5th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)

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5th Infantry Division
Image:5div.gif
Insignia of the 5th Division
Active 1906 - 1960
1995 - Present
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
Type Infantry
Part of Land Command
Nickname The Globe Trotters
The Gypsies
The Fighting Fifth
Battles/wars World War I
Battle of Mons
Battle of Le Cateau
First Battle of Ypres
Second Battle of Ypres (13th Brigade)
Battle of the Somme
Third Battle of Ypres
Battle of Vimy Ridge
Battle of Epehy
World War II
Operation Husky
Italian Campaign
Post War
Battle of Surabaya
Commanders
Current
commander		 Maj. General A.P.Farquhar C.B.E
Notable
commanders		 Maj. Gen. Herbert Plumer
Maj. Gen. Gerard Bucknall
Insignia
Identification
symbol		 Image:British_5th_Infantry_Division_Insignia.png
1914 - 1918

The British 5th Infantry Division was established in 1906 and has been active for most of the period since, including World War I and World War II.

Contents

[edit] World War I

The 5th Division was a permanently established Regular Army division that was amongst the first to be sent to France at the outbreak of the First World War. It served on the Western Front for most of the war except for a brief period in Italy.

The 5th Division, as a regular army formation (one of the Old Contemptibles) fought in many of the major battles of the Western Front from The Battle of Mons in 1914 , the later stages of the Somme offensive , including the first battle using tanks, up to the Battle of the Selle in 1918. They were in almost continuous action throughout the war and suffered a tremendous amount of casualties as can be seen from the way the battalions that made up the division changed during the war. By 1918 the 5th Division, like most other regular divisions, contained very few of those regulars who went to France in 1914.

British infantry advance near Gingy. Possibly 5th Division.
British infantry advance near Gingy. Possibly 5th Division.

[edit] Commanders during World War I

  • Maj. Gen. Sir Charles Ferguson
  • Maj. Gen. T.Morland
  • Maj. Gen. C.Kavanagh
  • Maj. Gen. R.Stephens
  • Maj. Gen. John Ponsonby

[edit] Structure during World War I

13th Brigade This Brigade was temporarily under the command of 28th Division between 23 February and 7 April 1915, when it was replaced by 84th Brigade from that Division.

14th Brigade Brigade transferred to 32nd Division on 30 December 1915

15th Brigade This Brigade was temporarily under the command of 28th Division between 3 March and 7 April 1915, when it was replaced by 83rd Brigade from that Division.

95th Brigade Brigade transferred from 32nd Division on 26 December 1915

[edit] Insignia

The division was unusual among other British divisions in that no battle patches were worn on their tunics or helmets, aside from those briefly worn by New Army battalions bringing them from their former division.[1]

[edit] World War II

In September 1939 the Division was a regular formation in the UK. Both it's infantry brigades went to France by early October as independent infantry brigades, but Divisional Headquarters crossed to France on 19 December and by the new year the Division was reformed.

[edit] Globe Trotting

The 5th Infantry Division saw action in France and Belgium in 1940 including at the Ypres-Comines Canal from 26th to 28 May 1940, and then was withdrawn, along with the rest of the British Expeditionary Force, from Dunkirk. After this it served and travelled in so many regions of the world that they became known as the Globe Trotters. In April 1942 13th and 17th Infantry Brigades and a portion of the Divisional Troops were detached to 'Force 121' for Operation Ironclad, the invasion of Vichy French held Madagascar. The Division was not complete again until August 1942. It was sent from the UK to India to Iraq, and Persia to join Tenth Army, where it spent time under the command of III Corps and XXI Indian Corps. It then went to Syria and Egypt before being withdrawn in preparation for the Sicily landings.

[edit] Sicily and Italy

The 5th Division saw action in the Sicily Landings from 9th to 12 July 1943, and then was part of the British Eighth Army in Italy. Under XIII Corps, it was in the Messina area in September 1943, involved in the Sangro battles from 19th Nov. to 3rd Dec. 1943, engagements at Garigliano Crossing from 17th to 31 January1944.

After the British 1st Infantry Division and other British forces, as part of the U.S. VI Corps under Major General John P. Lucas, landed at Anzio in January 1944, the 5th Division was part of later reinforcements sent there, along with the 56th (London) Infantry Division .

It was part of the drive on Rome from 22 May to 4 June 1944. From there they were sent to Palestine, back to Italy and finally to North West Europe for the final months of the war.

During World War II, unlike during World War I, the Division used a 'Y' on a black square background as its insignia.

[edit] Commanders

During World War II:

  • Maj. Gen.H.E.Fanklyn
  • Maj. Gen.H.P.M.Berney-Ficklin
  • Maj. Gen. G.C.Bucknall
  • Maj. Gen. P.G.S. Gregson-Ellis
  • Maj. Gen. R.A. Hull

[edit] Structure during World War II

13th Infantry Brigade (26 April - 2 August 1942 detached to Force 121 in Madagascar)

15th Infantry Brigade

17th Infantry Brigade (15 March 1942 - 30 June 1942 Detached to Force 121 in Madagascar)

Division Troops

[edit] Post War

It was reformed briefly from the 7th Armoured Division in Germany on April 16, 1958, with the 7th and 20th Armoured Brigades but was then redesignated the 1st Division on June 30, 1960. It was again reformed in the UK on April 1, 1968, under Army Strategic Command, incorporating the 2nd, 8th, and 39th Brigades, but disbanded in February 1971.

Today the 5th Division is an administrative division - effectively a military district, having been reformed from North West, Wales, and Western Districts on April 1, 1995. It has administrative control over a wide range of regiments, training establishments and cadet corps.

The division is currently in charge of the majority of British Army units in Wales, the West Midlands and South West England, with approximately 20,000 regular personnel, 9,000 TA personnel and around 5,000 civilians. It has its permanent headquarters at the Copthorne Barracks in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, which is also the headquarters of the 143rd Brigade.

The 5th Division took command of Headquarters Salisbury Plain Area and 43rd (Wessex) Brigade from 3rd Division on April 1, 1999, and 107 (Ulster) Brigade also fell under its responsibility.[2] However 107 Brigade was shifted back under Headquarters, Northern Ireland, at a later date. HQ 43rd Brigade moved to Bulford by September 1, 1999, and HQ Salisbury Plain Area disbanded by that date. This process freed Headquarters 3rd (UK) Mechanised Division from its administrative and regional responsibilities and it become a deployable or "fly-away" division.

The Divisional Commander, Major General A P Farquhar CBE, reports to the Commander Regional Forces within Land Command, Lieutenant General J C McColl CBE DSO.

[edit] Current Structure

[edit] External Links and Sources

  1. ^ Osprey Publishing MAA 182, p.9
  2. ^ Soldier Magazine, December 1998, p.13
  • A Guide to Appointments and Invitations for High Commissions & Embassies in London, UK Ministry of Defence, June 2006 Edition
  • * Readers' Digest, The World At Arms, 1989
  • Gregory Blaxland, The Regiments Depart: A History of the British Army 1945-70, William Kimber, London, 1971.
  • [1]
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