In May 1940 the brigade fought the German Army in the battles of Belgium and France and , along with the rest of the BEF , were forced to retreat to Dunkirk and be evacuated to England after the Germans nearly surrounded the entire BEF from the French Army , which would undoubtedly have seen the destruction of the BEF , and the nucleus of the British Army . During the retreat a large number of men from the 2nd Royal Warwickshire Regiment , alongside men from the 4th Cheshire Regiment and the Royal Artillery , were involved in the Wormhoudt massacre which resulted in the deaths of 80 men killed by the German SS . After returning to the United Kingdom , the brigade , with the rest of 48th Division , spent the next few years on home defence , absorbing replacements after heavy casualties in France and training to repel a German invasion , which never arrived
Wormhoudt massacre
Wormhoudt massacre
144th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)