Like many other vessels, Glala's moment came during Operation Dynamo - the evacuation of Dunkirk. She was commanded by Sub-Lieutenant John Alexander Dow, who had joined the Clyde Division of the RNVR in 1938. Her crew also included Peter Magnus, probably an Able Seaman at the time, who joined her on the way to Dunkirk at Ramsgate.

Glala set out for Dunkirk at 0800 on 31st May 1940 in company with the yachts Amulree and Caleta. She arrived in Dunkirk Roads at 1130 and towed two whalers full of soldiers to the requisitioned paddle steamer HMS Golden Eagle. She then sailed further up the coast and at La Panne Glala towed boats for the destroyers HMS Venomous and HMS Vivacious.

HMS Vivacious at Dunkirk. / The beach at Bray Dunes

Off Bray Dunes, HMS Vivacious came under fire from German shore guns and suffered 15 casualties. According to the Naval Staff History;

"It was about this time, 2000, that the yacht Glagla [sic] (which was standing by to tow the boats of the Vivacious from the beach) found that her tiller wire was reduced to a single strand. Her Commanding Officer said, 'The bombing and shelling which had been going on continuously, became intense. A Captain RN in yacht No.1 of the Solent Patrol (i.e. Captain Howson in the Ankh) ordered us to make for the open sea, and all the small craft followed him out'".

Destroyers Vivacious and Venomous were damaged in the bombing. Sub-Lieutenant Dow, on Glala, reported a near miss in an air raid.

Glala was ordered to return to Ramsgate for repairs and from there she proceeded to Sheerness. Repairs done, she then returned to Ramsgate, arriving at 1845 on the 2nd June, and, two hours later, left for Dunkirk again. Early in the morning of the 3rd June her port engine failed and she returned to Sheerness.