The last British boat out of Holland in May 1940

Sheffield Wednesday halfback Billy Marsden was making his third appearance for the England team when suffered the injury that ended his playing career. Subsequently working in The Hague as a football coach when the Germans invaded in May 1940, he came under gunfire while attempting to catch the last boat back to England with his wife.

Just eight months into a career in the diplomatic service when the Germans invaded, Peers Carter found himself in charge of the British evacuation. Later in WW2 he joined General Leclerc's free french army on a 1500 mile fight acrss the desert. He would also serve as  Great Britain's ambassador to Afghanistan.

A rare woman's voice covering war on American network radio, NBC's Margaret Rupli was in Holland with her husband, the British journalist David Woodward of the News Chronicle, when the Germans invaded. She learned the basics of her craft  from the legendary broadcaster Edward R Murrow.

The driving force behind the Sadler's Wells Ballet and later the Royal Ballet, she was in charge of the Sadler's Wells touring party in Holland in 1940 when they narrowly escaped the German invasion of the Netherlands. She successfully led the company to safety, returning to Britain where they continued performing during the blitz.

A plaque was unveiled at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London, in November 2008, to commemorate those British diplomats who, by their personal endeavours, helped to rescue victims of Nazi racial policy. For his work as British Consul General in Danzig in the two years before the war and before his transfer to Amsterdam, Gerald Shepherd was among them.

A schoolchild when her Belgian family made their escape from Holland on the last British boat out of the Netherlands, she shared her evacuation story and details of her life in Hilversum with the author of 'Escape From Holland' before her death.

Of the Sadler's Wells touring party of 42 members who were in Holland when the Germans invaded the country in May 1940, Julia Farron was among the smallest and the youngest. She shared her memories of the Dutch tour with the author of 'Escape From Holland' before her death in 2019.

Jimmy 'Sprinter' Marshall was a striker for Partick Thistle in his playing career. He subsequently enjoyed a successful coaching career in the Netherlands, where he settled and married Margaret Glendenning, the daughter of Dutch national team manager Bob Glendenning. Together with his wife, son and father-in-law he had to escape from Holland during the German invasion of the country. 

After his escape from Holland in May 1940, composer and conductor Constant Lambert became the founding music director of the Royal Ballet, and alongside Dame Ninette de Valois and Sir Frederick Ashton he was a major figure in the establishment of the English ballet as a significant artistic movement.

When the German invasion of Holland started, former Liverpool and Arsenal centre-forward Fred Pagnam lived in Haarlem with his Dutch wife and their daughter Mary. He made his escape with his family on the. SS Dotterel.

Before he made his escape from Holland on the SS Dotterel, former Newcastle United and Norwich City striker, Curtis Booth, was manager of one of Amsterdam’s leading teams, Blauw-Wit. He had worked in the game all around the world, enjoying spells in Germany and Turkey, and he had led the Egyptian national side to the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Matt Bell was often known as Ginger in his playing days for Hull City and Nottingham Forest. As a coach he worked in the Netherlands, having to leave on the last British boat when the Germans invaded. His story of the invasion weekend is included in the book 'Escape From Holland' by Chris Hunt.

 Along with his brother Joseph, Daniel Meagher was a member of  the crew of the crew of the SS Dotterel during the weekend of the invasion of Holland. Younger brother Daniel died less than a year after the evacuation, killed when the Dotterel was torpedoed. He posthumously received the King’s Commendation for Brave Conduct. 

 After his escape from Holland, Richards stayed on the Daily Express as a military reporter and after the war he served the newspaper for many years as its news editor. He launched the short-lived Topic magazine as editor in 1961 and he wrote a regular column about the goings on in Fleet Street. 

The former Bolton Wanderers and  Watford goalkeeper Bill Yates made an early morning dash from Hilversum with his wife and three children to join the evacuation from Amsterdam. He is featured in the book 'Escape From Holland' by Chris Hunt.

Joining the Sadler's Wells Ballet at 14, Margot was 20 when she and the company got caught up in the German invasion of Holland. She remained with the company for her entire career and in the 1950s and 1960s was one of the most famous and recognisable women on the planet.

 Captain Green received a special commendation from the Admiralty in recognition of his actions on the Dotterel over the weekend of the invasion of Holland in May 1940. He continued serving as a jobbing ship’s captain until his retirement in 1953. 

Rear-Admiral Gerald Dickens was Naval Attaché to The Hague in 1940. He didn't make his escape on the  Dotterel, but whether by accident or design, he played the pivotal role in despatching the steamer to take part in the evacuation. His grandfather was the celebrated writer Charles Dickens.