howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
advance warning here chaps and chapesses.
29/30/31 of may up at the castle they will be marking the 70th anniversary of the first normandy landings with a massive recreation of what happened at the nerve centre.
full details will be confirmed either by scotchie or pat s, i feel sure.
the word is that a member of the family of the hero of that day(bertrand ramsey) will be in attendance.
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
Dover Castle Marks The 'Miracle of Dunkirk'
Seventy years on from the Dunkirk evacuation, English Heritage is holding a week of events and activities (28 May - 4 June) at Dover Castle - the nerve-centre of the rescue operation - to mark one of the most dangerous and desperate operations of the Second World War.
Operation Dynamo
The underground hospital at Dover Castle On 26 May 1940, in a cramped labyrinth of secret tunnels deep below Dover Castle, Vice Admiral Bertram Home Ramsay and his naval staff worked around the clock to plan and implement the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force and allied troops trapped at Dunkirk and under fierce attack by the German armed forces. Over the next nine days, the destroyers, corvettes and minesweepers of the Royal Navy, together with a host of requisitioned merchant vessels and pleasure ships, lifted some 338,000 stranded soldiers from the harbour of Dunkirk and the long sandy beaches to the north. They were helped by a host of tiny craft - fishing boats, cabin cruisers and the like - the 'little ships' that had sailed from England to help in the rescue.
Directed from the Secret Wartime Tunnels at Dover Castle, this operation, code-named 'Dynamo', was not far short of a miracle. It was to prove a vital event in the Second World War, triggering a response of public sympathy for the rescued battle-weary troops and a national resolve to pull together in the face of the enemy. The 'Dunkirk Spirit' was born.
Dunkirk Anniversary
Today, Vice Admiral Ramsay's modest underground headquarters still evoke the tension and drama of those crucial days 70 years ago. Toured by thousands of visitors each year, the tunnels are the focus of activities being staged by English Heritage at Dover Castle during the anniversary week from 28 May until 4 June, which will celebrate the bravery and heroism of the thousands involved in the rescue and commemorate those who lost their lives.
The highlight of the week is a three-day event over the May Bank Holiday weekend (10am - 5pm, Saturday 29 - Bank Holiday Monday 31 May), when the castle will be occupied by military and civilian wartime personnel as they re-create the tension and frenzy of activity experienced by those directly involved in directing Operation Dynamo in May 1940.
Naval personnel will keep watch from Admiralty Lookout with binoculars trained on the harbour below, despatch riders roar off with vital messages, a mobile tea canteen provides tea and 'wads' for returning servicemen and gun crews sandbag their positions.
Children will be making individually named paper replicas of each of the 700 'little ships' to go on display in Ramsay's casemate from June 4, marking the final day of Operation Dynamo. Each replica - from 'Abdy Beauclerk' to 'Windsong' - will be a poignant tribute by today's young generation to the crews who bravely set sail for Dunkirk at great risk to themselves to rescue the troops.
On Friday June 4, a special memorial service attended by veterans - including those who were among the 700 service men and women who worked in the tunnels during the war - members of Ramsay's family, and representatives of forces' associations in regimental colours, will be held in the castle's St Mary-in-Castro Church, before a parade to Admiralty Lookout. A wreath-laying ceremony will take place at the statue of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, which stands high above the Channel facing France. The castle's guns will be fired in tribute to those who worked selflessly during the rescue.
Been nice knowing you :)
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
brilliant stuff paul, i love those old photos in the control room of bertrand ramsey taking command of things.
wonderful man, sadly he died soon after the war in an air crash, i believe.
Howard
Sorry not responded but have been "off line" last couple of days and catching up
Paul has covered all as above.
All the Castle Events for 2010 can be found on the Friends of Dover Website
www.dover-castle-friends.org
The 70th Anniv weekend is expected to be very busy so locals should take advantage of being near to the castle and arrive early.
Guest 686- Registered: 5 May 2009
- Posts: 556
28th/29th is also the 6th Crabble Corn Mill Annual Beer Festival. Fair weather is on order.
Phil West
If at first you don't succeed, use a BIGGER hammer!!
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
just got my newsletter through from "the friends of dover castle", quite a summer programme of events.
i must echo what pat has said about the spring holiday weekend, get there early.
if you live reasonably close by, leave the car at home, some bank holiday events leave great traffic jams in the area and people just end up sitting in their cars for long periods.
most unpleasant on a hot day.
I've got aircon.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
ok sid put me out of my misery, what is aircon?
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
howard,he has climent control in his off roader.that means he dosent have to open his windows to get cool,unless he wants to post on here of course.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
thanks for that brian, i thought it was some new fangled mobile phone or soemthing like that.
Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
There is A Dunkirk veteran living Dover who is 91 or 92 this year who still manages to pop out most days for a beer. A great chap who wouldn't dream of trying to hog the limelight.He was also at D-Day plus 1 and Operation Market Garden.A living legend and a decent chap who is my daughters adopted grandfather.
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
