The intended Second BEF formed around II Corps and included the 51st Highland, 1st Armoured, 52nd Lowland, Canadian, and re-equipped 3rd divisions. Some arriving formations never unloaded all their equipment, which makes later claims about the matériel recovered by Aerial difficult to interpret. The 52nd Lowland and 1st Canadian divisions were highly trained formations that Britain could ill afford to lose. The 1st Armoured Division held years of British armoured-warfare experience, so losing its personnel would have meant losing expertise as well as vehicles. Evacuation preserved part of Britain's future fighting capacity, even where much of the equipment had to be left behind.
Notable Point · 26:02-51:08
Why the Second BEF's trained units mattered
The Second BEF included formations whose trained personnel carried years of experience that Britain would need after the evacuation.