History — Tahilla

1922

Built by JI Thorneycroft to the order of Mr D Melville Wills (of WD & HO Wills) to transport the family from their Bristol Estates to their Estates on the West Coast of Scotland.

Tahilla undertaking her first engine trials after launch in 1922 with her original Thorneycroft four-cylinder paraffin engines.

1940

Tahilla was commanded on Operation Dynamo (the Evacuation of Dunkirk) by Sub-Lieutenant MJR Yaiteman RNR.

In May, 1940 whilst taking part in the evacuation of English, French and Belgian soldiers from Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo), Tahilla (then Skylark) was strafed by an enemy aircraft (a Messerschmitt 109) and her stern gear was rendered inoperable (evidence of this damage including burn marks were found when repair work was carried out in 2021). She was found floating abandoned by another Dunkirk Little Ship “Southern Queen”. Southern Queen, under the command of Basil de Mattos also found the Eastbourne Lifeboat adrift, and towed both her and Tahilla back to England.

Without Captain de Mattos and “Southern Queen” Tahilla would not be here today.

Tahilla took part in what Winston Churchill described as ‘a miracle of deliverance’, the evacuation of 338,000 British and allied troops from the open beaches of Dunkirk. One of the great military feats of history.

Tahilla and Southern Queen share a berth at a Dunkirk reunion.

1950s - 1970s

Tahilla was one of the first yachts available for Mediterranean charter after the Second World War.

Tahilla’s Mediteranean Cruising Brochure

Tahilla on charter in Monte Carlo harbour, July 1957

1980s - 2015

Tahilla used primarily as a private yacht on the South Coast of England, the Channel Islands, Northern France and the Benelux countries.

2015 - present

Tahilla has been used as a private yacht again primarily on the South Coast of England, the Channel Islands, Northern France and the Benelux countries.