promoted to the acting rank of brigadier and was appointed to command of the 3rd Armoured Brigade in place of Vyvyan Pope. The brigade formed part of Major-General Roger Evans's 1st Armoured Division (formerly the Mobile Division), then serving in England but preparing to move to France. Crocker's brigade was depleted as the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was expelled from the continent during the Battle of France in May–June 1940. Landed at Cherbourg as the rest of the BEF retreated to Dunkirk in late May, the division unsuccessfully attacked the German bridgeheads over the River Somme before returning to Cherbourg where the remnants (including the brigade's last 13 tanks) were evacuated. Crocker and his brigade were evacuated in mid-June, Crocker himself returning with Lieutenant-General James Marshall-Cornwall on the last ship. Back in Britain, where he was to remain for almost three years before seeing action again, Crocker initially remained in command of the brigade, which had suffered especially heavy tank losses in France, and was then serving in South East England awaiting a German invasion and training to repel it. However, on 18 September 1940, he was promoted to the acting rank of Major-General at the relatively young age of just forty-four, and became General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the newly created 6th Armoured Division. Nine days later Crocker was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services in France. Crocker's new division, initially composed of the 20th and 26th Armoured Brigades, along with the 6th Support Group and other supporting units, was formed in Southern Command and, under its perfectionist GOC, trained intensively, with Crocker ensuring that all ranks knew their jobs before moving on to large-scale exercises. The division was moved from Southern Command, where it trained throughout the winter of 1940, to Eastern Command in late February 1941. Crocker continued training his division for the next several months. However, in mid-October 1941 Crocker, who had by now commanded his division for just over a year, relinquished command of the division to Major-General Herbert Lumsden upon being selected to command the 2nd Armoured Group in Home Forces. The Armoured Groups were the brainchild of Major-General Giffard Martel, the Commander Royal Armoured Corps (CRAC), and were set up following his advice with the intention of commanding all the armoured formations in the United Kingdom. His rank of major-general was made temporary on 22