Historic Sussex lifeboat played key role in Dunkirk evacuation

The 85th anniversary of the military operation takes place this weekend. Often referred to as ‘the miracle of the little ships’ it saw 850 private boats of all shapes and sizes sailed from UK shores through heavy enemy fire on a rescue mission to save Allied troops stranded on the beaches and harbour at Dunkirk as the Nazis swept through France.

One of those boats was the Hastings lifeboat The Cyril and Lilian Bishop who earned herself the legend ‘The Ghost of Dunkirk’ after she was seen emerging from the mist to reach the troops.. She was requisitioned by the Royal Navy. The boat was taken down the coast to Dover by the lifeboat crew.

Just before the boat left Hastings she had new red, white and blue paintwork. On her return from Dunkirk she was filthy dirty with two German bullet holes in her top box and a hole in her bow. It is estimated she carried 800-900 troops a day during the long operation.

In the 1930’s, before being requisitioned, the lifeboat saved dozens of lives along the south coast.

Back in 2016, the lifeboat was re-discovered in a French boatyard by Hastings Old Town stalwarts Dee Day White and Tush Hamilton, who acquired her and arranged for her to be brought back to Hastings.

After a major restoration project she went on display in Hastings Old Town. But due to the effects of the weather, she was moved last year to the nearby Shipwreck Heritage Centre attraction where she is now on display.

Kevin Boorman, one of the trustees of the Shipwreck Museum, explained: “The ‘Cyril and Lilian Bishop’ was Hastings lifeboat from 1931 until 1950, and was one of nearly 1,000 ‘little ships’ that helped evacuate over 338,000 British and allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk.

“Like many other little ships in May 1940 its crew answered the call for help, and the lifeboat was taken to Folkestone on 30th May by a Hastings RNLI crew led by George Moon, the coxswain. They continued to Dover early on the 31st May where they were relieved by a Naval crew who took the lifeboat on to Dunkirk.

“In fact George Moon was my great uncle, and I am very proud that he played a small part in the miracle of Dunkirk. He was deeply disappointed that he couldn’t go over to France.”

After some years on display at the junction of The Bourne and Harold Road in Hastings Old Town, the lifeboat was moved to the Shipwreck Museum in Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings last summer, where it is now back on display. Planning permission has just been granted for a clear protective roof to be erected over the Cyril and Lilian Bishop, and the Priscilla MacBean, a former Eastbourne lifeboat also on display at the museum.