JUST SO BEAUTIFUL

Ramsgate - Sunday 18th May 2025

The warm afternoon sun shone brightly, the 'little ships' lay calmly at rest and a massed choir started to sing absolutely beautifully as thousands of spectators surrounding Ramsgate Royal Harbour witnessed a truly emotional event on Sunday afternoon.

Our grandson was a member of the choir and we were also at the harbour to celebrate my daughters birthday.

As I stood with my wife enjoying the very scene in my snapshot above I looked down at our youngest granddaughter, then to my daughter and back to the gathered masses. My mind began to think of my late father - James Walter Hart - and all his fellow servicemen on the Dunkirk beach in 1940. It must have been hell on earth.

Dad was stuck on the beach and under regular attack for over a week back then and I remember him telling me of the many times he waded out and back to shore again, usually under fire, as each time the boats were full. He was thankfully one of the 300,000+ eventually saved (but not before his own brave actions that later saw him decorated with the Military Medal by his King at Buckingham Palace for selflessly and heroically saving comrades lives). Indeed, he was one of the last to get home.

As the choir so brilliantly reached the emotional climax of their piece, the claxons of the 'little ships' sounded, louder and louder in unison.

I was so glad to be wearing sunglasses. I'd had a lump in my throat and my eyes had been watering throughout the event, but at the unexpected sounding of those 'little ships' claxons a shudder went through me and singular tears rolled down each of my cheeks.

Eighty five years after sailing to save so many servicemen trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk from almost certain death we were all here giving thanks for the miracle it truly was.

If those 'little ships' and their brave civilian crews had not risked all for our serviceman then I wouldn't have been here in the sun with my beautiful wife, my grandson would not have been singing so beautifully, our granddaughter would not have been smiling at us so beautifully and my beautiful daughter would not have been celebrating her birthday.

Just so beautiful!