Barry and John Slayford will formally present this model of HMS Medway Queen to us at the Medway Queen Visitor Centre on Saturday 3rd June. ​

Photo below: John Slayford

The model has been donated by brothers Barry & John Slayford, who originally purchased it online some time ago. Their father, John Slayford, was rescued by the Medway Queen on the "last rescue journey from Dunkirk". "Last" can actually refer to either of two trips since the crew were originally told that trip 6 would be their last. Trip 7 was added later when it was realised that many men of the French rear guard were still ashore.

Photographic evidence is, perhaps, more readily available now than it was when the model was built and no doubt our “experts” will crawl over it (metaphorically) and suggest improvements to its accuracy. That will have to be assessed carefully and adjustments made where possible without harming the original. You can be sure that best use will be made of the model in promoting the ship’s centenary next year and the Dunkirk anniversary in 2025.

​The Medway Queen Visitor Centre will be open as usual from 11am to 4pm (last admission 3pm) and ship tours will operate as normal.

Elsewhere our Medway Queen West support group are attending another event at Havenstreet on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway (13 & 14 May). The stall will, naturally, feature Medway Queen's time on the Island and we hope to add more anecdotes of that time to our records.