From battle of France by Philip Warner Saved from Brittany Cherbourg 30,630 St Malo 21,474 Brest 32,584 Nantes over 60,000 and many other cities all in all 191,870 British 144,171 French 18,246 Polish 24,352 Czech 4938 Belgian 163
Mostly 1 Canadian Div, 52 "Lowland" Div, 1 Armoured Div plus Corps and Army Units. There was also a large number of RAF base units recovered.
Its always baffled me why Churchill was still sending troops to France after the Dunkirk evacuations Andy
I think it was still hoped/believed the battle could be carried on in France, and one place would be the "Brittany fortress" where the troops were sent.
Seems crazy Kai, that they wanted to defend Brittany when as you mentioned 30,000 were evacuated from Cherbourg between the 15-18th June, between 16-17 June 21,000 from St Malo and 16-19 June 57,000 from St Nazaire. Some fortress when your evacuating all the men. In Alanbrooke's War diaries he says that troops were sent back to France, not as another BEF but to reinforce the original and carry on the fighting. "The CIGS specifically ordered Brooke to "return to France and form a new BEF. ... [He told me] that I should be given the 51st Division, the 52nd Division, the remnants of the Armoured Division, Beamont's force, and the Canadian 1st Division." General Brooke returned to France on the 12th. "The 51st Highland Division met with its fate before I ever arrived in France, at St Valéry. All that I found on my return were the remnants of one brigade [of the 51st Division] which had escaped capture, but they were without much equipment and fit only for evacuation." I have a friend who was in the East Surrey Regiment and captured at St Valery, he has been disgusted with what happened ever since. Has never joined the Britsh legion or even applied for the mdeals that he was entitled to. Actually Ill put something from Bob on here, this is written by him, he wont mind me putting it here as he has given me permission to to use his stuff before. Dont forget this is from an 86 year old and his words not mine. "I will tell you a story, which took place about 64 years ago. It is a story about the Officers and other Ranks that were written off and forgotten by an ungrateful Government, also the B.B.C. and the National Press. The brave and bold Officers and other Ranks had courage and heroism but were forgotten. The sacrifice that they made for their King and their Country will unfold. They helped to keep the Nazi jack boot from our shores and they fought for freedom for us all. But to this day, they still remain forgotten, all of those years ago. Some of the men were killed, others died, but the memories will live on for the rest of our lives. They died fighting on for many days but then became trapped, with no way out and they were then ordered to surrender, by the French. So come what may, the Germans had a catch, of what had remained of the British Expeditionary Forces. The men that were once so great were now Prisoners-of-War. They were treated worse than trash, by you know who? They had been starved of food from 12 June 1940 and did not receive anything to eat until they reached the Hook of Holland on 2 July 1940, when they were just given 1 slice of bread to eat. This story begun after the evacuation at Dunkirk in France in June 1940. It had been stated that was the end of the British Expeditionary Forces in France and then, France stood alone. But this was not true because there were some 200,000 Officers and other Ranks that were fighting a rear guard action, along side of the French Army. One could see the French soldier filling his pack with food and then said that the Tommies were running away. They also said "Bosch come, France finished". But what had remained of the British Expeditionary Forces in France, they did the best that they could do, but the men were being killed and wounded and others had been taken as Prisoners-of-War. The rear guard action carried on and one did hear of some Army Units being ambushed by the Germans. The 2/6 Battalion East Surrey Regiment were ambushed, men were killed, there were vehicles on fire and you could smell the burning flesh, you tried to return fire but then the order was given to retreat. The following day, there was a re- group of the 2/6 Battalion East Surrey Regiment and they found themselves with the 51St Highland Division, the Border Regiment and the 1st Armoured Division. The battle was on, the French and the British Expeditionary Forces tried to push or to hold the German hoards, but it was an impossible task. We were then ordered to retreat. The French then fell into the trap at St Valery. On 11 June 1940, one could have escaped, but then the Germans gained the Heights, overlooking the harbour. Now on the 12 June 1940, the French ordered the men of the British Expeditionary Forces that was trapped with the 51st Highland Division to surrender. The Commander of the Division was General Fortune. It was Field Marshall Rommel that took the surrender of the British Forces at St Valery in France on 12 June 1940. These proud service men were now Prisoners-of-War, but many of their comrades had been killed or badly wounded. Now, these men were beginning on the long march to Germany, to the camps. These Officers and the other Ranks were written off by an ungrateful Government and also the Ministry of Defence and buried very deep and forgotten. You may believe what has been written down in the history book by the very prominent Historians of that time, but it was not true, I can testify that this did happen as I told it because I was one of those service men that were taken as one of the Prisoners-of-War. I have written to the BBC, after I looked at the showing, on television of "The Evacuation of Dunkirk". At the end of this film, the Presenter tells you that this was the last of the British Expeditionary Forces in France and that France now stood alone. I have told the TRUTH, but they have turned a blind eye and they believe the lies that were said. I have also written to the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, M P and I did receive a reply from the Ministry of Defence, telling me to get in contact with the television channel, all I can say about that is that they are a lot of idiots and you are wasting your time. I have also brought it to the attention of Sir Richard Attenborough, at his home in Richmond in Surrey. He did write about the courage, heroism and the sacrifice that these men had shown. But he also told me that he was much too busy on other work to be concerned about this. Probably wasting Government money on making flops at the cinema. Now the Historians, that write our history, are saying that this never happened because it was not good propaganda. These men gave their blood, sweat and tears. A lot more gave their lives to defend their Country. If the Nazi jack boots had landed in this Country, we would not be enjoying the freedom, that we enjoy today. I say to hell with the Historians and all of their lies, you want to speak to the men that actually lived these times and then you would get the true account of the facts. But you will regret it in years to come, because years later, the British will say the same as the French soldiers had said, that the Tommies had run away. This was not so, these men fought the best that they could and a lot of men died to defend their Country against Germany. We, the men that were left after serving as Prisoners-of-War, I myself served 5 years in the hands of the Germans. We had been starved, treated worse than cattle, denied medical attention and if you said one word to the Germans, you could and some were shot for just doing this. The Geneva Conventions meant nothing to the Germans. I still today, have nightmares of those years and I wake up in a cold sweat, those images will never leave me and they do not get any more distant, as the years pass by." Andy
I suppose at the time this was more of a political move to show thar France was not left alone and it was hoped France would continue fighting if not in France then in their colonies in Africa and elsewhere. Of course soldiers pay with their lives these decisions, they always have and will.
For AlanBrooke's report on the operations http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/LondonGazette/37573.html
Also read Saul David's 'Churchills sacrefice of the Highland division' Or Eric Linklatter the Highland division. Gen Fortune had the opportunity to go to Le Havre, but was denied this by the gov. Never before (or later) has a division been scareficed so needlessly. Churchills bid to keep France in the war, failed, and he bloody well knew it before the fateful desicion to drop the most famous british division.
Jaeger, Yes there was! Somewhere on the Net is an article about the loss of the British 12 Division. It, along with 23 Div (and another?) went to France as labour troops and were thrown into the line though poorly equipped and barely trained.
Must say though that after the Germans managed to break through in May 1940 in the "southerner" part of the pincer I am only very disappointed of the French military and political view of the situation. It seems like nobody of them wanted to go on with the war so I don´t think enough effort was put into battling. That also means that anything Churchill did was doomed from the beginning. Also greatful that Dowding refused Churchill's demand for extra fighters for France in May 1940. If the planes had been lost ( if they had been sent they probably would have been lost!) then could the Battle of Britain be won with the remaining planes and pilots??
Ali the three territorial divs you mention is the 12th 23rd and the 46th. They were initially put to labour duties, because of lack of materiel. especially art, AT weapons and Transport. This shortage affected most of the divisions in the three corps deploeyed. On 17th of May these three territorial divs were deployed behind the 9th Army, to guard the rear area including a river crossing. The 9th Army failed to stop the Germans, and the three divs were overrun. The difference from the fate of the HD, is that the HD was deliberatly sacreficed by Winnie in an effort to keep France in the war. This was futile and Winnie knew that.
