The network of canals stretching from the coast at Gravelines, through
St-Omer, Béthune and La Bassée, follows the approximate boundary between
Artois and Flanders and was, in 1940, the defensive line established on
the western edge of the so-called Dunkerque Corridor designed by Lord
Gort to provide an evacuation route to the channel coast. Even before
events on the line of the Escaut line had concluded with yet another
Allied withdrawal, Lord Gort was diverting units to bolster the Canal
Line defenses
This is probably the first occasion that the fighting along the Canal
Line has been looked at in detail; overlooked by the inevitable
withdrawal towards the channel coast, the units deployed along the canal
faced some of the stiffest fighting in the whole 1940 France and
Flanders campaign. Whole battalions, particularly those in the 2nd
Division, were sacrificed as units were thrown into the battle in an
attempt to slow down the German advance. The book looks in some detail
at the ad hoc nature of the Usherforce and Polforce units, the units of
the independent 25 Brigade and the vicious fighting that enveloped the
2nd Division. Time is given also to the notorious massacre of the Royal
Norfolks at Louis Creton's farm near Le Paradis.
Material concerning the deployment of units along the Canal Line in 1940
has been found in a variety of sources, including regimental histories
and unit war diaries. The author has been fortunate in being able to
access a number of personal diaries and accounts from men serving with
the independent 25 Brigade and the 2nd Division, which has, in some
cases, added to and enhanced the actions taken by those units while
deployed on the canal.
The book is illustrated by over a hundred contemporary and modern
photographs and by five car tours and three walks, all of which give the
tourist a greater access to the battlefield.
