On 27 May 1940 a British armoured division went into action for the first time. 1st Armd Div had 2 Armd Bdes (2nd & 3rd) & a Sp Gp so on paper it had 6 armd regts (2nd Bays/9th L/10 H/2, 3, & 5 RTR) and 3 inf bns but it had lost its inf and 3 RTR to the fight at Calais. 1/

The combined Br/Fr attack started at 4.30am with 2nd Armd Bde on the R, 3rd Armd Bde left. McCreery's cavalry made slow progress against sound German posns in woods & villages. Crocker's tankies pushed to the high ground overlooking the Somme. The 2nd lost 9 men killed. 2/

The combined 4th/7th Bn was sent to Neuve Chapelle from where they launched a counter attack to rescue the Camerons near Givenchy. The attack was successful but most of its tanks were lost. That evening the remaining vehicles headed to Dunkirk to evacuate. 3/

Late that night the SS Mona's Isle arrived at Dunkirk and this is where the dates in the @cwgc records don't match up with the evacuation & shipping records. 4/

SS Mona's Isle took onboard some 1400 men including 4th & 7th tankies. All accounts/records say she left Dunkirk on the morning on 28 May to head to Dover and that on the journey she was hit by land based guns and by the Luftwaffe. 5/

32 crew and soldiers were killed & 60 wounded, including RSM Sinclair 4 RTR, WO2 Brown 4 RTR, and at least 10 more tankies. They are listed by the @CWGC as having died on 27 May but we know that RSM Sinclair was killed on the Mona's Isle on 28 May.

The CWGC lists a total of 29 RTR men who died on 27 May 1940: 17 Tprs, 5 JNCOs, 3 SNCOs, 2 WOs, and 2 officers. 13 of them are buried in Dover.

Photo from @CWGC

#FearNaught

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