Northern Army (Home Forces)

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Northern Army was a home service formation of the British Army during the First World War, responsible for the defence of East Anglia.

East Anglia region of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

East Anglia is a geographical area in the East of England. The area included has varied but the legally defined NUTS 2 statistical unit comprises the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, including the City of Peterborough unitary authority area. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a tribe whose name originated in Anglia, northern Germany.

It was formed on 11 April 1916 [1] under the command of Sir Bruce Hamilton, with headquarters at Mundford. The Army was composed of 1st Cyclist Division, 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division, 64th (2nd Highland) Division and four provisional brigades (3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th), with 68th (2nd Welsh) Division attached for training purposes. [2] The Army was disbanded on 16 February 1918. [1]

Mundford farm village in the United Kingdom

Mundford is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated at the intersection of two major routes, the A134 Colchester to King's Lynn road and the A1065 Mildenhall to Fakenham road, about 8 miles (13 km) north west of Thetford. The village is 35 miles (56 km) from the city of Norwich and 88 miles (142 km) from London.

The 62nd Division was an infantry division of the British Army that saw active service on the Western Front during the First World War.

The 64th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised during the Great War. The division was formed in late 1914 as a second-line Territorial Force formation which served on home defence duties throughout the war.

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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.

60th (2/2nd London) Division

The 60th Division was an infantry division of the British Army raised during World War I. The division was the second of two second-line Territorial Force divisions formed from the surplus of London recruits in 1914. Originally the division merely supplied the first-line Territorial divisions with drafts to replace losses through casualties. It was not until late 1915 that the division began to be equipped for field operations and it was not sent overseas to France until mid-1916. As a "lesser" division it was sent to the minor fronts of Salonika and finally Palestine. In mid-1918, most British battalions were replaced with Indian battalions and sent to the Western Front, the division effectively became a British Indian Army division.

8th Infantry Division (United Kingdom) combat formation of the British Army

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III Corps (United Kingdom)

III Corps was an army corps of the British Army formed in both the First World War and the Second World War.

Fourth Army (United Kingdom) military unit

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32nd Division (United Kingdom)

The 32nd Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was raised in 1914, during World War I. 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.

41st Division (United Kingdom)

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

Wiltshire Regiment

The Wiltshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 62nd (Wiltshire) Regiment of Foot and the 99th Duke of Edinburgh's (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot.

Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment

The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment was the final title of a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was originally formed in 1688. After centuries of service in many small conflicts and wars, including both the First and Second World Wars, the regiment was amalgamated with the Essex Regiment in 1958 to form the 3rd East Anglian Regiment. However, this was short-lived and again was amalgamated, in 1964, with the 1st East Anglian Regiment and 2nd East Anglian Regiment, and the Royal Leicestershire Regiment to form the present Royal Anglian Regiment.

The 1st Mounted Division was a Yeomanry Division of the British Army active during World War I. It was formed in August 1914 for the home defence of the United Kingdom from four existing mounted brigades of the Territorial Force, each of three regiments of Yeomanry. The divisional order of battle changed often, as the 1st Line brigades left for service overseas and were replaced by 2nd Line formations. It was converted to the 1st Cyclist Division in July 1916, and was broken up in November 1916 without being involved in active service. It remained in East Anglia throughout its existence.

75th Division (United Kingdom)

75th Division was an infantry division of the British Army in World War I. It was raised in the field by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) in 1917 and it included British, Indian and South African troops. It served in the Middle East during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign being involved in the Battles of Megiddo.

58th (2/1st London) Division

The 58th Division was an infantry division created in 1915 as part of the massive expansion of the British Army during World War I. 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 World War II as an imaginary 'deception' formation.

The 65th Division of the British Army was a second-line Territorial Force division, formed in 1914, which served on home defence duties during the First World War.

72nd Division was a short-lived infantry division of the British Army during World War I. It served in the Home Defence forces and never went overseas.

73rd Division was a short-lived infantry division of the British Army during World War I. It served in Home Forces and never went overseas.

The 2nd East Anglian 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 54th Division in November 1914. As the name suggests, the division recruited in East Anglia, particularly Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk, but also Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, and Northamptonshire. In August 1915, in common with all Territorial Force divisions, it was numbered as 69th Division. By January 1918 it had been extensively reorganized and lost its territorial identity; henceforth it was known as 69th Division.

Southern Army was a home service formation of the British Army during the First World War, responsible for the defence of South-East England, including both sides of the Thames Estuary.

References

  1. 1 2 The British Armies of 1914-1918. Accessed 7 June 2017.
  2. K. Mitchinson, Defending Albion: Britain's Home Army 1908-1919 (2005) p. 126.