A Double Evacuation in 1940!

My Great Uncle Edward was Coxswain of HMS Gulzar from 6 February 1940. Gulzar was a pre-war luxury motor yacht built in 1934 and weighing 201 tonnes. Amongst other things it was used to take the Duke and Duchess of Windsor to Antibes in 1938. Gulzar was originally used as a Danlayer in the early part of the war but was tasked to rescue the last remaining British troops in the Fall of Calais on 26 May 1940. They did so successfully while under the cover of darkness and under gunfire. 47 BEF troops made it home by morning. During Operation Dynamo in the Dunkirk evacuation, Gulzar with Edward as Coxswain made four trips to Dunkirk and rescued 563 BEF troops in total. Gulzar was based at Dover but was sadly destroyed in an air raid on 27 July 1940. Edward was awarded the DSM for his actions at Calais. His investiture was at Buckingham Palace on VE Day 1945.