TNA ADM 199 792

Collection details

TNA ADM 199 792

Admiralty records concerning Operation Dynamo and the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk, covering 1940–1941.

Holding archive: TNA
Collection reference: ADM 199 792

View the archive catalogue entry ↗

Source: The National Archives, Kew, ADM 199/792. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Showing only pages tagged with the vessel name Polly. Tags are exact matches from this collection’s OCR tag index. Clear vessel filter ×

Showing only document page 199. Show all matching pages ×

1 matching pages. OCR may contain transcription errors.

List page 1 of 1 Showing document pages 199–199 of this collection

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Considerable post-production work has been undertaken to crop, align, flatten and enhance the images where practicable, but the results represent our best effort rather than exact facsimiles. Text showing through from the reverse of a page, printed backgrounds, stamps, ruled lines, marks and text visible from neighbouring pages may confuse or spoil OCR output. Handwriting is not reliably recognised and, in most places, may be missing, incomplete or incorrectly transcribed. Always check the page image and, where accuracy matters, consult the original record held by the identified archive.

OCR is not a transcription. It is machine-generated text used to create research tags and help locate names and references within the source images; it should not be read as a verified narrative.

Page	Image	OCR text	OCR tags
199	Log in to enlarge	Dyram. #9 G.D. No. 5d. To: Commander Dover. M/S 31st May, 1940. 245 Sir, Polly 247 JOHNSON I beg to report the following:- On the 29th May I proceeded in company to Dunkirk. arriving about 1500. About 1600 the fleet laying alongside the pier were heavily bombed by air attack, The "Polly Johnson" laying outside berth, in my opinion, got the full weight. Bombs were exploding within 10 yards; she shook and trembled. I had six casualties. 65 With great difficulty, also with half of my crew wiped out, I managed to get my ship clear of Dunkirk harbour with survivors from a. Destroyer, and also soldiers. About half an hour after leaving Dunkirk, my chief reported that the ship was making water fast. Water was over the stoke hole floors. I signalled to H.M. Trawler "Arley" (next ahead) "ship making water rapidly, keep close to me". About five minutes afterwards I received a signal "have orders to take survivors and crew and sink "Polly Johnson". About ten minutes after this was carried out. The "Arley" fired two rounds then left "Polly Johnson". She was still afloat when I last saw her. Position Middlekerke Bank Buoy (midway) Nieuport Bank Buoy. In my opinion that was the best way out, the "Polly Johnson" being badly bombed and would not have been fit for further service. Her port side was simply riddled along the water line and I am sure she would not have reached the nearest port. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient Servant, g. Lake Skipper Lieutenant R.D., R.N.R. a S, cannt. In ADMIR CAPTAIN AUXILIARY PATRO VICE JUN 1940 1- DOV (Continued over).	Arley Polly Polly Johnson Dover Johnson Lake Last May

Raw OCR

Unformatted machine-generated OCR for document page 199.

Dyram. #9
G.D.
No. 5d.
To: Commander Dover. M/S
31st May, 1940.
245
Sir,
Polly 247 JOHNSON
I beg to report the following:-
On the 29th May I proceeded in company to Dunkirk.
arriving about 1500.
About 1600 the fleet laying alongside the pier were
heavily bombed by air attack, The "Polly Johnson" laying
outside berth, in my opinion, got the full weight. Bombs were
exploding within 10 yards; she shook and trembled.
I had six casualties.
65
With great difficulty, also with half of my crew
wiped out, I managed to get my ship clear of Dunkirk harbour
with survivors from a. Destroyer, and also soldiers.
About half an hour after leaving Dunkirk, my chief
reported that the ship was making water fast. Water was over
the stoke hole floors. I signalled to H.M. Trawler "Arley"
(next ahead) "ship making water rapidly, keep close to me". About
five minutes afterwards I received a signal "have orders to
take survivors and crew and sink "Polly Johnson". About ten
minutes after this was carried out. The "Arley" fired two
rounds then left "Polly Johnson". She was still afloat when I
last saw her. Position Middlekerke Bank Buoy (midway) Nieuport
Bank Buoy.
In my opinion that was the best way out, the "Polly
Johnson" being badly bombed and would not have been fit for
further service. Her port side was simply riddled along the
water line and I am sure she would not have reached the nearest
port.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
g. Lake
Skipper Lieutenant R.D., R.N.R.
a
S,
cannt.
In
ADMIR
CAPTAIN AUXILIARY PATRO
VICE JUN 1940 1-
DOV
(Continued over).