A visit to the Secret Wartime
Tunnels was of particular interest as it showed a
different aspect of the French knowledge of the
history of the Second World War. It brought back
many memories for one guest in particular, M Andre
Lecromp, who was himself rescued from the beaches
of Dunkirk on 1st June 1940 and brought back to
England aboard HMS "Shearwater". A total of 338,000
English, French and Belgian troops were rescued
over a period of a few days. Initially only 40,000
were expected to be saved. The event became known
as the "Dunkirk Miracle".
In the evening a Gala Dinner
and book launch was held at Cliffsend Village Hall
where over sixty visitors and hosts enjoyed a
festive evening, presided over by Chairman Russell
Hards. Among the guests were the Mayor and Mayoress
ofRamsgate- Also present was M Jean-Claude Tibeau
from Belgium, Chairman of Chimay Twinning
Association, with which town Ramsgate is preparing
to twin in 2004. The evening opened with the launch
of a book published by the Ramsgate Twinning
Association with an exhibition of the original
paintings by artist, Denys Le Fevre used to
illustrate the book, which has been produced to
celebrate 25 years of twinning with
Conflans-Ste-Honorine.
During the evening entertainment was provided by the Southern Sorcerers performing various feats of magic. Miss Alex Smith and M Marc Levrange provided a brief musical interlude with popular songs.
On Sunday morning a joint
meeting of the committees from both towns was held
when present progress was reported and plans for
the future development of the social, cultural and
historical events of the two towns were laid. At
1.30 pm the Mayor and Mayoress of Ramsgate were
again in attendance to bid our guests farewell and
bon voyage.
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