John Colman
B.E.F 1940
Europe
Guards Officer
1940
Did K80050
################################################################## Coleman comes with two changes of dress, leather gaiters, great coat, steel MkII helmet and peak cap, choice of Household Guard regiment cap badges, a metal water cooled Vickers machine gun, leather brief case, dispatch bag, and more. ##################################################################
Following the German invasion of Poland in 1939, the British Expeditionary Force was sent to the Franco-Belgian border. By May 1940, when the German attack began, it consisted of ten infantry divisions in three corps, a tank brigade and a RAF detachment of about 500 aircraft. Commanded by General Lord Gort, although constituting only a tenth of the defending Allied force it sustained heavy losses during the German advance and most of the remainder (roughly 330,000 men) were evacuated from Dunkirk in June, leaving much of their equipment behind. However, the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division was left behind at Saint-Valery-en-Caux, as it was not trapped by the Germans at the time; it surrendered along with elements of the French 10th Army later in June. The short lived second Expeditionary Force commanded by General Alan Brooke was evacuated from Western France during Operation Ariel.