The 2012 Commemorative Cruise will be held in London, in King George V Dock to coincide with the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. The Pageant to be held at high water on the afternoon of Sunday 3 June 2012 and the event will see up to a thousand boats muster on the River Thames in preparation for Her Majesty The Queen to lead the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. The Pageant celebrates Her Majesty's sixty years of service by magnificently bringing the Thames to life.
Little Ships will assemble in Barnes reach prior to the event.
It is expected that 15 Little Ships will attend the 34th Thames Traditional Boat Rally, Henley-on-Thames over the weekend of July 16 and 17. The schedule for the Little Ships to sail past on is as follows:
....Saturday – 13:40 Little Ships form a line on to the booms – 14:05 WWII Veterans sail past aboard Devon Belle followed by a sail past of the Little Ships
....Sunday – 13:45 Little Ships sail past
It is hoped that a number of Veterans will join the Little Ships on Saturday aboard Devon Belle for the sail past.
A memorial dedicated to the Little Ships will be unveiled on Sunday 9th May on Teddington Lock. The memorial will commemorate the work carried out by Douglas Tough - who assembled 100 of the Little Ships from his boatyard opposite the lock - and the 338,000 men who were rescued from Dunkirk during the evacuation. It is hoped several Little Ships will attend.
Further details including timings will be announced in the very near future.
A glorious weekend of varnished wood and gleaming brass. 16 Little Ships are expected to attend the Rally held at Fawley Meadows, Henley-on-Thames. See http://www.tradboatrally.com for more information on the Rally.
FOLLOWING THE SUCCESSFUL RETURN TO DUNKIRK< THE ADLS ARE NOW PREPARING FOR THE ANNUAL VETERANS CRUISE, WHICH THIS YEAR TAKES PLACE ON SUNDAY 5 SEPTEMBER. THE FLOTILLA OF LITTLE SHIPS WILL MOOR DOWNSTREAM OF KINGSTON BRIDGE FOR VETERANS TO EMBARK AT 0915 FOR A 0945 DEPARTURE, AND WILL TRANSIT EAST MOLESEY AND SUNBURY LOCKS TO MAKE AN ETA AT THE WEYBRIDGE MARINERS CLUB OF APPROXIMATELY 1300. THE VETERANS WILL BE HOSTED THERE TO LUNCH BEFORE RETURNING TO KINGSTON IN A FLEET OF PERIOD VEHICLES AT APPROXIMATELY 1530.