The 41st Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised during the First World War as part of Lord Kitchener's New Armies. The division saw service on the Western Front and later on the Italian Front.
Formation history
After training and home service, the 41st Division, commanded by the experienced Major-General Sydney Lawford, who had previously commanded an infantry brigade in battle, deployed overseas to reinforce the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front in the first week of May 1916; its first major combat came in September of that year, at the Battle of FlersâÂÂCourcelette, part of the larger Battle of the Somme.
After fighting in 1917 at the Battle of Messines and the Battle of Passchendaele (also known as the Third Battle of Ypres) it was transferred with four other divisions to the Italian Front. It remained here for three months throughout the winter of 1917âÂÂ18 before returning to the Western Front, where it arrived just before the German Army launched its Spring Offensive in March. It participated in the Allied "Hundred Days Offensive" and ended the war in Flanders, from where it moved to join the Army of Occupation in Germany, following the Armistice of 11 November 1918.
The 41st Division was commanded by Major-General Lawford throughout its existence and was demobilised in March 1919, with some units transferred to the 47th (1/2nd London) Division, British Army of the Rhine (BAOR).
Order of battle
The 41st Division was constituted as follows during the war:
122nd Brigade
123rd Brigade
124th Brigade
Divisional Troops
- 13th (Service) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment (Wandsworth) (left October 1915)
- 23rd (Service) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (2nd Public Works) ( joined as Divisional Pioneers October 1915)
- 238th Machine Gun Company (joined July 1917, left October 1917)
- 199th Machine Gun Company (joined October 1917, moved to 41st Battalion M.G.C. March 1918)
- 41st Battalion M.G.C. (formed March 1918 absorbing the brigade MG companies)
- Divisional Mounted Troops
- B Squadron, Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry (left 31 May 1916)
- 41st Divisional Cyclist Company, Army Cyclist Corps (left 28 May 1916)
- 41st Divisional Train Army Service Corps
- 296th, 297th, 298th and 299th Companies
- 52nd Mobile Veterinary Section Army Veterinary Corps
Royal Artillery
- CLXXXIII (Howitzer) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery R.F.A. (broken up November 1916)
- CLXXXVII Brigade, R.F.A.
- CLXXXIX Brigade, R.F.A. (left January 1917)
- CXC Brigade, R.F.A.
- 41st Divisional Ammunition Column (West Ham) R.F.A.
- V.41 Heavy Trench Mortar Battery, R.F.A. (formed July 1916; disbanded October 1917)
- X.41, Y.41 and Z.41 Medium Mortar Batteries, R.F.A. (formed May 1916; in April 1918, Z broken up redistributed among X and Y batteries)
- XIII Belgian Field Artillery Regiment (attached January to May 1917)
Royal Engineers
- 228th (Barnsley) Field Company
- 233rd (Ripon) Field Company
- 237th (Reading) Company
- 41st Divisional Signals Company
Royal Army Medical Corps
- 138th Field Ambulance
- 139th Field Ambulance
- 140th Field Ambulance
- 84th Sanitary Section (left April 1917)
Notable people associated with the division
See also
References
External links