Information board SS Princess Elizabeth

British troops were surrounded by the advancing Germans at the Battle of Dunkirk. Operation Dynamo started on 26 May 1940 to evacuate British troops. The operation lasted until June 4, 1940. The operation was named Dynamo because the evacuation was planned in the dynamo room of the naval headquarters below the castle at Dover. The operation was organized by Vice Admiral Ramsay and consisted of a combined fleet of 40 British and French destroyers as well as minesweepers, patrol ships, freighters, pleasure boats and hundreds of private boats, either voluntarily or involuntarily.