During what has become known as the Battle of France in World War II, German troops had surrounded more than 338,000 allied troops on the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk in northern France. The soldiers had retreated to the sea and could retreat no further. The Germans were preparing to slaughter them. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill considered this the greatest military defeat in centuries and struggled to find a solution. Time was of the essence. With each passing hour, the outcome looked more grim. At Churchill’s request, the British Navy requisitioned more than 850 “little ships” which consisted of family yachts, lifeboats, fishing vessels, sailing barges, fire boats, paddle steamers, river launches, and just about anything else that could float to help in the evacuation codenamed Operation Dynamo. Some of the boats were taken under protest. Others were taken without permission. In some cases, the boat owners were unaware that their boats were taken until the operation was over.
One boat owner, 66-year-old chicken farmer Charles Lightoller, refused to allow the Navy to take his 52-foot converted Admiralty steam pinnace called Sundowner. Charles, a retired sea captain himself who was twice awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery, declared that he would captain Sundowner himself. He insisted that his ship would be crewed by his oldest son, 33-year-old Robert Lightoller, and 18-year-old sea scout Gerald Ashcroft. Charles was no stranger to danger. He had survived the sinking of two ships during World War I, and rammed and sank a German U-boat, UB-110, with his destroyer HMS Garry. Charles’s ship was so badly damaged during the ramming that he had to steer it 160 miles to safety in reverse. The Royal Navy knew of his seamanship and agreed to his request. Captain Charles and his crew left the harbor at Ramsgate, England for Dunkirk.

Although Sundowner was licensed to carry just 21 passengers, Captain Charles loaded his ship with sailors. One survivor wrote a letter to Charles’s widow, Sylvia, after his death in 1952. He told her that he “looked over the stern while your husband stowed the soldiers below in every corner it was possible to stow one. Only your late husband’s knowledge of the Channel and his seamanship brought the boat right back into Ramsgate harbour.” For nine days in May and June 1940, hundreds of “little ships” including Charle’s Sundowner, evacuated more than 338,000 stranded allied soldiers from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, France.

Charles, the captain of the little ship who saved 139 lives during the evacuation of Dunkirk, is mostly remembered as the second officer of what was once the largest ship afloat. Charles Lightoller was the last person off of and the most senior surviving officer of the Titanic.