B.E.F. IN ACTON

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 247, 18 October 1941, Page 6

B.E.F. IN ACTON

THRILLING STORY GERMAN ONSLAUGHT LORD GORT'S DISPATCHES (0.C.) WELLINGTON, this day. A stirring account of the gallant fight against the Germans in France and Belgium by the British Expeditionary Force is now told in authoritative form in General the Viscount Gort's dispatches (France and Belgium, 1939-40).

The overwhelming factor to be considered in the landing of the British forces in France was the probability of a concentrated German air attack. For this reason Cherbourg, Nantes, St. Nazaire and Brest were selected as the landing ports. The move began on September 10 and was completed exactly on schedule time without the loss of a man.

The British took up position on a sector following the frontier from the village of Maulde to- the village of Halluin, and thence to the River Lys to Armentieres. The sector covered Tourcoing, Courtrai and Lille. The command was not an independent one, LoM Gort being under the orders of General Georges, commander of the French front of the north-east.

The winter was spent in the construction of a line of strong defences along the frontier, prolonging the Maginot Line to its logical conclusion as a continuous rampart against German invasion. Throughout Belgium maintained strict neutrality, and nothing was known for certain of her defences. Force of 222,000 Men By the end of January the British Expeditionary Force in France stood at 222,000 men, two corps of three divisions each, with other troops.' Lord Gort, confident though he was In his men, was far from happy about the equipment situation, and on several occasions he called the attention of the War Office .to shortages of guns, 1 ammunition and various technical apparatus. On May 10 strong German forces invaded Holland and Belgium. The latter country immediately called upon the Allies for assistance, and the British Expeditionary Force and French First Army swiftly crossed the frontier to take up a position along the river Dyle, whicn runs north and south through Louvain, east of Brussels.

Hardly were the British in position when news came through tnat the Belgians had failed to demolish important bridges upon their own eastern frontier and were falling back pressed by the enemy. Following immediately upon this it was learnt that the French Ninth Army, upon the right of the French First Army, opposite the Ardennes, at Sedan, was giving way before a German armoured thrust. In a few days this army disintegrated completely, and the German tanks and armoured cars poured through a gap 20 miles wide, heading straight for the French coast and threatening to sever the Allied forces.

Following a conference at Mons on May 12, the French General Billotte, it was decided, should co-ordinate the British and Belgian forces and the French First and Seventh Armies, thus holding the Dyle line for a while, but with the collapse of Holland it was found necessary to fall back to a position on the River Escaut, 60 miles westward.

Gap To South Widens The withdrawal was completed, but the gap to was widening. The situation could only be restored by strong counter-attacks, the principal effort of which must come from the southside, where the come from the south side, where the These, however, did not mature. A plan was formulated when General Weygand succeeded Marshal Gamelin, but owing to the swift deterioration of the situation, it was never put into effect. Lord Gort found himself from the start thrown on his own initiative. The most pressing need was to organise a line of defence along what had now become the southern front of General Billotte's army group, and this was accomplished by manning a chain of canals which runs through Bethune and St. Omer to Gravelines and the sea. The situation was for the moment relieved.

Various emergency forces were improvised and aid great work, particularly as many of the men were only half trained and partially armed, having been brought out from England to dig and complete their training. A gallant attempt was made by one of these forces to counter-attack across the corridor, but despite an initial success, the effort failed for lack of adequate support.

On May 23 the British Expeditionary Force found itself in the position of a beleaguered garrison, with lines of communication cut and no possibility of reserves being brought up. On May 27 Lord Gort received a definite order from the Secretary for War making it clear that his sole task was to evacuate to England "the maximum number of your force possible."

How .that gallant force fought its way to the coast and the story of the Dunkirk evacuation have often been told and need not be repeated. As a result of the action some 80 per cent of their strength was delivered from the enemy's grasp together with 112,000 French soldiers. The dispatch concludes by statins that the fate of the British Expeditionary Force was sealed by a breakthrough many miles from its own front and not by anv failure of the British troops to hold positions of their own choosing. It also emphasises the paramount importance of equipment, the factors or speed and daring in the enemy's success, and the military value of parachute troops and dive-bombers. Demolitions proved their value. Refugees were a grave problem.