North Midland Division
46th (North Midland) Division
First World War division insignia
Active1908 – June 1919
1922–1935
Country United Kingdom
Branch Territorial Army
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
Peacetime HQLichfield
EngagementsHohenzollern Redoubt
Gommecourt
Hill 70
St Quentin Canal
Selle
Sambre

The 46th (North Midland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, part of the Territorial Force, that saw service in the First World War. At the outbreak of the war, the 46th Division was commanded by Major-General Hon. E.J. Montagu-Stuart-Wortley. Originally called the North Midland Division, it was redesignated as the 46th Division in May 1915.[1]

Formation

The Territorial Force (TF) was formed on 1 April 1908 following the enactment of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (7 Edw.7, c.9) which combined and re-organised the old Volunteer Force, the Honourable Artillery Company and the Yeomanry. On formation, the TF contained 14 infantry divisions and 14 mounted yeomanry brigades.[2] One of the divisions was the North Midland Division.[3]

The North Midland Division was created by combining two existing Volunteer Infantry brigades, the Staffordshire Brigade and the North Midland Brigade. The Staffordshire Brigade was composed of battalions of the South Staffordshire Regiment and the Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire Regiment). The North Midland Brigade was split into two, one, the Lincoln and Leicester Brigade, composed of battalions of the Lincolnshire and Leicestershire Regiments, the other, the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Brigade, comprising the four TF battalions of the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment (later the Sherwood Foresters).[4] In peacetime, the divisional headquarters was in Lichfield.[3][5]

History

The North Midland Division was sent to France in February 1915 and served on the Western Front for the duration of the First World War. On 12 May 1915 the division was numbered 46th (North Midland) Division and the brigades were also numbered. During the Battle of Loos the 46th Division was decimated in an attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt on 13 October 1915.[6]

A barbed wire gate in a trench system to form a block against raiders at Cambrin in trenches held by the 1/7th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment), 16 September 1917.

It was later involved in the Battle of the Somme in July 1916, where in the opening phase as part of VII Corps, the southernmost corps of the British Third Army, the Division took part in the diversionary attack at Gommecourt on the first day on the Somme, 1 July 1916, which was a catastrophic failure resulting in heavy losses.[7]

The event dogged the division afterwards with a poor reputation until 29 September 1918, during the Hundred Days Offensive, when it re-established its name at the Battle of St. Quentin Canal where, utilising life-belts and collapsible boats, it crossed the formidable obstacle of the canal and used scaling ladders to surmount the steep gradient of the opposite bank and captured multiple fortified machine-gun posts.[8]

The total losses for the Division between February 1915 and 11 November 1918 were: Officers, 275 killed, 1,104 wounded and 123 missing; Other Ranks, 3,475 killed, 21,285 wounded and 3,307 missing.[9]

During the war, it served in the First, Second, Third and Fifth Armies, and in the I, II, III, V, VII, XI, XIII, XIV, XVII and XVIII Corps.[10]

Order of battle

Brig-Gen J. V. Campbell on Riqueval Bridge addresses men of 137th Brigade after breaking the German's Hindenburg Line defences on 29 September 1918

During the war, the composition of the division was as follows:[1][11][12][13]

137th (Staffordshire) Brigade
138th (Lincoln and Leicester) Brigade
139th (Sherwood Foresters) Brigade
Mounted Troops
Artillery
Engineers
Pioneers
Machine Guns
Medical Services
Transport
Labour

Memorials

Postwar

The Territorial Force was disbanded after the war. It was reformed as the Territorial Army in 1920 as was the 46th Division. However, the 46th Division was disbanded in 1936, the headquarters was converted into 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division and several of its infantry battalions into AA units.[14] Most of the remainder of 46th Division's units were sent to other divisions, mainly the 49th (West Riding).[15]

Commanders

The following officers commanded the division at various times:[16][17]

Appointed General officer commanding
April 1908 Brigadier-General Hugh J. Archdale
January 1911 Major-General Hubert I. W. Hamilton
1 June 1914 Major-General Hon. Edward Montagu-Stuart-Wortley
6 July 1916 Brigadier-General H. M. Campbell (acting)
8 July 1916 Major-General William Thwaites
2 September 1918 Brigadier-General F. G. M. Rowley (acting)
5 September 1918 Major-General Gerald F. Boyd
June 1919 Major-General Sir A. Reginald Hoskins
June 1923 Major-General Casimir C. van Straubenzee
May 1927 Major-General Sir Percy O. Hambro
May 1931 Major-General Oswald C. Borrett
December 1932 Major-General Maurice G. Taylor
April 1934 Major-General Sir Hereward Wake

Victoria Cross recipients

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Becke, pp. 61–7.
  2. ^ Westlake 1992, p. 3
  3. ^ a b Conrad, Mark (1996). "The British Army, 1914". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  4. ^ Monthly Army List.
  5. ^ Westlake, Ray (2011). The Territorials, 1908–1914: A Guide for Military and Family Historians. Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-1848843608.
  6. ^ Priestley 1919, p. 18
  7. ^ Priestley 1919, p. 19
  8. ^ Priestley 1919, p. 22
  9. ^ Priestley 1919, p. 22
  10. ^ Priestley 1919, p. 22
  11. ^ 46th Div at Long, Long Trail.
  12. ^ MacDonald, Appendix 3.
  13. ^ Priestley, Appendices IV & V.
  14. ^ "2 AA Division 1936–38 at British Military History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  15. ^ "Field Companies of the Royal Engineers". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  16. ^ "Army Commands" (PDF). Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  17. ^ Becke, p. 61.

Bibliography

External links

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