44th (Home Counties) Division

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Home Counties Division
44th (Home Counties) Division
44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division
44th Infantry Division insignia.
ActiveApril 1908 – 3 December 1914
February 1920 – 31 January 1943
January 1947 – 1 May 1961
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
Peacetime HQHounslow, Middlesex
EngagementsFirst World War
Second World War
St Omer-La Bassée
Alam Halfa
Second Battle of El Alamein[1]
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Charles Townshend
Arthur Percival
Sir Brian Horrocks
Sir Hugh Stockwell

The Home Counties Division was an

Home Counties, particularly Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex
.

At the outbreak of the First World War, it accepted liability for overseas service and was posted to India in 1914 to relieve Regular Army units for service on the Western Front. On arrival in India it was effectively broken up, so it did not see active service as a complete formation. However, most of its constituent units did serve in active theatres, notably Mesopotamia from 1915 and in the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919.

Reformed in the

Burma
.

The division was again reformed in the TA in 1947 before being merged with the Home Counties District in 1961, thus ending its separate existence.

History

Formation

The

Volunteer Force, the Honourable Artillery Company and the Yeomanry. On formation, the TF contained 14 infantry divisions and 14 mounted yeomanry brigades.[2] One of the divisions was the Home Counties Division.[3]

As the name suggests, the division recruited in the

Signal Service), Royal Army Medical Corps and the Army Service Corps. Two Army Troops battalions of the Royal Sussex Regiment were also attached for training, but were not integral to the division. In peacetime, the divisional headquarters was in Hounslow in Middlesex.[3][6][7]

First World War

In accordance with the

2nd Home Counties Division in this manner with an identical structure.[9]

The division mobilised on the outbreak of the war. Early in September 1914, the division sent two battalions to

King's (Shropshire Light Infantry) (from Shrewsbury) to replace 7th and 8th Middlesex, and 1/1st Brecknockshire Battalion, South Wales Borderers (from Brecon) as an extra battalion for garrison duties in Aden.[6]

The division sailed from

15-pounder BLCs each, but without ammunition columns).[6] The infantry brigade staffs, the IV Home Counties (H) Brigade, RFA, the Home Counties (Kent) Heavy Battery, the engineers, signals, ambulance and train units were all left behind and most were soon posted to other divisions on the Western Front.[15]

The division arrived at

2nd Home Counties Division on 20 January 1915.[16]

The division was effectively broken up on arrival in India in December 1914; the units reverted to peacetime conditions and were dispersed throughout India and

Buffs[c] moved from Mhow[17] to Aden in August 1915,[18] to Bareilly in January 1916,[19] and to Multan in July 1918 where it remained until the end of the war.[20] The 1/4th KSLI went further afield; on arrival in India, it was posted to Rangoon, with a detachment in the Andaman Islands. On 6 February 1915 it was dispatched to Singapore to help to suppress a mutiny. In April, part of the battalion went to Hong Kong; the battalion was replaced at Rangoon by the 2/4th Border Regiment.[6] Thereafter, it returned to England via Colombo, Durban and Cape Town before landing at Plymouth on 27 July 1917. Two days later, it left Southampton for France to join 63rd (Royal Naval) Division.[21]

The units pushed on with training to prepare for active service, handicapped by the need to provide experienced manpower for active service units.

QORWK infantry battalions.[15] In addition, the 1/4th Queen's, the 1/4th and 2/4th Border, and the 1/4th QORWK took part in the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919.[22]

The Territorial Force divisions and brigades were numbered in May 1915 in the order that they departed for overseas service, starting with the

42nd (East Lancashire) Division. The Home Counties Division should have been numbered as the 44th (Home Counties) Division, but as the division had already been broken up, this was merely a place holder. Likewise, the Surrey, Middlesex and Kent Brigades were only notionally numbered as 131st, 132nd and 133rd, respectively.[23]

Between the wars

In 1919, the remaining units in India were repatriated to England.[22] The Territorial Force was effectively disbanded in 1919, but started to reform from 1 February 1920 as the units commenced recruiting. From 1 October 1921, it was renamed as the Territorial Army (TA).[24] The division was reformed in 1920.[22]

One major change with the new TA had an effect on the number of infantry battalions. The original 14 divisions were reformed with the pre-war standard of three brigades of four battalions each, for a total of 168 battalions. Infantry were no longer to be included as Army Troops or part of the Coastal Defence Forces so the pre-war total of 208 battalions had to be reduced by 40. This was achieved by either converting certain battalions to other roles, usually artillery or engineers, or by amalgamating pairs of battalions within a regiment.[24] The 44th (Home Counties) Division illustrated both of these processes: the 10th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment was converted to the Home Counties Divisional Signals, RCS in 1921[25] and the 4th and 5th (The Weald of Kent) Battalions, Buffs were amalgamated as the 4th/5th Battalion in the same year.[26] In this way, the division was able to incorporate two Army Troops battalions of the Royal Sussex Regiment.

The divisional artillery was reformed with three brigades: 1st Home Counties with 1–4 Sussex Batteries, 2nd Home Counties with 5–8 Sussex Batteries, and 3rd Home Counties with 1–4 Kent Batteries. These were renumbered in 1921 as the 57th (Home Counties), 58th (Home Counties) and 59th (Home Counties) Brigades, later 57th (Home Counties), 58th (Sussex) and 59th (Home Counties)(Cinque Ports) Brigades.[27]

The division underwent a number of changes in the late 1930s. In 1936, it was decided to concentrate Vickers machine guns in specialised machine gun battalions. Rather than resurrecting the Machine Gun Corps, a number of line infantry regiments were converted instead; the Middlesex Regiment was one of four regiments selected for conversion.[28][d] The 7th and 8th Battalions were converted at the same time.[29][30] They were replaced by the 22nd and 24th Battalions of the London Regiment, which from 1937 became the 6th (Bermondsey)[31] and 7th (Southwark) Battalions[32] of the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey).

A major reorganisation in 1938 saw the TA divisions reduced from twelve to nine battalions.[33] As a result, 9th Middlesex was converted to 60th (Middlesex) Searchlight Regiment, RA,[25][34] the 4th Queen's to 63rd (Queen's) Searchlight Regiment, RA[35][36] and 5th East Surreys to 57th (East Surrey) Anti-Tank Regiment, RA[37][38] The latter remained part of the division.[39] In the same year, the 59th (Home Counties)(Cinque Ports) Field Regiment, RA was converted to 75th (Home Counties)(Cinque Ports) Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA.[40] It was replaced by 65th (8th London) Field Regiment, RA from the former 47th (2nd London) Division.[41]

By 1939 it became clear that a new European war was likely to break out, and the doubling of the Territorial Army was authorised, with each unit and formation forming a duplicate.[42] The 44th (Home Counties) Division formed the 12th (Eastern) Infantry Division.[43][e]

Second World War

The division, as the 44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division (

Belgium.[59]

After returning to England the division, much reduced in manpower and woefully short of equipment and now under the command of Major-General

North African Campaign. It arrived in Cairo, Egypt on 24 July – the long journey being due to sailing via the Cape of Good Hope.[59]

A soldier emerges from the 'mud bath' during training at the 44th Divisional battle school at Dene Park, Tonbridge in Kent, 22 April 1942.

Less than three weeks after its arrival the division was ordered by General Sir Harold Alexander (replacing General Sir Claude Auchinleck on 13 August), the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C), Middle East, to be sent forward to join the Eighth Army (Lieutenant General Bernard Montgomery), at El Alamein. The 44th Division joined XIII Corps (Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks, commander of the division between June 1941 and March 1942) and fought at the Battle of Alam el Halfa (30 August – 7 September) where the 132nd Brigade was temporarily detached to the 2nd New Zealand Division[39][59][52] and suffered nearly 700 casualties.

On 8 September, the 133rd Brigade was detached from the division. It was briefly assigned to the 8th Armoured Division[49] before being transferred to the 10th Armoured Division on 29 September as a lorried infantry unit.[60] The division started the Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 4 November) with two brigades.[59] It was still in XIII Corps,[61] with the 7th Armoured Division and 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division.[62] The corps was on the southern flank with the task of tying down Axis reserves while the main thrust was made in the north by XXX and X Corps. The division was further reduced when the 131st Brigade was attached to the 7th Armoured Division on 1 November, as a lorried infantry brigade after the 7th Motor Brigade was transferred to the 1st Armoured Division.[63][64]

The Battle of El Alamein was the last engagement of the 44th Division; it was disbanded on 31 January 1943.[39][f] The 132nd[52] and 133rd Brigade[49] were dispersed, with the battalions ending up as British battalions in British Indian Army brigades.[g] The 131st Brigade remained in the 7th Armoured Division for the rest of the war, taking part in the rest of the North African Campaign, culminating in May 1943 with the surrender of almost 250,000 Axis soldiers as prisoners of war, the Allied invasion of Italy from September–November 1943 and in the North-West Europe campaign from June 1944 until Victory in Europe Day in May 1945.[63][72]

Post Second World War

The Territorial Army (TA) was formally disbanded at the end of the Second World War. TA units were reactivated on 1 January 1947, though no personnel were assigned until commanding officers and permanent staff had been appointed in March and April 1947.[73] The division, under the command of Major-General Philip Gregson-Ellis, was reformed in 1947; it included the Northamptonshire Yeomanry, and 47th (London), 131st (Surrey), and 133rd (Kent & Sussex) Infantry Brigades.[74]

On 1 May 1961, all ten TA divisions were merged with the districts,[75] and the division became 44th (Home Counties) Division/District, thus ending the division's separate existence. Subsequently, redesignated as South Eastern District,[76] it was used to form the 4th Division on 1 April 1995.[77]

Orders of battle

Order of Battle – August 1914

Just before the outbreak of the

First World War, the division commanded the following units:[3][78]

Surrey Brigade
  • Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
  • 5th Battalion, Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
  • 5th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment
  • 6th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment
 Royal Artillery Divisional troops

Home Counties Divisional Engineers

Royal Army Medical Corps

  • 1st Home Counties Field Ambulance
  • 2nd Home Counties Field Ambulance
  • 3rd Home Counties Field Ambulance
  • Home Counties Clearing Hospital

Home Counties Divisional Train, ASC

  • Divisional Company (Headquarters)
  • Surrey Brigade Company
  • Kent Brigade Company
  • Middlesex Brigade Company
Middlesex Brigade
Kent Brigade
  • 4th Battalion,
    Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
  • 5th (The Weald of Kent) Battalion, Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
  • 4th Battalion,
    Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)
  • 5th Battalion, Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)
Attached
  • 4th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
  • 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
Order of Battle – September 1939

The division commanded the following units in the

Second World War:[78][39][80]

131st Infantry Brigade Royal Artillery

44th (Home Counties) Divisional Engineers

  • 208th (Sussex) Field Company, Royal Engineers[j]
  • 209th (Sussex) Field Company, Royal Engineers
  • 210th (Sussex) Field Company, Royal Engineers
  • 211th (Sussex) Field Park Company, Royal Engineers
  • 11th Field Company, Royal Engineers (from 4 May 1940)

Royal Corps of Signals

  • 44th (Home Counties) Divisional Signals

Machine Gun Battalion

Reconnaissance

132nd Infantry Brigade
133rd Infantry Brigade
  • 4th Battalion, Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)
  • 4th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
  • 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
  • 2nd Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
Order of Battle – January 1947

The division was reformed after the

Second World War with the following units:[78][74]

* Headquarters 44th Infantry Division

Commanders

The Home Counties Division had the following commanders, from formation in April 1908 to disembarkation in India:[81]

From Rank Name Notes
April 1908
Major-General
 Colin G. Donald
January 1909 Major-General Edward T. Dickson
April 1912 Major-General Charles V.F. Townshend
25 October 1912[82] Major-General James C. Young Broken up in December 1914

When the division was re-established after the First World War, it had the following commanders until it was disbanded in the Middle East on 31 January 1943:[81]

From Rank Name Notes
July 1919 Major-General Sir John R. Longley
June 1923 Major-General Sir Henry W. Hodgson
June 1927 Major-General Arthur G. Wauchope
January 1929 Major-General Henry R. Peck
January 1933 Major-General John Kennedy
April 1934 Major-General John R. Minshull-Ford
April 1938[39] Major-General Edmund Osborne
25 June 1940[39] Major-General Arthur E. Percival
27 March 1941[39] Brigadier F.C.A. Troup acting
31 March 1941[39] Brigadier J.E. Utterson-Kelso acting
8 April 1941[39] Major-General Frank N. Mason-Macfarlane
25 June 1941[39] Major-General Brian G. Horrocks
14 March 1942[39] Brigadier
Ivor T.P. Hughes
 acting
20 March 1942[39] Major-General Ivor T.P. Hughes Disbanded on 31 January 1943

When the division was re-established after the Second World War, it had the following commanders until 1 May 1961 when the Territorial Army divisional headquarters were merged with regular army districts:[81]

From Rank Name Notes
1 January 1947 Major-General Hugh C. Stockwell [83]
July 1947 Major-General Philip G.S. Gregson-Ellis
July 1950 Major-General Brian C.H. Kimmins
March 1952 Major-General E. Otway Herbert
January 1954 Major-General Robert C.M. King
November 1956 Major-General William F.R. Turner
November 1959 Major-General Paul Gleadell
January 1962 Major-General Ewing H.W. Grimshaw
July 1965 Major-General F. Brian Wyldbore-Smith Disbanded in 1968

See also

Notes

  1. Lieutenant-Colonel. These figures refer to 6-gun batteries; Territorial Force
    artillery batteries were organised on a 4-gun basis at the outbreak of the war, so strengths would be approximately two thirds of this. Artillery brigades were redesignated as regiments in 1938.
  2. 8th (3 battalions).[14]
  3. ^ With the formation of the 2nd Line, the original units and formations were designated with the fractional "1/" and the 2nd Line with "2/".
  4. ^ The other three regiments selected for conversions to machine gun battalions were the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, Cheshire Regiment and the Manchester Regiment.[28]
  5. ^ Between 3 September and 7 October 1939, the units of the 12th (Eastern) Infantry Divisionwere administered by its parent division.[39]
  6. ^ 57th and 58th Field Regiments, RA joined the Eighth Army, 65th Field Regiment, RA transferred to 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division,[65] 57th Anti-Tank Regiment, RA also joined the Eighth Army[38] and the 30th LAA Regiment, RA was assigned to Middle East Command.[66] The 6th Cheshires (MG Battalion)[67] and 44th Recce joined the 56th (London) Infantry Division.[68]
  7. 5th Royal Sussex were amalgamated as 4th/5th Royal Sussex and joined the 27th Indian Infantry Brigade.[71]
  8. Ammunition Column but returned to the UK, reformed as an artillery brigade and joined 67th (2nd Home Counties) Division in June 1915. It was posted to the Western Front on 10 March 1916, joining the Fourth Army before transferring to the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division on 18 July 1916.[79]
  9. ^ a b c d 2nd Buffs replaced 1/7th Queen's in 131st Brigade from 4 May 1940. 1/7th Queen's joined 132nd Brigade from 1 July 1940 to 1 July 1941 before swopping places with 2nd Buffs.[80]
  10. ^ 208th Field Company was replaced by 11th Field Company on 4 May 1940.[39]
  11. ^ 6th Cheshires joined as the divisional Machine Gun Battalion on 11 November 1941 and left on 24 November 1942.[39]
  12. ^ 44th Battalion, Reconnaissance Corps joined as the divisional reconnaissance unit on 6 January 1941, was redesignated as 44th Regiment, Reconnaissance Corps on 6 June 1942 and left on 24 November 1942.[39]
  13. ^ a b 1/6th East Surreys was replaced in 132nd Brigade by 1st QORWK on 4 May 1940. In turn, it was replaced by 1/7th Queen's from 131st Brigade on 29 June 1940.[80]

References

  1. ^ The hutchison atlas of World war II battle plans. page 107
  2. ^ Westlake 1992, p. 3
  3. ^ a b c Conrad, Mark (1996). "The British Army, 1914". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  4. ^ "The Royal Artillery". Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom). Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  5. ^ Baker, Chris. "What was an artillery brigade?". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Becke 1936, p. 53
  7. ISBN 978-1848843608
    .
  8. ^ Baker, Chris. "Was my soldier in the Territorial Force (TF)?". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  9. ^ a b Becke 1937, p. 81
  10. ^ Becke 1936, p. 47
  11. ^ Becke 1935, p. 102
  12. ^ Becke 1935, p. 110
  13. ^ Becke 1935, p. 122
  14. ^ Becke 1935, p. 94
  15. ^ a b Becke 1936, p. 50
  16. ^ Becke 1937, p. 75
  17. ^ Perry 1993, p. 68
  18. ^ Perry 1993, p. 158
  19. ^ Perry 1993, p. 94
  20. ^ Perry 1993, p. 138
  21. ^ James 1978, p. 92
  22. ^ a b c d Becke 1936, p. 54
  23. ^ Rinaldi 2008, p. 35
  24. ^ a b Westlake 1986, p. 47
  25. ^ a b c d Westlake 1986, p. 185
  26. ^ a b Westlake 1986, p. 72
  27. ^ Frederick 1984, pp. 516–517
  28. ^ a b Fisher, Richard (2007). "The Vickers Machine Gun; British Service; The Army". Vickers MG Collection & Research Association. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  29. ^ Fisher, Richard (2007). "The Vickers Machine Gun; Units That Used The Vickers; The Middlesex Regiment". Vickers MG Collection & Research Association. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  30. ^ Westlake 1986, pp. 183–184
  31. ^ a b Westlake 1986, p. 69
  32. ^ a b Westlake 1986, p. 71
  33. ^ Westlake 1986, p. 49
  34. ^ a b Bellis 1995, p. 63
  35. ^ a b Westlake 1986, p. 68
  36. ^ a b Bellis 1995, p. 64
  37. ^ a b Westlake 1986, p. 135
  38. ^ a b c Bellis 1995, p. 75
  39. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Joslen 1990, p. 71
  40. ^ Frederick 1984, p. 517
  41. ^ Frederick 1984, p. 518
  42. ^ "History of the Army Reserve". MOD. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  43. ^ Joslen 1990, p. 56
  44. ^ a b James 1978, p. 43
  45. ^ a b c Joslen 1990, p. 316
  46. ^ a b c Joslen 1990, p. 282
  47. ^ a b James 1978, p. 114
  48. ^ a b James 1978, p. 44
  49. ^ a b c d e Joslen 1990, p. 319
  50. ^ a b c Joslen 1990, p. 286
  51. ^ a b James 1978, p. 74
  52. ^ a b c d e Joslen 1990, p. 318
  53. ^ a b c Joslen 1990, p. 284
  54. ^ a b James 1978, p. 77
  55. ^ a b James 1978, p. 90
  56. ^ a b c d James 1978, p. 93
  57. ^ Westlake 1986, p. 183
  58. ^ Westlake 1986, p. 184
  59. ^ a b c d Joslen 1990, p. 72
  60. ^ Joslen 1990, p. 25
  61. ^ Joslen 1990, p. 570
  62. ^ Joslen 1990, p. 569
  63. ^ a b Joslen 1990, p. 20
  64. ^ Joslen 1990, p. 14
  65. ^ Bellis 1995, p. 92
  66. ^ Bellis 1995, p. 43
  67. ^ Bellis 1994, p. 56
  68. ^ Bellis 1994, p. 32
  69. ^ Bellis 1994, p. 47
  70. ^ Bellis 1994, p. 105
  71. ^ Bellis 1994, p. 119
  72. ^ Joslen 1990, p. 21
  73. ^ Beckett 2008, p. 169
  74. ^ a b "United Kingdom: The Territorial Army 1947 by Graham Watson (March 10, 2002)". Archived from the original on 5 December 2013. Retrieved 2015-02-13.
  75. ^ Beckett 2008, pp. 183, 185
  76. ^ "Home Counties District 1870-1995 at regiments.org by T.F.Mills". Archived from the original on 3 July 2007. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
  77. ^ "4th Division 1995-present at regiments.org by T.F.Mills". Archived from the original on 15 July 2007. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  78. ^ a b c Morling.
  79. ^ Becke 1937, p. 80
  80. ^ a b c Joslen 1990, pp. 316–319
  81. ^ a b c Mackie 2015, p. 202
  82. ^ Becke 1936, p. 49
  83. doi:10.1080/03071844709434007
    .

Bibliography

External links
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