World War II veterans set sail from Dover yesterday to cross the English Channel to Dunkirk for a commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the evacuation.

The former troops and their families were given a rousing send-off, with a performance from the Parachute Regimental Band and a chorus of Jerusalem from a Royal Choral Society choir. A Spitfire and a Hurricane aircraft performed a military fly-past, soaring through the grey sky above the ferry as it made its way to northern France.

Meanwhile, a flotilla, of "little ships" involved in the evacuation set sail from Ramsgate in Kent to join Norfolk Line's Maersk Dover on the French coast.

The vessels, many of which were private fishing or pleasure boats, were drafted in to help evacuate the troops from the beaches of Northern France in 1940.

They were escorted back there by Royal Navy frigate HMS Monmouth.

In Dunkirk, the nine veterans attended a ceremony to mark the historic rescue mission.

A silence was held to commemorate the event and a bugle player sounded the Last Post.

Rose petals were scattered and white doves released to symbolise peace. The veterans were joined on board the ferry by members of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the Help for Heroes charity.

The Dunkirk evacuation, dubbed Operation Dynamo, saw 338,000 troops rescued from the beaches of northern France between May 27 and June 4, 1940.

It came after the speed of the German advance through Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg and France left nearly half a million British and French troops trapped there.

The rescue was led by the Royal Navy, which drafted in ships and boats of every size.

Described as a "miracle of deliverance" by British wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill, it is seen as one of several events in 1940 that determined the eventual outcome of the war.