The 5th Division was also serving in France as part of the BEF. By May 1940 it was decided that the 5th Division should return to the United Kingdom as a reserve formation; this was soon countermanded. On the following day, 10 May, the Germans launched their long-waited assault in the West and the 5th Division was heavily engaged throughout the Battle of France, in particular at the Battle of Arras and the Battle of the Ypres–Comines Canal, before being ordered to retreat to Dunkirk, where most of the division, by now heavily battered after sustaining severe casualties, was evacuated to England, arriving there on the night of 31 May/1 June.