Subject

The Boatyard of Tough Brothers, Ferry Road,was at the wharf opposite Teddington Lock. In May 1940 Douglas Tough organised and assembled 100 private boats at that location to join in the Dunkirk evacuation.

From the Dunkirk Project: "Douglas Tough ... was authorised by the Admiralty to requisition and collect boats from the Thames. 'Fortunately the boats were there, in muddy estuaries and creeks, in deserted moorings along the coasts of Kent and Sussex and in the quiet reaches of the Thames'. He and Ron Lenthall collected more than 100 boats from the upper Thames, towed them to Sheerness, fuelled them and collected them together at Ramsgate, where naval officers, ratings and experienced volunteers were put on board and 'directed' to Dunkirk. Some of the owners were less than pleased, many others immediately volunteered to take their own boats."