| Dates: | 1810–1815 1906–1922 1929–1947 1958–1960 1968–1971 1995–2012 |
| Country: |  United Kingdom |
| Type: | Infantry |
| Nickname: | The Globe Trotters The Gypsies The Fighting Fifth |
| Battles: | |
| Identification Symbol Label: | –Cold War period |
The 5th Infantry Division was a regular army infantry division of the British Army. It was established by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington for service in the Peninsular War, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, and was active for most of the period since, including the First World War and the Second World War and was disbanded soon after. The division was reformed in 1995 as an administrative division covering Wales and the English regions of West Midlands, East Midlands and East. Its headquarters were in Shrewsbury. It was disbanded on 1 April 2012.
The 5th Division during the Peninsular War under the command of General James Leith was present at most of the major engagements including the Battle of Bussaco, the Battle of Sabugal, the Siege of Almeida, the Battle of Badajoz, the Battle of Salamanca, the Battle of Vitoria, the Siege of San Sebastian, the Battle of Nivelle and the Battle of the Nive.[1]
The order of battle in summer 1813 was:[2]
The division was also present during the Waterloo Campaign first seeing action at the Battle of Quatre Bras then at the Battle of Waterloo under the command of Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Picton.[3]
The division's order of battle at Waterloo was as follows:[3]
See main article: Second Boer War. On the outbreak of war in 1899 an Army Corps of three divisions was sent to South Africa from the UK; the troops already there constituted the 4th Division. The rapid deterioration of the situation led the War Office to announce on 11 November 1899 that a 5th Division was to be formed and sent out. This consisted of the 10th and 11th (Lancashire) Brigades and concentrated at Estcourt on 8 January 1900.[4] [5] [6] Under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Warren, 5th Division joined up with the Natal Field Force shortly after the Battle of Colenso and was a part of the relieving army of the besieged Ladysmith.[7]
The division was constituted as follows:[8] [9]
11th (Lancashire) Brigade[12]
The 5th Division was a permanently established Regular Army division that was amongst the first to be sent to France as part of the original British Expeditionary Force (BEF) at the outbreak of the First World War. It served on the Western Front for most of the war except for a brief period on the Italian Front[16] from 27 November 1917 to 1 April 1918.[17] The 5th Division, as a Regular Army formation (one of the Old Contemptibles) fought in many of the major battles of the Western Front from the Battle of Mons in 1914, the later stages of the Somme offensive, including the first battle using tanks, up to the Battle of the Selle in 1918.[16]
The order of battle was as follows:[16]
13th BrigadeThe 13th Brigade was temporarily under the command of 28th Division between 23 February and 7 April 1915, when it was replaced by 84th Brigade from that Division.
14th BrigadeThe 14th Brigade transferred to 32nd Division on 30 December 1915
15th BrigadeThe 15th Brigade was temporarily under the command of 28th Division between 3 March and 7 April 1915, when it was replaced by 83rd Brigade from that division.
95th Brigade95th Brigade transferred from 32nd Division on 26 December 1915
Artillery
Engineers
Pioneers
The 5th Division was unusual among other British divisions in that no battle patches were worn on their tunics or helmets, aside from those briefly worn by New Army battalions bringing them from their former division.[19]
During the interwar period, the division spent time based in Egypt and then in Palestine. The latter occurred during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine.[20]
Upon the outbreak of the Second World War, in September 1939, the 5th Infantry Division was a Regular Army formation, commanded by Major-General Harold Franklyn, who had been in command since 1938. The division was based at Catterick under Northern Command. Both of its infantry brigades (the 13th and 15th) went to France to join the rest of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in early October 1939 as independent infantry brigades, but the divisional Headquarters crossed to France on 19 December 1939, coming under the command of Lieutenant-General Alan Brooke's II Corps from 23 December. By the new year of 1940 the division was reformed with three infantry brigades - the 13th, 15th and 17th, all commanded by men who would achieve high rank in the next few years.
Throughout the early months of 1940 the division saw some changing of units, as the Territorial Army (TA) divisions began to arrive in France from the United Kingdom. This was part of official BEF policy, based on experience from the Great War, and was intended to strengthen the inexperienced TA formations with experienced Regulars, although at the same time diluting the strength of the Regular divisions with inexperienced TA units. Despite this, the division still maintained its integrity as a Regular formation. The next few months were spent in training, although this was hampered by severe shortages of modern equipment. Due to the lack of immediate action many soldiers believed the war would amount to very little. Despite this, morale in the division was high. This period of inactivity was known as the "Phoney War".
In mid-April the 15th Brigade was sent to Norway and fought, very briefly, in the unsuccessful Norwegian campaign, evacuating from there and arriving in the United Kingdom in early May, although it did not rejoin the 5th Division until 3 July 1940. In early May the 25th Infantry Brigade came temporarily under command of the division in France. The German Army launched its attack in the West on 10 May 1940 and the 5th Division saw action in the battles of Belgium and France in May–June 1940 including the Battle of Arras, supported by the 1st Army Tank Brigade, on 21 May 1940 and at the Battle of the Ypres-Comines Canal from 26 to 28 May 1940, and then was withdrawn to Dunkirk, along with the rest of the BEF, where they were evacuated to England, with most of the division arriving on 1 June. Lieutenant-General Brooke, commanding II Corps, wrote in his diary that there "is no doubt that the 5th Div in its fight on the Ypres-Comines canal saved the II Corps and the BEF".[21]
The division, having sustained very heavy losses, remained in the United Kingdom for the next 21 months, with most of 1940 being spent in Scotland under Scottish Command, reforming in numbers and being brought up to strength with large numbers of conscripts, alongside training in anti-invasion duties and preparing for Operation Sea Lion, the German invasion of the United Kingdom which never arrived. In late March 1941 the division, now under the command of Major-General Horatio Berney-Ficklin, who had taken over in July 1940 (and previously commanded the 15th Brigade), was sent to Northern Ireland, coming under command of Lieutenant-General James Marshall-Cornwall's III Corps, under overall control of British Troops Northern Ireland, and, as in Scotland, continued training to repel a German invasion there (see Operation Green).[22]
The division left Northern Ireland on 16 March 1942 and served and travelled in so many regions of the world that they were known as the Globe Trotters, and became the most travelled division of the British Army during the Second World War. In April 1942 the 13th and 17th Infantry Brigades and a portion of the divisional troops were detached to 'Force 121' for Operation Ironclad, the invasion of Vichy French held Madagascar. The division was not complete again until August 1942. It was sent from the United Kingdom to India for three months and then to Middle East Command, where it trained in mountain warfare.
In mid-February 1943 the division was sent to Syria, remaining there for the next four months, and later Egypt, where it came under the command of British XIII Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey (who earlier had commanded the 13th Brigade in France and Belgium in 1940), which was part of the British Eighth Army, under General Sir Bernard Montgomery. The division, serving again alongside the 50th Division, began training in amphibious operations in preparation for Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily.
The 5th Division saw action during the invasion of Sicily where, towards the end of the campaign, in early August, the divisional commander, Major-General Berney-Ficklin, who had commanded the division since July 1940, was replaced by Major-General Gerard Bucknall. The division was pulled out of the line and absorbed replacements, and invaded the Italian mainland in Operation Baytown on 3 September (four years since Britain's entry into the war), still as part of XIII Corps of the Eighth Army, but now serving alongside the 1st Canadian Infantry Division, and advanced up the spine of Italy. Later in the year, the division fought in the Moro River Campaign, although sustaining relatively light casualties in comparison to the other Allied formations involved.
Progress for the Allied Armies in Italy (AAI), commanded by General Sir Harold Alexander, towards the end of 1943 had slowed down considerably, due mainly to a combination of worsening weather, stiffening German resistance and the Winter Line (also known as the Gustav Line, a series of formidable defences the Germans had created). The Eighth Army, operating on the Adriatic coast, had already pierced the Gustav Line at its eastern end. However, the appalling weather conditions forbade further progress and so operations there were closed down. As a result, the relatively intact 5th Division was available elsewhere. Therefore, in early January 1944 the division was transferred from the Eighth Army, now under Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver Leese, to the western side of Italy to join Lieutenant-General Richard McCreery's British X Corps. X Corps, stationed along the Garigliano river, was part of Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark's U.S. Fifth Army. The division, now commanded by Major-General Philip Gregson-Ellis and with the veteran 201st Guards Brigade now under command, crossed the Garigliano river as part of the First Battle of Monte Cassino where it gained considerable territory.[23]
In March 1944 the division, after holding its positions that it gained during the battle, was transferred again, this time to the Anzio bridgehead (or, more appropriately, beachhead) where they came under command of Major General Lucian Truscott's U.S. VI Corps and relieved the battered 56th Division, which was returning to the Middle East. Although by this time the major battles for the Anzio beachhead were over, the division was involved in minor skirmishing and operating in conditions more reminiscent of the trench warfare of the First World War. In May the division participated in Operation Diadem and the breakout from Anzio, which led to the capture of the Italian capital of Rome in early June. During the fighting, Sergeant Maurice Rogers of the 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the first and only to be awarded to the 5th Division during the Second World War. Soon afterwards the division, having sustained just under 3,000 casualties since its arrival at Anzio three months before, was then withdrawn to Palestine, arriving there in mid-July. The division then came under command of Persia and Transjordan Command.
The division, now commanded by the relatively young Major-General Richard Hull, who, at the age of 37, was the youngest division commander in the British Army (and later destined to become Chief of the General Staff and Chief of the Defence Staff), returned to Italy in early 1945 where they relieved the 1st Infantry Division, which had fought alongside the Globetrotters at Anzio. Soon afterwards, however, the division was transferred to the Western Front in March 1945 to participate in the final stages of the North West Europe campaign. Arriving in Belgium just after the British crossing of the Rhine, the division came under command of VIII Corps, under Lieutenant-General Evelyn Barker, part of the British Second Army, under Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey, and took part in the Western Allied invasion of Germany, closely supported by elements of the 6th Guards Armoured Brigade.
Throughout the Second World War, the British 5th Infantry Division used a 'Y' on a khaki background as its insignia.
The 5th Infantry Division was constituted as follows during the war:
13th Infantry Brigade (detached to Force 121 in Madagascar from 26 April until 2 August 1942)
17th Infantry Brigade (Brigade HQ formed 3 October 1939, detached to Force 121 in Madagascar from 15 March to 30 June 1942)
Divisional Troops
The division remained in Germany, undertaking occupation duties, into the immediate post-war period. Major-General John Churcher was the final commander, taking command in July 1947 and the division was disbanded two months later in September.[36] In April 1958, as part of a restructure undertaken by the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), the 7th Armoured Division was converted into and became the newly revived 5th Division and was headquartered at Verden an der Aller, Germany. This incarnation of the division lasted until 30 June 1960. The following day, 1 July, it was redesignated as the 1st Division and took on that formation's lineage and insignia.[37]
On 1 April 1968, the Army Strategic Command was formed in the UK, with a goal of supporting NATO forces from as far north as Norway to as far south as Turkey; to provide internal security operations world-wide; and to undertake limited operations alongside allied forces. In conjunction with this command being formed, the 5th Division was resurrected at Wrexham. During this period, it consisted of the 2nd, the 8th, and the 39th Infantry Brigades. However, with the onset of Operation Banner, the deployment of British troops to Northern Ireland during The Troubles, the division was disbanded on 26 February 1971 as it was no longer needed.
During the mid-1990s, the British Army restructured and disbanded various regional districts, which were replaced by several regionally based divisions. This included the reformed 5th Division, alongside the 2nd and the 4th Divisions. These formations were all dubbed "regenerative" divisions, and held administrative and training responsibilities for all non-deployed forces located within their geographical boundaries. For the 5th Division, this included Wales, the West Midlands, and North West England. In the event of a major international crisis, the formation would be used as the core to form a combat-ready division around. On reformation (April 1995), the division was headquartered in Shrewsbury and comprised the 42nd Brigade (headquartered in Preston, Lancashire), the 143rd Brigade (Shrewsbury), and the 160th Infantry Brigades (Brecon). At the time, it was around 4,600 strong and also contained 97 artillery pieces, one multiple launch rocket system, two helicopters, and 123 tracked vehicles.
As part of its training mandate, the division dispatched troops to train in Belize, was the first British formation to undertake training operations in Slovakia, and regularly worked with the Army Cadet Force.[38] In addition to training, the division was held responsible for environmental conservation in areas that it oversaw. It also conducted a number of UK-based humanitarian missions in the early 2000s. During Operation Waterfowl, the division assisted those effected by the Autumn 2000 Western Europe floods. In 2001, the division supported farmers across the country, as well as the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, during the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak (its deployment falling under the codename Operation Peninsular).[39] The same year, it also sent troops to join the Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Operation Palatine).[40]
By the mid-2000s, the division's boundaries had changed. The 2nd Division was assigned northern England and the 42nd Brigade. In turn, the 5th Division's area of responsibility was expanded so that it stretched from Wales, across the Midlands, and included the East of England. It also took command of the 49th (East) Brigade.[41] The opening decade of the millennium saw the outbreak of the War on terror, which resulted in British deployments to Afghanistan (Operation Herrick) and Iraq (Operation Telic and the division prepared troops for deployments to these conflicts. It also sent troops to the Falkland Islands.[41]
The Strategic Defence and Security Review of 2010 identified that the army had had become optimised for operations in Afghanistan, but in order to meet potential future threats would need to be reorgnised to become more flexible. This restructure was called Army 2020 and resulted in the decision to disband the three regional regenerative divisions, to be replaced by Support Command, with the aim of making the home-based forces better able to support any deployed troops. The 5th Division was disbanded alongside the 2nd during April 2012, with the 4th Division preceding them in January.