'Operation Dynamo', co-ordinated by Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsay and his small team in the tunnels beneath Dover Castle, was the rescue operation implemented by the Royal Navy.

Ramsay and his staff made plans and arranged for ships to evacuate the British Expeditionary Force, stranded on the beaches at Dunkirk having been pushed back by the Germans, who on took 25 May had taken Boulogne and the following day had also gained control of Calais. Dunkirk became the only viable port from which the the Allied soldiers could escape.

The evacuation was put into action on the 26th May, and on 4th June in 1940, the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk was completed.  

Churchill studies reports with Vice Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay 28 August 1940 © IWM (H 3508)

Despite Winston Churchill's claim that 'Wars are not won by evacuations’, he went on to speak the well known stirring words 'We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender'.

The remarkable evacuation, undertaken partly by the hundreds of ‘little ships’ that flocked across the channel to help, has gone down in history as nothing short of a ‘Miracle'. 🎖️ This year marks 84 years since this incredible moment in history.

Troops on the beach at Dunkirk awaiting evacuation © Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

Shown here is a Dunkirk related lot sold previously in one of our auctions, it features a Dunkirk Evacuation Military Medal of Acting Group Captain Leslie Ralph Flower of the Royal Air Force. Read the full description of this lot here.

C&T are frequently consigned historically significant pieces of Militaria. Keep an eye out for future lots with fascinating historical significance in our upcoming Fine Arms, Armour & Militaria auctions! Our next live auction is set to take place on 17th July 2024.