Deal's role in the 1940 Operation Dynamo mission
The men and boats from Deal and the evacuation of British and allied soldiers from Dunkirk.
The memorial plaque
Installation day for the new plaque
The men and boats from Deal that took part in Operation Dynamo - the evacuation of over 338,000 British and allied soldiers from the harbour and beaches of Dunkirk in May and June 1940 – are honoured in a memorial plaque on the town’s seafront.
The five local men involved in the rescue mission were Harry Brown, Alfie Betts, Fred Hook, James O’Neill and Nat Cohen. The motor-boats or Dunkirk Little Ships that went from Deal beach to Dunkirk were the Britannic, Moss Rose, Rose Marie, Gipsy King, Golden Spray II and the Lady Haig, The latter is now the only one of these vessels to still exist. There were also two lifeboats from the Dunbar Castle, which had been wrecked off Deal in January 1940.
Installed in May 2025 to mark the 85th anniversary of Operation Dynamo, the memorial can be seen on the wall of the Mary Hougham Almshouses and adjacent to the old North Deal Boatmen's Rooms on the corner of Beach Street and Exchange Street.
(credit: based on information provided by local historian Colin Varrall)