Willdora
in the evacuation of Dunkirk.
Our aim is to restore and maintain the Willdora; a veteran of operation Dynamo, the evacuation of 350,000 allied troops off the beaches of Dunkirk, and Le Pann in 1940.
The Willdora was responsible for saving the lives of over 200 soldiers, one of whom lived in Sunderland. A provenance and a collection of artefacts, goes with the vessel which includes regimental shields from some of the regiments of the soldiers saved.
The Willdora was built in 1901 and is included in ‘The Historic Fleet of the United Kingdom' certificate No. 1858, issued on the 30th of August 2001. A further inspection has recently been undertaken by the National Historic Ships Committee. The vessel has links with Sunderland in as much as it was brought to the city by Sunderland Council in the 1970's as a maritime project for Hylton Redhouse comprehensive school.
The vessel has had several restoration attempts in the past, the last being by Chris Carolan (read his account) who converted the boat into a pleasure cruiser. We wish to restore the Willdora as near as is practical to its original build specification and to maintain it as a working vessel to promote the aims of Sunderland Maritime Heritage as well as preserving a piece of the nation’s history.
We have begun our restoration work. See our progress
When restored the Willdora will be available to schools and educational establishments for site visits and, weather and tides permitting, short trips on the river.
You can find more on the Wildora on these web-sites
Assosiation of Dunkirk Little Ships