61st Infantry Division (United Kingdom)
| 61st Infantry Division[1] | |
|---|---|
 Formation badge for the 61st Infantry Division | |
| Active | 1939-1945 |
| Country |
 United Kingdom |
| Branch |
 British Army |
| Type | Infantry division |
| Commanders | |
| Officer Commanding | Major-General C. B. Wainwright |
The 61st Infantry Division[1][2] was an infantry division of the British Army raised shortly before the Second World War and was part of the Territorial Army. The division was formed in 1939 as a 2nd Line duplicate of the 48th (South Midland) Division and recruited mainly from the South Midlands area of England. The division remained mainly in the United Kingdom for the war.
History
The 61st Infantry Division[1] was in the Territorial Army and was formed as a 2nd Line duplicate formation of the 1st Line 48th (South Midland) Division and, like its parent 48th Division, recruited from areas of the South Midlands of England. The division was formed in 1939 when the Territorial Army was ordered to be doubled in size as war with Nazi Germany was becoming increasingly likely.
War was declared on 3 September 1939 and the division was mobilised. On 15 April 1940 part of the division (the 146th Infantry Brigade and 61st Division HQ) was converted into Maurice Force, a formation created for operations in the Norwegian Campaign. After the British Expeditionary Force was evacuated from France, the 61st Division was sent to Northern Ireland with the 53rd (Welsh) Division to guard against a German invasion there. The division moved there on 20 June 1940 and returned to the mainland on 2 February 1943.
The division did not see active service outside the United Kingdom. During 1944, the division's signallers aided the deception efforts for Operation Overlord by maintaining wireless traffic, to give the Germans the impression of the existence of the 80th Division, which had notionally been assigned to the First United States Army Group.[3]
After the war in Europe ended, the division was reorganised as a light division and was to be sent to the South-East Asian theatre to fight in the final stages of the Burma Campaign against the Imperial Japanese Army. However, the Japanese surrendered on 15 August 1945 and there was no need for the division to be sent to the Far East. The division was disbanded in September 1945 and was not reformed in the Territorial Army in 1947.
Commanders
- Maj.Gen. Robert Collins; 1939
- Maj.Gen. Adrian Carton De Wiart; 1939 - 1940
- Maj.Gen. Sir Edmond Schreiber; 1940
- Maj.Gen. Adrian Carton De Wiart; 1940 - 1941
- Maj.Gen. Charles Fullbrook-Leggatt; 1941 - 1942
- Maj.Gen. John Owen Carpenter; 1942 - 1943
- Maj.Gen. Charles Brian Wainwright; 1943 - 1945
Component Units
- 2/7th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment
- 9th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment (disbanded 25 July 1944)
- 9th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment
- 1st Battalion, South Wales Borderers (from 2 September 1944)
- 4th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment (to 28 August 1944)
- 7th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment (disbanded 8 April 1944)
- 10th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment (disbanded 8 April 1944)
- 7th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment (from 21 July 1944)
- 1st Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (from 2 August 1944 to 16 June 1945)
- 4th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment (from July 1945)
- 5th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry (from July 1945)
- 1st Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (from July 1945)
- 5th Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (disbanded July 1944)
- 2nd Buckinghamshire Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (disbanded July 1944)
- 6th Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment
- 2nd Battalion, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment (from 23 July 1944)
- 2nd Battalion, East Surrey Regiment (from 2 August 1944)
- 1st Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (from 16 June 1945)
Divisional Troops
- 4th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment (Machine Gun Battalion) (from 24 January 1943 to 20 September 1944)
- 2nd Battalion, Cheshire Regiment (from 1 July 1945)
- 61st Battalion, Reconnaissance Corps (raised 14 September 1941, redesignated 61st Regiment 6 June 1942, to 50th (Northumbrian) Division 23 January 1944)
- Yorkshire Hussars (Reconnaissance Regiment) (from 50th (Northumbrian) Division 24 January 1944)
- 2nd Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps (from 29 July 1945, acted as divisional reconnaissance regiment)
- 119th (South Midland) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery
- 120th (South Midland) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (to 30 June 1944)
- 96th (Royal Devon Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (from 26 June 1944 to 16 January 1945)
- 145th (Berkshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (to 16 January 1945)
- 142nd (Royal Devon Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (from 14 June 1945)
- 168th Light Regiment, Royal Artillery (from 28 June 1945)
- 63rd (Worcestershire and Oxfordshire Yeomanry) Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery]] (to 22 August 1944)
- 92nd (Gordon Highlanders) Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery (from 20 October 1944 to 15 June 1945)
- 103rd (Lancashire Fusiliers) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (24 February 1943 to 1 March 1944)
- 148th (Warwickshire) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (from 2 March 1944)
- 266th Field Company, Royal Engineers
- 267th Field Company, Royal Engineers
- 268th Field Company, Royal Engineers
- 269th Field Park Company, Royal Engineers
- 61st Divisional Signals, Royal Corps of Signals
See also
Notes
References
- Chappell, Mike (1987). British battle insignia (2): 1939-1940. Men-At-Arms. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 0-85045-739-4.
- Joslen, Lieutenant-Colonel H.F (1960) [1960]. Orders Of Battle Second World War 1939-1945. Naval & Military Press Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1.
- Hesketh, Roger (2000). Fortitude: The D-Day Deception Campaign. Woodstock: Overlook Hardcover. ISBN 978-1-585-67075-8.
External links
- 61 (South Midland) Infantry Division at Orders of Battle.com