52nd (Lowland) Division
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| 52nd (Lowland) Division | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Active | World War I 1908 - 1919? World War II - 1939-1945 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Territorial Force |
| Type | Infantry |
| Role | Air Landing and Mountain |
| Battles/wars | World War I Battle of the Somme (1916) Third Battle of Ypres World War II Battle of the Scheldt |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Sir Neil Ritchie |
The British 52nd (Lowland) Division was a Territorial Army division.
Contents |
[edit] World War I
During the First World War the division fought at Gallipoli, in the Middle East (Sinai and Palestine) and on the Western Front in France.
The division began landing at the Helles front on the Gallipoli peninsula in June, 1915. The 156th Brigade was landed in time to be mauled in the Battle of Gully Ravine. Advancing along Fig Tree Spur, to the right of the ravine, the brigade had little artillery support and no experience of the Gallipoli battlefield. The brigade suffered 1400 casualties, or about half its strength, of which 800 were killed.
When the remaining brigades were landed, they were sent in to attack towards Krithia along Achi Baba Nullah on July 12. They succeeded in capturing the Turkish trenches but were left unsupported and vulnerable to counter-attack. For a modest gain in ground, they suffered 30% casualties and were in no fit state to exploit their position.
The division moved to Egypt where it manned the east-facing defensive fortifications during the Battle of Romani but was not heavily involved in the fighting which was concentrated on the Australian light horse and New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade to the south. Following the battle they advanced across the Sinai but remained in a supporting role as the fluid nature of the fighting suited the mounted troops best.
Second and Third Battles of Gaza.
Battle of Jerusalem.
In March 1918 the division moved to France where it fought in the 2nd Battles of the Somme, the 2nd Battles of Arras and at the Hindenburg Line.
After the war the Division remained in existence as a Territorial Army division and was mobilised again in 1939 as part of the British Expeditionary Force in France.
[edit] Composition during World War I
The division comprised three infantry brigades and one mounted (yeomanry) brigade:
[edit] 155th (South Scottish) Brigade
- 1/4th Battalion, the Royal Scots Fusiliers
- 1/5th Battalion, the Royal Scots Fusiliers
- 1/4th (The Border) Battalion, the King's Own Scottish Borderers
- 1/5th (Dumfries and Galloway) Battalion, the King's Own Scottish Borderers
[edit] 156th (Scottish Rifles) Brigade
- 1/4th (Queens Edinburgh Rifles) Battalion, the Royal Scots
- 1/7th Battalion, the Royal Scots
- 1/5th Battalion, the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
- 1/6th Battalion, the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
- 1/7th Battalion, the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
- 1/8th Battalion, the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
[edit] 157th (Highland Light Infantry) Brigade
- 1/5th (City of Glasgow) Battalion, the Highland Light Infantry Regiment
- 1/6th (City of Glasgow) Battalion, the Highland Light Infantry Regiment
- 1/7th (Blythswood) Battalion, the Highland Light Infantry Regiment
- 1/9th (Glasgow Highlanders) Battalion, the Highland Light Infantry Regiment
- 1/5th (Renfrewshire) Battalion, the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders
[edit] Lowland Mounted Brigade
[edit] World War II
After evacuation from France in 1940 having been part of the 'Second BEF' that remained in France after Dunkirk, it trained as a mountain warfare formation but was never used in that role. In August 1944, it became part of the First Allied Airborne Army. (As a mountain formation, it had little heavy equipment and transport, and could therefore operate as an air-transportable formation.)
On 9 October 1944, soon after the division arrived on the Continent, Montgomery asked Brooke to assign the 52nd Lowland Division to the First Canadian Army to help open the vital port of Antwerp. Therefore the first major operations of the 52nd were not in mountainous terrain or through the air, but deployed below sea level on the flooded polders around the Scheldt Estuary of Belgium and the Netherlands. Operation Vitality and Operation Infatuate were aimed at capturing South Beveland and the island of Walcheren to open the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. This would enable the Allies to use the port of Antwerp as a supply route for the troops in North-West Europe. It was in this vital operation that the 52nd Division was to fight its first great battle with brilliant success.
In January 1945 the 52nd Division participated in Operation Blackcock, the clearing of the Roer Triangle between the rivers Meuse and Roer. Divisional Commanders during World War II included Major General J.S. Drew, Major General J.E. Laurie, Major General E Hakewell Smith, late of the Royal Scots Fusiliers, and Major General Neil Ritchie, the former Eighth Army commander.
The famous territorial Regiments that were incorporated in the 52nd Lowland Division, were all drawn from the Scottish lowlands, and have a history that in some cases goes back more than 300 years. It consisted of 3 Brigades, the 155th, 156th, and 157th Brigades .
[edit] Component Units during World War II
(on 1 November 1944 soon after arrival in the North-West Europe theatre.)
[edit] 155th Infantry Brigade
- 4th Bn. The King's Own Scottish Borderers
- 5th Bn. The King's Own Scottish Borderers
- 7th/9th Bn. The Royal Scots
[edit] 156th Infantry Brigade
- 4th/5th Bn. The Royal Scots Fusiliers
- 6th Bn. The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
- 7th Bn. The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles
[edit] 157th Infantry Brigade
- 1st Bn. The Glasgow Highlanders
- 5th Bn. The Highland Light Infantry
- 6th Bn. The Highland Light Infantry
It should be noted that these Scottish Territorial battalions were bolstered with large drafts of soldiers from all over Great Britain and were not just drawn from their traditional Regimental recruiting areas.
[edit] Divisional Units
- 52 Reconnaisance Regiment RAC
- 7th Bn. The Manchester Regiment (divisional machine gun unit)
- 79 Field Regiment RA
- 80 Field Regiment RA
- 186 Field Regiment RA
- 1 Mountain Regiment RA
- 54 Anti-Tank Regiment RA
- 102 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA
- 202 Field Company RE
- 241 Field Company RE
- 554 Field Company RE
- 243 Field Park Company RE
- 17 Bridging Platoon RE
[edit] Post World War II
While the division was disbanded after the war, the 51st/52nd Scottish Division was active in the Territorial Army from 1947 to 1967, and later the division's number and traditions were embodied in the 52nd Lowland Brigade and 52nd Lowland Regiment, a Territorial Army unit.
