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The 5th Infantry Division is a regular army division of the British Army. It was established by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington for service in the Peninsula War, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, and has been active for most of the period since, including the First World War and the Second World War. The modern day division was established in 1995 and is an administrative division covering Wales and the English regions of West Midlands, East Midlands and East. Its headquarters are in Shrewsbury.
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The 5th Division during the Peninsular War under the command of General James Leith was present at most of the major engagements including the Battle of Bussaco, the Battle of Sabugal, the Siege of Almeida (1811), the Battle of Badajoz (1812), the Battle of Salamanca, the Battle of Vitoria, the Siege of San Sebastian, the Battle of Nivelle and the Battle of the Nive.
The Division was also present during the Waterloo Campaign first seeing action at the Battle of Quatre Bras then at the Battle of Waterloo under the command of Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Picton
the formation was
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.
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
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.[2]
In September 1939 the Division was a regular formation in the UK. Both its 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.
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.
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 19 Nov. to 3 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 the Second World War, unlike during the First World War, the Division used a 'Y' on a black square background as its insignia.
13th Infantry Brigade (26 April 1942 – 2 August 1942 detached to Force 121 in Madagascar)
17th Infantry Brigade (15 March 1942 - 30 June 1942 Detached to Force 121 in Madagascar)
Division Troops
It was reformed briefly from the 7th Armoured Division in Germany on 16 April 1958, with the 7th and 20th Armoured Brigades but was then redesignated the 1st Division on 30 June 1960. It was again reformed in the UK on 1 April 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 1 April 1995. It has administrative control over a wide range of regiments, training establishments and cadet corps. It has its permanent headquarters at the Copthorne Barracks in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, which is also the headquarters of the 143rd Brigade.
The division was in charge of the majority of British Army units in Wales, the English West Midlands and South West England, with approximately 20,000 regular personnel, 9,000 TA personnel and around 5,000 civilians, between 1995 and 2007. The South West has now been transferred to the 4th Division, replaced by the East Midlands and the East English regions. The division therefore now covers the central regions of England as well as Wales.
The 5th Division took command of Headquarters Salisbury Plain Area and 43rd (Wessex) Brigade from 3rd Division on 1 April 1999, and 107 (Ulster) Brigade also fell under its responsibility.[3] However 107 Brigade was shifted back under HQ Northern Ireland, at a later date. HQ 43rd Brigade moved to Bulford by 1 September 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 is Major General M. J. Rutledge OBE. The Division reports to Army Headquarters at Andover. The current composition is as follows:
Recent Commanders have been:[4]
GOC 5th Division
A single UK Support Command, which is planned to replace three existing divisional headquarters, will be based in Aldershot. HQ 2nd division in Edinburgh, HQ 4th division in Aldershot and HQ 5th division in Shrewsbury will all be disbanded in 2012.[5] 5th Division will disband on 1 April 2012.[6]
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