Selected contemporary records revealing individual experiences, official decisions and the practical realities of Operation Dynamo. Select any document image to enlarge it.
Transcriptions and descriptions are provided as research aids. Always inspect the original image and source reference before relying on a record.
An Admiralty press notice dated 4 June 1940 congratulating the services involved in the evacuation and recognising the endurance, cooperation and sacrifice that brought the operation to a successful conclusion.
Admiralty press notice, 4 June 1940
Vessels were painted grey for the evacuation—a gentleman’s yacht, being pristine white, was simply unacceptable for wartime. It breaks all the rules of military aesthetics.
Dunkirk, May–June 1940: Log of Laetitia
“A. G. McCrum, R.N., who was in control of the foremost gun and who set an example of cheerfulness and courage which did much to keep up the spirits of the ship’s company throughout a trying few hours.”
Wartime commendation, page 4
“Our first bit of excitement was when a floating mine was seen and after making several attempts to sink it with machine gun fire we had to take a wide detour, and this interlude together with the delay in endeavouring to clear the propellers of the vessels which had been fouled caused us to be very much later than intended.”
Account by Lieutenant-Commander R. W. Faulkner, R.N.R.
Not everyone was so keen. At Folkestone on 2–3 June, aboard S.S. Ben-my-Chree, the guard had to force the crew back on board at the point of the bayonet to keep them there until the relief crew arrived.
Principal Sea Transport Officer, Dover, 5 June 1940
A report describing how H.T. Canterbury sailed only after an unfit master was replaced, missing crew were augmented and an armed guard was placed aboard.
Principal Sea Transport Officer, Dover, 4 June 1940
“When being bombed in daylight and at night it is apparently the Army training for the men to lie over on their faces in a huddled heap and to await the completion of the air raid. I consider that if one lies over on one’s face during an air raid, one gets the impression that the bombs when falling with very horrid shrieking noises are each and all coming to land right in the small of one’s back.”
Personal remarks and criticisms, wartime report
An engineering report recording approximately 170 vessels dealt with for defects and describing the workshops, personnel, fuel and materials used at the naval base at Ramsgate.
Engineer Captain, Naval Base Ramsgate, 10 June 1940
A Ministry of Shipping announcement conveying the Government’s gratitude to the masters and crews of merchant ships that participated in the evacuation.
Ministry of Shipping announcement, 21 June 1940
An Admiralty summary dated 3 June 1940 describing the scale of the withdrawal, recording naval losses and listing representative vessels engaged in the operation.
Admiralty, 3 June 1940
A naval cypher concerning Dover Force at sea and instructions that identified dead should, where possible, be buried at sea.
Naval Cypher (B), 30 May 1940
A letter from the Small Vessels Pool discussing an injured man’s pay, hospital treatment and suitability for a Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve commission.
Small Vessels Pool, Admiralty, 25 June 1940