The British Expeditionary Force, 1939-40 .pdf

Author(s): Edward Smalley
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Date: 2015-05-26 Format: True PDF Language: English ISBN/ASIN: 1137494190
Pages: 288 OCR: Quality: ISBN13: 9781137494191

The British Expeditionary Force 1939-40 shines a new light on the British Army's campaign in continental Europe between September 1939 and June 1940. Extensive archival research within the essential areas of training, communications, discipline, headquarters and staff reveals how military performance was undermined by a confused mind-set, an uncertain skills-set and an uncompetitive capability. Many of the debilitating flaws in British operating procedure were long-standing, foreseeable and self-inflicted systems were neither efficient in peacetime nor resilient in wartime. Edward Smalley explores the British Expeditionary Force's origins, the reasons for the catastrophic defeat in France, and the campaign's considerable legacy for the British Army.