| Home Counties Division 44th (Home Counties) Division 44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division | |
|---|---|
 44th InfantryDivision insignia. | |
| Active | April 1908 – 3 December 1914 February 1920 – 31 January 1943 January 1947 – 1 May 1961 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Peacetime HQ | Hounslow,Middlesex |
| Engagements | First World War Second World War |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Charles Townshend Arthur Percival Sir Brian Horrocks Sir Hugh Stockwell |
TheHome Counties Division was aninfantrydivision of theTerritorial Force, part of theBritish Army, that was raised in 1908. As the name suggests, the division recruited in theHome Counties, particularlyKent,Middlesex,Surrey andSussex.
At the outbreak of theFirst World War, it accepted liability for overseas service and was posted toIndia in 1914 to relieveRegular Army units for service on theWestern Front. On arrival in India it was effectively broken up, so it did not see active service as a complete formation. However, most of its constituent units did serve in activetheatres, notablyMesopotamia from 1915 and in theThird Anglo-Afghan War in 1919.
Reformed in theTerritorial Army (TA) in 1920 as the44th (Home Counties) Division, the division saw active service in theSecond World War inBelgium,France andNorth Africa (notably in theBattle of El Alamein) before again being disbanded in 1943. Once again, its component units continued to serve, in North Africa,Italy,North-West Europe, andBurma.
The division was again reformed in the TA in 1947 before being merged with the Home Counties District in 1961, thus ending its separate existence.
TheTerritorial Force (TF) was formed on 1 April 1908 following the enactment of theTerritorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (7 Edw.7, c.9) which combined and re-organised the oldVolunteer Force, theHonourable Artillery Company and theYeomanry. On formation, the TF contained 14infantrydivisions and 14 mounted yeomanrybrigades.[2] One of the divisions was theHome Counties Division.[3]
As the name suggests, the division recruited in theHome Counties, particularlyKent,Middlesex,Surrey andSussex. It was composed of theSurrey,Middlesex andKent Infantry Brigades (each of fourbattalions), four artillery brigades[a] of theRoyal Field Artillery recruited in Sussex and Kent, a heavybattery of theRoyal Garrison Artillery (also recruited in Kent), plus support units of theRoyal Engineers (including theSignal Service),Royal Army Medical Corps and theArmy Service Corps. TwoArmy Troops battalions of theRoyal Sussex Regiment were also attached for training, but were not integral to the division. In peacetime, the divisionalheadquarters was inHounslow in Middlesex.[3][6][7]
In accordance with theTerritorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (7 Edw.7, c.9) which brought theTerritorial Force into being, the TF was intended to be a home defence force for service during wartime and members could not be compelled to serve outside the country. However, on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, many members volunteered forImperial Service. Therefore, TF units were split into 1st Line (liable for overseas service) and 2nd Line (home service for those unable or unwilling to serve overseas) units. 2nd Line units performed the home defence role, although in fact most of these were also posted abroad in due course.[8] The Home Counties Division formed the2nd Home Counties Division in this manner with an identical structure.[9]
The division mobilised on the outbreak of the war. Early in September 1914, the division sent two battalions toGibraltar to relieveregular battalions; 7th and 8thMiddlesex left on 4 and 10 September respectively.[6] On 22 September,India agreed to send 32 British and 20 Indian regular battalions to Europe in exchange for 43 partially trained TF battalions.[10][b] Accordingly, the division accepted liability for service in India. It was joined by the 4th (Cumberland andWestmorland) Battalion,Border Regiment (fromCarlisle) and the 4th Battalion,King's (Shropshire Light Infantry) (fromShrewsbury) to replace 7th and 8th Middlesex, and 1/1stBrecknockshire Battalion,South Wales Borderers (fromBrecon) as an extra battalion for garrison duties inAden.[6]
The division sailed fromSouthampton on 30 October 1914 with 13 infantry battalions and 3 artillery brigades (nine batteries of four15-pounder BLCs each, but without ammunition columns).[6] The infantry brigade staffs, theIV Home Counties (H) Brigade, RFA, the Home Counties (Kent) Heavy Battery, the engineers, signals, ambulance and train units were all left behind and most were soon posted to other divisions on theWestern Front.[15]
The division arrived atBombay on 1–3 December 1914, with the Brecknockshire Battalion departing again on 9 December for Aden.[6] The divisional commander,Major-GeneralJ.C. Young, accompanied the division to India. On arrival, he handed over the units and returned to England, arriving on 22 December.[9] He took command of the 2nd Line2nd Home Counties Division on 20 January 1915.[16]
The division was effectively broken up on arrival in India in December 1914; the units reverted to peacetime conditions and were dispersed throughout India andBurma. The battalions were posted toLucknow (2),Cawnpore,Fyzabad,Mhow,Kamptee,Jubbulpore,Jhansi,Dinapore,Fort William,Rangoon andMaymyo and the batteries were posted to Kamptee, Mhow (2),Jullundur,Multan,Ferozepore, and Jubbulpore (3).[6] The battalions and batteries moved around the various garrison stations in India, Burma and Aden from time to time. For example, the 1/4thBuffs[c] moved from Mhow[17] to Aden in August 1915,[18] toBareilly in January 1916,[19] and to Multan in July 1918 where it remained until the end of the war.[20] The 1/4thKSLI went further afield; on arrival in India, it was posted to Rangoon, with a detachment in theAndaman Islands. On 6 February 1915 it was dispatched toSingapore to help to suppress amutiny. In April, part of the battalion went toHong Kong; the battalion was replaced at Rangoon by the 2/4th Border Regiment.[6] Thereafter, it returned to England viaColombo,Durban andCape Town before landing atPlymouth on 27 July 1917. Two days later, it left Southampton for France to join63rd (Royal Naval) Division.[21]
The units pushed on with training to prepare for active service, handicapped by the need to provide experienced manpower for active service units.[6] By early 1916 it had become obvious that it would not be possible to transfer the division to the Western Front as originally intended.[22] Nevertheless, individual units of the division proceeded overseas on active service through the rest of the war. All three artillery brigades went toMesopotamia in 1916 (III Home Counties) and 1917 (I and II Home Counties) and, likewise, so did 1/5thQueen's, 1/5th Buffs, 1/5thEast Surrey,1/9th Middlesex, 1/5thQORWK infantry battalions.[15] In addition, the1/4th Queen's, the 1/4th and 2/4th Border, and the 1/4th QORWK took part in theThird Anglo-Afghan War in 1919.[22]
The Territorial Force divisions and brigades were numbered in May 1915 in the order that they departed for overseas service, starting with the42nd (East Lancashire) Division. The Home Counties Division should have been numbered as the44th (Home Counties) Division, but as the division had already been broken up, this was merely a place holder. Likewise, the Surrey, Middlesex and Kent Brigades were only notionally numbered as 131st, 132nd and 133rd, respectively.[d][24]
In 1919, the remaining units in India were repatriated to England.[22] The Territorial Force was effectively disbanded in 1919, but started to reform from 1 February 1920 as the units commenced recruiting. From 1 October 1921, it was renamed as theTerritorial Army (TA).[25] The division was reformed in 1920.[22]
One major change with the new TA had an effect on the number of infantry battalions. The original 14 divisions were reformed with the pre-war standard of three brigades of four battalions each, for a total of 168 battalions. Infantry were no longer to be included as Army Troops or part of the Coastal Defence Forces so the pre-war total of 208 battalions had to be reduced by 40. This was achieved by either converting certain battalions to other roles, usually artillery or engineers, or by amalgamating pairs of battalions within a regiment.[25] The44th (Home Counties) Division illustrated both of these processes: the 10th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment was converted to the Home Counties Divisional Signals,RCS in 1921[26] and the 4th and 5th (The Weald of Kent) Battalions, Buffs were amalgamated as the 4th/5th Battalion in the same year.[27] In this way, the division was able to incorporate two Army Troops battalions of the Royal Sussex Regiment.
The divisional artillery was reformed with three brigades: 1st Home Counties with 1–4 Sussex Batteries, 2nd Home Counties with 5–8 Sussex Batteries, and 3rd Home Counties with 1–4 Kent Batteries. These were renumbered in 1921 as the 57th (Home Counties), 58th (Home Counties) and 59th (Home Counties) Brigades, later 57th (Home Counties), 58th (Sussex) and 59th (Home Counties)(Cinque Ports) Brigades.[28]
The division underwent a number of changes in the late 1930s. In 1936, it was decided to concentrateVickers machine guns in specialised machine gun battalions. Rather than resurrecting theMachine Gun Corps, a number of line infantry regiments were converted instead; the Middlesex Regiment was one of four regiments selected for conversion.[29][e] The 7th and 8th Battalions were converted at the same time.[30][31] They were replaced by the 22nd and 24th Battalions of theLondon Regiment, which from 1937 became the 6th (Bermondsey)[32] and 7th (Southwark) Battalions[33] of theQueen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey).
A major reorganisation in 1938 saw the TA divisions reduced from twelve to nine battalions.[34] As a result, 9th Middlesex was converted to60th (Middlesex) Searchlight Regiment,RA,[26][35] the 4th Queen's to63rd (Queen's) Searchlight Regiment, RA[36][37] and 5th East Surreys to 57th (East Surrey) Anti-Tank Regiment, RA[38][39] The latter remained part of the division.[40] In the same year, the 59th (Home Counties)(Cinque Ports) Field Regiment, RA was converted to 75th (Home Counties)(Cinque Ports) Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA.[41] It was replaced by 65th (8th London) Field Regiment, RA from the former47th (2nd London) Division.[42]
By 1939 it became clear that a new European war was likely to break out, and the doubling of the Territorial Army was authorised, with each unit and formation forming a duplicate.[43] The 44th (Home Counties) Division formed the12th (Eastern) Infantry Division.[44][f]
| Battalion | In 1914 | Between the wars | 44th Division, 1939 | 12th Division, 1939 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) – 1921:Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) | ||||
| 4th Battalion | Surrey Brigade[45] | 1938 – Converted to63rd (Queen's) Searchlight Regiment,RA[36][37] | ||
| 5th Battalion | Surrey Brigade[45] | 5th Battalion | 1/5th Battalion in131st Brigade[46] | 2/5th Battalion in35th Brigade[47] |
| 22nd (The Queen's)London | 6th London Brigade[48] | 1937 – 6th (Bermondsey) Battalion[32] | 1/6th Battalion in 131st Brigade[46] | 2/6th Battalion in 35th Brigade[47] |
| 24th (The Queen's)London | 6th London Brigade[48] | 1937 – 7th (Southwark) Battalion[33] | 1/7th Battalion in 131st Brigade[46] | 2/7th Battalion in 35th Brigade[47] |
| Buffs (East Kent Regiment) – 1935:Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) | ||||
| 4th Battalion | Kent Brigade[49] | 1921 – Amalgamated as 4th/5th Battalion[27] | 4th Battalion in133rd Brigade[50] | 5th Battalion in37th Brigade[51] |
| 5th (The Weald of Kent) Battalion | Kent Brigade[49] | |||
| East Surrey Regiment | ||||
| 5th Battalion | Surrey Brigade[52] | 1938 – Converted to 57th (East Surrey) Anti-Tank Regiment, RA[38][39] | ||
| 6th Battalion | Surrey Brigade[52] | 6th Battalion | 1/6th Battalion in132nd Brigade[53] | 2/6th Battalion in36th Brigade[54] |
| Royal Sussex Regiment | ||||
| 4th Battalion | attached to HC Division[55] | 4th Battalion | 4th Battalion in 133rd Brigade[50] | 6th Battalion in 37th Brigade[51] |
| 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion | attached to HC Division[55] | 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion | 5th Battalion in 133rd Brigade[50] | 7th Battalion in 37th Brigade[51] |
| Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) – April 1921:Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment | ||||
| 4th Battalion | Kent Brigade[56] | 4th Battalion | 4th Battalion in 132nd Brigade[53] | 6th Battalion in 36th Brigade[54] |
| 5th Battalion | Kent Brigade[56] | 5th Battalion | 5th Battalion in 132nd Brigade[53] | 7th Battalion in 36th Brigade[54] |
| Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment) – 1921:Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) | ||||
| 7th Battalion | Middlesex Brigade[57] | 1936 – Converted to a Machine Gun Battalion[58] | ||
| 8th Battalion | Middlesex Brigade[57] | 1936 – Converted to a Machine Gun Battalion[59] | ||
| 9th Battalion | Middlesex Brigade[57] | 1938 – Converted to 60th (Middlesex) Searchlight Regiment, RA[26][35] | ||
| 10th Battalion | Middlesex Brigade[57] | 1921 – Converted to Home Counties Divisional Signals,RCS[26] | ||
The division, as the44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division (Major-GeneralEdmund Osborne), was mobilised on 3 September 1939 on the outbreak of theSecond World War. Initially inSouthern and thenEastern Command, the division was sent overseas where it joined theBritish Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France on 1 April 1940 and was assigned toIII Corps (Lieutenant-GeneralRonald Forbes Adam).[40] It took part in theBattle of St Omer-La Bassée (23–29 May) during theretreat to Dunkirk. At the end of May 1940 the division wasevacuated from at Dunkirk after theGerman Army threatened to cut off and destroy the entire BEF from theFrench Army during the battles ofFrance andBelgium.[60]
After returning to England the division, much reduced in manpower and woefully short of equipment and now under the command of Major-GeneralArthur Percival (who had taken command in late June 1940, until late March the following year), spent nearly two years on home defence, anticipating aGerman invasion which never occurred, travelling through the counties ofKent andSussex and serving underI andXII Corps.[40] On 29 May 1942, the division, now under the control of theWar Office and commanded by Major-GeneralIvor Hughes, departed the United Kingdom to take part in theNorth African Campaign. It arrived inCairo,Egypt on 24 July – the long journey being due to sailing via theCape of Good Hope.[60]
Less than three weeks after its arrival the division was ordered byGeneralSir Harold Alexander (replacing GeneralSir Claude Auchinleck on 13 August), theCommander-in-Chief (C-in-C),Middle East, to be sent forward to join theEighth Army (Lieutenant GeneralBernard Montgomery), atEl Alamein. The 44th Division joinedXIII Corps (Lieutenant-GeneralBrian Horrocks, commander of the division between June 1941 and March 1942) and fought at theBattle of Alam el Halfa (30 August – 7 September) where the132nd Brigade was temporarily detached to the2nd New Zealand Division[40][60][53] and suffered nearly 700 casualties.
On 8 September, the133rd Brigade was detached from the division. It was briefly assigned to the8th Armoured Division[50] before being transferred to the10th Armoured Division on 29 September as alorried infantry unit.[61] The division started theSecond Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 4 November) with two brigades.[60] It was still in XIII Corps,[62] with the7th Armoured Division and50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division.[63] The corps was on the southern flank with the task of tying down Axis reserves while the main thrust was made in the north byXXX andX Corps. The division was further reduced when the131st Brigade was attached to the 7th Armoured Division on 1 November, as a lorried infantry brigade after the7th Motor Brigade was transferred to the1st Armoured Division.[64][65]
The Battle of El Alamein was the last engagement of the 44th Division; it was disbanded on 31 January 1943.[40][g] The 132nd[53] and 133rd Brigade[50] were dispersed, with the battalions ending up as British battalions inBritish Indian Army brigades.[h] The 131st Brigade remained in the 7th Armoured Division for the rest of the war, taking part in the rest of the North African Campaign, culminating in May 1943 with the surrender of almost 250,000Axis soldiers asprisoners of war, theAllied invasion of Italy from September–November 1943 and in theNorth-West Europe campaign from June 1944 untilVictory in Europe Day in May 1945.[64][73]
TheTerritorial Army (TA) was formally disbanded at the end of the Second World War. TA units were reactivated on 1 January 1947, though no personnel were assigned until commanding officers and permanent staff had been appointed in March and April 1947.[74] The division, under the command of Major-GeneralPhilip Gregson-Ellis, was reformed in 1947; it included theNorthamptonshire Yeomanry, and 47th (London),131st (Surrey), and133rd (Kent & Sussex) Infantry Brigades.[75]
On 1 May 1961, all ten TA divisions were merged with thedistricts,[76] and the division became44th (Home Counties) Division/District, thus ending the division's separate existence. Subsequently, redesignated asSouth Eastern District,[77] it was used to form the4th Division on 1 April 1995.[78]
| Order of Battle – August 1914 | ||
|---|---|---|
Just before the outbreak of theFirst World War, the division commanded the following units:[3][79] | ||
Surrey Brigade
| Royal Artillery
| Divisional troops Home Counties Divisional Engineers
Home Counties Divisional Train,ASC
|
Middlesex Brigade
| ||
Kent Brigade
| ||
| Attached | ||
| Order of Battle – January 1947 | |
|---|---|
The division was reformed after theSecond World War with the following units:[79][75] | |
* Headquarters 44th Infantry Division
| |
The Home Counties Division had the following commanders, from formation in April 1908 to disembarkation in India:[82]
| From | Rank | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 1908 | Major-General | Colin G. Donald | |
| January 1909 | Major-General | Edward T. Dickson | |
| April 1912 | Major-General | Charles V.F. Townshend | |
| 25 October 1912[83] | Major-General | James C. Young | Broken up in December 1914 |
When the division was re-established after the First World War, it had the following commanders until it was disbanded in the Middle East on 31 January 1943:[82]
| From | Rank | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 1919 | Major-General | Sir John R. Longley | |
| June 1923 | Major-General | Sir Henry W. Hodgson | |
| June 1927 | Major-General | Arthur G. Wauchope | |
| January 1929 | Major-General | Henry R. Peck | |
| January 1933 | Major-General | John Kennedy | |
| April 1934 | Major-General | John R. Minshull-Ford | |
| April 1938[40] | Major-General | Edmund Osborne | |
| 25 June 1940[40] | Major-General | Arthur E. Percival | |
| 27 March 1941[40] | Brigadier | F.C.A. Troup | acting |
| 31 March 1941[40] | Brigadier | J.E. Utterson-Kelso | acting |
| 8 April 1941[40] | Major-General | Frank N. Mason-Macfarlane | |
| 25 June 1941[40] | Major-General | Brian G. Horrocks | |
| 14 March 1942[40] | Brigadier | Ivor T.P. Hughes | acting |
| 20 March 1942[40] | Major-General | Ivor T.P. Hughes | Disbanded on 31 January 1943 |
When the division was re-established after the Second World War, it had the following commanders until 1 May 1961 when the Territorial Army divisional headquarters were merged with regular army districts:[82]
| From | Rank | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 1947 | Major-General | Hugh C. Stockwell | [84] |
| July 1947 | Major-General | Philip G.S. Gregson-Ellis | |
| July 1950 | Major-General | Brian C.H. Kimmins | |
| March 1952 | Major-General | E. Otway Herbert | |
| January 1954 | Major-General | Robert C.M. King | |
| November 1956 | Major-General | William F.R. Turner | |
| November 1959 | Major-General | Paul Gleadell | |
| January 1962 | Major-General | Ewing H.W. Grimshaw | |
| July 1965 | Major-General | F. Brian Wyldbore-Smith | Disbanded in 1968 |
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