TNA ADM 199 792

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a large oblong chamber at right angles to the passage and divided up by
boarding into a number of offices. Past these a narrow passage led to the and
and the V.A.'s office. Hore the chamber finished in a large window and door
out on to a nerrow railod-in platform on the shoor face of the cliff. Immediately
below you looked down 300 feet into the chimney pots and gardons of houses on
the foreshore, and beyond the harbour was spread out in closr view. No Navol
Officer can ever have had a botter view of his command.
One of the offices in this "casomate," as the chamber was called, was known
as the "Dynamo Room," from the code word which had been given to the Dunklrk
operation. Here the presiding genius as Captain Denny, who wes responsible for
the general dotails. With him there were about 20 or more Officers, coldiors,
Naval Officers, Board of Trade and Sea Transport Officials, and the work they
did was marvollous. They were controlling, organizing, fuelling, supplying,
not only mon-of-war, but a variety of merchant vessols. Sometimes the CLOW of
a merchant vessel would refuse to go to Dunkirk again - within a fow hours the
Sea Transport Officer had got another crew and the ship would sail. At Ramogate,
the Nore, and various other places besides Dover, ships and boats were collected
and organized, but the head and control of the whole was in this room, where
they worked continuously and tirelessly against time day and night.
Admiral Somorville had come down to assist Admiral Ramucy, and Captain
Bisset to assist Captain Morgan, the Chief of Staff. This was absolutely
necessary as at any moment in the day or night some decision might have to be
made.
Here I went for information and to learn what was planned for the night.
Briefly it was this:-
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Embarkation was to take place between 2100 and 0330 and was to be from the 1/2
miles of beach to the East of Dünkirk. For this large numbers of shipps and small
craft were being assembled and sent over. Personnel ships were to be sont into
Dunkirk itself and to go alongside the pier. The Air Force were to concontrate
their efforts between 1900 and 0700 over the period when ships would be on
passage to and from Dunkirk.
The personnel ships were large fast passenger vossels of the overs-channel
type which had been taken up for formying troops DODOSS to Franco. They vere
marmed by their normal drown and had been going tnto the harbour and loading