Dunkirk 85: Meet Tamzine!

Today marks 85 years since the start of the Dunkirk evacuation! A group of restored ‘little ships’ escorted by the Royal Navy from Ramsgate have been reenacting the historic event by making the exact same journey. As well as having the Royal Navy involved with this rescue mission from the German advancement into France known as Operation Dynamo, ‘Little Ships’ were civilian vessels ranging from fishing trawlers to lifeboats to leisure yachts.

Speaking of ‘little ships’, let me introduce you to a special someone:

Meet Tamzine! She’s a little fishing boat built in Margate in 1937 and worked off the coast of Birchington that was involved in the Dunkirk evacuations. She was known as a local hero after being towed back from Dunkirk by a Belgian fishing boat and having a recognisable Viking-like stem, local boatmen took her back to her owner covered in blood, but luckily undamaged. Unfortunately for some ‘Little Ships’, some suffered shrapnel damage or were pierced by bullets.

When I first started volunteering at Imperial War Museum, I would talk to school children about Tamzine’s story and before she was moved into the newly-renovated Second World War Galleries, she was out on the main galleries opposite the spitfire hanging from the ceiling, there I would sometimes link the two together as not only were spitfires involved in Dunkirk shortly followed by the Battle of Britain in the year 1940, but also as a film reference to Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk (2017).

Not only was I starstruck when I learned Kim Hartman (Helga from Allo’ Allo’) made a cameo appearance in the film on board a leisure cruiser and she is his aunt (married to his uncle)! To top that off, her daughter played the nurse on that Royal Navy vessel inviting soldiers into a cabin for their safety! I met the cast of Allo’ Allo’ at the War and Peace Revival in Folkestone in summer 2014 where I managed to get a good photo with Helga. 🥰

Here I have my US Navy Cold War shirt i bought from the revival that I still have.

Tom Hardy’s spitfire pilot uniform was on temporary display at the RAF Museum in London which I would have loved to go and see for myself. The RAF Museum was also consulted for research and interpretation purposes for the film. https://vintageaviationnews.com/aviation-museum-news/dunkirk-movie-raf-costume-display-raf-museum.html

Hardy states (as a common collaborator with Nolan): “He [Nolan] has done a thorough interpretation of his depiction of what happened at Dunkirk in the Nolan style,” Nolan has been known for his complex storylines, immersive storytelling and less dialogue - more action. Filmmakers must understand that interpretation is key when trying to get a film (regardless of whether it’s fact or fiction) as historically accurate as possible.

https://goldenglobes.com/articles/tom-hardy-spitfire-pilot-christopher-nolans-dunkirk-im-still-getting-goosebumps/

Tamzine is a sweet girl, but a strong survivor of one of the most dramatic moments in history. If you want to learn more about Tamzine, she’s on display at the Imperial War Museum London in the Second World War Galleries. You can also visit IWM’s collections online: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30004026.

Please give Tamzine some love, for she may be little, but she’s fierce!

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