A BOAT found floating in the sea after the Evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940, is still fighting fit at its home in Llandrillo.
The boat, found keeping men afloat in the English Channel, has been looked after by one man and his family ever since.
"My cousin, Norman Pretty was a marine engineer during the second world war," said Ian Preston, who lives in Llandrillo.
"At the time of the Dunkirk Evacuation, he along with his tug, and other boats were asked to go out to bring people back. He did many trips."
The events at Dunkirk saw the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between May 27 - June 4, 1940.
The rescue was hailed as a 'miracle of deliverance' by the prime minister Winston Churchill.
On the first day, only 7,010 men were evacuated, but by the ninth day, a total of 338,226 soldiers had been rescued by the hastily assembled fleet of 850 boats.
Many of the troops were able to embark from the harbour's protective mole onto 42 British destroyers and other large ships, while others had to wade from the beaches toward the ships, waiting for hours to board.
Others were ferried from the beaches to the larger ships, and thousands were carried back to England by the famous little ships of Dunkirk, a flotilla of around 700 merchant marine boats, fishing boats, pleasure craft and Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats.
"On the return journey on his second to last trip, he came across eight men who were keeping afloat on a waterlogged boat," said Mr Preston.
"He had no more room left on is tug, which was full of men.
"So he got the soaked men aboard, put some dry men in the boat and then towed them and the boat back."
Mr Pretty kept the boat, and eventually sent it by rail to Mr Preston's parents who owned a summer house next to a lake in Lincolnshire.
"He put the boat onto the train at a station in London somewhere and sent it to us," said Mr Preston.
"When it arrived it had a two inch hole in it.
"I remember my cousin saying 'It came all the way from Dunkirk without damage, but got a two inch hole from a train journey from London'."
The boat was soon repaired and the family used it on the river.
The boat was passed around a number of family members.
"Ten years ago I saw the boat sat turned upside down and thought it can't be left like that, so I brought it back to Llandrillo," added Mr Preston.
"As this boat is very historic, I would be pleased to meet anyone who would like to restore it."
Anyone interested in restoring the boat contact natalie.jones@nwn.co.uk