WARTIME memories will be rekindled when one of the town's 'little ships' returns to France to commemorate its role in the Dunkirk evacuation.

The Devon Belle, moored at Pipers Island off Caversham Bridge, was built in 1938 and - although licensed only for 100 passengers now - was able to ferry 200 soldiers from the beaches to the larger ships waiting in the Channel during the 1940 evacuation of 338,000 Allied troops.

She is owned and used as a pleasureboat by Thames Rivercruise, whose owner Tim Deaton will skipper the boat on the commemorative voyage next week, as he did on anniversary trips in 2000 and 2005.

He bought Devon Belle in 1999 without knowing about its wartime service and said he was "proud and honoured" to be taking her back to Dunkirk again, adding: "She's a fabulous boat. When we've made the trip before, it was always a very moving experience. The people of Dunkirk are so hospitable, when we got there they were all lining the quayside and clapping the boats coming in."

Devon Belle was based in Dartmouth when Operation Dynamo was announced and was the furthest west of the ships called up to evacuate Allied troops from Dunkirk. Towards the end of the war she took to sea again, carrying reinforcements across the Channel to the Allies' prefabricated Mulberry harbours in northern France after D-Day.

Mr Deaton, 61, said: "She really has quite a history of wartime service. Older people especially are always interested and have a lot of questions about her life story."

The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships (ADLS) organises the trip every five years to keep the spirit of Dunkirk alive. The Devon Belle, once owned by naturalist and broadcaster Tony Soper, will leave Reading on Monday and arrive in Dunkirk on Thursday accompanied by HMS Monmouth and 52 other 'little ships'.

Mr Deaton, who founded Thames Rivercruise in 1974, is hoping to meet up with Dunkirk veterans from Reading and Henley next week.

The Devon Belle's schedule:

Monday, May 24 - Devon Belle leaves Reading at 10am for Windsor

Tuesday, May 25 - Leave Windsor at 9am for Greenwich

Wednesday, May 26 - Leave Greenwich at 8am for Ramsgate for a blessing, a fly-over, a reception and a dinner at the Royal Temple Yacht Club with Winston Churchill's grandaughter Cynthia Sandy

Thursday, May 27 - Crossing to Dunkirk at 7am

Friday, May 28 - Town Hall reception in Dunkirk

Saturday, May 29 - Parade on the beaches where the little ships sail in a large circle, saluting the veterans, while an RAF Lancaster drops poppies in commemoration of the fallen

Sunday, May 30 - Lunchtime reception with veterans from Reading and Henley

Monday, June 1 - Return to Ramsgate

Thursday, June 3 - Return to Reading