In a rescue effort described by Britain's famous World War II Prime Minister Winston Churchill as a "miracle of deliverance," a flotilla of 861 allied war ships and civilian vessels evacuated 338,226 mainly British allied troops, who were surrounded by German forces and trapped on the coast of France, over nine days between May 27 to June 4, 1940.
In total, HMS Sabre evacuated 5765 men.
As the "repository" for a lot of her family's history, Ms Pedersen has possession of a manuscript containing Commander Dean's war memoirs, which include chapters devoted to Dunkirk.
"There's only three chapters on Dunkirk but it's fabulous stuff. He was cool under fire, and they worked around the clock.
"And he really commended his crew at the end of it because everyone gave their upmost."
Some 246 boats from the flotilla were sunk by the Germans during the evacuation. Apart from having to contend with aerial bombings from the Luftwaffe, Ms Pedersen said her uncle's manuscript revealed his destroyer was in danger of capsizing at times due to the sheer number of troops on board.
"On one of the trips he loaded on so many troops that every time he turned the wheel the ship heeled and he struggled to get it back upright."
Ms Pedersen said he uncle's naval career came to an "untimely" end that same year, not long after Dunkirk, when he suffered a fractured skull when the HMS Sabre went to the aid of a stricken ship in the Atlantic during severe weather.
After the death of his wife, Commander Dean spent the final seven years in CHB until his death on April 19, 1976 at the age of 81. Ms Pedersen said her uncle quickly became a familiar figure in the district.
"Because he was a Commander a lot of people got excited about that. He had his own mana if you like."
She was looking forward to seeing Dunkirk on the big screen.
"My uncle won't be in it but that doesn't matter. I am just really proud of his achievements and the fact he got the DSO almost immediately afterwards," she said.