This is the official notice, informing the mother of Lance Sergeant Leslie G Wyatt of 1st Regiment East Riding Yeomanry (ERY), that he had been killed in action in France in May 1940. In fact, although wounded, L/Sgt Wyatt had in fact survived the action at Cassel and was a PoW in Stalag 383. It was over a year before his family learned that he was alive. Such an occurrence was not unique; the families of a number of EYR survivors did not learn of their fate until 1942. The uniform photo shows L/Sgt Wyatt with his EYR cap badge and white L/Sgt stripes.
In March 1940, the 1st Regiment (consisting of 28 Vickers VIb light tanks, 44 Bren carriers and 41 motorcycles) joined the BEF in France as part of 1st Armoured Reconnaissance Brigade. However, in May, the Regiment passed under the command of 48th (South Midland) Division, 44th (Home Counties) Division, Macforce, and finally back to 48th (South Midland) Division. The Regiment was first involved in fighting near Ath, south of Brussels, and then over the next fortnight, fought seven rearguard actions before finally being surrounded at Cassel on the night of 29/30 May in the company of 145th Brigade. As rearguard to the Brigade's breakout, the Regiment was decimated by strong German forces and only seven officers and 230 men returned to England.
