In the first of our two summer Saturday afternoon talks Selwyn Williams will tell the story of the GWR ferry, St Julien.
The St Julien was built in 1925 as a GWR ferry between Weymouth and the Channel Islands, but then at the outbreak of WW2 she was hired and fitted out as a Hospital Carrier and commissioned for service on 17th October 1939. She was involved in Dunkirk and thence all along the French coast as the Germans advanced then off to Scapa Flow, North Africa, Sicily. Italy, the D Day beaches and then running back and forth to Dover from the recovered French ports. After the war she returned to the Channel Islands service until she was decommissioned and scrapped in 1961.
Selwyn Williams is an author, maritime historian and archaeologist and owner of 6 shipwrecks. But most of all he describes himself as “an unapologetic Treasure Diver as the greatest treasure is the story of the wreck”. Both his parents served on the St Julien.
The talk will be held in Hope United Reformed Church at 8 Trinity Street. Doors will open at 2.00pm and the talk will begin at 2.30pm.
Tickets will be available on the door and are £2.00 for members of the Friends and £3.00 for visitors. (Exact change would be appreciated, if possible).
