54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division

The 54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division was raised in 1908 following the creation of the Territorial Force (TF) as the East Anglian Division. During the First World War the division fought at Gallipoli and in the Middle East. The division was disbanded after the war but reformed in the Territorial Army in 1920. During the Second World War it was a home service division and did not see any combat service abroad and was disbanded in late 1943 but many of its component units went to see service in the Normandy Campaign and North-western Europe from June 1944 to May 1945.

East Anglian Division
54th (East Anglian) Division
54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division
Shoulder insignia of the 54th (East Anglian) Division, First World War
Active1908–1919
1920–1943
Country United Kingdom
Branch Territorial Army
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
Peacetime HQWarley, Essex
Engagements
Commanders
Notable
commanders		the Hon. Julian Byng
Charles Townshend
Evelyn Barker
Cyril Lomax
Sir Ian Freeland
Insignia
Second World War division sign

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.[1] One of the divisions was the East Anglian Division.[2] The infantry of the division was composed of the Essex, East Midland, and Norfolk and Suffolk Brigades. Divisional headquarters was based at Claremont House in Warley, while the infantry brigades were headquartered at Brentwood, Bedford, and Norwich. Its subunits were spread across East Anglia and the East Midlands.[3][4]

First World War

While on annual training, the division was ordered to mobilize on 4 August 1914, concentrating in the vicinity of Brentwood by 10 August. After moving to Chelmsford, Bury St Edmunds, and Norwich on 20 August, the division served on coast defence duty. Three battalions – the 4th Suffolks, 1st Cambridgeshires, and 1st Hertfordshires – were sent to France between November 1914 and February 1915. They were replaced in April by the 8th Hampshires, 10th Londons, and 11th Londons. The battalions of the division were reorganized to include four companies in January 1915, and in May it concentrated near St Albans, preparing to be sent overseas. Its destination was revealed to be Gallipoli on 8 July. Leaving behind the divisional artillery and most of the train, the 54th departed St. Albans for Devonport and Liverpool between 20 and 30 July, boarding transports for Mudros, where it began arriving on 6 August.[3]

The 54th (East Anglian) Division landed at Suvla on 10 August in the Gallipoli Campaign, as a part of IX Corps under Lieutenant-General Stopford. By the end of 11 August, ten battalions and the divisional headquarters had landed.[3] The division was ordered to re-embark from Gallipoli on 26 November, and returned to Mudros between 3 and 8 December. On 9 December, it included 240 officers and 4,480 other ranks, including reinforcements. It began embarking for Egypt on 13 December, and arrived in Alexandria on 18 December. On the next day, it was concentrated at Sidi Bishr before moving to Mena Camp near Cairo.[5]

As a result of the Senussi uprising, the 161st Brigade was sent into the Western Desert on 28 December 1915. Between 11 and 15 February 1916, the divisional artillery, which had been sent to France in November 1915 and attached to the 33rd Division, rejoined the division at Mena.[6] The 161st Brigade returned to the division on 5 March, without the 4th Essex, which returned on 23 March. The division took over the southern section of the Suez Canal defences on 2 April,[5] as part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force under General Archibald Murray.[7]

Then in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, during the First Battle of Gaza, on 26 March 1917, the 161st Brigade and divisional artillery were in reserve while the 53rd (Welsh) Division carried out the main attack. These reserves were committed as the battle progressed resulting in the British gaining a foothold in the Turkish defences but the British commander called off the attack as night fell. In the Second Battle of Gaza, the 1/4th and 1/5th Battalions of the Norfolk Regiment sustained 75 per cent casualties (about 1,200 men).[8] It took part in the successful Third Battle of Gaza as part of XXI Corps led by General Bulfin, and by the end of 1917 Edmund Allenby's forces had taken Jerusalem. The division fought in the Battle of Jaffa on 21 and 22 December.[5]

Men of the Norfolk Regiment resting on the road to Beirut, late October 1918

The 162nd Brigade participated in the Fight at Ras el'Ain during the Battle of Tell 'Asur on 12 March 1918. The division fought in the attack at Berukin on 9 and 10 April/ In September 1918 the division took part in the Battle of Sharon between 19 and 23 September. After the end of the battle, the division concentrated at Hableh on 24 September and was ordered to move to Haifa three days later. It began advancing to Haifa on 28 September through Atlit, and finished concentrating there on 4 October, where it improved communications. The division was ordered to begin the advance to Beirut on 20 October, which was conducted by brigade group in daylong intervals. The advance began three days later, through Acre, Naqoura, Tyre, and Sidon. The division reached Beirut between 31 October and 5 November, as the war with the Ottoman Empire ended on 31 October.[5]

The division moved back by sea to El Qantara from 28 November, beginning with the 163rd Brigade, and then moved to Helmie, where it concentrated on 7 December without its artillery and train. The divisional artillery and train arrived via El Qantara by 14 December, except for the CCLXXII Brigade, which marched from Beirut to Tulkarm before entraining for Helmie on 9 December. The demobilization of the division began on 6 January 1919 with the disbandment of the three brigade trench mortar brigades. The division personnel filled the time with educational courses in January as they were gradually demobilized. By 22 May only six battalions remained, and on 29 May the 77th Brigade joined the division and was renumbered as the 161st Brigade. The CII Brigade joined and temporarily became the division artillery on 1 June. The Territorial units were reduced to cadre strength and the war-time units were disbanded, with the division ceasing to exist in Egypt on 30 September 1919.[5]

Between the wars

The division was disbanded after the Great War when the whole of the Territorial Force was disbanded. However, it was reformed in 1920 as the Territorial Army (TA) and the division was reconstituted with Eastern Command,[5] initially with a similar composition to before the First World War but, over the next few years, with a much different composition.

Buildup to the Second World War

Throughout the 1930s, tensions built between Germany and the United Kingdom as well as its allies.[9] During late 1937 and throughout 1938, German demands for the annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland led to an international crisis. In an attempt to avoid war, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain met with German Chancellor Adolf Hitler in September and brokered the Munich Agreement. The agreement averted immediate war and allowed Germany to annex the Sudetenland.[10] Chamberlain had intended the agreement to lead to further peaceful resolution of issues, but relations between both countries soon deteriorated.[11] On 15 March 1939, Germany breached the terms of the agreement by invading and occupying the remnants of the Czech state.[12]

In response, on 29 March, the British Secretary of State for War Leslie Hore-Belisha announced plans to increase the Territorial Army from 130,000 men to 340,000 and in so doing double the number of territorial divisions.[13] The plan of action was for the existing units to recruit over their allowed establishments (aided by an increase in pay for territorials, the removal of restrictions on promotion that had been a major hindrance to recruiting during the preceding years, the construction of better quality barracks, and an increase in supper-time rations) and then form Second Line divisions from small cadres that could be built upon.[13][14] As a result, the 54th was to provide cadres to form a Second Line duplicate unit, which would become the 18th Infantry Division following the start of the war.[15] In April, limited conscription was introduced. At that time 34,500 militiamen, all aged 20, were conscripted into the regular army, initially to be trained for six months before being deployed to the forming second line units.[16][17] Despite the intention for the army to grow in size, the programme was complicated by a lack of central guidance on the expansion and duplication process and issues regarding the lack of facilities, equipment and instructors.[13][18]

Second World War

Upon the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, the 54th Division, commanded by Major-General John Priestman, a Regular Army officer, and serving under Eastern Command, was mobilised for full-time war service.[19] Comprising still the 161st, 162nd and 163rd Infantry Brigades and divisional troops, the division absorbed hundreds of conscripts and spent the first few months of the war, after guarding various designated 'vulnerable points', training for eventual overseas service.[20]

The division remained in the United Kingdom as a local defence formation, being downgraded to a Lower Establishment in January 1942. The division was disbanded and broken up on 14 December 1943. Its component units would take part in the Normandy Campaign as support units, with the HQ Royal Artillery becoming HQ 8th Army Group Royal Artillery and HQ Royal Engineers becoming HQ Royal Engineers for the 6th Airborne Division. The divisional HQ was redesignated HQ Lines of Communication (54th Division) for the 21st Army Group. The division was not reformed in the post-war Territorial Army in 1947 but the 161st and 162nd Infantry Brigades both survived until disbandment in the 1960s.[20]

Postwar

The formation became known as East Anglian District[21] when the Territorial Army was reformed on 1 January 1947.[22] In 1961 it became a district headquarters as 54th (East Anglian) Division/District,[23] and it was disbanded on the reduction of the TA into the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve on 1 April 1967, when many individual TA units lost their identities.[24] The district headquarters itself formed the core of the structure for the creation of Eastern District under HQ UK Land Forces in 1972.[25]

Victoria Cross recipients

General officers commanding
See also: General officer commanding

General Officers Commanding have included:[26]

Appointed General officer commanding
August 1908 Brigadier-General John H. Campbell
October 1910 Major-General the Hon. Julian H.G. Byng
October 1912 Major-General Charles V.F. Townshend
7 June 1913 Major-General Francis S. Inglefield (sick)[27]
6 October 1915 Brigadier-General F.F.W. Daniell (acting)[27]
11 October 1915 Major-General Francis S. Inglefield (sick)[27]
14 October 1915 Brigadier-General Henry Hodgson (acting)[27]
13 November 1915 Major-General Francis S. Inglefield[27]
27 April 1916 Major-General Sir Steuart W. Hare (sick)[27]
31 March 1917 Brigadier-General Henry George Sandilands (acting)[27]
12 April 1917 Major-General Sir Steuart Hare (leave)[27]
4 January 1918 Brigadier-General Davison Bruce Stewart (acting)[27]
16 March 1918 Major-General Sir Steuart Hare[27]
July 1923 Major-General John Duncan
February 1927 Major-General Sir Torquhil G. Matheson
September 1930 Major-General Francis J. Marshall
September 1934 Major-General Russell M. Luckock
September 1938 Major-General John H.T. Priestman
February 1941 Major-General Evelyn H. Barker
April 1943 Major-General Charles B. Wainwright
May 1943 Major-General Colin B. Callander
1946 Major-General Cyril E.N. Lomax
March 1948 Major-General Maurice S. Chilton
April 1950 Major-General Charles E.A. Firth
January 1951 Major-General Hugh C. Stockwell
May 1951 Major-General Leslie K. Lockhart
December 1952 Major-General Roger H. Bower
May 1955 Major-General Reginald P. Harding
June 1958 Major-General Dennis E.B. Talbot
March 1961 Major-General Ian H. Freeland
July 1963 Major-General Richard A. Fyffe
May 1965 Major-General Fergus A.H. Ling

Orders of battle

See also

References

Footnotes
  1. Note typo: 19th not 199th

Citations
  1. Westlake 1992, p. 3
  2. Conrad, Mark (1996). "The British Army, 1914". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  3. Becke 1936, p. 130.
  4. Westlake, Ray (2011). The Territorials, 1908–1914: A Guide for Military and Family Historians. Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-1848843608.
  5. Becke 1936, p. 131.
  6. Becke 1936, p. 127.
  7. "Murray's first despatch". Desert Column. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  8. Eastern Daily Press, "Sunday" section May 5, 2007
  9. Bell 1986, pp. 3–4.
  10. Bell 1986, pp. 258–275.
  11. Bell 1986, pp. 277–278.
  12. Bell 1986, p. 281.
  13. Gibbs 1976, p. 518.
  14. Messenger 1994, p. 47.
  15. Joslen 2003, p. 60.
  16. Messenger 1994, p. 49.
  17. French 2001, p. 64.
  18. Perry 1988, p. 48.
  19. Joslen 2003, p. 89.
  20. IWM 2017.
  21. "Sir Maurice (Somerville) Chilton". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  22. Watson, Graham. "Territorial Army 1947". Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  23. "Eastern District". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 5 July 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  24. Watson & Rinaldi, p. 289.
  25. Paxton, J. (1972). The Statesman's Year-Book 1972-73: The Encyclopaedia for the Businessman-of-The-World. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-230-27101-2.
  26. "Army Commands" (PDF). Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  27. Becke 1936, p. 125.
  28. Hart 1910, pp. 131–132.
  29. Becke 1936, pp. 127–129.
  30. James 1978, p. 112.
  31. Becke, Pt 3b, pp. 33–7.
  32. Macartney-Filgate, pp 3–5.
  33. Joslen 2003, p. 349.
  34. Joslen 2003, p. 350.
  35. Joslen 2003, p. 351.
  36. Joslen 2003, p. 382.
  37. 19 LAA Rgt at Ra 39–45.

Sources
  • "Badge, Formation, 54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division & 162nd Infantry Brigade". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  • Becke, Major A. F. (1936). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 2A. The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42–56) (2007 Naval & Military Press reprint ed.). London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 1-871167-12-4.
  • 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, ISBN 1-847347-41-X.
  • Bell, P.M.H. (1986). The Origins of the Second World War in Europe (2nd 1997 ed.). London: Pearson. ISBN 978-0-582-30470-3.
  • French, David (2001) [2000]. Raising Churchill's Army: The British Army and the War Against Germany 1919–1945. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-924630-4.
  • Gibbs, N.H. (1976). Grand Strategy. History of the Second World War. I. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 978-0-11-630181-9.
  • Hart, Fitzroy, ed. (1910). Hart's Annual Army List: Special Reserve List, and Territorial Force List, for 1910. London: John Murray. OCLC 46781398.
  • James, Brigadier E.A. (1978). British Regiments 1914–18. London: Samson Books Limited. ISBN 0-906304-03-2.
  • Joslen, H. F. (2003) [1990]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield: Naval and Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1.
  • Maj J. Macartney-Filgate, History of the 33rd Divisional Artillery in the War 1914–1918, Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1-843429-78-4.
  • Messenger, Charles (1994). For Love of Regiment 1915–1994. A History of British Infantry. 2. London: Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 978-0-85052-422-2.
  • Perry, Frederick William (1988). The Commonwealth Armies: Manpower and Organisation in Two World Wars. War, Armed Forces and Society. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-2595-2.
  • Watson, Graham E.; Rinaldi, Richard A. (2018). The Corps of Royal Engineers: Organization and Units 1889–2018. Tiger Lily Books. ISBN 978-171790180-4.
  • Westlake, Ray (1992). British Territorial Units 1914–18. Men-at-Arms Series. 245. Osprey. ISBN 978-1-85532-168-7.

Further reading
  • Atkinson, C. T. (1952). The Royal Hampshire Regiment 1914–1918 (2003 Naval & Military Press reprint ed.). Glasgow: Robert Maclehose & Co. ISBN 9781843426936.
  • Burrows, John W. (1923). Essex Units in the War, 1914-1919. 5: Essex Territorial Infantry Brigade (4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th Battalions). Southend-on-Sea: J.H. Burrows & sons. OCLC 4045637.
  • Fair, A.; Wolton, E. D. (1923). The History of the 1/5th Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. OCLC 59761790.
  • Gibbons, Thomas (1921). With the 1/5th Essex in the East (2009 Naval & Military Press reprint ed.). London: Benham and Company. ISBN 9781847349798.
  • Murphy, Charles Cecil Rowe (1928). The History of the Suffolk Regiment, 1914-1927 (2002 Naval & Military Press reprint ed.). London: Hutchinson. ISBN 1847341608.
  • Northamptonshire Regiment Regimental History Committee (1932). The Northamptonshire Regiment, 1914-1918 (2005 Naval & Military Press reprint ed.). Aldershot: Gale & Polden. ISBN 9781845742706.
  • Petre, F. Loraine (1922). The History of the Norfolk Regiment, 1685-1918. 2: 4th August 1914 to 31st December 1918. Norwich: Jarrold & Sons/Empire Press. OCLC 1013369401.
  • Webster, F. A. M. (1930). The History of the Fifth Battalion the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment (T.A.). London: Frederick Warne & Co. OCLC 17648450.
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