52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division
Lowland Division 52nd (Lowland) Division 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division | |
---|---|
Active | 1908 – 1919[1] 1920 – 1947[2] 1950 – 1968[3] |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | Territorial Force |
Type | Infantry |
Role | Infantry, Air Landing, and Mountain |
Size | Second World War: 18,347 men[nb 1][5] |
Peacetime HQ | Glasgow, United Kingdom |
Engagements | |
Battle honours | The Scheldt The Rhineland The Rhine |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Herbert Lawrence Neil Ritchie Edmund Hakewill-Smith |
The 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was originally formed as the Lowland Division, in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force. It later became the 52nd (Lowland) Division in 1915. The 52nd (Lowland) Division fought in the First World War before being disbanded, with the rest of the Territorial Force, in 1920.
The Territorial Force was later reformed as the Territorial Army and the division was again raised, during the inter-war years, as the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division - a 1st Line Territorial Army Infantry Division - and went on to serve during the Second World War.
By December 1947, the formation amalgamated with 51st (Highland) Infantry Division to become 51st/52nd Scottish Division,[6] but, by March 1950, 51st Division and 52nd Division had been recreated as separate formations.[3] 52nd (Lowland) Division finally disbanded in 1968.
History
Formation
The
First World War
Operations
The famous territorial regiments that were incorporated in the division were all drawn from the
During the
When the remaining brigades were landed, they attacked towards Krithia, along Achi Baba Nullah, on 12 July. They succeeded in capturing the Ottoman trenches, but were left unsupported and vulnerable to counter-attack. For a modest gain in ground, they suffered 30 per cent casualties and were in no fit state to exploit their position.[12]
The division moved to Egypt as part of the
The division fought in the First and Second Battle of Gaza in March and April 1917.[14]
As a division of XXI Corps, it played an important part in the final overthrow of the Ottomans at the
In April 1918, the division moved to France where it fought in the
After the war, the division was disbanded along with the rest of the Territorial Force. However, it was re-established in 1920 as part of the Territorial Army.[17]
Second World War
Operations
The 52nd (Lowland) Division, which had seen numerous changes in composition during the
The division was briefly deployed to France, following the Dunkirk evacuation, as part of the Second British Expeditionary Force (2BEF) to cover the withdrawal of Allied forces near Cherbourg during Operation Aerial.[20] The division returned to the United Kingdom and, like most of the rest of the British Army after Dunkirk, began training to repel an expected German invasion, which never occurred. From May 1942 until June 1944, the 52nd was trained in a mountain warfare capacity, originally for a proposed invasion of Norway. However, the division was never employed in this role. Following June 1944, the 52nd Division was reorganised and trained in airlanding operations.[18] As part of this new role, the division was transferred to the First Allied Airborne Army.[19] By this time, the 52nd Division was under the command of Major-General Edmund Hakewill-Smith.[21]
Several operations were planned for the division, following the successful conclusion of the
The division would never be used in either of the roles it had trained for, and was transferred to Belgium via sea landing in Ostend. The 157th Infantry Brigade landed first at the end of the first week of October and the rest of the division arrived over the course of the following fortnight.[26][27] On 15 October, the 157th Brigade was, temporarily, attached to the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division[28] and relieved the Canadian units in the bridgehead over the Leopold Canal.[29] At first the Scots of 52nd Division and the Canadians did not see eye to eye, with a cultural clash of untidy and 'undisciplined' Canadians against 'spit and polish' Scots. On taking over some Canadian positions in mid-October, Scottish officers commented: "No one in Scotland would ask a pig to lie in the houses (recently vacated by the Canadians) on the south side of the canal." However, both sides soon came to recognise that high fighting capability could be engendered in both approaches.[30]
From 23 October until December, the 52nd (Lowland) Division was assigned to the
On 5 December, the division was transferred to
In February and March, the division was slightly reorganised with battalions being transferred amongst the division's brigades.
Post Second World War
During 1946, the First Canadian Army was withdrawn from Germany and disbanded. As it withdrew from Germany, it "turned over its responsibilities" to the 52nd Division.
General officer commanding
Appointed | General officer commanding |
---|---|
April 1908 | Brigadier-General Henry R. Kelham[46] |
March 1910 | Major-General James Spens[46]
|
21 March 1914 | Major-General Granville G. A. Egerton[47][46] |
17 September 1915 | Major-General The Honourable Herbert A. Lawrence[47][46] |
27 June 1916 | Brigadier-General H. G. Casson (acting)[47] |
11 July 1916 | Major-General Wilfrid E. B. Smith[47][46] |
11 September 1917 | Major General John Hill[47][46] |
23 September 1918 | Major-General Francis J. Marshall[47][46] |
June 1919 | Major-General Sir Philip R. Robertson[46] |
June 1923 | Major-General Hamilton L. Reed[46] |
June 1927 | Major-General Sir Henry F. Thuillier[46] |
March 1930 | Major-General Sir Walter J Constable-Maxwell-Scott[46] |
March 1934 | Major-General Andrew J. McCulloch[46] |
September 1935 | Major-General Victor Fortune[46] |
August 1936 | Major-General Sir Andrew J. McCulloch[46] |
March 1938 | Major-General James S. Drew[18] |
29 March 1941 | Major-General Sir John E. Laurie[18] |
1 September 1942 | Brigadier G. P. Miller (acting)[18] |
11 September 1942 | Major-General Neil M. Ritchie[18] |
11 November 1943 | Brigadier Edmund Hakewill-Smith (acting)[18] |
19 November 1943 | Major-General Edmund Hakewill-Smith[18] |
1946 | Major-General Edmund Hakewill-Smith (GOC Lowland District) |
December 1948 | Major-General Robert E. Urquhart[46] |
February 1950 | Major-General George H. Inglis[46] |
1952 | Major-General R. George Collingwood[46] |
October 1955 | Major-General Rohan Delacombe[46] |
October 1958 | Major-General John F.M. Macdonald[46] |
October 1961 | Major-General John D. Frost[46] |
February 1964 | Major-General Henry L. E. C. Leask[46] |
May 1966 – 1968 | Major-General Sir F. James Bowes-Lyon[46] |
Orders of battle
155th (South Scottish) Brigade
156th (Scottish Rifles) Brigade
157th (Highland Light Infantry) Brigade
Lowland Mounted Brigade (Landed at Helles 11 October 1915 and reinforced the division. Left 31 December 1915)
1st Dismounted Brigade (attached to 52nd Division 5 February; disbanded 16 October 1916)
Divisional Mounted Troops
52nd (Lowland) Divisional Artillery
Royal Army Medical Corps
Divisional Train, Army Service Corps
Others
|
155th Infantry Brigade[55]
156th Infantry Brigade[56]
157th Infantry Brigade[28]
Divisional troops
|
153 (Highland) Brigade
154 (Highland) Brigade
157 (Lowland) Brigade
Divisional troops
|
|
See also
- List of British divisions in World War I
- List of British divisions in World War II
- British Army Order of Battle (September 1939)
- Independent Company
Notes
- Footnotes
- Citations
- ^ "52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division 1930 - 1938" (PDF). British Military History. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ^ "52nd Infantry Division 1944-1945" (PDF). British Military History. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ^ a b Beckett 2008, 178.
- ^ Joslen, p. 129
- ISBN 978-1574887600.
- ^ Graham Watson, The Territorial Army, 1947 Archived 5 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine, v1.0, 10 March 2002
- ^ Westlake 1992, p. 3
- ^ a b Conrad, Mark (1996). "The British Army, 1914". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ISBN 978-1848843608.
- ^ "BBC On this day 8 October 1952". BBC. 2008. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
- ^ "The Battle of Gully Ravine rages at Gallipoli". History Channel. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ^ "12 July 1915". Gallipoli Association. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ISBN 978-0297844815.
- ^ Erickson 2007 p. 99
- ISBN 978-1781313756.
- ^ "The Hundred Days Offensive, August to November 1918". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ^ "52nd (Lowland) Division". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Joslen, p. 85
- ^ a b c d Joslen, p. 86
- ^ Chappell, p. 34
- ^ "Sir Edmund Hakewill-Smith". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Archived from the original on 20 March 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ^ Buckingham, p. 64
- ^ Buckingham, p. 65
- ^ Buckingham, p. 79
- ^ Ellis, p. 30
- ^ Joslen, pp. 342–345
- ^ Stacey, p. 388
- ^ a b c Joslen, p. 344
- ^ Stacey, p. 398
- ^ Monty's Men - The British Army and the Liberation of Europe, p. 248, John Buckley.
- ^ Stacey, p. 412
- ^ Stacey, p. 414
- ^ Stacey, p. 430
- ^ Stacey, p. 436
- ^ Lindsay, p. 108
- ^ Joslen, pp. 342-344
- ^ White, p. 157
- ^ White, p. 367
- ^ "My Bit in World War II (Chapter 5)". BBC. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ^ Stacey, p. 622
- ^ a b Graham Watson (10 March 2002). "United Kingdom: The Territorial Army 1947". orbat.com. Archived from the original on 5 December 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- ^ a b Litchfield, Appendix 5.
- ^ a b c "British Army units from 1945 on - AGRA". british-army-units1945on.co.uk.
- ^ Reorganizing Territorials, the Times, 21 July 1960
- ^ "No. 44539". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 March 1968. p. 2655.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Mackie, Army Senior Appointments, p.156
- ^ a b c d e f g Becke, pp. 109–15.
- ^ Monthly Army List, August 1914.
- ^ Conrad.
- ^ "52nd (Lowland) Division – The Long, Long Trail".
- ^ Perry, pp. 87–8.
- ^ "52 (L) Division at Regimental Warpath". Archived from the original on 28 December 2009. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
- ^ Thompson, 52nd Div, p. 4–7, 514.
- ^ Young, Annex D.
- ^ Joslen, p. 342
- ^ Joslen, p. 343
References/further reading
- Becke, Maj A.F. History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2a: The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42–56), London: HM Stationery Office, 1935/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-39-8.
- Beckett, Ian F.W. (2008) 'Territorials: A Century of Service,' published by DRA Printing of 14 Mary Seacole Road, The Millfields, Plymouth PL1 3JY on behalf of TA 100, ISBN 978-0-9557813-1-5.
- Blake, George, (1950) Mountain and Flood: the history of the 52nd (Lowland) Division, 1939–1946, Jackson & Son
- Buckingham, William F. (2004) [2002]. Arnhem 1944. Tempus Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7524-3187-1.
- Chappell, Mike (1987). British battle insignia (2): 1939–1940. Men-At-Arms. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 0-85045-739-4.
- Ellis, Major L. F.; Warhurst, Lieutenant-Colonel A. E. (2004) [1st. pub. ISBN 978-1-84574-059-7.
- Erickson, Edward J. (2007). John Gooch; Brian Holden Reid (eds.). Ottoman Army Effectiveness in World War I: A Comparative Study. No. 26 of Cass Series: Military History and Policy. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-96456-9.
- Joslen, H. F. (2003) [1960]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield, East Sussex: Naval and Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1.
- Lindsay, Captain Martin; Johnson, Captain M. E. (2005) [1945]. History of 7th Armoured Division: June 1943 – July 1945. MLRS Books. ISBN 978-1-84791-219-0.
- Litchfield, Norman E.H. (1992) The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, ISBN 0-9508205-2-0.
- Mackie, Colin. "British Armed Forces (1900-): Army Senior Appointments". Retrieved 28 June 2012.
- Perry, F.W. (1993) History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 5b: Indian Army Divisions, Newport, Gwent: Ray Westlake, ISBN 1-871167-23-X.
- Stacey, Colonel Charles Perry; Bond, Major C. C. J. (1960). The Victory Campaign: The Operations in North-West Europe 1944–1945 (PDF). Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War. Vol. III. Ottawa: The Queen's Printer and Controller of Stationery. OCLC 155106767. Archived from the original(PDF) on 21 December 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
- Thompson, R.R. (1923). The Fifty-Second (Lowland) Division 1914–1918. Glasgow: Maclehose, Jackson.
- 2004 reprint from Naval and Military Press published as ISBN 978-1-84342993-7
- 2004 reprint from Naval and Military Press published as
- Westlake, Ray (1992). British Territorial Units 1914–18. Men-at-Arms Series. Vol. 245. Osprey. ISBN 978-1-85532-168-7.
- White, Peter (2003) [2001]. With the Jocks: A soldier's struggle for Europe 1944–45. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-3057-8.
- Young, Lt-Col Michael (2000) Army Service Corps 1902–1918, Barnsley: Leo Cooper, ISBN 0-85052-730-9.
External links
- Mark Conrad, The British Army, 1914 (archive site)
- The Long, Long Trail
- British Military History History. "United Kingdom 1930 - 1938: Scottish Command 52 Division (1930-38)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012. The order of battle for the division between 1930-1938, along with various information about the division.
- Brown, Joe. "Second World War Memoirs of JOE BROWN". Retrieved 30 June 2012. The memoirs of a Second-Lieutenant, who was a member of the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division.
- Murray (Retd), Lieutenant Colonel David. "52nd Lowland Division at Gallipoli - A Second Flodden" (PDF). Retrieved 30 June 2012. An article, from the Journal of the Royal United Services Institute of NSW, covering the Gallipoli campaign.
- Morris, Pete. "With the Jocks: A tribute to Scottish Infantry Soldiers". Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012. Information on the 51st (Highland) and 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Divisions, including orders of battle and histories.
- Orders of Battle. "52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division". Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2012. Interactive order of battle, for the period of 1939-1945.
- The Regimental Warpath 1914–1918 (archive site)
- Graham Watson, The Territorial Army 1947
- British Army units from 1945 on