Pictures of lifeboat and crew in Dunkirk rescue colourised for 85th anniversary
Coxswain Edward Drake Parker and his crew at Margate Lifeboat Station followed the government's call to send small vessels to Dunkirk to help rescue some of the nearly 340,000 British, French and Belgian troops stuck there in May 1940.
The RNLI has had two of its images from the time painstakingly cleaned and colourised using digital technology to mark the bravery of the crews that took part in Operation Dynamo 85 years ago, which began on May 26.
Coxswain Parker, who was 53 when he led his crew to the French coast, was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal for his services at Dunkirk.
He previously said of the operation: 'Margate lifeboat crew were standing by in their favourite pub, playing a quiet game of darts when I was called down to the boathouse.
'I asked them if they would help take the boat to Dunkirk to help rescue our boys. That was a shock to them, but they all volunteered without a murmur.
'They rushed home to tell their wives to get some food and then we were off.
'Margate was a pretty dead town then, more than half the residents had evacuated.
'But when we got to Dunkirk it was a bit different. With shells bursting and fires raging, it was like hell.'
One of the images of Margate Lifeboat Station shows Coxswain Parker with his crew in front of the Lord Southborough lifeboat which made the journey to Dunkirk.
The original black and white photo has been brought to life with colour, revealing the crew in brown kapok lifejackets and brodie helmets.
Kapok lifejackets were worn by RNLI crews during the Second World War.
Kapok is a fine, cotton-like material which is more commonly used to stuff cushions and toys and is highly buoyant, the RNLI said.
For crews taking part in wartime action, brodie helmets replaced the traditional yellow sou'wester.
The second photo shows the Lord Southborough in full colour, revealing a blue lifeboat with the RNLI logo.
It also shows the crew in their signature bright yellow waterproof oilskin coats.
The RNLI sent 19 boats across in total as part of the maritime rescue, with two crewed by its volunteers and 17 crewed by the Royal Navy.
When Coxswain Parker and his crew got to the shore, the sound of shell fire and the smell of burning was everywhere.
In the darkness, the crew had to feel their way towards the shore.
Once there, they got to work, moving people from the shore to the larger ships anchored in deeper water.
The crew from Ramsgate Lifeboat Station also went to Dunkirk for Operation Dynamo.
Both RNLI boats helped to save 3,400 people in the evacuation, the charity said.
Hayley Whiting, RNLI heritage archive and research manager, said: 'As we mark the 85th anniversary of Dunkirk, it feels fitting to bring these images of Margate Lifeboat Station to life with colour and remember the bravery of the crews that went across to Dunkirk and the lives they saved.
'I'm delighted to see Coxswain Parker and his crew in colour, it gives us an opportunity to share this remarkable story of courage and take a moment to reflect on the bravery of those that set sail for Dunkirk all those years ago and the difficult journey they faced. We're so proud of their courage and lifesaving efforts.
'Both of these images have been worked on by our in-house creative team to bring the original colours to life, with hours spent on the detail and research, to ensure they are a true representation.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
3 hours ago
- Daily Record
Prince Harry's plan for kids' future 'makes no sense', says royal expert
A Royal expert has questioned Harry and Meghan's plan for their children's futures. The Sussex family may no longer be active as royals or carry out duties for the King Charles. But despite their controversial withdrawal from the royal family, they reportedly are open to their children playing their part in the monarchy. Sources close to the Sussexes have said that the pair do in fact want Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, who just turned four, to retain their royal titles, so they will be able to choose to become working royals if they want to when they reach adulthood. It comes after the source claimed Harry and Meghan feared passports for their children were being held up due to the use of their HRH titles. It was claimed that the Sussexes were left frustrated as they waited months for British passports to arrive, and reportedly believed it was due to the fact they included their children's royal titles on the application. But former BBC royal expert Jennie Bond has questioned why Harry and Meghan appear so keen to cling onto titles for their children - even though they have previously hit out against the institution of monarchy. The expert told the Mirror: "I really don't understand why, having extricated themselves from a life they did not enjoy and in which Harry has publicly spoken of 'feeling trapped', they want to give their children the option of re-joining. It makes no sense. "Who knows what's going to happen in the future? But it's very hard to see how two children who are clearly now more American than British would want to change their whole way of life and become working members of the royal family." Archie and Lilibet were given prince and princess titles when their grandfather King Charles became monarch in 2022. The first time their titles were formally announced was after Lilibet's christening in March 2023. It is said that the passport delay caused Harry to approach the possibility of changing his family surname to Spencer in a nod to his late mother, Princess Diana. And Jennie added: "I think Harry has always been more Spencer than Windsor, so if he was ever going to change his name, it would be to Spencer. "But this would be a final nail in the coffin of his relationship with his father and his brother. It would amount to a public declaration that he no longer saw himself as part of the royal family." There has been continued controversy over the Sussexes' HRH titles since the pair quit their royal roles five years ago. As part of their Megxit negotiations with the Palace, Meghan and the Duke of Sussex agreed to stop using 'Her Royal Highness' and 'His Royal Highness' at the end of March 2020. They still retain the styles, with Harry having had his since birth, but they are essentially held in abeyance, and so are not in active use. However, earlier this year, it emerged that Meghan had used her HRH style on a gift basket sent to make-up entrepreneur Jamie Kern Lima last year, with a monogrammed card reading: 'With Compliments of HRH The Duchess of Sussex'. Kern Lima showed an image of the present in footage of her podcast interview with Meghan. It contained a jar of Meghan's jam which she has started selling as part of her As Ever lifestyle business brand. A source described the basket as a 'personal gift'. The duchess's representatives denied that the couple used their royal titles, but a source later said that the Sussexes did not use HRH publicly, but retained the style, and did not use it for commercial purposes. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
South Wales Guardian
6 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Veterans attend Normandy commemorations on 81st anniversary of D-Day
Along the coastline and near the D-Day landing beaches, tens of thousands of onlookers attended the commemorations, which included parachute jumps, flyovers, remembrance ceremonies, parades and historical re-enactments. Many were there to cheer the ever-dwindling number of surviving veterans in their late 90s and older. All remembered the thousands who died. US defence secretary Pete Hegseth commemorated the anniversary of the D-Day landings, in which American soldiers played a leading role, with veterans at the American cemetery overlooking the shore in the village of Colleville-sur-Mer. The June 6 1944 invasion of Nazi-occupied France used the largest-ever armada of ships, troops, planes and vehicles to breach Hitler's defences in western Europe. A total of 4,414 Allied troops were killed on D-Day itself. In the ensuing Battle of Normandy, 73,000 Allied forces were killed and 153,000 wounded. The battle – and especially Allied bombings of French villages and cities – killed around 20,000 French civilians between June and August 1944. The exact German casualties are unknown but historians estimate between 4,000 and 9,000 men were killed, wounded or missing during the D-Day invasion alone. 'The heroism, honour and sacrifice of the Allied forces on D-Day will always resonate with the US armed forces and our allies and partners across Europe,' said Lieutenant General Jason T Hinds, deputy commander of US Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa. 'Let us remember those who flew and fell. Let us honour those who survived and came home to build a better world. 'Let us ensure that their sacrifice was not in vain by meeting today's challenges with the same resolve, the same clarity of purpose and the same commitment to freedom.' Nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed on D-Day. Of those, 73,000 were from the United States and 83,000 from Britain and Canada. Forces from several other countries were also involved, including French troops fighting with General Charles de Gaulle. The Allies faced around 50,000 German forces. More than two million Allied soldiers, sailors, pilots, medics and other people from a dozen countries were involved in the overall Operation Overlord, the battle to wrest western France from Nazi control that started on D-Day.
The Herald Scotland
11 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Remembering D-Day: Veteran, 100, offers first-hand account of D-Day
Tolley Fletcher, at the time a 19-year-old Navy gunner's mate, remembered the rough seas and the treacherous landing troops at Utah Beach had to make in 3- to 4-foot waves, each carrying about 60 pounds of gear on their backs and descending on rope ladders from larger ships onto smaller landing crafts. "I felt for those soldiers," Fletcher, now 100 years old, told USA TODAY. "In my mind, that was the worst part, other than people getting hurt." Fletcher, who joined the Navy at 17 in late December 1941, said he and his shipmates were fortunate to be mostly out of the line of fire. "There was some shelling, not really a lot, and luckily we didn't get hit. "Maybe halfway in, we started seeing lots of bodies in the water," said Fletcher, who now lives in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, area. "I was asked (later) what we did about it. We didn't do anything about it - we had a job: to escort those troops to the beach." On D-Day, "that's what these guys faced," said Peter Donovan Crean Sr., vice president for education and access at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. "They knew they were in the presence of history. Soldiers, sailors, Marines - they knew what they were doing was going to go down in history, which also meant they knew the danger involved. "Guys who were 18, 19, 20 years old were faced with the possibility of their death, but they did it anyway." As we mark the 81st anniversary of D-Day, here is a look at what happened on the beaches of Normandy, the men who fought knowing they might not survive to see victory and the way it affected the Allies' fight to defeat fascism, genocide and tyranny. What happened on D-Day? In order to defeat the Nazis in Europe, the Allies knew they'd have to take France, under German occupation since 1940. Operation Overlord saw a mobilization of 2,876,000 Allied troops in Southern England, as well as hundreds of ships and airplanes, in preparation for a ground invasion, the largest the world had seen. Weighing conditions including the weather, disagreements among other military leaders and strategic uncertainty, Eisenhower gave the go-ahead for the operation to begin before dawn on June 5, 1944. If things didn't go well for the Allies, Eisenhower wrote a note accepting responsibility. The following day, nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed along the 50-mile stretch of French shoreline. More than 9,000 Allied troops were killed or wounded, and 100,000 troops would continue the slow, bloody journey to Berlin, the center of German power. Why was it called D-Day? According to the U.S. Army, D-Day was "simply an alliteration, as in H-Hour." Some believe the first "D" also stands for "day," a code designation, while the French say the "D" stands for "disembarkation." The Army's website says that "the more poetic insist D-Day is short for 'day of decision.'" Asked in 1964, Eisenhower instructed his assistant Brig. Gen. Robert Schultz, to answer. Schultz wrote that "any amphibious operation has a 'departed date'; therefore the shortened term 'D-Day' is used." What happened after D-Day? D-Day was not the only decisive battle of the European theater, Crean said. "It was a crucial battle but there were more ahead," he said. "They had 700 miles of tough road ahead to get to Berlin." The Battle of the Bulge, waged over 41 days in December 1944 and January 1945, required 700,000 Allied troops. "It was a tough slog for another 11 months," Crean said. Victory in Europe - V-E Day - would come on May 8, 1945, nearly a year after D-Day. The war wouldn't end until the Japanese surrendered on Sept. 2, 1945. How many World War II veterans remain in the U.S.? There are about 66,000 surviving World War II veterans in the United States, Crean said, and while that may sound like a lot, it's a tiny fraction of the 16.4 million who served their country in the conflict. "So to be able to talk to and thank one veteran now is a gift for any of us," Crean said. The National World War II Museum's mission "is more critical than ever ... so more people will understand what they did and continue to be inspired by their sacrifices," added Crean, a retired colonel with 30 years' service in the Army. The museum has had oral historians travel the country to record more than 12,000 personal stories from World War II veterans. They've conducted extensive interviews with veterans, Holocaust survivors and homefront workers and, using artificial intelligence, created a way for visitors to have "conversations" with them and ask questions to learn about the war effort. And they offer virtual programming, teacher training and a student leadership award. Fletcher, the Navy gunner's mate, said he's uncomfortable with the idea of being considered a hero. Asked about his role in history, he said, "I really didn't think about it then, and I don't think about it now, though it's been impressed upon me quite a bit. "When I think about what I went through, and what all the Army and the other men who were mixed up in really tough situations, it makes me feel a little bit guilty."
