39th Division (United Kingdom)

39th Division
Active 1915–1919
Country  United Kingdom
Branch  British Army
Type Infantry
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Gerald Cuthbert
Neill Malcolm
Cyril Blacklock

The 39th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised during the Great War. The division was part of Kitchener's New Armies and saw service on the Western Front and in Italy during the First World War.

History

The division was formed as part of the fifth wave (K5) of divisions in the New Army; it did not have a regional title, but was composed primarily of recruits from the Midlands, London, and the south of England. Several of its battalions had been raised by local communities, and were named for their towns or industries. After training and home service, it deployed to the Western Front in early 1916, and fought in the Battle of the Somme. The following year, it saw action at the Third Battle of Ypres, and in 1918 took heavy losses in the German Army's Spring Offensive.

Following near-destruction at the Battle of the Lys, the division was reduced to a cadre, which spent the remainder of the war training newly arrived units of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). The division demobilised after the Armistice with Germany, and had ceased to exist by July 1919. The division was not reformed after the war, and did not serve in the Second World War.

Order of battle

116th Brigade

117th Brigade

118th Brigade

See also

References

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