Front Line Harbour : Amberley Publishing : 9781445600307 : 1445600307 : 15 Feb 2011 : Made famous by its position, the port of Dover has proved of great importance to the nation in war and peace over many centuries. A Roman stronghold, it became a major Cinque Port after the Norman Conquest. Following the murder of Thomas Beckett at Canterbury in 1170, it became a place of transit for many pilgrims, encouraging Henry II to improve the remarkable castle we know today. Henry VIII and Elizabeth I made great efforts to improve the often threatened harbour, where, in 1660, Charles II returned to Dover to re-establish the monarchy. In the past, in peacetime, the town welcomed monarchs and statesmen from all over the world who arrived by sea. The Admiralty Grand Harbour provided a base for the Dover Patrol and a receiving station for more than a million wounded in the First World War. Similarly, in 1940, the major part of the British Army retreating from Dunkirk was landed at Dover. T