CANAL LINE: France and Flanders Campaign 1940

The networks of canals stretching from the coast at Gravelines through St-Omer follows the approximate boundary between Artois and Flanders and was in 1940 the defence line established on the Western Edge of the so-called Dunkerque Corridor designed by Lord Gort to provide an evacuation route to the Channel coast. Even before events on the line of the Escaut Line had concluded with yet another Allied withdrawal, Lord Gort was diverting units to bolster the Canal Line defences. This was probably the first occasion that fighting along the Canal Line has been looked at in detail in this book. Overlooked by the inevitable withdrawal towards the Channel coast, the units deployed along the canal faced some of the stiffest fighting in the whole 1940 campaign. Whole battalions particularly those of the 2nd Division were sacrificed as units were thrown into battle in an attempt to slow down the German advance. The book looks at the ad hoc nature of the Usherforce and Polforce units, the units of the independent 25 Brigade, and the vicious fighting that enveloped the 2nd Division. Time is given also to the notorious massacre of the Royal Norfolk's at Louis Creton's Farm near Le Paradis. With over 100 contemporary and modern photographs, five car tours and three walks to give the tourist greater access and information about the battlefields. 205 page paperback.