1940

Dunkirk Evacuation

In May 1940, British, French and Belgian troops were cut off on the French coast by German forces and faced death or capture. A hastily assembled fleet of 850 'little ships', code-named 'Operation Dynamo', departed from Britain (many making several return voyages) and rescued over 338,000 British and French troops. The event inspired Winston Churchill's 'We shall fight them on the beaches' speech and gave rise to the phrase 'Dunkirk Spirit' and to the Brits' reputation for turning a defeat into a victory.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Dunkirk Evacuation

Commemorated ati

Charles Lightoller

Commander Charles Herbert Lightoller RNR. DSC* {Between an image of a ship's ...

Dunkirk at Teddington Lock

We've read (Telegraph and This is Local London) that on 9 May 2010 this "worn...

Hurlingham Yacht Club

1922 is the year that the Club took on its current name, though we don't know...

See other memorials in this area

Other Subjects

J. Howes

Resident of Willesden who volunteered and died in the Anglo Boer War, 1899-1900.

Person, Armed Forces, South Africa

War dead, Other war

1 memorial

C. Johnson

J. Lyons & Co. Ltd. staff member who died in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1

1 memorial

Col. Cyril W. Bowdler Bowdler, CB

Chief Commissioner in the St John Ambulance Brigade, No. 1 District Metropolitan Corps, 1895-1911. Knight Justice in the Order of St John. In 2012 Roger Bowdler posted this at Genealogy: "My gt-gr...

Person, Armed Forces, Emergency Services, Medicine, Music / songs, Politics & Administration

1 memorial

William Duke of Cumberland

Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. He was the third son and the sixth of the eight children of King George II and Queen Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach and was born on 15 April 1721 in Le...

Person, Armed Forces, Royalty, Scotland

1 memorial

24th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (The Queen's)

London unit which served in WW1. Their Wikipedia page gives details about the origins of the battalion, their battle honours and how in 1937 the battalion reverted to the Queen's Royal Regiment (W...

Group, Armed Forces

2 memorials

Previously viewed

Simon de Montfort

6th Earl of Leicester. Born France, with connections to French and English aristocracy. Married Eleanor, Henry III's sister in 1238. Built the Savoy Palace in 1245. Leader of the Second Barons' War...

Person, Politics & Administration, France

2 memorials

Captain James Cook

Maritime explorer and cartographer. Born near Middlesbrough. The first to map Newfoundland, explored around Australia and the Hawaiian Islands and made the first circumnavigation of New Zealand. K...

Person, Exploring, Seriously Famous, Arctic & Antarctic, Australia, Canada, Hawaii, New Zealand

9 memorials

Castle Tavern - EC2

Being at a junction the address has been given as 26 King Street which certainly is more definitive than the Gresham Street address which seems to have fluctuated widely. Pubwiki gives: "in the 184...

Building, Commerce, Food & Drink

1 memorial

International Maritime Organisation

Part of the UN, the IMO has its HQ in London (we do like our initials). Always based in London, it began as the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organisation in Chancery Lane, moved to 22 ...

Group, Industry, Politics & Administration

1 memorial

Lavender Pumphouse

Built to control the water level in the former Surrey Docks.

Building, Engineering

1 memorial