‘Little ship’ that saved lives in Dunkirk finally returns home

The Jane Hannah MacDonald III was already 30 years old and retired, having saved 22 lives, when she was requisitioned for the makeshift armada immortalised by the Bradford author JB Priestley in his famous radio broadcast after the operation in 1940.

The vessel was based originally in Appledore, Devon, but ended her lifeboat service at Flamborough in December 1938, when she was bought by a Norfolk sailor and put to work on leisure fishing trips.

She almost didn’t make it back from Dunkirk. Heavily laden with troops on her return crossing, she began to sink, but was saved by the lifeboat buoyancy boxes built into the hull which enabled her to be cut free and refloated. She was returned to the east coast, but after a succession of ownership changes, ended up back in France.

Her repatriation has been arranged by a British team who raised £4,500 to buy her and another £3,200 to ship her home. An appeal will now be launched for her restoration.

She had been stored in a boat yard in France, where she was discovered by John Vistuet, a lifeboat enthusiast.

“It comes from the days when people rowed boats to rescues. When you think they did that from Appledore, rowing out and over the bar in a force nine gale, that’s really something,” he said.

Built at the Thames Ironworks in Blackwall in 1909 at a cost of £931, the boat was launched on August 31, 1910 and served at Appledore from 1910 to 1922.

She had been a gift to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution from a wealthy socialite with homes in London and Brighton, and named in her honour.

Rob Braddick, a business owner from Devon, who is part of the rescue team, said: “She saved 22 lives in Devon – we don’t know how many in Dunkirk.

“It feels great to get her back – there’s some nice maritime history around here so it’s good to add another piece to the puzzle.”

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