46th (North Midland) Division explained

Unit Name:North Midland Division
46th (North Midland) Division
Dates:1908  - June 1919
1922–1935
Country: United Kingdom
Branch: Territorial Army
Type:Infantry
Size:Division
Battles:Hohenzollern Redoubt
Gommecourt
Hill 70
St Quentin Canal
Selle
Sambre
Garrison:Lichfield
Garrison Label:Peacetime HQ

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. One of the divisions was the North Midland Division.[2]

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).[3] In peacetime, the divisional headquarters was in Lichfield.[2] [4]

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.[5]

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.[6]

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.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9]

Order of battle

During the war, the composition of the division was as follows:[1] [10] [11] [12]

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

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.[13] Most of the remainder of 46th Division's units were sent to other divisions, mainly the 49th (West Riding).[14]

Commanders

The following officers commanded the division at various times:[15] [16]

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

Victoria Cross recipients

See also

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Becke, pp. 61–7.
  2. Web site: The British Army, 1914 . Conrad . Mark . 1996 . 27 February 2015.
  3. Monthly Army List.
  4. Book: Westlake, Ray. The Territorials, 1908–1914: A Guide for Military and Family Historians. Pen & Sword. 2011. 978-1848843608.
  5. Priestley 1919, p. 18
  6. Priestley 1919, p. 19
  7. Priestley 1919, p. 22
  8. Priestley 1919, p. 22
  9. Priestley 1919, p. 22
  10. http://www.1914-1918.net/46div.htm 46th Div at Long, Long Trail.
  11. MacDonald, Appendix 3.
  12. Priestley, Appendices IV & V.
  13. Web site: 2 AA Division 1936–38 at British Military History . 11 December 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150923194854/http://www.britishmilitaryhistory.co.uk/webeasycms/hold/uploads/bmh_document_pdf/2-Anti-Aircraft-Division-1936-38-.pdf . 23 September 2015 . dead . dmy-all .
  14. Web site: Field Companies of the Royal Engineers. The Long, Long Trail. 19 May 2020.
  15. Web site: Army Commands. 13 June 2020.
  16. Becke, p. 61.

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