Group of Tommies of the 2nd Battalion, Manchester Regiment, part of the 32nd Division, after the advance on the Ancre, possibly around Serre, January 1917.
The Division was one of those created for Kitchener's Fifth New Army ('K5') on 10 December 1914 and was originally numbered 38th until the six K4 divisions were converted into reserve units. It landed in France in November 1915.[1][2][3]Major-GeneralReginald Barnes took command of the division for a short while in November 1916 before being replaced by the controversial Major-General Cameron Shute.[1][4][5]
The division's insignia was four 'eights' arranged in an 'X' shape.
Order of Battle
The following units and formations served with the division during the war:[1][3]
Brigadier-General Frederick Lumsden, VC, killed in action 4 June 1918 while in command of 14th Brigade; posthumous portrait by H. Donald Smith.
17th (Service) Battalion (North Eastern Railway Pioneers), Northumberland Fusiliers (joined as Divisional Pioneer Battalion June 1915, left October 1916, returned September 1917, finally left November 1917 )
1/12th T.F. Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment (joined as Divisional Pioneer Battalion November 1916, left January 1917)
16th (Service) Battalion (Glasgow Boys Brigade), Highland Light Infantry (joined as Divisional Pioneer Battalion February 1918)
2nd County Palatine ArtilleryOriginally raised in Lancashire for 32nd Division by the Earl of Derby[7] but did not accompany the division to France in November 1915. Later joined 31st Division.
30th (2nd County Palatine) Divisional Ammunition Column, RFA
53rd (Welsh) Divisional ArtilleryAttached to 32nd Division in France between 22 November and 27 December 1915, later rejoining 53rd (Welsh) Division in Egypt
32nd (Hull) Heavy Trench Mortar Battery (formed in April 1916 from Divisional Ammunition Column, later redesignated V.32; became X.32 Medium Battery 12 February 1918)
W.32 Heavy Trench Mortar Battery, R.F.A. (temporarily formed for Battle of the Somme; broken up 28 December 1916)
A.32, B.32 Medium Trench Mortar Batteries (temporarily formed for Battle of the Somme)
X.32, Y.32 and Z.32 Medium Mortar Batteries, R.F.A. (formed May 1916; X and Z broken up 12 February 1918 and distributed among New X and Y batteries)
32nd Division was occupying Avesnes when the Armistice with Germany came into effect on 11 November. Two days later it was informed that it would take part in the advance to the Rhine, which began on 19 November. However, the division was halted on the Meuse between Dinant and Namur, to act as reserve for the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). On 28 January 1919 the division began entraining for Bonn and on 3 February it took over the southern sector of the Cologne bridgehead while demobilisation of individuals continued. On 15 March the division was renamed the Lancashire Division in BAOR, and war-raised units were progressively replaced by Regulars during 1919. During the war the division lost 34,226 killed, wounded and missing.[1][11]
Maj A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 3b: New Army Divisions (30–41) and 63rd (R.N.) Division, London: HM Stationery Office, 1939/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN1-847347-41-X.
Maj A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 4: The Army Council, GHQs, Armies, and Corps 1914–1918, London: HM Stationery Office, 1944/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN1-847347-43-6.
United Kingdom
British Army
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