Steam tug towing a motor launch, both laden with troops. Larger vessels would often tow the smaller vessels across the Channel to save wear and tear on their engines. The Dunkirk evacuation relied on ships both great and small. Off the beaches the larger ships would wait as smaller shallow draft vessels got close to the beaches to pick up the waiting troops. They would then often be transhipped to larger vessels to allow the ???little ships??? to go back to the beach and rescue another group of troops. OFFICIAL despatches from British military leaders included in a new book have shed light on some of World War Two???s crucial battles. As the movie on Churchill???s WW2 leadership, The Darkest Hour and the British blockbuster Dunkirk are both set to be nominated for numerous Oscars, this book on the crucial despatches relating to this period focuses on operations against the Nazis in 1940, including the Dunkirk evacuation and the Battle of Britain. They go into unusual levels of detail and are written in a straightforward style, with unvarnished insights into what the commanders at the time felt was important for the public and politicians to know about the military operations they concern. One such dispatch deals with the concerns of an ever-approaching enemy which could be held off no longer and the need for evacuation from Dunkirk. The despatches form the basis of G. H. Bennett???s new book, Desperate Victories, published by Amberley. GH Bennett / mediadrumworld.com