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Rummy II
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By Saturday morning, 1st June 1940, the traffic of small craft on their way to Dunkirk was at its busiest when Lieut. H. Simouth Willing of the Twickenham Sea Cadet Corps arrived at Ramsgate from the Thames in Rummy II. He was left in command and was given a naval crew. They reached Dunkirk amid intensive shellfire towing two ships' lifeboats. They went in with these and brought back about 140 men during the night.
The pulling boats, though at times towed by power craft, had great difficulty in the strong tidal streams off the beaches and were instructed to take their full loads to the nearest transport they could find. Lieut. Willing proudly recorded: "We found the tug we were serving after a long row, under heavy fire and I am pleased to report my crew by name for steadiness under close fire."
In 1946, Rummy II was sold by the Admiralty to Jack Pritchard, who kept her at Lock Island, Marlow. In 1949 Dr. Charles Collins took a share in her and cruised with his family from Lechlade, near the source of the Thames, down to the sea. After 1956, Rummy II cruised in coastal waters from Faversham in Kent.
Eight years later, David Teare took a part share in the boat and he is the only remaining member of that group. But some years ago Leonard Walsh, who also owned a share, took the boat to Birkenhead in order to refurbish her, but died before work could begin. After his death, it appears, no-one was interested and even the ship's where-abouts could not be traced. So now Rummy II is officially lost.
Source: 2, 3, 4, 5, 11 & 19
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