The plaque, which marked the first lifeboat to reach Dunkirk as part of efforts to rescue British forces trapped on the French beach in May 1940, was taken from the Old Lifeboat Station in Poole Dorset last weekend. It commemorated the Thomas Kirk Wright Lifeboat which is exhibited inside the building. Volunteers have described being “angry and upset” after the theft, as the plaque marks such a historic event.

The plaque read: “The 1938 Surf Class Lifeboat in this boathouse is a Dunkirk Little Ship. “Taken from Poole to Ramsgate, the Admiralty used her to evacuate Allied troops from Dunkirk in WWII.

“She was the first Lifeboat to reach the beaches in France on 30 May 1940.”

The theft has shocked locals who have accused whoever took it of having “no decency”.

Resident Trevor Cottam said: “Absolutely disgraceful! Some people have no morals or sense of decency.”

Shaun Bridgeman added: “How low can you get? Have you no honour?

“There people saved lives at the risk of their own. How much more can they give?”

Poole Lifeboat Station took to Facebook to tell others of the shocking theft but said the thieves could never take its pride or history.

The post read: “Our volunteers and visitors alike were utterly dismayed today to find our Dunkirk brass plaque had been removed from outside of the Old Lifeboat Station.

“It was there Friday when our volunteers finished their shift and we opened up today to find it had gone, the museum was closed on Saturday as it was foul day down on the quay.

“Operation Dynamo was a turning point so significant where we fought together to survive, we were defiant and we would be living in a very different world today if against all the odds we hadn’t found our Dunkirk Spirit.

“So to whoever took the plaque you can’t take our pride.

“You can’t take our history, we speak for the boat and we share it’s story.

DON’T MISS:
Fury as Irish extremists vow to block British Legion poppy sellers [INSIGHT]
Brave 96-year-old war veteran fights off thief who stole £100,000 [REPORT]
Deep sea divers make huge historical find to shed new light on WW2 [PICTURES]

They added the plaque had just been “lovingly polished” and prepped against the colder weather.

One commenter Vanita Jones wrote: “That’s so sad who on earth would do such a thing probably someone who would rob from a poppy collector horrible times we live in. I do hope you get it back.”

Siobhan Black added: “How sad. It seems self sacrifice, decency and respect are words missing in some people’s vocabularies.”

In 1940 more than 300,000 Allied soldiers were evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk France between May 26th and June 4th.

British, French, Canadian, and Belgian troops had been forced back to Dunkirk by the advancing German army.

In an effort to rescue some of the troops, Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered the start of Operation Dynamo which sent hundreds of ships to the French shore.

Nearly 7000 ships brought over 338,000 people back to Britain, including more than 100,000 soldiers of the French Army.

Source: Read Full Article