Dunkirk 1940 photos. Some never seen before .

I asked on a other forum about the ship and had this reply from David Lesage.
David Lesage. Excerpt from a book on the history of Calais 39-45: "At sea, the Luftwaffe makes boxes? on everything that floats. Hit at the rear by a bomb, a dredger from Ostend, evacuating with refugees, is forced to run aground in the night, near the Casino. The next day, Ensign Wiart and sailor Jean George, filmmaker of the Sea Front, come aboard to film the damage. An incredible mess of furniture, luggage, linen, dishes, etc. invades all the compartments and even the deck where a There is still food and even bars of Belgian chocolate with colored paper. It is tempting but, victim like everyone else of the psychosis of the Fifth Column, poisoned sweets and booby-trapped objects, the E.V. Wiart disembarks without having touched anything. A team from the Coastal Defense is busy empty the holds to refloat the ship". This is indeed the dredger Vlaanderen I.
[ But instead it was the IV Vlaanderen as Christian has said ]

Maybe they did refloat the ship and it went to Calais?
A team from the Coastal Defense is busy empty the holds to refloat the ship"
I must have a lie-down in a dark room

Ensign Wiart , filmmaker of the Sea Front, come aboard to film the damage.
We need to find the film if it`s still out there.

 

I asked my fellow countrymen with an affinity for salt water about this:
https://www.shipsnostalgia.com/media/unknown-vlaanderen-4.90986/

The picture clearly shows the registration number VL4 below the bridge house, so it should be Vlaanderen 4.
As the vessel was neither listed as German booty nor in Belgian registers after 1941, it can be assumed that no salvage/repairs were carried out.

VL1 is not listed in the HMA at all, so I suspect that it could therefore be the ominous wreck 7nm off Dunkirk?

 

Here is a picture of the ‘Vlaanderen II’ mentioned by Christian
I have optimised it a little. Purists can find the original here:
Vlaanderen II - Suction dredges - Equipment | Dredging Database (Click on the picture at the bottom of the page to enlarge)

 

I have had this copy for a long time Published by Birmingham Library Services in 1989 . Dunkirk Diary Walf Saunders CBE

 

Used by the BBC for their superb docudrama Dunkirk, I just read. Never knew that.

 

Photo taken on 10-7-40 of the vehicle pier at La Panne. Info on the back of the photo. British army toolbox on the sand.
Photo from my collection.
Keith

 

One more photo of the French ship Pavon that had from 1300 to 1500 Dutch soldiers on board , The ship was hit with 50 Dutch soldiers killed and was beached at Les Hemmes de Marck near Calais. The ship had left Dunkirk. Photo from my collection
Keith

 

Malo les Bains. Chassur 9 1940. Photo from my collection.
Keith

 

Salvage attempts were abandoned after 3 days
Many more pictures: Chasseur 9: Les épaves au large de DUNKERQUE ( FRANCE - Nord )
(The inscription on the side of the wreck reads: Betreten verboten Hafenkommandant‘No entry allowed harbour commander’)

 

Vehicle Dump. There are a lot of photos of this dump. The trees give it away. Near Dunkirk? Photo from my collection.
Keith

 

A small orientation aid to be able to locate some pictures geographically:
Among other things, "Panzerbeutestäbe"** were set up to record enemy armour (OKH/GenStdH/GenQ/ 1/Ia Nr.9880/40 geh. v. 10.7.40)
In the Dunkirk area, this was Panzerbeutestab 2, who used this sign:


** Roughly read as: "Command staff for captured armour". I'm reaching my limits here with my 40-year-old school English
(The translator turned it into "tank loot stick", which is quite hilarious but also completely off the mark)

 

Hallo Olli,

The markings applied by the Panzerbeutestäbe on captured vehicles are visible on quite a lot of photos.
Could you enlighten us as to their significance? (or hint us towards a reliable source?)

KR,
Christian

 

I'm afraid the most reliable source at the moment is only me, because I can only quote from my notes
I have pieced this together from numerous individual sources on the net.
Somewhere in my sprawling bookmark folder there should be a few links, if I find them again, I'll add them

These staffs were formed from the personnel of the armoured divisions.
PBStab 1 location Loire estuary of personnel 1st PzDiv
PBStab 2 loction Brussels of personnel 4th PzDiV
PBStab 3 location Nancy of personnel 8th PzDiv
PBStab 4 location SE Brussels of personnel 10th PzDiv

sign of PBStab 4


Their task was to register the numerous armoured enemy vehicles and examine them for usability.
However, their documentation is extremely fragmentary - even for Wehrmacht units - as they only
existed in this form for a short time after the Western campaign.


In this context, it would be interesting to know where the A11 ‘Dazzle’ (4 RTR?) in the lower right was collected, as this might allow conclusions to be drawn about the area of responsibility of PBStab 2:

 

Thank you very much Olli!
I have been looking a long time, trying to find some document that would contain some explanation as to the symbols painted on the captured vehicles, but found nothing so far. t first, since Germans tend to document everything meticulously, I thought was looking in the wrong places. I'm relieved to know my question wasn't so silly after all

 

Dear Christian
Strictly speaking, it's all your ‘fault’, because your Bulskamp thread is what lured me down this Dunkirk rabbit hole in the first place.
Be that as it may, I have a certain fondness for unusual niche topics, which is why I had collected some material on them in between.
Keith's last post just reminded me of it again, and that it might be useful here

 

Bob Gregory in his 1st Army Tank Brigade book gives the location of "Dazzle" as the Arras rail yard and states that the Wehrmacht recovery numbers in the 800 range indicate that these were lost during the Arras counterattack.

 

Perfect, thank you!

 

You're always welcome Olli

 

Tank T7251 with the sign on. Number next to sign 1307 or 1397 ? Veh dump. Photo from my collection
Keith

 

Dunkirk area. Beach, center tank has sign on. Photo from my collection.
Keith