Legendary ‘little ship’ of Dunkirk now helping save lives once again
Having saved hundreds of WW2 soldiers’ lives, Skylark IX was consigned to a watery grave ... but she has now been revived with a little help from a project which rehabilitates former addicts
SHE plotted her course from Balloch, festooned in bunting and with day-trippers on board for a gentle cruise through spectacular scenery.
For 33 years, Skylark IX was a familiar sight on the calm waters of Loch Lomond – a world away from the carnage of the Second World War when she was among the brave “little ships” that scooped 340,000 British and French troops to safety from the beaches of Dunkirk.
The war over, the plucky little cruiser had sailed north to bring pleasure to tourists. None, surely, could have suspected the blood and terror which once stained her pristine decks.
By 2008, however, the once gailydecorated pleasure cruiser was rotting and it seemed a watery grave awaited on the bottom of the River Leven.
Now, the little ship that saved hundreds of war-battered soldiers is set to take pride of place at a new £3 million heritage and training centre and, in a poignant twist, doing what she does best – plucking those in need from miserable depths and offering them another bite at life.
Support to survive
AT Dumbarton-based community drug project Alternatives, lives are patched together through counselling, workshops, outdoor pursuits and training programmes. There are complimentary therapies, family support groups, and a chance to move into supported accommodation – a first step for people once in the grip of substances or isolation to ease themselves into a home of their own.
Thanks to Skylark IX, there has also been the chance for some to learn the traditional skills of boatbuilding alongside a specialist team, helping to restore the 50ft war veteran and building new skiffs which it’s hoped will help aid their recovery and revive the once thriving sport of skiff rowing on the waters off Dumbarton. The new Spirit of Skylark Centre will ensure a permanent home for Skylark IX, believed to be one of only two “little ships” from Operation Dynamo surviving in Scotland.
Located in the grounds of the Scottish Maritime Museum (Denny Tank) in
Dumbarton, it will become a hub for boatbuilding training, with volunteers from Alternatives and others learning traditional wooden boat-building skills as they work on her restoration and construct 22ft St Ayles skiffs.
Although a recent condition survey revealed Skylark IX is too structurally unsound to take to the water again, she will eventually take pride of place in a sound-and-vision experience that will tell the story of Operation Dynamo and celebrate the age of pleasure boat trips “doon the watter”.
Being involved with the Skylark IX Recovery Trust gives me a sense of purpose and routine
For James Currie, one of the volunteer boat-building trainees from Alternatives’ Safe as Houses project in Clydebank, being involved with Skylark IX has helped change his life around.
“Being involved with the Skylark IX Recovery Trust gives me a sense of purpose and routine,” he says.
“I know I can be at the workshop on Mondays and Tuesdays and I’ll have people around me I can talk to. I can look back and see how far I’ve come.
“Last year, I wouldn’t have believed in myself or had the confidence and I wouldn’t have had these opportunities or been able to do all of these things and the other projects within the Trust.”