Friday 26 June 2020

BOOK REVIEW. USELESS MOUTHS.

  The British Army's Battles In France After Dunkirk May-June 1940.





This book was kindly brought to my attention by Mark at ManofTin blog. Mark is aware of my interest in logistics and on reading the synopsis of the book it certainly seemed to cover the logistics of the British Expeditionary Force in the campaign in France in 1940.

However that is not quite the case. I was vaguely aware that some British troops were left in France after the Dunkirk evacuation. I had no idea there were so many, 150,000 in fact. This book covers the fighting these troops engaged in before they were either captured or evacuated.

The reason why the book seems to address logistics is that the troops left behind after Dunkirk were mostly line of communication soldiers. The British Army of 1940 used French ports much further south than in 1914-1918 because of the threat of air attack. Therefore British lines of communication lay far to the south of the actual battle positions occupied by the BEF. When the German attack took place the British combat units were forced back to the northern Channel ports as the Germans cut them off from their LOC to the south.

Additionally the introduction and first few chapters tell the story of the development of logistics in the British Army. This is very interesting in its own right, but I  assume is actually intended to explain why so many soldiers were on the LOC and how they could be formed into combat units and equipped from LOC resources.

Anyway, despite the book seeming to be about logistics, in fact it is a very detailed and well researched history of BEF operations after the fall of Dunkirk through to the French surrender. There is a great deal of useful information and I for one have learned a lot. I suspect I am not alone in thinking that British involvement in the French campaign ended after Dunkirk. If you thought so too or you have an interest in this campaign generally this is most definitely the book for you.

Thanks Mark for bringing it to my attention. It is a good book.


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