Bertram Home Ramsay

Admiral Sir Bertram Home Ramsay was a Royal Navy officer who returned from retirement at the beginning of the Second World War and became Commander-in-Chief, Dover. In May 1940 he was given responsibility for Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of British and Allied troops from Dunkirk.

Working from the command complex beneath Dover Castle, Ramsay and his staff coordinated warships, transports and civilian vessels during the nine-day evacuation. He later played major naval command roles in the Allied invasions of North Africa, Sicily and Normandy before being killed in an aircraft crash in January 1945.

In David Boyle’s Dunkirk, Rather than treating Dunkirk simply as a national legend, the book emphasises exhaustion, confusion, casualties and the extraordinary logistical work required to evacuate hundreds of thousands of men. Admiral Bertram Ramsay’s headquarters at Dover provides one of the central organising perspectives, while the successful evacuation is placed within the larger military defeat in France.