in the Small Arms School Corps at Netheravon, he took command of the 15th Infantry Brigade which was deployed to suppress the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine; Beauman was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services there in 1937. In 1938, Beauman became an aide-de-camp (ADC) to King George VI and following his retirement in October of that year, was made an Honorary brigadier. Second World War On the outbreak of the Second World War, Beauman returned to active service and was appointed Commanding Officer Northern Area with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France, with the rank of (acting) brigadier. Based at Rouen, the main role of his command was managing logistics within the Lines of Communication area. This area was divided from the "forward area" by the River Somme but included a coastal strip up to Dunkirk. With the start of the German offensive in May 1940, Beauman was ordered by Major-General de Fonblanque, the General Officer Commanding Lines of Communication Troops, to strengthen his local defences. He formed a small mobile force, known as "Beauforce", consisting of four Territorial infantry battalions that had been intended to defend communications and undertake pioneer work. On 27 May, Beauman was promoted to (temporary) major-general and ordered to form a new division from "Beauforce" and a similar formation called "Vicforce", together with a third unit called "Digforce" which was composed of infantry reservists that were serving with the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps. The new formation was called the "Beauman Division"; this was the only example of a British division being named after its commander since the Peninsular War. Although supported only by a few field guns that had been under repair in base depots, some of them lacking sights, the division was ordered to defend a 55-mile (89 km) line defined by the small rivers Andelle and Béthune in Upper Normandy. On 8 June, the 5th and 7th Panzer Divisions attacked towards Rouen. Despite desperate fighting, the line was penetrated first at Forges-les-Eaux and then in many other places, so that by that night, Beauman Division had been forced to withdraw across the Seine. The division was eventually evacuated from Cherbourg on 17 June, during Operation Aerial. On arrival in England, the division was dispersed; an entry in the London Gazette for 16 August 1940 says: "Colonel A B Beauman, CBE, DSO, relinquishes the acting