The Battle of Britain Five Months That Changed History, May—October 1940 by James Holland (z-lib.org).epub

battalions from 50th Division had been rushed forward to plug the gap
there.
By six o’clock Gort’s mind was made up. Cancelling the proposed
attack for the following day, he ordered 5th Division to move immediately
with all speed to the gap in the north between Menin and Ypres. Whatever
trucks were available were to be used to move them the thirty miles north.
As soon as 50th Division could extricate themselves from Carvin, they too
were to follow. It was a brave decision, taken without consultation and
which involved directly disobeying the orders of his French superiors and
his chiefs back home. But by doing so, he had given the British army a tiny,
tiny glimmer of hope.
The die had been cast. There was now only one course of action left to
the besieged British forces, and that was to fall back to the coast and to try
to evacuate as many troops as possible. ‘I must not conceal from you,’ Gort
warned the Government the following morning, having received provisional
authorization to fall back on Dunkirk, ‘that a great part of the BEF and its
equipment will inevitably be lost even in best circumstances.’
And should his prediction be true, then the will of Britain to fight on
would be severely, if not irremediably, damaged. For Britain, the situation
could hardly be more grave.