A FORGOTTEN CAMPAIGN: The British Armed Forces in France 1940 - from Dunkirk to the Armistice

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Conducted between 27 May and 4 June 1940, Operation Dynamo was the evacuation from Dunkirk of most of the British Expeditionary Force cut off and surrounded during Fall Gelb - phase one of Germany's invasion of France. Despite the impression that British forces there until D-Day, this was not the case.

After the British evacuation at Dunkirk from May 27 to June 4, 1940, the popular impression was that the UK forces had no further major presence in France until D-Day. Yet from June 5 to 18, several British and Empire infantry and armored formations and an RAF contingent fought on in France. Two further British and Empire divisions were dispatched to be part of a 'Second BEF,' but the blitzkrieg advance of the Germans proved unstoppable.

Operation Cycle was a further evacuation from Le Havre, though the attempted rescue of the 51st Highland Division from St Valery-en-Caux ended in its surrender. Nevertheless, a rear-guard campaign allowed remaining troops to be evacuated from several ports during Operation Aerial.

This book examines an important yet considerably under-appreciated aspect of British participation in the Battle of France. It describes the many desperate struggles by improvised British formations, often of rear echelon and territorial troops, against German forces that were overwhelmingly superior in numbers, equipment, and tactical battlefield flexibility.