north of Notre-Dame-Au-Bois. The BEF now began to withdraw from its exposed positions towards the River Escaut. 61st (C&DY) Medium Rgt was on the move under very difficult conditions throughout 17 May, and on 19 May it came into action at Ere, just south of Tournai, where it fired 953 rounds. On the Escaut 2nd Division and 61st (C&DY) Med Rgt came under the command of III Corps. The enemy attacked north of Calonne on 21 May but were driven back by artillery fire. However, 61st (C&DY) Med Rgt was heavily shelled and suffered 17 casualties. Although III Corps was successfully holding the Escaut Line, the German breakthrough had reached the English Channel and the BEF was fighting on two fronts, cut off from its bases and the main French forces. 2nd Division was switched to guarding the 'Canal Line' through St Venant–Robecq–La Bassée. Arriving on 25 May it recaptured St Venant, but at the end of the day the decision was made to withdraw the BEF and evacuate through Dunkirk. It was vital that 2nd Division held its wide positions to allow the other British and French forces to withdraw to the River Lys. On 26 and 27 May the division came under intense pressure from German Panzer formations, but supported by 61st (C&DY) Med Rgt and counter-attacking when it could, the division managed to maintain a line despite heavy casualties. Afterwards the division fought its way back to the Dunkirk beaches, where it was evacuated on 31 May, having destroyed all its guns and equipment. Home defence On return to the UK the BEF's units were reorganised and reinforced, but it was many months before the artillery could be re-equipped with anything better than a handful of obsolescent guns. Eventually the medium regiments were issued with the modern 5.5-inch gun and AEC Matador gun tractor. By December 61st (D&DY) Med Rgt and its signal section were stationed in Northern Command. About March 1941 they were reassigned to I Corps, affiliated with 2nd Division once more until that division left to go to India at the end of the year. By the Spring of 1942 the regiment had its own Light Aid Detachment of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (later the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME)) attached to it for mobile operations. The need for a higher organisational command structure for medium and heavy artillery had become apparent