family in connection with the Leigh Fishing Community. However there was a GILSON Family who were prominent in the local fishing and waterfront community. [And probably still are, for all I know, though I haven't lived in Southend since the early 1960's.] 6 Cocklers went to the Dunkirk beaches from Leigh on Friday, May 31st, 1940, [sailing from the Pierhead Naval Control Station at 0800hrs DST, under nominal overall Command of RNVR Tempy. Sub. Lieut. Solomon ( and thus under Naval Authority as required by the 1931 revisions to the Geneva Convention - to which the supine, appeasing, British Government was paying slavish attention even if the Nazis were not!) - who was probably doing the navigating for the little convoy, as only one of the Leigh Boatmen had been outside the mouth of the Estuary before; - and arrived (via Ramsgate) off Dunkirk Harbour in the early hours of June 1st, 1940. . "Resolute, Renown, Letitia, Endeavour, Defender, Reliance". the 48ft l.o.a. Defender was owned by William Harvey of Harvey & Sons, and was skippered to Dunkirk by Frank Turnnidge, the Leigh Sailmaker (his Sailmakers Loft was on the Bell Wharf for decades, handy for the Leigh Sailing Club members just across the road in the old "up-Side" of Leigh Station, LMS.R.]; Endeavour was owned by Frank Robinson, and skippered to Dunkirk by D.C. Halls; Reliance was owned by W. Kennedy, and skippered by Albert Legget; Renown was owned by the Osborne family, and skippered by Harry Noakes; Resolute was also owned by the Osbornes, and Eric Osborne took her to Dunkirk. I don't have the names of any other crew members except for Renown. - Renown was blown to bits by a delayed-action contact mine while under tow back to Leigh at 0330 hrs on June 2nd. All 6 Cocklers had spent just one day - June 1st -working from the increasingly-dangerous Dunkirk Harbour, and at the 6 miles of beaches, ferrying soldiers to larger ships forced to anchor a mile offshore due to the shallow slope of the beach - rather like the Southend forshore, in fact. After one day's work, they returned to Ramsgate low on fuel, [to re-supply and willing to return to France for further Duty], - but Captain Wharton or Captain Phillimore [the Naval Officers in Charge at Ramsgate] told their skippers that their services were no longer needed, "because their boats were too slow"; so they collected their pay, refueled their boats, and started the voyage home, 4 under their own power, and 2 under tow by HM Drifter "Ben & Lucy"., Letitia with a smashed rudder, - and Renown astern of her with engine failure due to a fueling error. The Official Naval Enquiry [there had been an RN Signaler embarked aboard Renown - one Harold Graham Porter, Ordinary Signalman, Service No.C/JX 172588] - came to the conclusion that the Drifter activated a delayed-action contact mine, and it exploded under Renown, killing all 4 of her crew, and leaving nothing but splinters. Their memorial is in the Churchyard of the Sailors' Church at Leigh-on-Sea. Unless young Don Feaver looked at least 18yrs old in fact - he would have been either ordered ashore by S/Lieut Solomon; or by RN Staff at the Pierhead Naval Control Station, where a Captain Champion commanded, or at Ramsgate. [Unless he managed to hide below until the little convoy had left Ramsgate for Dunkirk.] I have just written a history of all 32 of the Southend small craft which went to Dunkirk; if you use Dropbox, I can send you the URL which will let you read the PDF.


----------



## acapps1 (Jan 1, 2016)

Thanks for the prompt reply. You are, of course, right, the name was indeed Gilson. As soon as I read your note I remembered the correct name. I am impressed by the depth of your research. Like you I have not lived in Southend for 30+ years. I am trained as a U.S. historian and I teach U.S. History to undergraduates here in Virginia. Interestingly, while in our university library over the summer I found a brand new book by a Paul Rusiecki entitled Under Fire - Essex and the Second World War. It was published by Essex Publications of the University of Hertfordshire Press. It is not a bad book. However, I was somewhat disappointed that Rochford badly received a mention let alone 54 Sqn and he never even mentioned Canewdon with its radar set up which I remember very well from the early 1970s. He does discuss Dunkirk but, again, not at any great length.
I believe you are correct about the Gilson's still living/working in the Southend/Leigh area; I will try to find out any more from them when I have a chance and whatever I find I will be sure to pass on to you.
Many thanks.

Alan


----------



## smnco1937 (Jun 24, 2015)

Thanks for your quick response. And thanks for your compliment, and for the referral to the book - which I had not heard about. IMHO, There are only 6 good books about the maritime side of the Evacuation. "The Evacuation from Dunkirk, 26th May to June 4th, 1940" - the Naval Staff History, originally written for restricted Staff College internal Circulation from all the official records in late 1940; and then released as a Limited Edition "niche" publication in 1949; and republished for the 2nd time in the Public Domain by MoD Naval Historical Branch Library Publications in 2000. The well-known ex Royal Navy Officer and writer on Marine Themes - Keble-Chatterton's book "The Epic of Dunkirk", published with full Government approval and with full Admiralty co-operation, - within months of the Evacuation, in 1940. David Divine's "9 days of Dunkirk" [he was there, taking part as a Naval Reserve Officer, with his own small Motor yacht. Richard Collier's The Sands of Dunkirk" from the 1960's. Walter Lord's 1983 "Miracle of Dunkirk"; Russell Plummer's "The Ships that saved an Army" of 1990; and John de Winser's "BEF Ships, before-, at-, and after Dunkirk", of 1999. In researching to write m- just completed Paper, chasing all and any mentions of our Family's 7 "little ships" - I think I have read everything currently available about the Retreat and the Evacuation - and those are the best 6 of the bunch. Most of the other Authors quote from the same sources used by the Authors of those 6 books. You may perhaps find mention of Don Feaver in the National Archives (Kew) file TM.6213/40 - which is the voyage reports by Masters and crewmembers of ships and small craft which took part; and responded to the Ministry of Shipping's after-action requests to submit statements of their experiences for the Official Record. Finding out is there is any mention of Mr Feaver should be simplebecause you only have three boats to look at. You can be sure he was not aboard the Harvey-owned "Defender" - otherwise S/Lieut. Solomon would have made sure he was put ashore at the Pierhead. We know the names of "Renown's" crew - all died when the mine blew her to splinters. So you only have to contact the Osbornes - still at Old Leigh - to see if they will tell the who crewed their Cocklers "Resolute, and Reliance"; and to see if they can pout you in touch with the descendants of Mr Robinson ( "Endeavour"), and Mr Dench ("Letitia"). Simple. Good luck.


----------



## colin andrews (Nov 15, 2016)

I would like to contact the member requesting info on boats from southend on sea commisioned during the last war please


----------



## colin andrews (Nov 15, 2016)

I would like to add I have infomation on the 'Westcliff Bell'


----------



## colin andrews (Nov 15, 2016)

*Westcliff Bell*

I was also born in Southend and my uncle Eddie Janes was the owner of the Westcliff Bell and the sailing boat moored to the right of her named the Princess. I have all the information from her being commisioned and built by Shorts Areo-nautical engineers. She was a proto type and the only one of her kind ever built. I have photos of her being launched and of the sea trials in 1920.
I new most of Eddie's friends and other boat owners along the sea front and the fishing families in Old Leigh.
If you would like more information please contact me again.


----------



## smnco1937 (Jun 24, 2015)

*wESTCLIFF BELLE AND PRINCESS*

TYVM for your information. I shall be very interested to see those details and pictures - and if you will give me permission to add them against Westcliff Belle in my 174-pg. Paper -"To rescue Our Soldiers" - and to pass them along to Ian Boyle of Simplonpc "in Memoriam" for your uncle with an Acknowledgement and Credit to you in my Bibliography and Ian's online Files - that would be nice. I haven't found any records of Westcliff Belle or Princess being sent for Service in Operation Dynamo, I have found Westcliffe Belle mentioned as a Naval Auxiliary based at Holehaven on 15-09-1940 - in the Admiralty's Red List, though. Princess is NOT mentioned in the Red Lost, though. Maybe she was laid-up throughout the War, since the whole Foreshore was closed to the Public and there would have been no trade for an open sailing boat unless it was fishing for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food??


----------



## eddyw (Nov 6, 2007)

Frith photo here of a motorised "Westcliffe Belle" (spelling?) at moorings c 1960.
https://www.francisfrith.com/southe...mooring-just-to-the-west-of-the-pier_40608506


----------



## smnco1937 (Jun 24, 2015)

*westcliffe Belle*

Thanks, I have that post-war one. Any more would be very welcome. esppecially pre-war or during the war while she was on naval auxiliary service at Holehaven. very kind of you to take the trouble - your contribution is much appreciated.


----------

