TheNorth West Europe campaign was a campaign by theBritish Commonwealth armed forces inNorth West Europe, including its skies and adjoining waters duringWorld War II. The termWestern Front has also sometimes been used informally. The United States military refers to this campaign as theEuropean Theater of Operations.
Hence thebattle honour "North-West Europe" was awarded to any unit involved in land, sea and air campaigns and operations in, over or nearBelgium,Denmark,France,Germany,Luxembourg,Netherlands,Norway and theUnited Kingdom duringWorld War II. It includes many more specific campaigns and/or battle honours.
The battle honour "North-West Europe campaign of 1940,[1] was awarded to some army units that were involved in theBattle of France, and was restricted to the Belgian and French Channel ports. During this campaign, the French Army was responsible for the rest of the Western Front from Luxembourg to Switzerland, much of which was defended by theMaginot Line. The first campaign ended for the British forces withthe defeat of theBritish Expeditionary Force (BEF) and itsevacuation from the beaches ofDunkirk.
Between 1940 and 1944, Commonwealth army units conducted coastal raids in German-Occupied Europe, the largest of which was theDieppe raid of 1942.[2][3]
British Commonwealth air force units who served over Occupied Europe, between thefall of France andD-Day were awarded the battle honour "Fortress Europe 1940–1944."
The battle honourNorth-West Europe campaign of 1944–45,[4] was typically awarded to units of theBritish Second Army andFirst Canadian Army, as elements of theBritish 21st Army Group. The campaign started with thelandings inNormandy and ended on 4 May 1945 with Field MarshalBernard Montgomery taking theGerman military surrender of all German forces in the Netherlands, north west Germany and Denmark onLüneburg Heath, (situated between the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen).