Quickly, should the word 'sacrifice' seem to be prejudging what follows, I did not use the word in my questions of the AI. It did, five times in answers including: 'The decision to leave the 51st (Highland) Division behind as a rearguard — effectively sacrificing it so the rest of the British Expeditionary Force could escape at Dunkirk.'
John Robertson, father in the KOSBs, all before that coalminers who stayed at ‘home’ in the pits
I’ve had a bit of stick for:
It was the winter of nineteen thirty-nine
When we arrived at France’s Maginot Line
We were more than fifteen thousand strong
Ready to stand our ground against the hun
https://suno.com/song/e2cdc61e-bd8f-448a-bdd3-9fdd3381fd01
Under the blog post and the tweet, I’ve had more negative comment than I usually face.
I’ve learned to be wary of some topics but was not ready for this. I don’t have the knowledge to respond to them so, the best I can do is share the source material I based the words on.
Who decided to leave the 51st Highlanders as a rearguard?
The decision to leave the 51st (Highland) Division behind as a rearguard — effectively sacrificing it so the rest of the British Expeditionary Force could escape at Dunkirk — was made jointly by French and British high command in mid-May 1940, but the key individuals bear direct responsibility.Who made the decision and why
- General Georges Blanchard (commander of the French 1st Army Group) and General Maxime Weygand (who replaced Gamelin as supreme Allied commander on 19 May 1940)
These French generals insisted that the 51st Highland Division (then attached to the French IX Corps) be detached from the BEF and moved south of the Somme to reinforce the French armies on the “Weygand Line.” They wanted a strong, cohesive British formation to stiffen French resistance after the BEF began withdrawing northward toward Dunkirk. - General Alphonse Georges (overall French commander in the northeast) and Weygand explicitly ordered the 51st to remain with the French Tenth Army and later the Ninth Corps, refusing repeated British requests to bring it back north with the rest of the BEF.
- British War Office and CIGS General Sir John Dill
Although Lord Gort (BEF commander) repeatedly asked for the 51st to be returned to his command so it could retreat with the BEF to Dunkirk, the War Office — under strong French pressure and fearing a complete collapse of the Allied front — agreed to leave the division with the French. The final British approval came from General Dill and the Cabinet on or around 24–25 May 1940. - Major-General Victor Fortune (commander of the 51st Highland Division)
Fortune himself accepted the orders and fought on with the French. He had no realistic choice once the decision was made at higher levels.
Consequences
After Dunkirk, the 51st Highland Division, along with attached French units and the improvised “Ark Force,” was pushed back to the coast, but not to Dunkirk (which was already evacuated). Most of the division was trapped at Saint-Valéry-en-Caux on 12 June 1940. After a gallant but hopeless defence in thick fog (which prevented naval evacuation), Major-General Fortune was forced to surrender. Approximately 10,000 men of the 51st went into captivity — one of the British divisions to be captured virtually intact in the entire war.
In short
The 51st Highland Division was deliberately left behind on French orders, with reluctant but formal British agreement at the highest level (War Office/CIGS), because the French high command demanded a major British formation remain to fight alongside them after the BEF retreated to Dunkirk. It was a political as much as a military decision, and the division paid the price.
What price did they pay?
The 51st (Highland) Division paid an extremely heavy price for being left behind as the rearguard south of the Somme. Here are the concrete human and material costs:Human cost
- Captured: ≈ 10,000 men of the division (out of an original strength of about 13,000–14,000 in France in June 1940)
- Major-General Victor Fortune and almost his entire headquarters
- Virtually all three infantry brigades (152nd, 153rd, 154th)
- Most supporting arms (artillery, engineers, signals, machine-gun battalion, etc.)
- Killed or died of wounds before surrender: Several hundred
- Wounded and evacuated: Only a few hundred (mostly via Le Havre with “Ark Force”)
- Escaped or evacuated: ≈ 3,000–4,000
- About 2,000–2,500 got away from Le Havre with the improvised “Ark Force”
- A few hundred more escaped from Saint-Valéry or other small ports in fishing boats or by swimming to British ships
Roughly 70–75 % of the division marched into German captivity on 12 June 1940.CaptivityThe great majority spent the next five years (1940–1945) as prisoners of war:
- Most were initially held in camps in northern France and Belgium
- Then marched or railed to stalags and oflags in Germany and Poland (notably Stalag XX-A at Toruń, Stalag VIII-B/Lamsdorf, and Oflag VII-C/H Laufen)
- Many were forced into labour in Polish coal mines or East Prussian farms
- A significant number attempted escape (some successfully, including men who later rejoined the reconstituted 51st in North Africa)
Material cost
- Virtually all heavy equipment, artillery, vehicles, and weapons were lost or destroyed
- The division that had to be re-formed almost from scratch in Britain in the summer/autumn of 1940 using reserve battalions and new recruits
Long-term legacyThe captured men of the original 51st Highland Division are still remembered as “the division that was sacrificed.” When the reconstituted 51st fought with great distinction in North Africa (El Alamein), Sicily, and Normandy, it carried the nickname “Highway Decorators” (from the HD shoulder flash) with particular pride — but the memory of Saint-Valéry-en-Caux and five lost years in captivity has never been forgotten in the Highlands.In short: the price was the near-total destruction of one of Britain’s finest pre-war Territorial divisions and five years of captivity for the great majority of its men.
Were they all Scots?
No, the 51st (Highland) Division in 1940 was not 100 % Scottish, though it was overwhelmingly Scottish in character and the vast majority of its men were Scots.Here’s the actual breakdown:Infantry (the fighting core)
- 152nd Brigade
2nd, 4th & 5th Bns Seaforth Highlanders
4th Bn Cameron Highlanders
→ All Scottish regiments, almost entirely Highland recruits. - 153rd Brigade
4th Bn Black Watch
1st & 5th Bns Gordon Highlanders
→ All Scottish, again almost entirely Highland or north-east Scots. - 154th Brigade
1st Black Watch
7th & 8th Bns Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders
→ All Scottish regiments, mainly Highland and west-coast Scots.
So the nine infantry battalions were all Scottish Highland regiments. Roughly 90–95 % of the rank-and-file infantrymen were Scottish-born or of Scottish descent.Supporting arms (where English and other nationalities appear)
- Royal Artillery (126th, 127th, 128th Field Regts & 51st Anti-Tank Regt)
Mostly Scottish gunners, but with a noticeable English and Welsh minority (especially officers and some specialist batteries). - Royal Engineers (236th, 237th, 238th & 239th Field Companies; 274th Field Park Coy)
Predominantly Scottish, but again with English sappers mixed in. - Royal Corps of Signals, Royal Army Service Corps, Royal Army Medical Corps, etc.
These had the highest proportion of non-Scots — sometimes 20–30 % English, Welsh or Irish. - Machine Gun Battalion
7th Bn Middlesex Regiment (English) and 1st Bn Princess Louise’s Kensington Regiment (London) were attached for a time in 1939–40, but most sources agree the 7th Middlesex had been replaced by the 8th Bn Argylls by the time of St Valéry.
Overall composition in June 1940
- ~80–85 % Scottish (mostly Highland or north-east)
- ~10–15 % English (mainly in artillery, engineers, signals, transport)
- ~2–5 % Welsh, Irish, a few Canadians, New Zealanders, etc.
Nickname and identity
Even so, the division was universally known as “the Highland Division” and wore the famous HD shoulder flash. To the Germans, the French, and the rest of the British Army it was simply “the Jocks.” The pipes and drums, the Gaelic mottos, and the kilted reinforcements all reinforced the Scottish identity.So while not literally “all Scots,” the 51st (Highland) Division that was captured at Saint-Valéry-en-Caux on 12 June 1940 was one of the most distinctly Scottish formations in the entire British Army — and the overwhelming majority of the 10,000 men who went into captivity were indeed Scottish.
Where were they from in Scotland?
The 51st (Highland) Division in 1939–40 was a Territorial Army formation, so its battalions recruited from very specific towns and districts across the Highlands, Islands, and north-east Scotland. Here is exactly where the men of the nine infantry battalions came from in November 1939:
| Battalion | Recruiting Area (1939) | Main towns / counties |
|---|---|---|
| 152nd Brigade | ||
| 2nd Seaforth Highlanders | Seaforth Highlands (Ross & Cromarty) | Dingwall, Tain, Stornoway (Lewis), Invergordon |
| 4th Seaforth Highlanders | Seaforth Highlands (Ross & Cromarty) – duplicate | Same area as 2nd, plus more from the Black Isle |
| 4th Cameron Highlanders | Inverness-shire & Highlands | Inverness, Fort William, Skye, Badenoch |
| 153rd Brigade | ||
| 1st Gordon Highlanders | Aberdeenshire & City of Aberdeen | Aberdeen city |
| 5th Gordon Highlanders | Buchan & north Aberdeenshire / Banffshire | Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Turriff, Huntly |
| 4th Black Watch | Perthshire, Fife & Angus | Perth, Dundee, Blairgowrie, Crieff |
| 154th Brigade | ||
| 1st Black Watch | Perthshire, Fife & Angus (duplicate of 4th) | Same area as 4th Black Watch |
| 7th Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders | Argyllshire (mid-Argyll, Cowal, Kintyre) | Oban, Campbeltown, Dunoon, Lochgilphead |
| 8th Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders | Stirlingshire, Clackmannanshire & Dunbartonshire | Stirling, Falkirk, Alloa, Helensburgh |
Summary of the “patch” in 1939–40
- Core Highland counties: Ross & Cromarty, Inverness-shire, Argyll, Sutherland (west), Nairn, Moray
- Islands: Lewis, Skye, Mull, Islay, Tiree
- North-east Lowlands: Aberdeenshire, Banffshire, Kincardineshire
- Central belt fringe: Perthshire, Angus, Fife, Stirlingshire
What this meant in practiceWhen the division marched into captivity at Saint-Valéry-en-Caux in June 1940, the 10,000 prisoners came overwhelmingly from crofting villages, fishing ports, and small burghs north of the Highland Line, plus the city and shire of Aberdeen. Entire villages in Ross-shire, the Black Isle, and the Outer Hebrides lost almost every young man of military age in a single day.That is why the loss of the 51st still resonates so deeply in the Highlands and north-east Scotland more than 80 years later.
Sources at: https://x.com/i/grok?conversation=1994413628708000093
Footnote - the Argylls, despite their name, recruited across lowland Scotland and the Black Watch mostly in the non-Highland North-East, so this was very much a sacrifice of 'Scottish' soldiers?
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Regarding the Seaforth Highlanders this very much documented in the Dingwall museum with a recording of a man who was left at St Valery and spent the next five years a prisoner of war sadly now gone.If ever in Dingwall worth going to have a look around.
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It is of course not an isolated instance indeed throughout history and especially during the British State exploits in firstly invading and then exploiting the ‘colonies’ of their wealth. Scots have been used as cannon fodder particularly when military objectives were considered too costly. Amongst many such colonial conflicts anyone who has followed General Wellesley (Duke of Wellington) campaign in India will know that when the going got tough Scots were ordered into battle with devastating loss.
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Three of my uncles were captured at Dunkirk along with many of their pals. During the Depression of the 1930s they had joined the TA as had many of their pals from our village. They were unemployed so the TA gave them something to do.
Of course it meant they were among the 1st to be called up and a lot joined the 51st HLI.
I have often wondered how many young men from the village, who had joined the TA, ended up being killed or captured at Dunkirk and, like my uncles, spending the rest of the war in a POW camp.
As a result of those years in a camp in Poland and the forced march back to Germany ahead of the advancing Russians my uncles never enjoyed the best of health during the rest of their lives.
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Winston Churchill ordered the abandonment of the 51st to encourage the French to stay in the fight until the rest of the BEF was rescued. So my father believed.
The last order my father heard was “every man for himself”. The troops heard the BBC radio announcement on 10th June that the last of the British troops had been evacuated from Dunkirk. They were on their own facing General Rommel and his panzers.
Peter Scott, the ornithologist and wartime naval commander, said he was ordered by Churchill to return to Britain without the 51st. This was in a newspaper article in the 80s but I don’t have a copy.
Peter Scott – Wikipedia
As well as the physical and mental toll of being a prisoner of the Naz*s for 5 years, and it was life-long, what would now be called PTSD, the troops also suffered from the blanket disregard of the official story of the war. It was clearly an embarrassing episode to be forgotten.
Ignore the critics John. This is one of the greatest tragedies to befall Scottish troops at the hands of the people who believe, “No great mischief if they fall.” (General Wolfe)
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My grandfather (NE Eng) was taken POW for five years WW2, devastating for the family and my dad who was I think ten years old, the aftermath was terrible too, split family up. My dad had nothing whatsoever good to say about the British army, then and when he served post WW2. He told me the Scots soldiers were his best comrades and friends though.
Churchill is often cited as somehow a humanitarian, he was anything but.
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CHURCHILL SACRIFICED ALL THE SCOTS
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