61st (2nd South Midland) Division

Last updated

61st (2nd South Midland) Division
61st division ww1.svg
Division insignia
ActiveJanuary 1915 – January 1919
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
BranchFlag of the British Army.svg  British Army
Type Infantry
Engagements First World War
Battle of Fromelles

The 61st (2nd South Midland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army raised in 1915 during the Great War as a second-line reserve for the first-line battalions of the 48th (South Midland) Division. The division was sent to the Western Front in May 1916 and served there for the duration of the First World War.

Contents

Unit history

The division landed in France in May 1916. [1] On 19 July 1916, together with the 5th Australian Division, the 61st Division fought the Battle of Fromelles, designed as a feint attack as part of the Somme Offensive. [1] The attack, against well prepared German positions based on a ridge, was a disaster and responsible for the subsequent poor reputation of the Division. [2] The division later took part in the advance to the Hindenburg Line and the Third Battle of Ypres. [1]

Order of Battle

The order of battle was as follows: [1]

182nd (2nd Warwickshire) Brigade
183rd (2nd Gloucester and Worcester) Brigade

The brigade contained the following battalions until February 1918 when most of them were disbanded.

Between February and June 1918 the 183rd Brigade contained the following battalions.

From May 1918 the following battalions joined the Brigade.

184th (2nd South Midland) Brigade
Divisional Troops
Divisional Mounted Troops
61st (2nd South Midland) Divisional Artillery
(the artillery of 59th Division was also attached between 8 and 26 August 1918)
61st (2nd South Midland) Divisional Engineers
Royal Army Medical Corps
Other Divisional Troops

Battles

General Officer Commanding

Commanding officers were:

See also

Related Research Articles

<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">29th Division (United Kingdom)</span> Military unit

The 29th Division, known as the Incomparable Division, was an infantry division of the British Army, formed in early 1915 by combining various Regular Army units that had been acting as garrisons around the British Empire. Under the command of Major-General Aylmer Hunter-Weston, the division fought throughout the Gallipoli Campaign, including the original landing at Cape Helles. From 1916 to the end of the war the division fought on the Western Front in Belgium and France.

The 27th Division was an infantry division of the British Army raised during the Great War, formed in late 1914 by combining various Regular Army units that had been acting as garrisons about the British Empire. The division spent most of 1915 on the Western Front in France before moving to Salonika where it remained with the British Salonika Army for the duration of the war. In 1916 its commander Hurdis Ravenshaw was captured by an Austrian submarine whilst sailing to England. In 1918 in Salonika the division took part in the Battle of Doiran. It carried out occupation duties in the Caucasus in the post-war before being withdrawn from the region in 1919.

<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">60th (2/2nd London) Division</span> Military unit

The 60th Division was an infantry division of the British Army raised during World War I. It was the second line-formation of the 47th Division, and was the second of two such Territorial Force divisions formed from the surplus of London recruits in 1914.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">46th (North Midland) Division</span> British Army infantry 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".

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">58th (2/1st London) Division</span> Military unit

The 58th Division was an infantry division created in 1915 as part of the massive expansion of the British Army during the First World War. It was a 2nd Line Territorial Force formation raised as a duplicate of the 56th Division. After training in Britain, the division joined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front in 1917. It saw action at the battles of Arras and Passchedaele in 1917 and the German spring offensive in 1918. It then took part in the Battle of Amiens and the final Allied Hundred Days Offensive of the war. The division was recreated during the Second World War, as an imaginary deception formation.

<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 seeing 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.

The 226th Infantry Brigade was a Home Service formation of the British Army that existed under various short-lived titles in both World War I and World War II.

71st Division was a short-lived infantry division of the British Army during the First World War. It served in the Home Defence forces and never went overseas.

The Glamorganshire Royal Horse Artillery was a Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery battery that was formed in Glamorganshire in 1908. It saw active service during the First World War on the Western Front in 1917 and 1918 as part of an Army Field Artillery Brigade. A second line battery, 2/1st Glamorganshire RHA, served in England and Ireland before being broken up in January 1917. Glamorganshire RHA was not reconstituted in the post-war Territorial Force.

B Battery, Honourable Artillery Company was a horse artillery battery that was formed from the Field Artillery, HAC in 1899. It transferred to the Territorial Force in 1908 as artillery support for the South Eastern Mounted Brigade.

The Shropshire Royal Horse Artillery was a Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery battery that was formed in Shropshire in 1908 from the Shropshire Battery of the 1st Shropshire and Staffordshire Artillery Volunteers, Royal Garrison Artillery of the Volunteer Force. It saw active service during the First World War on the Western Front in 1917 and 1918 as part of an Army Field Artillery Brigade. A second line battery, 2/1st Shropshire RHA, also served on the Western Front in 1917 and 1918 as part of another Army Field Artillery Brigade. It was reconstituted post-war as a medium artillery battery and served as such in the Second World War.

The Warwickshire Royal Horse Artillery was a Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery battery that was formed in Warwickshire in 1908. It was the first Territorial Force artillery unit to go overseas on active service, spending the whole of the First World War on the Western Front, mostly with 1st Cavalry Division and 29th Division. A second line battery, 2/1st Warwickshire RHA, also served on the Western Front in 1917 and 1918 as part of an Army Field Artillery Brigade. Post-war it was reconstituted as a Royal Field Artillery battery.

The 2nd Home Counties Division was a 2nd Line Territorial Force division of the British Army in World War I. The division was formed as a duplicate of the 44th Division in November 1914. As the name suggests, the division recruited in the Home Counties, particularly Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex. In August 1915, in common with all Territorial Force divisions, it was numbered as 67th Division. Between September 1917 and the end of the year, the division was extensively reorganized and lost its territorial identity; henceforth it was known as 67th Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Staffordshire Artillery Volunteers</span> Military unit

The 1st Staffordshire Artillery Volunteers, later 2nd North Midland Brigade, was a Volunteer unit of the Royal Artillery of the British Army recruiting primarily from Staffordshire. It fought on the Western Front during World War I and in the Normandy Campaign and Belgium, Holland, and Germany during World War II. Postwar, it was reformed as a specialist locating unit.

The Structure of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force over the course of the First World War is shown below.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "61st (2nd South Midland) Division". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  2. 1 2 The 61st Division had the Reputation of Being a poorly Performing Formation. How did it Acquire this Reputation and was it a Justified Description? (PDF) (MA) (online ed.). Birmingham: University of Birmingham. 984318. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2017.{{cite thesis}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. Becke, Archibald Frank (1935). Order of Battle of Divisions. H. M. Stationery Office. p. 33.
  4. "Richard Bannatine-Allason". Centre for First World War Studies, University of Birmingham. Archived from the original on 16 February 2006. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  5. "British Divisional Commanders During the Great War – First Thoughts: Note 19". Western Front Association. Retrieved 26 May 2020.