St Katharine Docks will hold a festival which is a celebration of the Dunkirk ‘Little Ships’ which took part in the evacuation of Allied soldiers during WWII from the beaches of Dunkirk between the 26th of May and 4th of June 1940. Alongside 20 warships, 850 civilian boats assisted with the evacuation. A number of these boats live on, privately owned and well preserved. The Dunkirk At The Docks Festival welcomes a fleet of them to St Katharine Docks over the May Bank Holiday weekend.
Kicking off the festivities will be the annual St. Katharine Docks Tea-Dance Party on Thursday the 23rd of May. Visitors can enjoy charm of a bygone era and dance the afternoon with authentic vintage music from the 1920s to the 1950s, period costumes and dancing displays, and tea and biscuits on the waterside.
Everyone is welcome to participate, from beginners to advanced dancers, lessons with the ‘Round in Circles’ dance troop will take place between 1pm-4pm.
As part of its Commemorative Cruise, the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships fleet will be arriving at St Katharine Docks from Friday 24th May onwards and opening doors to the public all weekend
Friday 24th May – 10am-4pm
Saturday 25th May – 10am-4pm
Sunday 26th May – 12am-4pm
The current list of confirmed boats in attendance are:
Aquabelle
Breda
Brown Owl
Firefly
Gay Venture
Hilfranor
Iorana
L’Orage
Lady Lou
Maimonde
Margo II
Marsayru
MB278
Naiad Errant
Papillon
Wanda
White Wing
The festival is suitable for all ages and is free. For more information go to the SKD website here
Isle of Dogs Life 
my grandad was born there in 8 boat street, Orchard place and was in the merchant Navy, l am now wondering did he go to Dunkirk ? I have no clue of his life on the sea but would love to find out. I know he lost his only brother in a war and his nephew who lived with them because his Mother died of the Spanish flu when a year old, again he never spoke of it , l only know because l used to go the the remembrance Sunday’s with him.
wishing you all a fantastic time with your festivities 👏👏👏👏
Thank you Lynn, that generation did not speak about these things which makes finding out all the more difficult.