British Expeditionary Force

The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was a small and confident professional force. Its leaders prepared for a war that was expected to pretty much follow the pattern of World War I with troops battling over relatively static lines of defence. The BEF would bolster the much larger and highly regarded French army – the most potent fighting arm in all of Europe – shielded from attack by the defences of the Maginot line.

The reality of the situation was worse than the allies feared. Blitzkrieg was a new form of warfare, and one for which they had neither training nor effective counter-measures. On 10 May 1940 the German Army began its expected attack on France, sweeping through the Low Countries, just as it had in 1914. Holland and Belgium quickly capitulated.