memorial du souvenir

Roberts69

Hello,Thanks for your review.The Memorial du Souvenir museum is entirely run by a small team of volunteers, most of whom are not very young anymore. That is the reason why it is closed off season and open from 1st April to 30th September.We hope to see you at our museum on another occasion.

744debp

This is an amazingly humbling museum that takes you through the ravages of war. It is truly mind boggling to see the diorama's in the museum that show the huge number of troops on the beach and the utter obliteration of the city during the war. We had the fortune of meeting the President of the museum, Lucien Dayan, while we were there. His knowledge of all the artifacts was nothing short of amazing. He communicated very well with us with his limited English, which was far better than our pitiful French! The hospitality everyone we met while visiting the city was exceptional. The museum is located very near the LAAC art museum. It is literally on the other side of LAAC's sculpture garden in a former bunker. You are steps away from the beach, and it is amazing to see the beach as it is now and then see how it looked during the war. This was truly the highlight of our visit to the wonderful city of Dunkerque!

RichardD312

Firstly, in your Satnav put Rue des Chantiers, or if you have a smart phone simply search on maps for the attraction. From the ferry terminal it was about 20 minute drive several junctions towards Belgium, When you arrive there is a large car park on the left you can park in. They are currently digging up the area around it so beware. There are a number of artefacts and interesting reading on what happened in 1940 with helpful hosts. What I truly found astonishing was just being on the beach itself (it is a 2 min walk from the museum). If you have seen the WW2 documentaries on the evacuation, when you are on the beach it just comes to life and you can imagine it there and then. The beach is HUGE! You find you just stand there and just imagine what it must have been like. The museum closes on 30th September and doesn't open until April, according to the sign.

Polly255344

I went to Dunkerque specifically to visit the Memorial du Souvenir, and to walk on the famous beaches. Like other reviewers, I found it a tad difficult to locate the Memorial, but this was partly because it is actually housed in a former bunker, so the building is not especially obvious from the outside. The French and UK flags at the entrance are the markers to look out for. The Memorial is not large, but there are several rooms with very good displays and excellent history photos. The short film at the start of the displays gives a very good overview of Operation Dynamo. Lastly, I must make special mention of the welcoming staff . The 2 elderly gentlemen on duty on the day I visited were friendly, clearly passionate about the Operation Dynamo story, and spoke slowly enough that my French language skills were not overtaxed !

JacnTon

A fantastic place to visit. Not only to see the areas of where it took place but also the Local people where fantastic and unbelievably so warming it was a pleasure to be there

Paintings23

This museum is full of interesting information, film & artifacts from France, Belgium, Britain & Germany. The film & pictures are quite graphic but very moving. There's a great deal to look at & the finds from the beaches are particularly interesting. There's information boards in various languages but a lo TT of the material is self explanatory.

argiedre

A well hidden place, but when you find it it's really nice to visit. The visit starts with a short film and goes through the whole Operation Dynamo. The entrance is 4 euros, which is a good deal.If you have more time, continue to the direction of Belgium till Leffrinckoucke and find some bunkers on the beach as well as the Fort des Dunes (a fort built in 1870's) if you continue further, there are 2 ships from the Operation Dynamo, unfortunately ships are seen just on high level of low tide.

Shaun3030

One of the best museums I have ever visited mainly due to its proximity to the scene of the event it commemorates. Its located just across the road from the beaches that were used to evacuate thousands of troops during WW2. Incredible sense of how real the events were thanks to the many artefacts that have been recovered from the beaches including Rolls Royce Merlin engines, arms, mines, tools etc. Many of the items are in an unrestored state which to me really helps you understand the actual events it commemorates. Also exhibits and displays about WW1 and the affects on the local area. Well worth a visit and excellent value at 4 Euro each.

Doobasdad

Takes you through the history of the famous Dunkerque evacuation by the troops encircled by the German forces. Not a large museum but well resourced. Worth a visit

129daved

Absolutely great museum that describes the evacuation of the BEF in WWII as Operation Dynamo. We stayed in Dunkerque specifically to see this. Only cost about 4 Euro each so certainly not an expensive place to stop at. Give yourself at least an hour here. A few more souvenirs if possible would be good.

JWG_080353

Between 1 September 1939 (invasion of Poland by Germany) and 10 May 1940 (attack of Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg by Germany), the British had built up "expeditionary forces" in France, as they expected a repeat of a war in trenches like it had occurred between 1914 and 1918. This time, the German army was highly mobile and powerful, and the British (with their French allies) could only hastily pull out, and retreat to the homeland, whilst being chased by the Germans. This retreat happened between 26 May and 4 June 1940, and is now called the "Battle of Dunkirk", and is commemorated in a 19th-century bastion, once part of France's coastal defence and during 1940, headquarters of the allied forces. The visit starts with a 15-min informative movie (rotating between French and English language), after which 6 galleries of war souvenirs can be viewed, ranging from maquettes, uniforms, and all kinds of war paraphernalia. Whilst the movie was quite good, I missed a selection between what was important and what was less relevant, so that I left the exhibition quite confused, but with the "take-home message" that it had been a hell of a time.....

JanetK811

An excellent museum staffed by volunteers who are friendly and informative. Fascinating to see pieces of the ships rescued from the deep. The entrance fee was only 4 euros, very little for the treasures contained within. We are so glad we persevered to find it because, even after seeking help from a young man at the Tourist Information Office, we had difficulty finding the Rue des Chantiers. A young lady from the Tourist office was doing a survey as we left so, hopefully ,comments about lack of signposting will be addressed. Outside there is a monument to Guynemer, the French WW1 fighter ace.

502marcg

Dear Marc,Thanks for your review. We've recently noticed a shift in the approach of the town council's policy. Lately, awareness of the uniqueness of the town's militairy history and the importance of keeping the memory alive has risen. This spring, the Dunkirk Tourist Office edited a route along the major sites of the Battle of Dunkirk and Operation Dynamo, and we're in the process of preparing the commemorations of the 75th anniversary of the events in 2015.Finding the museum is complicated by the fact that the museum is not actually a museum (it's an association run by volunteers), therefore it's called "Memorial du Souvenir". There are road signs pointing to the Memorial du Souvenir, but if you don't know that that's the name of the museum, it doesn't really help...

Dozier68

I specifically went to Dunkerque because of the history surrounding Operation Dynamo. I wanted to view the beaches where the evacuations took place and this museum did a great job of talking about those events. The video that you first watch give you some background information about the evacuation. You have the watch the film in French first and then the film repeats in English. There were a lot of artifacts to see that were found on the beach. The museum was only 4 euros for adults and my 4 year old daughter was free. The gentlemen at the front desk are very nice and more than helpful if you have any questions. They are open from 10-12 and 14-1730 so you have to make sure you show up between those times.

622kellyt

excellent little museum with some great peices in, including rear plane engines that were shot down during the war. one of the workers there is an old boy with glasses, he was 16 during the second world war and he was living in dunkirk at the time if you have chance have a chat with him he knows all the history and will give you a free guided tour.(you know its the right bloke if he says "my english is terrific" lol) enjoy and remember to leave a review when youve been.