41st Division (United Kingdom)

Last updated

41st Division
WW1 British 41st Division.svg
Formation patch of the 41st Division.
Active1915–1919
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
BranchFlag of the British Army.svg  British Army
Type Infantry
Size Division
Engagements First World War
* Battle of the Somme
* Battle of Messines
* Battle of Passchendaele
* Hundred Days Offensive
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Sydney Turing Barlow Lawford

The 41st Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised during the First World War as part of Lord Kitchener's New Armies. The division saw service on the Western Front and later on the Italian Front.

Contents

Unit history

Men of 5 Platoon, B Company, 15th (Service) Battalion, Hampshire Regiment resting before going into the trenches. Southern Road, Mametz Wood, France, 17 July 1916. The Battle of the Somme, July-november 1916 Q3978.jpg
Men of 5 Platoon, B Company, 15th (Service) Battalion, Hampshire Regiment resting before going into the trenches. Southern Road, Mametz Wood, France, 17 July 1916.

The division was formed as part of the fifth wave (K5) of divisions in the New Army; it did not have a regional title, but was composed primarily of recruits from the south of England. Several of its battalions had been raised by local communities and were named for their towns or industries. After training and home service, the 41st Division, commanded by Major-General Sydney Lawford, deployed overseas to reinforce the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front in the first week of May 1916; its first major combat came in September of that year, at the Battle of Flers–Courcelette, part of the larger Battle of the Somme. [1]

After fighting in 1917 at the Battle of Messines and the Battle of Passchendaele (also known as the Third Battle of Ypres) it was transferred with four other divisions to the Italian Front. [2] It remained here for three months throughout the winter of 1917–18 before returning to the Western Front, where it arrived just before the German Army launched its Spring Offensive in March. It participated in the Allied "Hundred Days Offensive" and ended the war in Flanders, from where it moved to join the Army of Occupation in Germany, following the Armistice of 11 November 1918. The 41st Division was commanded by Major-General Sydney Lawford throughout its existence [3] and was demobilised in March 1919, with some units transferred to the 47th (1/2nd London) Division, British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). [4]

Order of battle

The 41st Division was constituted as follows during the war: [4]

122nd Brigade

123rd Brigade

124th Brigade

Divisional Troops

Royal Artillery

Royal Engineers

Royal Army Medical Corps

Notable people associated with the division

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">9th (Scottish) Division</span> Infantry division of the British Army during the First World War

The 9th (Scottish) Division, was an infantry division of the British Army during the First World War, one of the Kitchener's Army divisions raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener to serve on the Western Front during the First World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">10th (Irish) Division</span> Military unit

The 10th (Irish) Division, was one of the first of Kitchener's New Army K1 Army Group divisions, authorized on 21 August 1914, after the outbreak of the Great War. It included battalions from the various provinces of Ireland. It was led by Irish General Bryan Mahon and fought at Gallipoli, Salonika and Palestine. It was the first of the Irish Divisions to take to the field and was the most travelled of the Irish formations. The division served as a formation of the United Kingdom's British Army during World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">11th (Northern) Division</span> British Army 11th (Northern) Division in WWI

The 11th (Northern) Division, was an infantry division of the British Army during the First World War, raised from men who had volunteered for Lord Kitchener's New Armies. The division fought in the Gallipoli Campaign and on the Western Front. The division's insignia was an ankh or ankhus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">12th (Eastern) Division</span> Infantry division of the British Army during World War I

The 12th (Eastern) Division was an infantry division raised by the British Army during the First World War from men volunteering for Kitchener's New Armies. The division saw service in the trenches of the Western Front from June 1915 to the end of the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">14th (Light) Division</span> Military unit

The 14th (Light) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, one of the Kitchener's Army divisions raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener during the First World War. All of its infantry regiments were originally of the fast marching rifle or light infantry regiments, hence the title "Light". It fought on the Western Front for the duration of the First World War.
The division was disbanded by March 1919, and was not reformed in the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">24th Division (United Kingdom)</span> Military unit

The 24th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised in September 1914 from men volunteering for Lord Kitchener's New Armies during the First World War. After almost a year spent training in England the division was sent to the Western Front between August and September 1915. It served in Belgium and France in the trenches of the Western Front for the duration of the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">16th (Irish) Division</span> WWI British infantry division

The 16th (Irish) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised for service during World War I. The division was a voluntary 'Service' formation of Lord Kitchener's New Armies, created in Ireland from the 'National Volunteers', initially in September 1914, after the outbreak of the Great War. In December 1915, the division moved to France, joining the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), under the command of Irish Major General William Hickie, and spent the duration of the war in action on the Western Front. Following enormous losses at the Somme, Passchendaele and Ypres, the 16th (Irish) Division required a substantial refit in England between June and August 1918, which involved the introduction of many non-Irish battalions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">18th (Eastern) Division</span> Infantry division of the British Army during the First World War

The 18th (Eastern) Division was an infantry division of the British Army formed in September 1914 during the First World War as part of the K2 Army Group, part of Lord Kitchener's New Armies. From its creation the division trained in England until 25 May 1915 when it landed in France and spent the duration of the First World War in action on the Western Front, becoming one of the elite divisions of the British Army. During the Battle of the Somme in the latter half of 1916, the 18th Division was commanded by Major General Ivor Maxse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">34th Division (United Kingdom)</span> Infantry division of the British Army during the First World War

The 34th Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was raised in 1914, during the First World War. The division was raised from volunteers for Lord Kitchener's New Armies, that was originally made up of infantry battalions raised by public subscription or private patronage. The division was taken over by the War Office in September 1915. It served in France and Belgium in the trenches of the Western Front for the duration of the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">46th (North Midland) Division</span> Military unit

The 46th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, part of the Territorial Force, that saw service in the First World War. At the outbreak of the war, the 46th Division was commanded by Major-General Hon. E.J. Montagu-Stuart-Wortley. Originally called the North Midland Division, it was redesignated as the 46th Division in May 1915.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">21st Division (United Kingdom)</span> Infantry division of the British Army during World War I

The 21st Division was an infantry division of the British Army during World War I, raised in September 1914 by men volunteering for Lord Kitchener's New Armies. The division moved to France in September 1915 and served on the Western Front for the duration of the First World War. The divisional insignia was the "triple-seven".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">30th Division (United Kingdom)</span> Military unit

The British 30th Division was a New Army division that was originally made up of battalions raised by public subscription or private patronage. The division was taken over by the British War Office in August 1915 and moved to France in December. It served on the Western Front for the duration of the First World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">32nd Division (United Kingdom)</span> Infantry division of the British Army during the First World War

The 32nd Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was raised in 1914, during the First World War. The division was raised from volunteers for Lord Kitchener's New Armies, made up of infantry 'Pals battalions' and artillery brigades raised by public subscription or private patronage. The division was taken over by the War Office in September 1915. It served in France and Belgium in the trenches of the Western Front for the duration of the war. It saw action at the Battle of the Somme, the Pursuit to the Hindenburg Line, the Defence of Nieuport, the German spring offensive, and the Allied Hundred Days Offensive beginning at the Battle of Amiens. After the Armistice it marched into Germany as part of the Army of Occupation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">33rd Division (United Kingdom)</span> Infantry division of the British Army during the First World War

The 33rd Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was raised in 1914, during the First World War. The division was raised from volunteers for Lord Kitchener's New Armies, that was originally made up of infantry battalions raised by public subscription or private patronage. The division was taken over by the War Office in September 1915. It served in France and Belgium in the trenches of the Western Front for the duration of the war. The division's insignia was the "double-three" from a set of dominoes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">40th Division (United Kingdom)</span> Military unit

The 40th Division was an infantry division of the British Army active during the First World War, where it served on the Western Front. It was a division of Lord Kitchener's New Army volunteers, mostly "bantam" recruits of below regulation height. It was later briefly reformed as a deception formation in the Second World War, and during the early years of the Cold War was recreated a third time to garrison Hong Kong.

The 28th Division was an infantry division of the British Army raised for service in World War I.

The 25th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised as part of Lord Kitchener's Third New Army (K3) in September 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the Great War. It served on the Western Front for most of the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">37th Division (United Kingdom)</span> Military unit

The 37th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised during the First World War. The divisional symbol was a gold horseshoe, open end up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">39th Division (United Kingdom)</span> Military unit

The 39th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised during the First World War. The division was part of Kitchener's New Armies and saw service on the Western Front and in Italy from 1916 onwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">59th (2nd North Midland) Division</span> Former British Army infantry division

The 59th Division was an infantry division of the British Army during World War I. It was formed in late 1914/early 1915 as a 2nd Line Territorial Force formation raised as a duplicate of the 46th Division. After training in the United Kingdom and saw service in the Easter Rising in April 1916, the division joined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front in early 1917. It saw action at Ypres and Cambrai, and was almost destroyed during the German Army's Spring Offensive in March 1918. The reconstituted division took part in the final advances of the war.

References

  1. "23rd (2nd Football) Battalion, The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own)". Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  2. Williamson, Howard J.; Bate, Chris (2020). The award of the Military Medal for the campaign in Italy 1917-1918. privately published by Anne Williamson. ISBN   978-1-8739960-5-8. The book includes: – A detailed overview of the Italian Campaign and its battles. – Notes on the [five] Divisions engaged in Italy.
  3. 'Douglas Haig: War Diaries & Letters 1914-1918', edited by G. Sheffield & J. Bourne (Pub. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005), pp. 103–104.
  4. 1 2 Baker, Chris. "41st Division". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 24 November 2018.