After Dunkirk

After Dunkirk recounts the fate of the 51st Highland Division, which remained attached to French forces after the main British Expeditionary Force withdrew towards Dunkirk. Drawing on interviews, unit war diaries, letters and official records, Saul David follows the division from patrol duty near the Maginot Line through fighting on the Somme and Bresle as the German offensive overwhelmed France.

On 12 June 1940, more than a week after the Dunkirk evacuation ended, the division was forced to surrender to Erwin Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division at St Valéry-en-Caux. More than ten thousand men entered captivity. The book examines command decisions in London and France, the failure to evacuate the force and the long consequences for soldiers who believed that political and strategic priorities had left them isolated.