Commander in Flanders, France and Britain Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke

lieutenant general a. f. brooke sits portrait being painted reginald eves, 30 april 1940.

when german offensive began brooke distinguished himself in handling of british forces in retreat dunkirk. in late may 1940 ii corps held major german attack on ypres-comine canal found left flank exposed capitulation of belgian army. brooke swiftly ordered 3rd division switch corps right flank cover gap. accomplished in complicated night-time manoeuvre. pushing more troops north counter threat embarking troops @ dunkirk german units advancing along coast, ii corps retreated appointed places on east or south-east of shrinking perimeter of dunkirk.

then on 29 may brooke ordered gort return england, leaving corps in montgomery s hands. according montgomery, brooke overcome emotion @ having leave men in such crisis broke down , wept handed on monty on beaches of la panne. told gort proceed home .... (the) task of reforming new armies returned on destroyer (30 may). on june 2nd set out war office find out wanted light heart , no responsibility, , told dill (cigs) return france form new bef; later said hearing command dill 1 of blackest (moments) in war. had realised there no hope of success brittany plan (breton redoubt) keep allied redoubt in france. told secretary war (eden) mission had no military value , no hope of success although not comment on political value. in first conversation prime minister winston churchill (brooke had been rung dill @ 10 downing street) insisted british forces should withdrawn france. churchill objected convinced brooke , around 200,000 british , allied troops evacuated ports in northwestern france.

after returning short spell @ southern command appointed in july 1940 command united kingdom home forces take charge of anti-invasion preparations. have been brooke s task direct land battle in event of german landings. contrary predecessor general sir edmund ironside, favoured static coastal defence, brooke focused on developing mobile reserve swiftly counterattack enemy forces before established. light line of defence on coast assure landings delayed as possible. writing after war, brooke acknowledged had every intention of using sprayed mustard gas on beaches .

brooke believed lack of unified command of 3 services grave danger defence of country. despite this, , fact available forces never reached numbers thought required, brooke considered situation far helpless in case germans invaded. should have desperate struggle , future might have hung in balance, felt given fair share of fortunes of war should succeed in defending these shores , wrote after war. in end, german invasion plan never taken beyond preliminary assembly of forces.