'When I were lad' we lived in, what was then, the quiet village of Lower Rainham (Kent), which was on the edge of the River Medway estuary. There were many WW2 landing craft on the shore, waitng to be broken up by a salvage company at Bloors Wharf. Our parents, who would have been horrified at the risks we took, fighting 'battles', in these, half-submerged craft. There are still traces of the wrecks if you know where to look.
While on the subject of raising historic vessels, while on a UK visit recently, I visited Gillingham Pier, to see how restoration of The Paddle Steamer Medway Queen was progressing. This is another boat that was allowed to deteriorate to the point of near destruction, before The Medway Queen Preservation Society began the long, and expensive, task of getting her restored. In the fifties, my parents used to take me on the Medway Queen for the trip from Chatham to Southend, and I have fond memories of sitting on deck eating fish & chips with my fingers, as the boat, with it's strange left/right motion, returned to Sun Pier.
I had no idea, at the time, that just a few years earlier, She had taken part in Operation Dynamo,the evacuation of Dunkirk, and was responsible for rescuing more than 7,000 men. Such a tragedy, that in later years, the boat was allowed to rot away, half submerged, on the banks of the Medway.
Although much of the major work has now been completed, The Medway Queen Preservation Society are desperately in need of additional funds to complete the renovation, as the aim is for Her to return to Dunkirk with the other 'Little Ships' for the seventy-fifth anniversary next year.
You can visit the 'Queen' and the Visitor Centre at Gillingham Pier any Saturday throughout the year.
