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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

CONFIDENTIAL.
Page 9.
Operation "DYNAMO" - Narrative of Events.
Wednesday, 29th May (continued).
route provided the passage between Calais Bell Buoy and
Dunkirk be made in darkness.
Route X passed some 26 miles to the South-westward of the extreme N.E. point of the Northern Route Y, the locality in which enemy M.T.B. attack threatened, and was shielded by the
French minefields in the Ruytingen and Dyck channels. It appears that the enemy M.T.B. command failed to appreciate the withdrawal of traffic to the S.W. and did not follow up.
In the evening it was reported that there was no congestion anywhere on the coast, except at La Panne. The force at La
Panne was accordingly reinforced as ships became available.
30. An additional beach party of 7 officers and a number of ratings under Captain J. Howson was sailed in SABRE at
1600 for Dunkirk, and Captain E. Bush, who had already visited
Dunkirk and was aware of the general conditions, was sent to
HEBE as S.N.O. afloat off the beaches. An M.T.B. was placed at the disposal of the S.N.O. on the coast.
31. At about 1600 a heavy air attack commenced on the
East Mole Pier, Dunkirk harbour, mainly by dive bombing, which lasted continuously for more than 2 hours. At the same time, other air attacks took place on ships lying off Bray,
Attacks were renewed from time to time up till after 2000, nt only on Dunkirk, but on ships off Bray, in the Zuydecoote
Pass and those in the Southern end or X Route. These attacks vere to have a disastrous result on the evacuation arrangements at Dunkirk. There were present alongside the inner side of the Eastern Arm 2 destroyers GRENADE and JAGUAR, 3 Trawlers head of the GRENADE and JAGUAR, 3 more trawlers ahead of them vith the CANTERBURY in the next berth, and a French destroyer head of the CANTERBURY. Outside the harbour on the outside of
;he Eastern Arm the Transport FENELLA was berthed opposite the
RENADE and JAGUAR and the CRESTED EAGLE opposite the 6 trawlers.
in addition, the MALCOLM and VERITY were also in the harbour ut further inside. This presented a very good target and the hips were soon hit and embarkation of troops ceased for the ime being. CANTERBURY, accompanied by JAGUAR, succeeded in eaving harbour, but both were hit by bombs and damaged. Both succeeded in reaching Dover, though JAGUAR had to be towed art of the way and was subjected to many attacks on passage.
ANTERBURY reached harbour at 2115 and disembarked 1950 troops ut was sufficiently damaged to prevent her being used again n these operations. To return to Dunkirk - FENELLA was lying longside on the outside of the pier, and was hit and sunk.
RENADE and one of the trawlers on the East side were hit and he trawler sank in the fairway. GRENADE sinking and on fire ad to be abandoned and appeared to be about to sink in the airway. A trawler was detailed to tow her clear. VERITY, no witnessed this occurrence was continuously straddled by ombs for 35 minutes. Passage all along the pier having eased, she cast off, and skirting the burning GRENADE and rawler, proceeded out of harbour, grounding slightly on a ink drifter in the entrance. At about 1800 KING ORRY arrived o find the harbour occupied only by burning and sinking ships, th no sign of any one on the pier nor any boat moving in the harbour/