Admiral Bertram Ramsay: museum for Dunkirk mastermind given green light

Plans have been approved to create a museum at the family home of Vice-Admiral Bertram Home Ramsay, the man who masterminded the evacuation of 338,000 Allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940.

The project intends to convert a former storeroom at Bughtrig House in the Scottish Borders to house a display dedicated to his memory and the role of the local area during the Second World War, the BBC reports.

Born in London in 1883, Ramsay commanded a destroyer in the First World War and retired from the navy with the rank of vice-admiral in 1938, acquiring the Berwickshire estate around the same time.

His retirement did not last long, however, and in 1940 he was put in charge of organising the evacuation from Dunkirk for which he was awarded a knighthood.

Three years later he was appointed naval commander in chief for Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of northern France, overseeing the landing of one million troops in one month starting from D-Day in June 1944.

Ramsay was killed in a plane crash in January 1945 and has a relatively low profile compared to other wartime leaders, although there is statue of him at Dover Castle and a plaque in St Paul’s Cathedral in London.

A report submitted to Scottish Borders Council said the plans fitted with a regional tourism strategy and could attract visitors.