Men of the 7th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (7 June 1940)
Arkforce was an ad hoc formation of the British Expeditionary Force during the Battle of France in 1940.
Arkforce was an ad hoc formation of the British Expeditionary Force during the Battle of France in 1940.
At the start of the Battle of France, the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division was on detachment from the rest of the BEF, having been reinforced, to man part of the Maginot Line under French command. After being withdrawn and sent west, the division was attached to IX Corps of the French Tenth Army in Normandy along the lower reaches of the river Somme. Command of the corps was given to Major-General Victor Fortune of the Highland Division, who was under the command of General Robert Altmayer the Tenth Army commander. After almost continuous fighting against a German bridgehead on the south bank at Abbeville, the division was ordered to retreat on 7 June, to a 13 mi (21 km) defensive line along the river Bresle. When the second German offensive Fall Rot (Case Red) reached the area the next day, the 5th Panzer Division outflanked the Bresle position at Rouen, leaving the Highlanders and the French 31st Division cut off from their line of retreat across the River Seine. [1] Fortune decided to ignore orders from Altmayer and the War Office to retire towards the Seine (through an area now occupied by several German divisions) and to head for the port of Le Havre, taking the rest of IX Corps with him. [2]
The units grouped into Arkforce were near Arques-la-Bataille and its name was derived from village. Arkforce was to form a defensive line about 19 mi (30 km) to the east of Le Havre, on the Fécamp–Bolbec line, to allow the 51st Highland Division and the rest of IX Corps to retreat. It was also charged with providing the reconnaissance for a line of defence closer to Le Havre, to aid the evacuation. [3] [4]
Due to congested roads, units were late arriving and elements of the 7th Panzer Division were already driving between Arkforce and the rest of IX Corps. Arkforce moved on the night of 9/10 June towards Fécamp, where most had passed through before the 7th Panzer Division arrived. A Brigade managed to force its way out but lost the wireless truck intended to keep contact with the 51st (Highland) Division. The possibility of holding a line from Fécamp to Lillebonne was discounted and Stanley-Clarke ordered Arkforce on to Le Havre. [5] The port was severely bombed by the Luftwaffe on 7 June; a Royal Navy demolition party had been in Le Havre since late May and two days later, the Admiralty sent orders for an evacuation. Admiral William James, the Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth sent a flotilla leader, HMS Codrington across the channel, accompanied by six British and two Canadian destroyers, smaller craft and many Dutch coasters (known as schuyts). [6]
A hasty plan was made to block Dieppe harbour and on 10 June, HMS Vega (Captain G. A. Garnon-Williams) escorted three blockships to the port. Two ships were sunk in the approach channel but the third ship hit a mine just outside, which prevented it being sunk at the entrance to the inner harbour. [6] (James had signalled that many IX Corps troops would probably be trapped against the sea near St. Valery, where he had assembled flotillas of smaller craft under the local Senior Naval Officer.) [7] Beach parties landed at Le Havre to take control of the evacuation on 10 June and after a postponement, the evacuation began on 11 June, hindered somewhat by the damage to the port caused by Luftwaffe bombing. The troopship SS Bruges, was hit and beached and the electric power to the docks was cut, rendering the cranes on the docks useless; ramps were tried for vehicle loading but it was too slow. On 12 June, RAF fighters began patrolling the port to deter raids. An attempt was made to save the transport and equipment by diverting it over the Seine, via the ferry crossings at Caudebec or to the ships at Quillebeuf at the river mouth. The quartermaster of the 14th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers succeeded in getting his transport away. [8]
Arkforce Data from Joslen (2003) unless indicated. [9]
Operation Cycle is the name of the evacuation of Allied troops from Le Havre, in the Pays de Caux of Upper Normandy from 10 to 13 June 1940, towards the end of the Battle of France, during the Second World War. The operation was preceded by the better known rescue of 338,226 British and French soldiers from Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo (26 May – 4 June). On 20 May, the Germans had captured Abbeville at the mouth of the Somme and cut off the main Allied armies in the north. South of the river, the Allies improvised defences and made local counter-attacks to dislodge the Germans from bridgeheads on the south bank and re-capture river crossings, for an advance northwards to regain contact with the armies in northern France and Flanders.
Operation Aerial was the evacuation of Allied military forces and civilians from ports in western France. The operation took place from 15 to 25 June 1940 during the Second World War. The embarkation followed the Allied military collapse in the Battle of France against Nazi Germany. Operation Dynamo, the evacuation from Dunkirk and Operation Cycle from Le Havre, had finished on 13 June. British and Allied ships were covered from French bases by five Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter squadrons and assisted by aircraft based in England to lift British, Polish and Czech troops, civilians and equipment from Atlantic ports, particularly from St Nazaire and Nantes.
The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as the Highland Division and later 51st (Highland) Division from 1915. The division's insignia was a stylised 'HD' inside a red circle. Early doubts about the division's performance earned it the nickname of "Harper's Duds" after the name of its commander, Major-General George Harper although they would go on to gain a fearsome reputation with the Allies and Germans.
The Liverpool Welsh, under various guises, was a unit of Britain's Volunteer Force and Territorial Army (TA) associated with the King's Liverpool Regiment. It served as a tank regiment in the Western Desert and Italian Campaigns in the Second World War, as a security force during the Greek Civil War, and as a heavy anti-aircraft artillery regiment postwar.
The 9th (Highland) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army, formed just prior to the start of the Second World War. In March 1939, after the re-emergence of Germany as a significant military power and its occupation of Czechoslovakia, the British Army increased the number of divisions in the Territorial Army (TA) by duplicating existing units. The 9th (Highland) was formed in August 1939, as a second-line duplicate of the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division. The division's battalions were all raised in the Scottish Highlands.
The 6th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army, created in September 1940 during the Second World War and re-formed in May 1951 in the UK.
The Second Battle of El Alamein was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa had prevented the Axis from advancing further into Egypt.
154th Infantry Brigade was a formation of Britain's Territorial Force/Territorial Army that was part of 51st (Highland) Division in both World Wars. From its origins in the 19th Century Volunteer Force it was based in Stirling and was composed of Highland battalions. It served on the Western Front in World War I, and after it escaped from France early in World War II it was reformed from its 2nd Line and saw action in North Africa, Sicily and North West Europe. It continued serving postwar until the reduction of the Territorial Army in the 1960s.
227th Brigade was an infantry formation of the British Army formed for Home Service under various short-lived titles in the First and the Second World Wars. Later it was upgraded to a field formation composed of Scottish troops, and saw heavy fighting in the Normandy and North West Europe Campaign.
The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was the contingent of the British Army sent to France in 1939 after Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany on 3 September, beginning the Second World War. The BEF existed from 2 September 1939 when the BEF GHQ was formed until 31 May 1940, when GHQ closed down and its troops reverted to the command of Home Forces. During the 1930s, the British government had planned to deter war by abolishing the Ten Year Rule and rearming from the very low level of readiness of the early 1930s. The bulk of the extra money went to the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force but plans were made to re-equip a small number of Army and Territorial Army divisions for service overseas.
The Beauman Division was an improvised formation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) during the Second World War, which fought in France against the German 4th Army in June 1940, during Fall Rot, the final German offensive of the Battle of France.
The 157th 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.
The Battle of Abbeville took place from 27 May to 4 June 1940, near Abbeville during the Battle of France in the Second World War. On 20 May, the 2nd Panzer Division advanced 56 mi (90 km) to Abbeville on the English Channel, overran the 25th Infantry Brigade of the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division and captured the town at 8:30 p.m. Only a few British survivors managed to retreat to the south bank of the Somme and at 2:00 a.m. on 21 May, the III Battalion, Rifle Regiment 2 reached the coast, west of Noyelles-sur-Mer.
The 144th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps was an armoured regiment of the British Army. Originally raised during World War II as a battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment it was later transferred to the Royal Armoured Corps. It fought in the campaign in North-West Europe, from June 1944 to May 1945.
The 107th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (King's Own) (107 RAC) was a tank regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps, raised by the British Army during the Second World War. The regiment served with distinction in North-west Europe from July 1944 to May 1945.
The 12th (Eastern) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army, which fought briefly in the Battle of France during the Second World War. In March 1939, after the re-emergence of Germany as a European power and its occupation of Czechoslovakia, the British Army increased the number of divisions within the Territorial Army by duplicating existing units. The 12th (Eastern) Infantry Division was formed in October 1939, as a second-line duplicate of the 44th Infantry Division.
The North Midland (Staffordshire) Heavy Battery was a Territorial Force (TF) unit of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) formed in Staffordshire in 1908. It fought on the Western Front during World War I. Converted to medium artillery in the 1920s, the unit took part in the Battle of France and Dunkirk Evacuation in the early part of World War II, before returning to action in North Africa and Italy, and finally in North West Europe.
The 1st Argyll & Bute Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery formed in Scotland in 1860 in response to a French invasion threat. It 1908 it became the only Mountain Artillery unit in the Territorial Force, and saw action at Gallipoli and Salonika during the First World War. Before the Second World War, it became the first Territorial anti-tank unit. One of its successor units was captured at Saint-Valery-en-Caux, during the Battle of France, but others saw action in the campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, and in North West Europe from D Day to VE Day. The latter included the Battle of Arnhem and the crossing of the Rhine. It continued in the postwar Territorial Army until 1955.
The 1st Aberdeenshire Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army raised in Aberdeenshire and neighbouring counties in Scotland in 1860. Its successor units served with 51st (Highland) Division through many of the major battles on the Western Front during the First World War. In the Second World War one of its regiments escaped the surrender of the 51st (Highland) Division in 1940 and went on to serve as heavy artillery in the Italian Campaign. The other regiment served with the reconstituted division at Alamein, in Sicily, Normandy and through North West Europe to the Rhine Crossing and beyond. It served on in the Territorial Army until 1967.
The 1st Renfrew and Dumbarton Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery founded in Scotland in 1860. During the First World War, it served with 51st (Highland) Division at the Battle of the Somme before being broken up. In the Second World War, the regiment saw action in the Battle of France, in the campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, the Greek Civil War and in North West Europe. It continued in the postwar Territorial Army until 1969.
