 Complete the following phrase:  On the outbreak of the Second World War, the 9th Battalion was in the process of formation as a duplicate of the 8th Battalion. Based at Bulwell near Nottingham, the battalion was commanded by Claude Lancaster, MP, a former officer in the Royal Horse Guards. The battalion was assigned to the 139th Infantry Brigade, alongside the 25th Derbyshire Battalion and 25th Leicestershire Regiment of the 46th Infantry Division, which, like several other 2nd Line Territorial divisions, went to join the British Expeditionary Force BEF in France for training and labour duties in April 1940. However, when the German Army attacked and broke through the following month, 46th Division was sent into action. On 29 May, 139 Brigade joined Macforce holding the canal line near Carvin. As the pocket 