The Beauman Division was an improvised formation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, which fought in France against the German 4th Army in June 1940, during (Case Red), the final German offensive of the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

Background

Battle of France

After the

Phoney War The Phoney War (; ; ) was an eight-month period at the outset of World War II during which there were virtually no Allied military land operations on the Western Front from roughly September 1939 to May 1940. World War II began on 3 Septembe ...

, the

began on 10 May 1940 when the German armies in the west commenced the " Manstein Plan" . The German

Army Group B Army Group B () was the name of four distinct German Army Group, army group commands that saw action during World War II. The first Army Group B was created on 12 October 1939 (from the former Army Group North) and fought in the Battle of France ...

invaded the Netherlands and advanced westwards. General

Maurice Gamelin Maurice Gustave Gamelin (; 20 September 1872 – 18 April 1958) was a French general. He is remembered for his disastrous command (until 17 May 1940) of the French military during the Battle of France in World War II and his steadfast defence of ...

, the Supreme Allied Commander, initiated the

Dyle Plan Dyle may refer to: * Dyle (river), a river in central Belgium, tributary of the Rupel * Dyle, Poland, a village * Dyle plan, a French plan for defending against German invasion *Dyle (department) Dyle (, ) was a departments of France, department ...

(Plan D) and invaded Belgium to close up to the Dyle River with three mechanised armies, the French First Army and Seventh Army and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). The plan relied on the

Maginot Line The Maginot Line (; ), named after the Minister of War (France), French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by French Third Republic, France in the 1930s to deter invas ...

fortifications along the German-French border but the Germans had already crossed through most of the Netherlands, before the French forces arrived.

Army Group A Army Group A () was the name of three distinct army groups of the ''German Army (1935–1945), Heer'', the ground forces of the ''Wehrmacht'', during World War II. The first Army Group A, previously known as "Army Group South", was active from Oct ...

advanced through the

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

and crossed the Meuse at Sedan on 14 May and then attacked down the Somme valley. 21May-4June Battle of Belgium

On 19 May, an attack by the 7th Panzer Division (

Erwin Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel (; 15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944), popularly known as The Desert Fox (, ), was a German '' Generalfeldmarschall'' (field marshal) during World War II. He served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of ...

) on Arras was repulsed. During the evening, the SS Division ''Totenkopf'' (

Theodor Eicke Theodor Eicke (17 October 1892 – 26 February 1943) was both a senior SS functionary and a Waffen-SS divisional commander in Nazi Germany. He was a key figure in the development of Nazi concentration camps. Eicke served as the second com ...

) arrived on the left flank of the 7th Panzer Division. The 8th Panzer Division, further to the left, reached Hesdin and Montreuil and the 6th Panzer Division captured Doullens, after a day-long battle with the

36th Infantry Brigade The 36th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of British Army that fought in the First World War, as part of 12th (Eastern) Division, on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front. The brigade also fought in the Second World War, ...

of the

12th (Eastern) Infantry Division The 12th (Eastern) Infantry Division was an infantry Division (military), division of the British Army, which fought briefly in the Battle of France during the World War II, Second World War. In March 1939, after the re-emergence of Nazi Germa ...

; advanced units pressed on to Le Boisle. On 20 May, the 2nd Panzer Division covered straight to

Abbeville Abbeville (; ; ) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is the of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of Ponthieu. Geography Location A ...

on the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

. attacks on Abbeville increased and the Somme bridges were bombed. At , a party from the 2/6th Queens of the 25th Infantry Brigade of the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division ran into a German patrol and reported that the Germans had got between the 2/6th and 2/7th Queens. The British infantry were short of equipment and ammunition and were soon ordered to retreat over the river but the 1/5th and 2/7th Queens found the bridges had been demolished by the bombing. The Germans captured the town at , and only a few British survivors managed to retreat to the south bank of the Somme. At on 21 May, the German III Battalion, Rifle Regiment 2 reached the coast west of Noyelles-sur-Mer. The 1st Panzer Division captured Amiens and established a bridgehead on the south bank, over-running the 7th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment of the 37th (Royal Sussex) Infantry Brigade. Of the in the battalion, only to be captured but the operation deterred the Germans from probing further. The 12th (Eastern) Infantry Division and 23rd (Northumbrian) Division had been destroyed, the area between the Scarpe and the Somme had been captured, the British lines of communication had been cut and the Channel ports were threatened with capture. An Army Group A war diarist wrote that "Now that we have reached the coast at Abbeville, the first stage of the offensive has been achieved.... The possibility of an encirclement of the Allied armies' northern group is beginning to take shape". At , Air Component

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

pilots reported a German column at Marquion on the Canal du Nord and others further south. Fires were seen in Cambrai, Douai and Arras, which the had bombed, but the Air Component was moving back to bases in England. Communications between the Advanced Air Striking Force (AASF) in the south, the Air Component units still in France in the north and the Air Ministry were disorganised; the squadrons in France had constantly to move bases and operate from unprepared airfields with poor telephone connexions. The AASF was cut off from the BEF, and the Air Ministry and England-based squadrons were too far away for close co-operation. Two squadrons of bombers in England reached the column seen earlier at and bombed transports on the Bapaume road, the second squadron finding the road empty. After midday, General

Alphonse Georges Alphonse Joseph Georges (; 15 August 1875 – 24 April 1951) was a French army officer. He was commander in chief of the North-Eastern Front in 1939 and 1940. Opposing the plan by supreme commander Maurice Gamelin to move the best Allied forces ...

, the commander of the French field armies requested a maximum effort but the RAF flew only one more raid, by two squadrons from around Albert and Doullens. During the night, Bomber Command and the AASF flew and lost five bombers.

Lines of communication

The main BEF base ports were

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

, Brest,

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

and St Nazaire. When the expected attacks against the sea traffic of the BEF did not materialise,

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...

and

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

were also brought into use. The headquarters of the Lines of Communication were in

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

, where there was an important railway junction. The area south of the Somme was the Northern District, commanded by

Acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad range of sk ...

Brigadier Archibald Beauman, with Dieppe and Rouen comprising sub-areas. Dieppe was the main medical base of the BEF and Le Havre the principal supply and ordnance . The BEF ammunition ran from St Saens to Buchy to the north-east of Rouen and infantry, machine-gun and base ''dépôts'' were at Rouen,

Évreux Évreux () is a commune in and the capital of the department of Eure, in the French region of Normandy. History Antiquity In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century AD, was named '' Mediolanum Aulercorum'', "the central town ...

and l'Épinay. A main railway line through Rouen, Abbeville and Amiens linked the bases and connected them with bases further west in Normandy and the BEF in the north. Beauman was responsible for base security and guarding being built with troops drawn from the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equi ...

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications an ...

and older garrison troops. Further south, in the Southern District, were three Territorial divisions and the 4th Border Regiment, the 4th Buffs and the 1st/5th Sherwood Foresters lines-of-communication battalions, which moved into the Northern District on 17 May as a precaution. Rail communications between the bases and the Somme quickly deteriorated, due to congestion and German bombing, trains from the north mainly carrying Belgian and French troops and the roads filling with retreating troops and refugees.

Prelude

Formation

On 18 May 1940, Acting Brigadier Beauman, who was based at

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

, was ordered by Major-General Philip de Fonblanque (General Officer Commanding Lines of Communication Troops) to strengthen his local defences. He formed Beauforce, consisting of

Territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s that had been intended to protect lines of communication and undertake pioneer work. A second brigade-sized formation, Vicforce (named after its first commander, Colonel C. E. Vicary), was formed from five provisional battalions, made up of troops who had been employed in various depots, together with reinforcement drafts recently arrived in France. Beauman placed the force in a defensive position along the rivers

Andelle The Andelle () is a river of Normandy, France, in length, flowing through the departments of Seine-Maritime and Eure. It is a right tributary of the Seine. Geography The Andelle has its source in the Pays de Bray in the territory of the commu ...

and

Béthune Béthune ( ; archaic and ''Bethwyn'' historically in English) is a town in northern France, Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department. Geography Béthune is located in the Provinces of Fran ...

to defend Rouen and

from the east. Digforce was created by combining companies of the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps into several battalions under Lieutenant-Colonel J. B. H. Diggle. These troops were mainly reservists who were not fit enough to join their front line units and had been detailed for construction and labour in the rear area. On 29 May, the three improvised formations were combined to form the Beauman Division and Beauman was promoted to acting Major-General in command. This was the first British division to be named after its commander since the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

. The use of the term " division" was to cause problems later, as it misled the French high command into thinking it was supported by artillery, engineers and signals in the same way as a regular division, rather than a collection of largely untrained troops armed only with light weapons. A plan to withdraw all the improvised forces was dropped at the request of Georges, who said that such a course of action would have "an unfortunate effect on the French Army and the French people".

Battle

Beauman line

In the first days of June, the Beauman Division continued to construct what defences it could along the Andelle–Béthune line. On 6 June, it was reinforced by three infantry battalions; some artillery and engineer units arrived in the following days. "A" Brigade was detached to assist the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division (becoming part of Arkforce, formed to cover the retirement of the Highlanders towards Le Havre). Some units of the 1st Armoured Division arrived in support but remained under the orders of the French Tenth Army commander, General Robert Altmayer. The difficulty of maintaining communications led Beauman to issue orders that units would hold on "as long as any hope of successful resistance remained" and that "Brigade commanders will use their discretion as regards withdrawal". At dawn on 8 June, the 5th Panzer Division and the 7th Panzer Division renewed their drive towards Rouen. The first German attacks were at

Forges-les-Eaux Forges-les-Eaux () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. On 1 January 2016, the former commune of Le Fossé was merged into Forges-les-Eaux. Geography A farming and spa town, with considerabl ...

and Sigy-en-Bray. At Forges, refugees prevented the blocking of roads; when a column of French tanks appeared, they were allowed to pass through. The tanks had been captured by the Germans and were used as a ruse. Once through the roadblocks, they attacked the British positions from the rear. The units of the division were pushed back and the line was penetrated in many places, despite the support of parts of the 1st Armoured Division on their left. Late in the afternoon, Syme's Battalion, only formed from depot troops in the previous week, held up the 5th Panzer Division for several hours outside Rouen, before being forced to retire south of the

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

. During the night, the remainder of the division retired across the river.

Evacuation

The fragmented remains of the division that had escaped across the Seine were withdrawn to reorganise. On 16 June, the Tenth Army ordered a general retirement with the eventual aim of establishing a defensive position on the

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

peninsula; a policy opposed by both Brooke and the British Government. The Beauman Division was ordered to fall back on Cherbourg for Operation Aerial, evacuations from the French Atlantic and Mediterranean ports. This was relatively straightforward for the Beauman Division, which (unlike some other British formations) was not in contact with the Germans. The division crossed the line of retreat of part of the Tenth Army, which caused minor complications. Arriving at Cherbourg, the division embarked with whatever equipment they had and the division was evacuated by 17 June. On arrival in England, the division was dispersed; the

London Gazette London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...

for 16 August 1940 reported, ''"Colonel A. B. Beauman, CBE, DSO, relinquishes the acting rank of Major-General on ceasing to command a Division, 21st July 1940"''.Second Supplement to The London Gazette of Tuesday 13 August 1940
(p, 5,001)

Orders of battle

Beauman Division

* Formed 27 May 1940 Data from Karslake (1979) unless indicated. * Divisional Headquarters * General Officer Commanding (Commander A): Major-General A. B. Beauman ** Commander Royal Artillery (CRA): Major G. Elliot,

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

** Commander Royal Engineers (CRE): Lieutenant-Colonel J. B. H. Doyle,

** Chief Signals Officer (CSO): Major W. A. Salt,

* Staff * HQ staff and signals drawn from HQ North District ** General Staff Officer I (GSO I): Major A. N. S. Corbett, RA ** GSO II: Captain J. G. Churcher, KSLI ** GSO III: Captain G. S. Lowden, Y & L ** GSO III (I): Captain D. G. Dawes, RA ** Attached: Major D. G. I. A. Gordon, Gordon Highlanders * Adjutants and Quartermasters (A and Q) ** Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General (AA and QMG): Colonel H. F. Grant-Suttie, RA ** Deputy Assistant Adjutant General (DAAG): Major R. A. Lake, Northants ** Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General (DAQMG): Major M. C. E. Sharpe, S. Lancs ** Attached: Captain D. M. Gall, Cameronians (Camp Commandant) ** Attached: Captain E. P. Dickson RE Troops
A Brigade (late Beauforce) Brigadier M. A. Green (to 51st Highland Division 7 June, Arkforce 9 June) Data from Karslake (1979) unless indicated. * Previously 25th Infantry Brigade used on line-of-communications defence * Brigadier M. A. Green (to 51st (Highland) Division, 7 June) ** 4th Battalion, Royal East Kent Regiment (Buffs) (from 27 May, Lieutenant- Colonel F. J. E. Marshall) ** 2/6th Battalion,

East Surrey Regiment The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ( ...

(to 3 June) (Lieutenant-Colonel H. S. Burgess) ** 4th Battalion,

Border Regiment The Border Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot and the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot. After service in ...

(Lieutenant-Colonel T. W. A. Tomlinson from 3 June, detached to 1st Armoured Division by 6 June) ** 1/5th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (from 27 May, Major B. D. Shaw) ** Brigade Carrier Platoon ** "D" Machine Gun Company (improvised from Cheshire and Manchester regiment troops in No 5 Infantry Base Depot) B Brigade (late Vicforce) Data from Karslake (1979) unless indicated. * Provisional battalions formed of reinforcement and depot troops * Brigadier Kent-Lemon ** Meredith's Rifle Battalion (Major H. R. H. Davies, later renamed Merry's Rifles, then 1st Battalion) ** Davie's Rifle Battalion (Major W. W. Harrowing later renamed 2nd Provisional Battalion) ** Ray's Rifle Battalion (later renamed Newcombe's Rifles, then 3rd Provisional Battalion) ** Perowne's Rifle Battalion (disbanded and split between Ray's, Davie's and Meredith's Rifles by 1 June) ** Waite's Rifle Battalion (disbanded and split between Ray's, Davie's and Meredith's Rifles by 1 June) ** Brigade Anti-Tank Company (2 × 2-pounder and 2 × 25 mm Hotchkiss anti-tank guns; later renamed Z AT Company) ** Brigade Carrier Platoon C Brigade (late Digforce) Data from Karslake (1979) unless indicated. * Provisional battalions formed of infantry reservists serving in the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps (AMPC) * Lieutenant-Colonel J. B. H. Diggle, 9th Lancers ** A Battalion (Nos 3, 10, 18 and 28 Companies AMPC from

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

Sub-Area) ** B Battalion (Nos 5, 21 and 111 Companies AMPC from

Sub-Area) ** C Battalion (Nos 4, 13, 113 and 114 Companies AMPC from

Sub-Area) ** S (Scots) Infantry Battalion (formed from General Base Depot troops on 14 June; joined C Brigade 15 June) ** Brigade Carrier Platoon * Divisional Troops ** Syme's Rifle Battalion (formed in late May with troops from the reinforcement depot, from 6 June retained under divisional control) ** 2/4th Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (from 46th Division) ** 2/6th Battalion, Duke of Wellington's (from 46th Division) ** E Anti-tank Regiment (12 × 2-pounder anti-tank guns (later 14); improvised from base reinforcement details and men returning from leave) ** X Field Battery (12 × 18-pounder field guns; improvised from base reinforcement details; many guns lacked dial sights.) ** Divisional Tank Company (5 × Matilda I nfantry Tank Mk Iand 5 ater 6×

Matilda II The Infantry Tank Mark II, better known as the Matilda, is a British infantry tank of the Second World War.Jentz, p. 11. The design began as the A12 specification in 1936, as a gun-armed counterpart to the first British infantry tank, the mac ...

nfantry Tank Mk II later also 1 × cruiser tank and 1 × armoured car, formed from 27 May) * Divisional Engineers ** 212th, 218th, 291st Army Troops Companies, RE ** 271st Field Company, RE (from 46th Division) ** 670th Artisan Works Company, RE

Arkforce

* Brigadier A. C. L. Stanley-Clarke (formed 9 June) Data from Karslake (1979) unless indicated. ** 4th Battalion, Black Watch (from 153rd Brigade) ** 7th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (from 154th Brigade) ** 8th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (from 154th Brigade) ** 6th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers (Pioneers) * A Brigade (Beauman Division) ** 1st Battalion Princess Louise's Kensington Regiment (less two companies) ** 17th Field Regiment RA ** 75th Field Regiment RA ** 51st Anti-tank Regiment RA (one battery) ** 236th Field Company RE ** 237th Field Company RE ** 239th Field Company RE ** 154th Field Ambulance

Normanforce

* Lieutenant-General J. H. Marshall-Cornwall (from 15 June) Data from Karslake (1979) unless indicated. ** 3rd (Composite) Armoured Brigade (Brigadier John Crocker) ** Beauman Division (Acting Major-General A. B. Beauman, less A Brigade) ** 157th Brigade Group, 52nd (Lowland) Division (Brigadier Sir

John Laurie John Paton Laurie (25 March 1897 – 23 June 1980) was a Scottish stage, film, and television actor. He appeared in scores of feature films with directors including Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean, Michael Powell and Laurence Olivier, generally p ...

) ** 71st Field Regiment RA, 52nd (Lowland) Division ** 5th Battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers, 52nd (Lowland) Division ** 1 × troop anti-tank guns ** 1 × company sappers Regular infantry south of the Somme 20 May – 20 June 1940. Data from Karslake (1979) unless indicated. * 51st (Highland) Division 13 × battalions * 52nd (Lowland) Division 9 × battalions * 1st Canadian Division 3 × battalions ** Total 25 × battalions After 20 May, there were 20 infantry battalions on the lines of communication (L of C). Data from Karslake (1979) unless indicated. * L of C troops 5 × battalions * Beauman Division (excepting above) 7 × battalions * 12th Division 5 × battalions * 46th Division 3 × battalions ** Total 20 × battalions From 20 May – 19 June, a grand total of 45 infantry battalions (equivalent to approximately 32,000 men) and 17 artillery regiments.

Notes

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * *

External links

Philson, A. British Army, 1939–1945: British Expeditionary Force, 10 May 1940: Tables of Organisation and Equipment: Orders of Battle: Volume 2 (Beauman Division: pp. 38–40)

{{British Army Divisions British World War II divisions Military units and formations established in 1940 Ad hoc units and formations of the British Army Military units and formations disestablished in 1940