174
THE YPRES TIMES
Very soon, therefore, after the outbreak of war, Admiral the Hon. Horace Hood,*
the first Admiral to command the Dover Patrol, made his advanced base at Dunkerque,
and it was from here that he sailed, with the flag of the French Admiral flying (probably
for the first time in history) side by side with his own, to begin the operations on the
Belgian coast which, after four years of fighting under Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon
and Vice-Admiral Sir Roger Keyes, j were ultimately to culminate in the epic of the
blocking of the port of Zeebrugge on St. George's Day, 1918.
The King was also pleased to bear witness testimony to the heroism of Dunkerque
and the indomitable courage and fearlessness of its inhabitants, and later in the year
Admiral Keyes conferred upon the townin His Majesty's namethe Distinguished
Service Cross.
For something like thirty years prior to August, 1914, a local committee in
Dunkerque had maintained on part of the site of the present Memorial buildings a
Merchant Seamen's Institute with certain premises let as the British Consular Offices.
On the outbreak of war the ordinary peacetime operations of merchant shipping came
to an end, and the Institute premises in their turn came to be used for a variety of purposes
connected with the naval, military and air forces, such as the headquarters of the Marine
Brigade, British Military Base Headquarters, canteen and recreation rooms for the
troops (organized by the Friends' Ambulance Unit, and known to this day as The Pig
and Whistle As already mentioned, the Consular Offices had become significant for
the historic meeting of November 1st, and now again as the link for the nightly telephonic
communications of Admiral Hood with the British Admiralty.
While the war thus completely obliterated the normal purposes of the Institute,
it gave to the actual buildings an historic interest and importance and it is to the vision
and inspiration of the resident British Consul, Mr. Philip Sarell, that these are now
preserved for all time in British hands in commemoration of the Great War. The
accomplishment of this is a really remarkable achievement. An influential committee,
presided over by the Earl of Athlone, was constituted for the definite purpose of setting
up in Dunkerque a National War Memorial of practical usefulness, to take the form of
a Merchant Service Club and Seamen's Institute, and to collect money for that purpose
and with the co-operation of the Missions to Seamen a sum of £34,000 was raised by
public subscription in a comparatively short space of time. This venture of faith and
farsightedness, for it was unquestionably nothing less, received notable commendation
from the late Field-Marshal Earl Haig in a letter written in December, 1919, to the
founders in Dunkerque, and bearing as it does the impress of supreme sincerity and
goodwill, is quoted here just as it was written from the Horse Guards, where Lord Haig
was then established as G.O.C. the Forces in Britain
The proposal to establish at Dunkerque, as a lasting Memorial of the Great War which brought
so much suffering and so much honour to the Town, a Service Club and Seamen's Institute for Officers
and Men respectively of the Merchant Service appeals to me as a singularly fitting and happy thought.
During the long years of the War, Dunkerque saw a great and important part of the work of that gallant
service, and officers and men who visit Dunkerque hereafter will find in the proposed Club and Institute
something to remind them of a glorious page in the history of their profession.
I hope that both the Club and Institute will be run on broad lines, so that they may make a real
appeal to men whose mode of life gives them a broad and open outlook on the world and so that
they may be regarded as a natural port of call by all ranks of the Merchant Service coming to Dunkerque.
With all good wishes for the success of your endeavour,
I am,
Yours very truly,
Haig, F.-M."
Subsequently Admiral in command of the 3rd Battle Cruiser Squadron, and who, flying his
flag in H.M.S. Invincible, went down in the Battle of Jutland. Of the 1,026 officers and men who
manned this ship only six were saved.
f Now Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes.
