Operation volcano! Navy armada ready to pick up thousands of stranded Britons after France

Daily Mail ^ | 19th April 2010 | Vanessa Allen and Ray Massey

[rdl6989]

An Armada of Royal Navy ships is poised to rescue Britons stranded by the aviation shutdown.

The dramatic operation would carry thousands of families home from Channel ports in a rerun of the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation.

Security Minister Lord West said commercial ships and amphibious landing craft could also be drafted into service.

[rdl6989]

“After France Scuppers DIY Rescue Mission” is the rest of the title.

[rdl6989]

ping.

[Jet Jaguar]

Good on them.

I hope the can get some folks home safely.

[Thunder90]

Reverse D-Day...

I wonder if the French Navy will pick up stranded French citizens in the UK...

Is the Chunnel also down?

[xkaydet65]

Couldn’t they get on a train or buses and use the Chunnel?

[I_Publius]

I wonder if the U.S.A. will be called in to help them, as we did during the Great War? ;)

Oh...probably not now that our current Administration is no longer friends with the Western, civilized, free countries....what was I thinking!?!! </sarch>

[MuttTheHoople]

[rdl6989]

Thanks for posting.

[upstanding]

This is a bizarre story. Why can't stranded Britons take the Chunnel train? I've got to figure that if the UK is going to foot the bill for a flotilla to rescue vacationers that it would be far cheaper to pay for buses and trains.

I suppose it's a good training opportunity for the Navy?

[rdl6989]

I wondered about the chunnel.

[editor-surveyor]

The ‘Chunnel’ is a novelty, not a viable mass transit option.
.

[SunkenCiv]

Wow. Thanks rdl6989.

[Chode]

and to think the once great British fleet isn't big enough to pick up the stranded, much less fight a war...

[naturalman1975]

Everybody keeps asking about the Channel Tunnel - it’s a rail tunnel and every single train running through it is currently filled to absolute capacity. And they’ve put on every train they have, running at the highest frequency possible.

It’s moving quite a few people - thousands every day - but it’s a drop in the ocean compared to the number of people trapped on both sides of it.

[GunsAndBibles]

IIRC - They did not scrap the ferry system when they completed the chunnel. Those are some BIG ferry boats, more like cruise ships. Good PR for the Royal Navy though.

[naturalman1975]

The ferries are all at capacity too.

There are 750,000 Britons in Europe at the moment. While they are not all trying to get home, a lot of them are.

[celtic gal]

Yes parts may be. I spoke to a Brit pal about a month ago and there was a rail problem to be solved. Maybe it is still under repair. I had that thought as well...use the chunnel if you can travel to Paris or Calais by car.

[naturalman1975]

The chunnel is functioning - it’s just full. Everybody who can use it is already using it.

[upcountryhorseman]

Do trains work under these conditions?