A major new visitor experience now open at Dover Castle re-creates the drama of the Dunkirk evacuation in the same historic tunnels in which the desperate rescue operation - codenamed Operation Dynamo - was masterminded.
Command Centre for a Dramatic Rescue
Vice-Admiral Bertram Ramsay's initial impression of his command centre in the Secret Wartime Tunnels at Dover Castle was not positive. "We have no stationary, books, typists or machines, few chairs, very few tables, maddening communications," he wrote in a letter to his wife.
And yet only a few months later in May and June 1940, a weary and badly mauled British army, trapped by German forces in an ever diminishing pocket around the French port of Dunkirk, looked out across the English Channel, to the white cliffs and to Ramsay and his staff in particular for deliverance.
What happened next helped to bind the British people together and the Dunkirk Spirit was born: that characteristic dogged determination that refused to give up in the face of almost impossible odds.
Operation Dynamo: Rescue from Dunkirk
"Operation Dynamo: Rescue from Dunkirk" combines original news-reels and recordings, two years of painstaking research, testimonies from veterans of both the beaches and the tunnels, and state-of-the-art special effects to deliver a vivid account of what Sir Winston Churchill called a "miracle of deliverance".
The important army operations rooms have been re-presented as they appeared during the Second World War and include the plotting tables for enemy movements and telephone exchanges. Two previously unseen rooms will open to the public for the first time.
Visitors will walk through the Secret Wartime Tunnels deep beneath the castle and see, hear and feel – as never before – the danger and high stakes of the evacuation. Sights and sounds will fill 60 metres of underground tunnels as they are transformed into the skies and seas of May and June 1940. One moment, the visitor will experience the tense atmosphere of the operations room at Dover Castle while the next, they will be immersed in the action on the Dunkirk beaches as a German plane flies overhead, pursued by British anti-aircraft fire.
"Helping people to understand the history of this nation through our historic buildings lies at the heart of English Heritage," says Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage. "There is no better place in England to learn about the Dunkirk evacuation than Dover Castle. With "Operation Dynamo", you’ll step into the tunnels and onto the beaches, boats and command centre during one of our darkest yet greatest hours."
A Forgotten Hero
"Operation Dynamo: Rescue from Dunkirk" pays tribute to a too often forgotten hero and the man who successfully marshalled the evacuation, Vice-Admiral Bertram Home Ramsay. A brilliant organiser and delegator, the Vice-Admiral was brought out of retirement before the outbreak of war and charged with protecting the Straits of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel. Operation Dynamo would test the man and his team to their limits.
The new visitor experience in the Secret Wartime Tunnels highlights the scale of both the challenges faced by the Vice-Admiral during Operation Dynamo and his achievements. Visitors will be able to see a re-creation of the Vice-Admiral’s cabin as well as tour some of the original rooms of the adjacent Army HQs, dressed as they were throughout the Second World War, including the Gun Operations Room, the Telephone Exchange, and the Coastal Artillery Operations Room.
Dover Castle, known as “The Key to England” is sited dramatically above the cliffs overlooking the English Channel and is one of the most famous fortresses in Europe. In its role as guardian of the nearest landing point to mainland Europe, the castle has seen unbroken active service for more than nine centuries. Operation Dynamo was undoubtedly one of the castle’s finest hours.
Find out about visiting Operation Dynamo and Dover Castle.
