In mid-April the 15th Brigade was sent to Norway and fought, very briefly, in the unsuccessful Norwegian Campaign, evacuating from there and arriving in the United Kingdom in early May, but did not rejoin the 5th Division until 3 July 1940. In early May the 25th Infantry Brigade came temporarily under command of the division in France. The German Army launched its attack in the West on 10 May 1940 and the 5th Division saw action in the battles of Belgium and France in May–June 1940 including the Battle of Arras, supported by the 1st Army Tank Brigade, on 21 May 1940 and at the Battle of the Ypres-Comines Canal from 26 to 28 May 1940, and then was withdrawn to Dunkirk, along with the rest of the BEF, where they were evacuated to England, with most of the division arriving on 1 June. Lieutenant-General Brooke, commanding II Corps, wrote in his diary that there "is no doubt that the 5th Div in its fight on the Ypres-Comines canal saved the II Corps and the BEF".