Campaigning: The Journal of the Joint Forces Staff College 14 April 2022

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Book Review

A Forgotten Campaign:

The British Armed Forces in France

1940 – From Dunkirk to the Armistice

by Paul Fantom

Reviewed by1

Nicholas M. Anthony Jr., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, JFSC

A plethora of books and movies immortalize the heroic actions of those involved in the 

evacuation of Allied Forces from Dunkirk. Many accounts, however, end with the successful 

departure of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), French, and Belgian troops from the 

European continent in 1940 and only pick back up at the Allied Forces landing on the beaches of 

Normandy in 1944. In his first book, A Forgotten Campaign: The British Armed Forces in 

France 1940 – From Dunkirk to the Armistice, British military historian and civilian-military 

relations specialist Paul Fantom addresses that oversight, recounting what happened after the 

much appreciated and highly publicized “Miracle of Dunkirk.” Cicero stated, “Poor is the nation 

that has no heroes, but poorer still is the nation that having heroes, fails to remember and honor 

them.” Fantom manages to fill the four-year gap in the gallant exploits of the “Second BEF,” the 

only British forces operating on the European continent following the evacuation of Dunkirk, 

ensuring they are not forgotten. A Forgotten Campaign is the only published work that celebrates 

the Second BEF, bringing to life their many brave deeds and acts of sacrifice.

Fantom’s book begins in September 1939 to contextualize the deployment of the BEF bolstering 

the defense of France. The German invasion of France, he explains, cut the BEF in two and led 

to the evacuation of Dunkirk. In the crisis that precipitated, due to the lack of available military 

resources and the extensive reliance on civilian support, the Dunkirk evacuation required 

abandoning a large amount of Allied materiel and personnel, which is often overlooked in the 

historical accounts. In the initial phases of the conflict, the loss of materiel was as consequential 

as the loss of morale that stemmed from the hasty retreat. 

A Forgotten Campaign is structured chronologically. As Fantom progresses from 1939, he 

recounts the exploits of the 4th Provisional (Syme’s) Battalion. The Syme’s Battalion, a unit that 

had been hastily improvised from various drafts of reinforcement units, fought a determined rearguard action against an overwhelming German enemy force, resulting in a considerable number 

of casualties inflicted on the enemy’s infantry. To be specific, Syme’s Battalion disabled twelve 

1 The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the official policy or position of Joint 

Forces Staff College, National Defense University, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
Campaigning: The Journal of the Joint Forces Staff College 14 April 2022

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German tanks and an airplane in addition to the German infantry forces they killed. In their 

ultimately futile but effective endeavor, and despite the blitzkrieg advance of German forces, the 

Syme’s Battalion delayed the city of Rouen’s capture by twelve hours, thereby allowing the 

escape of thousands of other Allied troops. Fantom shows, in recalling the events, that futile 

struggle can have important effects, and he seems to suggest that the sense of struggle in the face 

of futility underscores the heroes’ ethos.

After the Dunkirk evacuation, a few BEF elements remained to fight alongside French and 

Belgian forces. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered the deployment of two 

additional divisions to reinforce the Second BEF. Fantom writes that Lieutenant General Alan 

Brooke, II Corps Commander and eventually the commander of the Second BEF, advised that 

reinforcing the Second BEF was useless and amounted to nothing more than a political gesture. 

The resounding support from political leaders but the lack of support from senior military leaders 

highlights the Second BEF’s Duke of Wellington-like resilience and the fact that senior military 

leaders are prone to conservative mindsets after disastrous operations despite the need for 

aggression. 

Fantom writes about significant operational strains often associated with navigating a complex 

and highly politicized coalition command and control structure. Fantom painstakingly lays out 

the actions of the 1940 British Army campaign in France. He notes in detail how the British 

forces lacked the requisite doctrine, equipment, tactics, and training to oppose, in any effective 

way, the rapid advance of the German Wehrmacht. His description of the otherwise unknown 

British successes emphasize how even an undermanned, under-resourced, and overmatched 

Second BEF with the will to fight can impose a cost on an adversary. Fantom underscores how a 

social contract between service members and the society they defend serves as a significant 

motivator for military forces that allows them to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds.

In this age of the ominous threats of terrorism and endless wars, Fantom reminds us of the heroic 

acts that make democratic and freedom-loving nations resilient. He also points to the social

compact necessary to empower the warriors to counter that fear through selfless service. Part of 

that compact is demonstrating faith in the profession of arms, and part of that compact is that 

society preserves the memory of courageous acts. The societal compact is captured as an ethos;

cedat emptor – “let the taker believe in us.” Fantom’s book is therefore both a memorial 

preserving a social compact and a demonstration of exemplary performance in the medium of 

words. In that final thought, Fantom makes one more point: That we each contribute to the cause 

using the tools and skills at our disposal.

Book Information:

A Forgotten Campaign: The British Armed Forces in France 1940 – From Dunkirk to the 

Armistice

by Paul Fantom

Warwick, England: Helion & Company Ltd., 2021. 222 pp.