Dunkirk Plaque Unveiled

A PLAQUE to a Jewish Royal Naval Officer who commanded Leigh’s ‘Little Ships’ during World War Two’s Dunkirk evacuation has been unveiled in the Old Town.

The tribute to Sub Lieutenant Martin Solomon was installed on the wall of the Leigh Heritage Centre this month.

Martin Solomon commanded the Leigh cockling boats as part of ‘Operation Dynamo’, which saw the evacuation of more than 338,000 allied soldiers from the French beach and harbour between May 26 and June 4, 1940.

Six Leigh Little Ships were gathered into a flotilla under his charge, these being Defender, Endeavour, Letitia, Reliance, Renown and Resolute.

Four Leigh fisherman from these boats tragically lost their lives as part of the operation.

The plaque to commemorate Solomon’s contribution to the evacuation was jointly sponsored by AJEX (the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women), the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation (UK Branch), The Endeavour Trust, Leigh Heritage Centre and Leigh Town Council.

Martin Sugarman, AJEX Archivist and author, was reported as saying: “Martin Solomon was an extremely brave and highly decorated Royal Naval hero in the Second World War and the UK Jewish community are very proud of him.

“Generally, his story is not well known, so we thought a plaque in the UK at the site of the start of one his great exploits was needed to show how the Jewish community contributed to the defeat of the Nazis and for freedom.

“This assists in the fight against anti-Semitism and racism to show that the Jews did their bit and more – as many lies are repeated about allegations of Jews shirking duty.

“It is a great honour for us to be able to do this for future generations in the Southend area and thank the community in Leigh for helping us obtain permission.”

Following the war, Sub Lieutenant Solomon was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for gallantry for his role in the Dunkirk evacuations.

Picture: The plaque on the side of the Leigh Heritage Centre. Pic Martin Sugarman

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