On this day 2 January 1945
Published: 02 Jan 2015
On this day in 1945, Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay was killed in an air crash on take off from Paris. Four other people were also killed in the accident.
Born on 20th January 1883, he was the son of an army Captain but elected not to follow in the footsteps of his father and two older brothers, also soldiers, and instead joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1898.
He organised the evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940 for which he was knighted, and also served as Allied Naval Commander, developing plans for the invasion of Normandy.
A statue of Ramsay was erected at Dover Castle in 2000. He is pictured here with General Eisenhower and Field Marshall Montgomery.