In the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

in June 1940, Norman Force, or Normanforce, was a formation of units of the British Expeditionary Force, following the

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...

(Operation Dynamo). On 12 June 1940,

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Sir

Alan Brooke Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, (23 July 1883 – 17 June 1963), was a senior officer of the British Army. He was Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), the professional head of the British Army, during the Sec ...

returned to France and assumed command of all

British troops The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkhas ...

in the country the next day. He placed the British units fighting with the French Tenth Army under the command of Lieutenant-General J. H. Marshall-Cornwall. This improvised formation was known as Norman Force and on 15 June comprised the 3rd Armoured Brigade of the 1st Armoured Division, the

157th (Highland Light Infantry) Brigade The 157th (Highland Light Infantry) Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army. The brigade fought in both the First and the Second World Wars, assigned to 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division. Origins The Highland Light Infantry Brigade was ...

, 71st Field Regiment R.A. and the Troop Carrying Company of the

52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division The 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was originally formed as the Lowland Division, in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force. It later became the 52nd (Lowland) Division in 1915. The 52nd (Lowland ...

. Next day, Brooke was able to prevent the rest of the 52nd (Lowland) Division being sent to join the 157th Infantry Brigade and during the night he was informed that he was no longer under French command and must prepare to withdraw the British forces from France. Marshall-Cornwall was ordered to withdraw towards

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...

, while continuing to co-operate with the French. The rest of the 52nd (Lowland) Division was ordered back to a defence line near Cherbourg to cover the evacuation on 15 June. The

RAF Advanced Air Striking Force The RAF Advanced Air Striking Force (AASF) comprised the light bombers of No. 1 Group RAF, 1 Group RAF Bomber Command, which took part in the Battle of France during the Second World War. Before hostilities began, it had been agreed between the ...

(AASF) was also directed to send its last bomber squadrons back to Britain and use the fighter squadrons to cover the evacuations. The German advance over the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

had paused while bridges were built but the advance began again during the day, with the 157th Infantry Brigade engaged east of

Conches-en-Ouche Conches-en-Ouche (, literally ''Conches in Ouche'') is a commune in the Eure ''département'' in northern France. Geography It is located by the Rouloir river, southwest of Évreux in the Normandy region. The town is located on a plateau known a ...

with the Tenth Army. The army was ordered to retreat to a line from Verneuil to Argentan and the Dives river, where the British took over an -front either side of the

Mortagne-au-Perche Mortagne-au-Perche () is a commune in the Orne department in Normandy, north-western France. Heraldry Population People *Geoffrey II, Count of Perche and Mortagne, grandfather of Queen Margaret of L'Aigle. * Marie of Armagnac, duchess of Al ...

–

Verneuil-sur-Avre Verneuil-sur-Avre (, literally ''Verneuil on Avre'') is a former commune in the Eure department in Normandy in northern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Verneuil d'Avre et d'Iton. History Following the revolt of the ...

road. German forces followed up quickly and on 16 June, General

Robert Altmayer Marie-Robert Altmayer (1875–1959) was a French army corps general. He was the eldest son of the divisional general Victor Joseph Altmayer (1844–1908) and elder brother of general René Altmayer. They were of German descent. He commanded cavalry ...

(commander of the Tenth Army) ordered the army to retreat into the

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

peninsula. Following

Operation Cycle Operation Cycle is the name of the evacuation of Allied troops from Le Havre, in the Pays de Caux of Upper Normandy from 1940, towards the end of the Battle of France, during the Second World War. The operation was preceded by the better kno ...

(10 to 13 June),

Operation Aerial Operation Aerial was the evacuation of Allied forces and civilians from ports in western France from 15 to 25 June 1940 during the Second World War. The evacuation followed the Allied military collapse in the Battle of France against Nazi Germ ...

, the final Allied evacuation, began on 15 June.

Footnotes

References

* *

External links

''Supplement to The London Gazette'': "Operations of the British Expeditionary Force, France from 12th June, 1940 to 19th June, 1940"
{{World War II Battle of France Military units and formations established in 1940 Ad hoc units and formations of the British Army