48th (South Midland) Division [SEP] military branch
48th (South Midland) Division


The 48th (South Midland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army. Part of the Territorial Force (TF) and raised in 1908, the division was originally called the South Midland Division, and was redesignated as the 48th (South Midland) Division in 1915. During the First World War, the division saw service on the Western Front before being transferred to the Italian Front in November 1917 and remaining there for the rest of the war. Reformed in 1920 in the Territorial Army (TA) as the 48th
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48th (South Midland) Division


units intended for home defence. These second line units were eventually formed into the 61st (2nd South Midland) Division and, following the passing of the Military Service Act 1916, deployed to France in February 1916. In March 1915, with the threat of a German invasion having subsided, the South Midland Division was dispatched to France with the territorials who had volunteered for overseas service. On the outbreak of war, the division composed the Warwickshire Brigade, the Gloucester and Worcester Brigade and the South Midland Brigade. The division was
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48th (South Midland) Division


Asiago Plateau (15–16 June 1918) and the Battle of Vittorio Veneto. After the war, the 48th Divisional Signal Company was posted to Iran as part of Norperforce. The division was disbanded in June 1919, along with the rest of the Territorial Force. However, the Territorial Force was reformed in 1920 as the Territorial Army (TA) and the 48th Division was reconstituted as the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division. During the interwar period, the British Army envisioned that, during future conflicts, the Territorial Army would
18825888
48th (South Midland) Division


redesignated the 48th (South Midland) Division, and its brigades became the 143rd (Warwickshire) Brigade, 144th (Gloucester and Worcester) Brigade and 145th (South Midland) Brigade respectively. The division was sent to France in March 1915 and served on the Western Front. It took part in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, the Battle of Pozières and the Third Battle of Ypres. In November 1917, the division was sent to Italy, where it remained until the end of the War. It fought the on
18825887
East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry


30 March 1940, after training at Tidworth, the 1st Regiment joined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France as part of the 1st Armoured Reconnaissance Brigade, initially the Corps Cavalry to III Corps. However, in May, the Regiment passed under the command of 48th (South Midland) Division, 44th (Home Counties) Division, Macforce, and finally back to 48th (South Midland) Division. The Regiment was first involved in fighting near Ath, south of Brussels, and then over the next fortnight fought seven
16989485
Harold Bridgwood Walker


Army, Walker was next in line for the command of the Australian Corps but, believing an Australian should hold the post, he made no claim on the position which was eventually taken by Major General John Monash. Finally, at the beginning of July 1918, Walker was given command of the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division which at the time was stationed in Italy. In 1920, Walker returned to England was made commanded of the 48th (South Midland) Division, a division of the Territorial Force. In 1923
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61st (2nd South Midland) Division


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. However, the division was sent to the Western Front in May 1916 and served there for the duration of the First World War. 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
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48th (South Midland) Division


(South Midland) Infantry Division, it saw active service in the Second World War with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in Belgium and France before being evacuated from Dunkirk to the United Kingdom. It was converted into a training reserve division in December 1942, remaining in the United Kingdom in that status for the rest of the war. Disbanded after the war, the division was not reformed again. In both world wars, the division raised a second line reserve formation; the 61st (2nd South Midland) Division in
18825880
Action of 22 August 1917


to press on were bloodily repulsed and parties that reached Springfield Farm disappeared. The 48th (South Midland) Division consolidated on a line from the village to the gun pits, Jew Hill and Border House. At German troops massed around Triangle Farm and made an abortive counter-attack at Another counter-attack after dark was repulsed at the gun pits and at a counter-attack from Triangle Farm was repulsed. The Germans in Maison du Hibou and Triangle Farm opposite the 48th (South Midland) Division caught the troops on the
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48th (South Midland) Division


commanded by Lieutenant General Henry Willcox. During the winter of 1942–43, the British Army overhauled its training of recruits. The 48th was one of three divisions that were changed from "Lower Establishment" units to "Reserve Divisions". On 20 December, the division was renamed the 48th Infantry (Reserve) Division, becoming a training formation in the process. This reorganisation took place during 1943 and the division held this training role for the remainder of the war. These three divisions were supplemented by a fourth training formation (the
18825898
Royal Berkshire Regiment


was recalled to Britain, where, with other Regular units also stationed abroad, it helped form the 25th Brigade and was attached to the 8th Division. They came to the Western Front in late 1914 and served there for the rest of the war. The Territorial Force saw a considerable expansion and raised the 1/4th, 2/4th and 3/4th battalions. The 1/4th Battalion was part of the South Midland Brigade of the South Midland Division. In 1915 it was designated the 145th Brigade, 48th (South Midland) Division. They served on
18483810
A. T. Anderson


) Division and was commanded the 48th (South Midland) Division artillery from 1920 through 1924. He retired from the military in 1924 and settled in Sydney. Anderson is said to have received the French "Légion d'honneur" medal in the park at Cambrai in 1916. However, the Musée de la Légion d'honneur says that Augustin Thomas Anderson, a colonel in the British Army, received the medal on 12 December 1918. From 1927 through 1939 he was the private secretary to Sir Dudley de Chair, the Governor of New South
19723985
Territorial Force


do so and that military expediency sometimes necessitated not doing so. As the availability of men of military age dwindled, it became increasingly difficult to source replacements from some sparsely populated regions. The largely rurally recruited 48th (South Midland) and 54th (East Anglian) Divisions became increasingly diluted as the war progressed, while the more urbanised recruitment areas of the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division allowed it to remain essentially a Lancashire formation throughout. By the war's end, very few battalions still retained more than a handful of men
11311062
145th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)


, part of the 2nd South Midland Division. The brigade was numbered as the 145th (South Midland) Brigade (along with the 143rd (Warwickshire) Brigade and 144th (Gloucester and Worcester) Brigade) in the 48th (South Midland) Division. The battalions, like all other TF battalions, were redesignated with the '1/' prefix (1/4th Ox and Bucks, for example) to distinguish them from the 2nd Line units, formed of those men who did not originally volunteer to serve overseas, who were designated with
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48th (South Midland) Division


reforms. However, between 1910 and 1914, the overall strength of the force had declined to 250,000, 52,000 short of the peacetime establishment. In August 1914, the South Midland Division departed for its annual summer training camp. The 143rd (Warwickshire) Brigade, for example, departed for Rhyl in northern Wales. Following the declaration of war, the division was mobilised and moved south to take up defensive positions along the southern coast. Due to German-invasion scares, the division-numbering 6,000 men-moved to Essex
18825884
Henry Heath (British Army officer)


Major General Henry Newport Charles Heath (15 October 1860 – 29 July 1915) was a British Army general during the First World War, who commanded the 48th (South Midland) Division from 1914 to 1915. Heath was born into a military family, the second surviving son of Major-General Alfred Heath, Royal Artillery. He attended Clifton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, before joining the 1st Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment as a lieutenant on 22 October 1881. He served in the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War
11370138
Stephen Butler (British Army officer)


July 1934, when he was promoted to Major-General. He then command the 48th (South Midland) Division of the Territorial Army between 1935 and 1939, and was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1936. Butler retired in 1939, but was re-employed on the outbreak of World War II. He was Head of the Military Mission to Turkey between 1939 and 1940 and liaison in Africa (1940–41), before serving as Head of the Military Mission to Ethiopia until 1943. He died on
6060445
Gloucestershire Volunteer Artillery


broken up among the other artillery brigades of 61st Division to bring them up to 6-gun batteries. When the TF was reconstituted as the Territorial Army (TA) after World War I, the Gloucestershire Volunteer Artillery reformed on 7 February 1920 as 66th (South Midland) Brigade, RFA, with the former Berkshire Royal Horse Artillery added as a fourth battery at Reading, Berkshire. The brigade continued to form part of 48th (South Midland) Division. The title changed to 66th (South Midland) Field Brigade, RA, in
4093495
66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division


, a second-line battalion, was detached for overseas service and joined the 51st (Highland) Division. The battalion was replaced by another duplicate battalion, the 3/5th Lancashire Fusiliers, which became one of the few third-line territorial battalions to see active service. One of the three companies of Royal Engineers, was sent to France in 1915 to join the 48th (South Midland) Division and during 1916, three of the four heavy and howitzer artillery batteries were withdrawn or broken up. Following the Military Service Act of
6097708
Territorial Force


resulted in the 48th (South Midland) Division being transferred to Italy to relieve the regular 7th Infantry Division in March 1918. Several territorial divisions overcame poor initial impressions to become effective, dependable formations by the end of the war. The 61st (2nd South Midland) Division, for example, blamed for the failure at Fromelles, was commended by Lieutenant-General Hubert Gough, commander of the Fifth Army, as the best performing of his 11 front-line divisions in the initial onslaught of the German Spring Offensive in March
11311050
6th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment


the other two. The South Midland Division was selected to proceed to France to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) early in 1915, and the 1/6th Royal Warwicks disembarked at Le Havre at the beginning of April. Within days it began learning the routine of trench warfare around St Yves, Messines and Ploegsteert. On 12 May the division was designated the 48th (South Midland) Division and the brigade became the 143rd (Warwickshire) Brigade. The battalion later moved south to a section of the line around Hébuterne, Foncquevillers
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48th (South Midland) Division


of the TA to do so. The division came under command of Lieutenant General Sir John Dill's I Corps. Soon after their arrival, the 48th Division exchanged some of its units with the Regular divisions. For example, in the 143rd Brigade, the 5th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment was exchanged with the 1st Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, a Regular Army unit, and transferred to the 11th Infantry Brigade, of the 4th Infantry Division. This was official policy within the BEF and was, in theory, intended
18825892
162nd (East Midland) Brigade


Brigade was reduced from four to three battalions. Consequently, the 4th Northants were transferred to the Royal Engineers and converted as 50th (The Northamptonshire Regiment) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers with a searchlight role and became part of 32nd (South Midland) Anti-Aircraft Group, 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division. The 5th Northants were transferred to the 143rd (Warwickshire) Infantry Brigade of the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division in 1938 and received the 1st Cambridgeshires as a replacement (which had transferred to 163rd (Norfolk
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144th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)


Division, later to become 183rd (2/1st Gloucester and Worcester) Brigade and 61st (2nd South Midland) Division. The 1st Line battalions were also assigned the '1/' prefix, becoming, for example, 1/7th Worcesters and the 2nd Line became 2/7th Worcesters. On 15 May 1915 the brigade was numbered the 144th (Gloucester and Worcester) Brigade and the division became 48th (South Midland) Division. In March 1915 the division was warned to prepare for overseas service on the Western Front to reinforce the Regulars of the British
12814512
Wilhelm Daser


(18 Apr 1919-17 May 1919); Adjutant of Higher Disbandment Staff 104 (2nd Bavarian Division) (17 May 1919-25 Sep 1919); Leader of the Mortar-Company of the 48th Reichswehr-Infantry-Regiment (25 Sep 1919-06 Nov 1919); Leader of the 5th Company of the 48th Reichswehr-Infantry-Regiment (06 Nov 1919-01 Jan 1921); Leader of the 5th Company of the 20th Infantry-Regiment (01 Jan 1921-01 Oct 1922); Transferred
14683610
Gloucestershire Volunteer Artillery


(III South Midland) Bty joined on 16 January 1917. CCXL Bde supported 48th Division in the following actions: "1916" "1917" On 10 November, 48th Division was ordered to move to move to the Italian Front. Entrainment began on 21 November and by 1 December the division concentrated round Legnago in the Adige Sector. On 1 March 1918 the division relieved 7th Division in the front line of the Montello sector on the Piave Front, and held the line until 16 March. On 1 April it moved westward
4093490
143rd Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)


distinguish them from the 2nd Line, which adopted the '2/'. The South Midland Division spent many months in England training until 13 March 1915 when it was warned to prepare for overseas service to reinforce the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front which had suffered heavy casualties in the winter of 1914-15. On 13 May 1915 the division was numbered, becoming the 48th (South Midland) Division and the brigades in the division were also numbered, the 1st Warwickshire Brigade became the 143rd (Warwickshire)
115088
Action of 22 August 1917


could not bombard the area for fear of hitting their infantry. Once the II Corps attack on the Gheluvelt Plateau had been repulsed, the defenders were free to fire on the British in the Steenbeek valley north of the Ypres–Roulers railway, sweeping them with machine-gun fire in enfilade from their right (southern) flank. On 17 August, the fresh 15th (Scottish) Division and the 61st (2nd South Midland) Division (the second line Territorial Force duplicate of the 48th (1st South Midland) Division)
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48th (South Midland) Division


Yeomanry and Volunteer Force in 1908. This resulted in the creation of 14 Territorial Divisions, including the South Midland Division. As part of the legislation, the territorials were only liable to serve within the United Kingdom. Haldane envisioned that the territorials would take over the defence of the country against what was perceived as a very real threat of invasion, which would allow the regular army to be deployed aboard. In addition, Haldane saw the territorials as a source of reinforcements for the regular army. Six months following mobilisation, during
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48th (South Midland) Division


for replacements for other units and to allow them to intensively train without having to cope with recruits. During this period, from 17 October 1942 until 30 September 1943, the 10th Tank Brigade was assigned to the division for the holding and training of reinforcements to armoured units. On 7 November 1943, the 145th Infantry Brigade was disbanded. On 30 June 1944, the 48th Infantry (Reserve) Division, along with the other training divisions (the 76th, 77th, and the 80th), had a combined total of 22,355
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48th (South Midland) Division


the 3rd Infantry Division for annual training camps. On the outbreak of the Second World War, the 48th Division was mobilised in early September 1939, under the command of Major General Frank Roberts, who had won the Victoria Cross (VC) in the Great War. After spending a few months in England training the division, now commanded by Major General Sir Andrew Thorne after Roberts' retirement in December, landed in France in early January 1940 and became part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), the first complete division
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48th (South Midland) Division


80th Infantry (Reserve) Division), which was raised on 1 January 1943. The 48th Infantry (Reserve) Division was assigned to Northern Command Soldiers who had completed their corps training were sent to these training divisions. The soldiers were given five weeks of additional training at the section, platoon and company level, before undertaking a final three-day exercise. Troops would then be ready to be sent overseas to join other formations. Training was handled in this manner to relieve the "Higher Establishment" divisions from being milked
18825899
Northamptonshire Regiment


, the regiment was converted back into infantry, becoming 637th (Northamptonshire Regiment) Infantry Regiment, Royal Artillery and joined the 304th Infantry Brigade. The 5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion was assigned to the 143rd Infantry Brigade, part of the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division. The 48th Division was sent to join the British Expeditionary Force in France in early 1940, the first Territorial division to be sent overseas in the Second World War, and the battalion was exchanged for the 1st Battalion, Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry and transferred
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Territorial Force


already reached, the standards of efficiency of the regular infantry". There were eight first-line territorial divisions on the Western Front at the start of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916. Two of them, the 46th (North Midland) Division and the 56th (1/1st London) Division, went into action on the first day in a disastrous attack on the Gommecourt Salient, a diversionary operation conducted by the Third Army. Two more territorial divisions, the 48th (South Midland) and the 49th (West
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48th (South Midland) Division


which time the troops would have come up to an acceptable training standard, Haldane was confident that up to a quarter of the men would opt to go and fight abroad. The 1910 edition of the Hazell's Annual reported that, in 1909, "The South Midland Division ... had 13 units up to or over establishment, and the others very little below it." The following year, the Territorial Force as a whole peaked at a strength of 276,000 men; 26,000 men short of the peacetime establishment set by Haldane's
18825883
145th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)


the '2/', and were later numbered 184th (2/1st South Midland) Brigade, 61st (2nd South Midland) Division. The brigade was in continuous service in France on the Western Front in battles at Albert and in 1916 at Bazentin Ridge, Pozières Ridge, Ancre, all part of the Somme offensive. The 145th Brigade, with 48th Division, later pursued the German Army in the retreat to the Hindenburg Line and again fought in the Battle of Langemarck and later at Polygon Wood, both part of the Passchendaele and
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48th (South Midland) Division


80 per cent of its shrunken peacetime establishment" and "Its value as an immediate reserve was, therefore, limited." Edward Smalley comments that "48th Divisional Signals operated on an improvised organizational structure" for most of the 1930s, due to being below 50 per cent strength. He further highlights how the TA, and the division in particular, "never kept pace with technological developments." In 1937, the division was operating just two radio sets on a full-time basis and had to borrow additional units from
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48th (South Midland) Division


and infantry ahead of the division to occupy the chosen positions. However, the unexpected surrender of Belgian forces on 27 May 1940 led to a gap appearing between 48th Division in action around Saint-Omer and the coast at Nieuwpoort. Until II Corps could arrive to plug this gap, Lawson was responsible for what the "Official History" calls 'the most dangerously exposed part of the bridgehead'. He was ordered by the commander of the Dunkirk perimeter, the III Corps commander Lieutenant-General Ronald Adam, to improvise a
18825894
Territorial Force


Division came from outside the South Midlands due to the replacement of losses suffered at the Battle of Fromelles. By the end of the year, the same trend could be seen in the first-line 48th (South Midland) Division. The indiscriminate replacement of casualties prompted rueful comments about the damage being done to the nature of the Territorial Force. The historian C. R. M. F. Cruttwell, serving with the 1/4th Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment, lamented that, by the end of 1916, the battalion had "lost its exclusive
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48th (South Midland) Division


to strengthen the inexperienced Territorial divisions with experienced Regulars. When the Germans invaded France and the Low Countries on 10 May 1940, the BEF moved forward to occupy pre-planned positions in Belgium, but the rapid German breakthrough into France caused it to retreat towards Dunkirk. On 23 May, 48th Division was pulled out to form a new defence line along the canal between Saint-Omer and the coast. The divisional Commander, Royal Artillery, Brigadier Edward Lawson, was sent with 'X Force' of artillery, machine guns
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48th (South Midland) Division


Company, Royal Engineers, they fought as infantry to hold the line. They came under heavy mortar and machine gun fire, and the Germans seized a bridgehead at Nieuwpoort, but all subsequent attacks that day were repulsed. Brigadier Lawson's scratch force was relieved next day and then evacuated to Britain. The 48th Division, much depleted in numbers, completed its return to the United Kingdom on 1 June. The division, commanded from 18 June by Major General Roderic Petre, was subsequently posted to Western Command, Southern Command,
18825896
Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry


4th Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment, as part of the 145th Infantry Brigade, part of 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division. In late January, due to a new policy within the BEF of integrating the Regular and Territorials, the 1st Ox and Bucks was exchanged in 11th Brigade for the 5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment and transferred to the 143rd Infantry Brigade, of the 48th Division. The German Army launched their invasion of the Low Countries on 10 May 1940, shattering a period of the conflict that was
15092184
Edward Lawson, 4th Baron Burnham


1929 until 1933 (his uncle, Viscount Burnham, was also the regiment's Honorary Colonel). Unusually for a Territorial officer, he was appointed Commander, Royal Artillery, (CRA) of 48th (South Midland) Division in 1938, with the rank of Brigadier. On the outbreak of war, 48th Division was mobilised, and it landed in France as part of the British Expeditionary Force in January 1940. When the Germans invaded France and the Low Countries in May, the BEF moved forward to occupy pre-planned
7345167
Andrew Thorne


in 1925 CO of the 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards again in 1927. In 1932, he was made military attaché in Berlin and commander of the 1st Guards Brigade at Aldershot Command in 1935. He was a temporary brigade commander in Palestine and Transjordan in 1936. In 1938 he became Major General commanding the Brigade of Guards and General Officer Commanding (GOC) London District. In 1939, at the start of the Second World War, Thorne became GOC 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division, which played an important role in
16132458
Charles Carrington (historian)


Force battalion assigned to the 143rd (1/1st Warwickshire) Brigade of the 48th (South Midland) Division, and sailed to France in December. He spent six months in the trenches in a relatively quiet sector of the Western Front at Gommecourt before being transferred to the Battle of the Somme in July 1916. He was promoted to Captain 1917. He was awarded the Military Cross. After being demobilised in 1919, he finished his education at Christ Church, Oxford, studying history. He became assistant master of the public school,
7490472
Andrew Thorne


General Sir Augustus Francis Andrew Nicol Thorne, (20 September 1885 – 25 September 1970) was a senior British Army officer who served in the First and Second World Wars, where he commanded the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division. Educated at Eton and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Thorne was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Grenadier Guards in 1904. He served in the First World War, becoming a staff captain, then deputy assistant adjutant and quartermaster general and then deputy assistant quartermaster general in France. He
16132456
105th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery


The gunsites were in wooded mountainous terrain and the guns had to be manhandled into position. They carried out trench bombardment while awaiting the next Austrian offensive (the Second Battle of the Piave River). This finally came on 15 June. Despite some initial Austrian gains, 48th (South Midland) Division held its main positions. The battery was at Monte Torle and was heavily engaged all day. Gunner Stubbs was awarded the MM and Gnr Taylor the Italian Silver Medal of Military Valor for keeping communications open during the day. The
15754721
115th (North Midland) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery


anti-tank (A/T) role, for which it was digging defences. The BEF abandoned the frontier defences and followed the pre-arranged Plan D, advancing into Belgium to take up positions along the Dyle. 115th Army Fd Rgt crossed into Belgium on 15 May with 48th (South Midland) Division, the reserve formation for I Corps, via Waterloo and Denderwindeke. By dawn on 18 May it was deployed alongside 18th Fd Rgt of 2nd Division to cover Enghien. However the collapse of the Dutch forces and
17349390
61st Infantry Division (United Kingdom)


The 61st Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised in 1939 as part of the expansion of the Territorial Army in response to the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. The division was created as a duplicate of the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division, and was assigned to home defence duties. While the division was never deployed overseas, its headquarters staff was deployed to Norway and briefly fought in the Norwegian Campaign. Afterwards, the division was deployed to Northern Ireland for almost three years as a result of rumours
8014006
Tidworth Camp


of the barracks evoke memories of battles in India and Afghanistan (e.g. Aliwal, Assaye, Bhurtpore, Candahar, Delhi, Jellalabad, Lucknow and Mooltan). In the Second World War, the Camp was home in 1944 to formations of the United States Army: first the 9th Armored Division, and later the 8th Armored Division. A branch from the Midland and South Western Junction Railway at Ludgershall was built in 1901 and opened to passengers in 1902. Goods tracks known as Tidworth Military Railway continued from Tidworth station into the military
10014000
50th (Northumbrian) Division


By 20 November the division had been relieved by the 1st and 48th (South Midland) Divisions. After supplying work details to the rear areas and to the town mayor of Albert, on 1 December the division moved to the Baizieux area and began training. The first day of the new year of 1917 saw the division return to the Somme and took over the line to the right of its previous battles, relieving the 1st Division. Only the artillery was active, with the infantry of both sides battling the weather: The
167272
25th Division (United Kingdom)


of 23rd Division serving in Italy) During reconstruction in mid 1918 ("On 9 September 1918, the Brigade was renumbered as 236th Brigade and was placed under orders for service in North Russia. It left the 25th Division at this point.") A new 75th Brigade was formed in September 1918 ("these battalions joined from the brigades of 48th (South Midland) Division serving in Italy") ("left to join 3rd Division on 15 October 1915") ("joined from the 3rd division in exchange for
21437869
Gwilym Ivor Thomas


January 1918, received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). From 22 September he served as a staff captain at the War Office. Relinquishing this appointment on 19 November 1919, over a year after the war ended, the first few years of the interwar period for Thomas were spent as an adjutant to various Territorial Army (TA) units, including the 68th (South Midland) Field Brigade, Royal Artillery, part of the 48th (South Midland) Division, until attending the Staff College, Camberley from 1924 to 1925
12482757
56th (Cornwall) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery


of the 1st Cornwall (Duke of Cornwall's) Artillery Volunteers. This unit had defended the Cornish ports throughout the First World War, but in the postwar reorganisation it became a Coast Artillery brigade based at Falmouth, and new batteries were raised at Padstow, Par and Penzance for the 51st Medium Brigade. The other battery had originally been raised in 1908 at Saltley, Birmingham, as the South Midland (Warwickshire) Royal Garrison Artillery, which provided the Heavy battery of the 48th (South Midland) Division of the TF.
14835311
South Midland (Warwickshire) Royal Garrison Artillery


of the Piave River). This finally came on 15 June. Despite some initial Austrian gains, 48th (South Midland) Division held its main positions. The British heavy batteries systematically destroyed the Austrian guns on the Asiago, notwithstanding poor visibility early on (Royal Air Force observation aircraft were able to direct the fire later) and the Austrian offensive failed all along the front. Preparations then began for the final battle on the Italian Front, the stunning success of the Battle of Vittorio Veneto. The British were relieved in the
4619999
48th (South Midland) Division


In 2007, Stephen Hart wrote that, by September, the 21st Army Group "had bled Home Forces dry of draftable riflemen", due to the losses suffered in the Battle of Normandy, leaving the army in Britain (with the exception of the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division) with just "young lads, old men and the unfit". Due to the decreased need for such a formation, the division was disbanded after the war on 1 November 1945. The division was not reformed in the Territorial Army in
18825902
Dorset County Division


force, was the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division to the northwest between the Dorset and the Devon and Cornwall divisions, and the 3rd Infantry Division to the northeast between the Dorset and Hampshire divisions. On 22 June 1941, Germany launched a massive attack upon the Soviet Union; this attack all but removed the threat of a German invasion of the United Kingdom. However, the British still had to consider the threat of a German invasion due the possibility that the Soviet Union could collapse under the German onslaught and the ease
2629423
61st Infantry Division (United Kingdom)


reinforce the garrison (the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division) by deploying the 61st Infantry Division; in the ensuing 12 months, the division would be followed by the 5th and 48th (South Midland) Divisions and the 71st and 72nd Independent Infantry Brigades). McMahon commented that the SIS had a history of "furnish[ing] unreliable information on the IRA's foreign intrigues", but these past failures were ignored as the reports reinforced the fears of invasion. McMahon suggested that "It is even possible that the plans discovered in
8014021
38th (Welsh) Infantry Division


avoid further casualties. That evening, the 21st Division relieved the 38th Division who moved near Gommecourt and relieved the 48th (South Midland) Division. On 12 July, Watts returned to the 7th Division and Blackader assumed command of the 38th. The division had suffered 3,993 casualties during the six days it had fought on the Somme, with over 600 men killed. Although it had captured 400 prisoners and Mametz Wood (the largest wood on the Somme), paving the way for the assault on Bazentin Ridge, the reputation of
11611745
Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry


the war in the Middle East. The 1/4th Battalion, Ox and Bucks and 1/1st Buckinghamshire Battalion were part of the 145th (South Midland) Brigade, 48th (South Midland) Division that left the Western Front for the Italian Front in November 1917—which had been a member of the Allies since May 1915—after she suffered very heavy casualties at the Battle of Caporetto. The regiment and the rest of the British forces did not take part in a major battle until June 1918 when they participated in the Battle of Asiago (15–16 June)
15092175
Battle of Pozières


Walker, an experienced English officer who had led the division since Gallipoli, would have none of it and insisted he would attack only after adequate preparation. Consequently, the attack on Pozières once more fell in line with the Fourth Army's attack on the night of The plan called for the Australian 1st Division to attack Pozières from the south, advancing in three stages half an hour apart, while north of the Albert–Bapaume road, the 48th (South Midland) Division (X Corps), would attack the German trenches
10563778
Devon and Cornwall County Division


was assigned to VIII Corps, and spread out along the southern coast of Cornwall and Devon. The Dorset County Division was based to the east of the division, and the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division had been placed in reserve behind both formations. The 203rd Brigade was positioned on the western flank of the division's assigned area, and the 209th Brigade on the eastern. The battalions were spread out defending various potential landing areas and other important locations. The coastal defensive positions the division occupied included tubular scaffolding obstacles on
2629340
Birmingham Rifles


or reserve battalion was also formed to train drafts for the other two. The South Midland Division was selected to proceed to France to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) early in 1915. Lt-Col A.C. Stewart, Corps of Guides, took over command of 1/5th Warwicks in February 1915. The battalion embarked at Southampton for Le Havre on 22 March 1915. Within days it began learning the routine of trench warfare around St Yves, Messines and Ploegsteert. On 12 May, the division was designated the 48th (South
15384974
British Army during the Second World War


of two infantry divisions. I Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General John Dill, consisted of the 1st and 2nd Infantry Divisions and the II Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General Alan Brooke, of the 3rd and 4th Infantry Divisions. The 5th Infantry Division arrived in France in December 1939, and was assigned to Lieutenant General Brooke's II Corps. The first Territorial Army (TA) formations arrived in January 1940. These were the 48th (South Midland), 50th (Northumbrian) and the 51st (Highland) Infantry
10391681
20th (Light) Division


the north west facing Quéant where IV Corps relieved I Anzac Corps, 48th (South Midland) Division was to the division's right and 58th (2/1st London) Division (of V Corps) to its left. The line here, from ~ east of Bullecourt (in the original Hindenburg system) to just east of Lagnicourt, was a series of posts, as the trench system had been comprehensively wrecked, and the divisional artillery could only be sited in valleys which ran towards the German lines and were so under observation.
12389977
Action of 22 August 1917


relieved the 16th (Irish) Division and the 36th (Ulster) Division in the XIX Corps area. In the XVIII Corps area further north, the 48th (South Midland) Division (Major-General Robert Fanshawe) had been in the line since 4 August and the 11th (Northern) Division (Major-General Henry Davies) since 7 August but had to remain. North of the Ypres–Roulers railway, five days of preparatory artillery-fire and constant patrolling had established the positions of some of the defenders but
15534239
First day on the Somme


. Three divisions were to attack on the first day, with the 48th (South Midland) Division in reserve, except for two battalions that held a stretch between the Third and Fourth armies and two battalions that were attached to the 4th Division. The 29th Division attacked towards Beaumont-Hamel. Part of the attack was filmed and showed the detonation of a mine beneath Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt at ten minutes before the infantry attack began. The detonation of the mine alerted the Germans and British troops failed to occupy all of the mine
17572518
Battle of Broodseinde


2nd Australian Division revealed Daisy Wood to be strongly held. On 7 October, parties from the 49th Division (II Anzac Corps) raided Celtic Wood and the 48th (South Midland) Division (XVIII Corps) was repulsed at Burns House and Vacher Farm. Celtic Wood was raided again by a battalion of the 1st Australian Division on 9 October. There was anxiety among the British commanders about wet weather affecting operations again, just as the Germans appeared to be close to collapse. The increased tempo of attack allowed by the systematic
20681956
143rd Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)


Brigade. The brigade served throughout the Great War on the Western Front in battles at the Somme and Passchendaele. In early November 1917 the 143rd Brigade, with the rest of 48th (South Midland) Division, was sent to the Italian Front and fought at Piave River in June 1918 and later at Vittoria Veneto, which ended the war in Italy with the signing of the Armistice of Villa Giusti. Both the brigade and division ended the war in Italy. The brigade and division were both disbanded in 1919 and then again reformed
115089
Action of 22 August 1917


ground holding divisions) behind which was the . In the pillboxes of the were reserve battalions of the front-line regiments, held back as divisional reserves. At the Battle of Langemarck, (16–18 August), XVIII Corps (Lieutenant-General Ivor Maxse) had attacked at with a brigade each from the 48th (South Midland) Division and the 11th (Northern) Division, supported by eight tanks. The tanks were ordered to keep off the roads but the approach to the front line was so boggy that the tanks
15534228
Worcestershire Regiment


alongside the 8th Worcesters and 5th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment as part of the 144th Infantry Brigade, attached to the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division. With the division, the battalion was sent overseas in early 1940 to join the British Expeditionary Force in France. Almost as soon as they arrived, however, the 7th Battalion were exchanged for the 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment and became part of the 5th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. The battalion fought in the battles of Belgium and France and were forced to be
16860083
48th (South Midland) Division


. While there was no invasion, the division remained in the area on defensive duties and to continue training. During the opening weeks of the war, as the Territorials were not required to be deployed overseas, the troops were asked to volunteer. By the end of August, more than 70 battalions across the Territorial Force had volunteered with the number rising higher as the year progressed. The members of the division who did not, or were not able to, volunteer for overseas service, were transferred to newly created second line
18825885
61st Infantry Division (United Kingdom)


Infantry Division was to be created as a second-line unit, a duplicate of the first-line 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division. In April, limited conscription was introduced. This involved 34,500 militiamen, all aged 20, who were conscripted into the regular army, initially to be trained for six months before being deployed to the forming second-line units. Despite the intention for the army to grow, the programme was complicated by a lack of central guidance on the expansion and duplication process and issues regarding the
8014011
1st Newcastle Engineers


engineers were further reinforced on 17 June by 7th Field Company, RE, a Regular unit. 7th Field Company had landed in France with 4th Division on 22 August 1914, and had served through the Retreat from Mons, and the battles of the Marne, Aisne and Armentières. It had been attached to 48th (South Midland) Division for a few weeks before joining 50th Division. 1916br 50th Division moved back into the Ypres Salient in December 1915. This meant more intense trench warfare, with the divisional engineers and signallers constantly
9688817
Battle of the Ypres–Comines Canal


taken it before he was shown the captured orders. The British 5th Division, comprising 13th and 17th Infantry brigades augmented by 143rd Brigade, from 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division, took up position on the Canal during 26 May. The 5th Division was commanded by Major-General Harold Franklyn. During the battle the division was part of British II Corps commanded by Lieutenant-General Alan Brooke. The 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division was also sent to Ypres on 26 May, arriving during the night of 26–27 May. However,
12173995
North Midland Divisional Engineers


292 Sqns became independent units in 1950 and 1952 respectively. In 1956, 215 and 291 Sqns transferred to a newly formed 143 Plant Regiment, RE: 143 Plant Regiment, RE 293 Sqn was disbanded in 1961 (the year 125 Rgt regained its 'Staffordshire' title), and 127 Rgt (212 and 225 Sqns) was redesignated as 48th (South Midland) Division/District RE. The same year, 215 Sqn was absorbed by 291 Sqn, which replaced 143 Plant Rgt (276 Sqn returned to 102 Rgt)
15303715
43rd (Wessex) Reconnaissance Regiment


had acted as the divisional recce battalion for 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division since July 1941, and had fought with the division in the Battle of Dunkirk in May 1940. The regiment was initially commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Dudley Ward, later to serve with distinction in the war and destined to become a full General. The following month it was transferred to the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division and renumbered accordingly in January 1942. On 6 June 1942 all reconnaissance battalions were redesignated regiments, and on 1 January 1944 the
11369512
Gerald Lathbury


(South Midland) Infantry Division as a General Staff Officer Grade 2 (GSO2). The division, commanded by Major General Andrew Thorne, was a first line Territorial Army formation which had only recently arrived in France. The German Army launched their invasion of France just over two months later, and the 48th Division, along with most of the rest of the BEF, was forced to retreat to Dunkirk, from where most of it was evacuated at Dunkirk. For his services in France and Belgium Lathbury was made a Member
17548724
48th (South Midland) Division


and VIII Corps under Lieutenant General Harold Franklyn and began training in preparation to repel Operation Sea Lion, the German invasion of England]], which proved abortive. During the war, the divisions of the British Army were divided between "Higher Establishment" and "Lower Establishment" formations. The former were intended for deployment overseas for field operations, whereas the latter were strictly for home defence in a static role. During November 1941, the division was placed on the "Lower Establishment" and assigned to I Corps District,
18825897
Battle of Bazentin Ridge


Fourth Army attacked, the 4th Division and the 48th (South Midland) Division, in VIII Corps (Lieutenant-General Aylmer Hunter-Weston) north of the Ancre, made a smoke-screen and fired a bombardment beyond the 4th Division front, from as a diversion and succeeded in simulating an attack. From the positions occupied during the day, an advance from the left side of Bazentin le Petit Wood, along the second position trenches towards Pozières, offered the possibility of an attack from three sides. The 10th Cheshire
7905067
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers


The 5th Battalion was a hostilities-only unit raised in 1940. It never served overseas and remained in the United Kingdom for the war. It served as a home defence formation assigned to the 144th Brigade in the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division, and briefly to the 199th (Manchester) Brigade in the 55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Division. In 1944, the battalion became a training formation. It was also tasked with providing drafts for overseas fighting formations. In this capacity, it was assigned to the 45th
16678635
Action of 22 August 1917


the men and half of their officers, the survivors fell back to the start line. In the XVIII Corps area, the 48th (South Midland) Division was to advance with the 143rd Brigade on the right flank and the 144th Brigade on the left. The first objective of the 143rd Brigade was the trench from Winnipeg to Springfield and after a thirty-minute pause, the brigade was to advance to a second objective, the south end of the "Wilhemstellung". On the left, the 144th Brigade was to capture
15534281
5th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment


of World War I. The 1/5th Battalion was assigned to the 2nd Brigade, which included the Regular 2nd Royal Sussex, 1st Division from February to August 1915. On 20 August it transferred to the 48th (1st South Midland) Division as the pioneer battalion of the division, serving on the Western Front. The 2/5th Battalion was raised at Hastings in November 1914 from the 'home service' men of the 1/5th Battalion. The battalion was mobilised on 1 September 1939, and was initially employed guarding vulnerable points in Sussex. It
10141331
Noel Martin (British Army officer)


regiment overseas to France in September 1939. The regiment formed part of the 2nd Infantry Division, then commanded by Major General Henry Loyd, which itself formed part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and, not immediately engaged in combat, the regiment spent most of the "Phoney War" digging defensive positions. In February 1940 the regiment transferred from the 2nd Division to the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division, a first-line Territorial Army (TA) formation commanded by Major General Andrew Thorne, which had recently
21937557
Devon and Cornwall County Division


Yorkshire Regiment and the 6th Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry were assigned to defend Porthcurno, Cornwall. The 11th Battalion, the Devonshire Regiment were posted to Plymouth, while the 12th Battalion defended Budleigh Salterton, Devon. As the division was engaged full time in its defensive role as well as maintaining constructed defences, it found little time to provide its battalions with field training. As a result, battalions were switched out with those from the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division for a period of one month. In
2629343
V Corps (United Kingdom)


) Division. On 16 August 1916, V Corps HQ was transferred from Second Army to Reserve Army (later renamed Fifth Army) to take over the sector on the River Ancre, where fighting had bogged down during the Somme Offensive. When V Corps took over, the line was held by the Guards, 6th and 20th (Light) Divisions. These were replaced by the fresh 2nd, 39th and 48th (South Midland) Division for the renewed attacks on the Ancre Heights, which continued from September to November 1916 with
560043
108th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps


Cruiser to Infantry tanks, and 108 RAC began to receive Valentines and Churchills in place of Covenanters, which were passed on to the newly formed 1st Polish Armoured Division. The brigade also moved to the 'Dukeries' area of Nottinghamshire where RAC infantry tank training was carried out: 108 RAC moved to Rufford Abbey in June 1942. In October 1942, 10th Tank Brigade was attached to 48th (South Midland) Division, a Reserve infantry division tasked with holding and training reinforcements. In December the Brigade and its regiments were given
10676216
Action of the Cockcroft, 19 August 1917


infantry of the 11th (Northern) Division. The division had captured most of its objectives but the 48th (South Midland) Division on the right barely advanced . After 16 August, the Germans increased the size of regimental sectors to make more room to disperse and divided the field artillery, one part to be kept hidden and used only during big attacks. Only seven tanks of the composite company, one male tank and six female tanks, were operational when the attack began at the others having already broken down or bogged.
15371981
Frank Crowther Roberts


he was promoted to the rank of major-general on 1 June 1939 (with seniority backdated to 13 June 1939), three months before the outbreak of the Second World War, and became General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division, a Territorial Army (TA) formation. Aged just 48, he was one of the youngest divisional commanders in the British Army, only Major-General The Hon. Harold Alexander, GOC of the 1st Infantry Division, and Major-General William
1028775
Robert Fanshawe (British Army officer)


to take over the 48th (South Midland) Division, a Territorial Force (TF) unit, after its previous General Officer Commanding (GOC), Major General Henry Heath, fell ill. He commanded the division at the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of the Ancre, and the Battle of Passchendaele, then on the Italian Front from late 1917 onwards, including the Austrian offensives of June 1918. Fanshawe spent a good deal of time visiting front-line units, where he "liked to drift into the trench
10868951
143rd Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)


Infantry Brigade. The 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division was mobilised on 1 September 1939, along with the rest of the Territorial Army, when the German Army launched its invasion of Poland. The Second World War began two days later, on 3 September 1939, with Britain and France declaring war on Germany. The men of the brigade were called up for full-time war service and, with the division, began training in preparation for an eventual move overseas. The 143rd Infantry Brigade, commanded at the time by
115093
5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment


against attack from the air led to a number of Territorial Army units being converted to the anti-aircraft role in the 1930s and a major reorganization in 1938 saw the TA divisions reduced from twelve to nine battalions. The combination of these factors led to the battalion being transferred, in 1938, to the 143rd (Warwickshire) Infantry Brigade, 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division after the second of four battalions of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment had been converted to the anti-aircraft role. By 1939 it became clear that a
15079309
5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment


the 50th (The Northamptonshire Regiment) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers. Formed on 1 June 1939 at Wellingborough, the new 4th Battalion was assigned on 6 November 1939 to the 183rd Infantry Brigade, serving alongside the 7th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment and the 10th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment. The 183rd Brigade was part of the 61st Infantry Division (duplicate formation of the 48th (South Midland) Division). It remained with the brigade in the United Kingdom for most of the war, including a considerable stint in Northern Ireland
15079318
Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars


QOOH batteries forming a new 63rd A/T Rgt. Both were officially titled 'Worcestershire and Oxfordshire Yeomanry', taking no account of the actual split. The Regiment was part of the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division and went with the division in January 1940 to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the border between France and Belgium. On 10 May 1940, the German Army's attack started and the BEF moved forwards across the Belgian frontier to take position on the River Dyle. Lord Gort, commanding
15287007
Action of the Cockcroft, 19 August 1917


The Action of the Cockcroft, 19 August 1917, took place in the First World War on the Western Front, during the Third Battle of Ypres. At the Battle of Langemarck (16–18 August) the infantry of the 48th (South Midland) Division (Major-General Robert Fanshawe) and the 11th (Northern) Division (Major General Henry Davies) of XVIII Corps had been stopped well short of their objectives. The British had been shot down by the German garrisons of blockhouses and pillbox outposts of the (third position
15371956
Action of the Cockcroft, 19 August 1917


the Battle of Langemarck, (16–18 August), XVIII Corps (Lieutenant-General Ivor Maxse) had attacked at with the 145th Brigade of the 48th (South Midland) Division and 34th Brigade of the 11th (Northern) Division, supported by eight tanks. The tanks were ordered to keep off the roads but the approach to the front line was so boggy that the tanks were cancelled and sent back. The 145th Brigade eventually captured the last house at the north end of St Julien, taking forty prisoners and a machine
15371962
Action of the Cockcroft, 19 August 1917


advance be shortened to give more time for consolidation and to minimise the organisational and communication difficulties being caused by the muddy ground and wet weather. Artillery commanders asked for two aircraft per division exclusively to conduct counter-attack patrols. During the Battle of Langemarck, on the XVIII Corps front, German machine-gunners in the blockhouses and pillbox outposts of the , (Hillock Farm, Maison du Hibou, Triangle Farm and the Cockcroft to the British) had shot down the infantry of the 48th (South Midland) Division and 11th
15371969
48th (South Midland) Division


be used as the basis for future expansion so as to avoid raising a new Kitchener's Army. However, as the 1920s and 1930s wore on, the British Government prioritised funding for the regular army over the territorials, allowing recruitment and equipment levels to languish. Baron Templemore, as part of a House of Lords debate on the Territorial Army, stated that the division - on 1 October 1924 - mustered 338 officers and 7,721 other ranks. Historian David French highlights that "by April 1937 the Territorial Army had reached less than
18825889
VIII Corps (United Kingdom)


; however, this corps was then redesignated as VIII Corps in July 1918. VIII Corps formed part of Home Forces in the UK during the early part of the Second World War. During the Autumn of 1940, it presided over the 3rd and 48th (South Midland) Divisions. Later, it would also command the 77th Infantry Division. It was based at Pyrland Hall near Cheddon Fitzpaine in Somerset and its mission was to command the defence of Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and Bristol. VIII Corps fought on the western front
18966051
145th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)


later on the Italian Front until the Armistice in 1918 with Germany. The brigade and division were disbanded in 1919, along with the rest of the Territorial Force, which later reformed in 1920 and was renamed as the Territorial Army. Both the 48th Division and the 145th Brigade was subsequently reconstituted, now as 145th (South Midland) Infantry Brigade, and comprised the same four battalions it had before the Great War, remaining this way for most of the inter-war period. Sometime between the wars, the 5th Battalion,
7986918