List of British divisions in World War II

During the Second World War, the basic tactical formation used by the majority of combatants was the division. It was a self-contained formation that possessed all the required forces for combat, which was supplemented by its own artillery, engineers, communications and supply units. On 3 September 1939, at the start of the war, the United Kingdom had 2 armoured, 24 infantry and 7 anti-aircraft divisions. The anti-aircraft divisions were not comparable in role to formations that were intended for combat such as infantry divisions. In September, the British Army stated that 55 divisions (a mix of armoured, infantry and cavalry) would be raised to combat Germany. The UK would provide 32 of these formations and the remainder would be raised by the Dominions and India.

In 1941, this goal was adjusted to 57 divisions, with the UK to provide 36. By the end of 1941, the UK had met its quota. Over the course of the war, 85 divisional formations were raised although they did not all exist simultaneously and not all of them were combat formations. For example, the 12th Division (SDF) was raised to protect the lines of communication behind fighting formations. Several divisions were created when a division of one type was converted into another, for example the 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division was converted into the 42nd Armoured Division. Others, such as the 79th Armoured Division, were not intended to act as a fighting formation. Instead, it acted in an administrative capacity for dispersed units that were engaged in combat. The 85 divisional formations included 2 airborne, 12 anti-aircraft, 11 armoured, 1 cavalry, 10 coastal defence (known as County Divisions) and 49 infantry divisions. At the end of the war, in 1945, the British Army had 24 divisions.

Background

During the interwar period, the British Army was split into two branches: the regular army, which numbered 224,000 men with a reserve of 173,700 at the start of the war, and the part-time Territorial Army that numbered 438,100 with a reserve of around 20,750 men. The main goal of the regular army, largely built around battalion-sized formations, was to police and garrison the British Empire. The basic tactical formation among the major militaries was the division. These were self-contained formations that possessed all the required forces needed for combat. This included its own artillery, engineers, communications, and supply units. The provision of a multi-division expeditionary force, for a war on the continent against a European adversary, was not considered for much of the interwar period by the British government which deemed it unlikely for such a war to occur.

In 1939, the regular army consisted of seven infantry and two armoured divisions. Two of the infantry divisions had been formed for the repression of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. The Territorial Army was intended to be the primary method of expanding the number of divisions available to the army. During the interwar period, the British government reduced the funding and size of the Territorial Army. By 1936, they had concluded that it could not be modernised or equipped for a European war over the following three-year period and therefore delayed further funding. At the beginning of 1939, the Territorial Army had twelve infantry divisions. Following the German occupation of the remnants of the Czechoslovak state in March 1939, the Territorial Army was ordered to double in size to 24 divisions. By the outbreak of the Second World War, in September 1939, some of these divisions had formed while others were being created.

On 8 September 1939, the British Army announced that it would raise 55 divisions to be deployed to France, as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), for service against Germany. Thirty-two of these formations were to come from the British Army, and rest from the armies of the British Dominions (for example, the Canadian Army) and the British Indian Army. The goal was to fully equip and deploy 20 divisions within the first year of the war and all 55 divisions within two years. The British contingent was to come from the expanded Territorial Army and the regular army divisions based in the UK. By May 1940, the BEF contained only 13 divisions. During the latter stages of the campaign, the Beauman Division was raised from rear-area personnel. As a result of defeat in the Battle of France and the return of the BEF following the Dunkirk evacuation, the original deployment of divisions was not realised. The 51st (Highland) Infantry Division was lost during the Battle of France and it was later reformed by renaming the 9th (Highland) Infantry Division. After the BEF returned to the UK, four infantry divisions were disbanded to reinforce other formations. Colonial regiments in Britain's African colonies, including the Nigeria Regiment, Gold Coast Regiment and King's African Rifles were expanded in size via new recruitment efforts. This resulted in two new divisions being formed in Africa in mid-1940.

The goal of 55 divisions was increased to 58 in January 1941, then cut to 57 on 6 March; the UK was to provide 36 of these. During 1941, the 2nd Armoured Division in North Africa was overrun, and its headquarters captured. By the end of the year, the British Army had 37 active divisions (one airborne, nine armoured and 27 infantry). On 15 February 1942, the 18th Infantry Division was captured by Japanese forces following the Battle of Singapore. Lack of equipment hindered growth and an increasing number of divisions based in the UK were reduced in size to provide men for formations fighting abroad. By 1943, it became necessary for front line divisions to be cannibalised to provide reinforcements for other formations. During 1943, three new divisions were formed after the further expansion of the African regiments. By 1944, the UK still had 35 divisions, of which 18 were for training or to be used as a pool for reinforcements. By mid-1944, the army did not have enough men to replace the losses suffered by front line infantry units. Transfers of men from the Royal Artillery and the Royal Air Force to be retrained as infantry took place, and more formations were disbanded to provide the required reinforcements. By the end of 1944, the army had shrunk to 26 divisions: 5 armoured and 21 infantry (including airborne). In the final year of the war, the number decreased to 24 divisions.

Airborne

Impressed by the German airborne force during the 1940 Battle of France, the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, ordered the creation of a paratrooper force of 5,000 men. The qualified success of Operation Colossus, a small scale commando raid, prompted further expansion of this force, and resulted in an additional requirement for a glider force of 10,000 men to be created. The recruitment for the size of this force took until 1943, by which time two divisions had been formed. The airborne division was to comprise three brigades: two parachute brigades, each with three battalions from the Parachute Regiment, and an "airlanding" brigade of three infantry battalions carried into battle by gliders.The first parachute battalions were formed from volunteers from across the British military. As the airborne force grew, infantry battalions were selected to be converted into parachute battalions. The men were invited to volunteer for parachute service, or assigned to a new unit. The new battalions were then brought up to strength from volunteers from other units. The airlanding battalions came from existing infantry units that were converted to glider infantry, and the soldiers did not have the ability to opt-out.

The war establishment, the on-paper strength, was set at 12,148 men, with a large number of automatic weapons assigned to the division. The establishment called for 7,171 bolt-action Lee Enfield rifles, 6,504 Sten submachine guns, 966 Bren light machine guns, and 46 Vickers medium machine guns. Each division was also expected to have 392 PIAT anti-tank weapons, 525 mortars, 100 anti-tank guns, and twenty-seven M116 pack howitzers. Just over 6,000 vehicles—primarily jeeps, motorcycles, and bicycles, but also including 22 Tetrarch light tanks—were authorised for each division. Gliders delivered the heavier equipment.

+Airborne divisionsFormation nameDate formedDate formation ceased to existDivisional insigniaLocations servedNotable campaignsNotesSource(s)1st Airborne Division1945UK, Tunisia, Italy, Netherlands, NorwayTunisian, Italian, Operation Market GardenThe division did not reach full strength until April 1943. After heavy losses in the battle of Arnhem, the division was reduced from three to two brigades. Following the German surrender it was sent to Norway to maintain order. It returned to England in August 1945, prior to the end of the war.6th Airborne DivisionN/AUK, France, GermanyNormandy, Operation Varsity, Western Allied invasion of GermanyThe division ended the war in Germany.

Anti-aircraft

Between 1935 and the start of the war, the British Army formed anti-aircraft divisions. These formations were part of the Territorial Army, and were not intended to be comparable to other formations such as infantry divisions. The anti-aircraft divisions were assigned to a particular area, which could cover hundreds or thousands of square miles. They varied dramatically in manpower, the number of brigades controlled, and the number of weapons assigned. For example, the 1st Anti-Aircraft Division was assigned to defend London, while the 3rd Anti-Aircraft Division was assigned to defend both Scotland and Northern Ireland. In September 1939, Anti-Aircraft Command's seven divisions had a combined total of 695 heavy anti-aircraft guns compared to an intended 2,232, and 253 light anti-aircraft guns out of an establishment of 1,200. The divisions also had access to 2,700 searchlights, out of a recommended total of 4,700. By 1941, the divisions had 1,691 heavy guns, 940 light guns, and 4,532 searchlights. At the start of the war, the divisions and their command structure had a total of 106,690 men; manpower increased to 157,319 by July 1940, and was over 300,000 by mid-1941. and All of the divisions were disbanded in October 1942 as part of a reorganisation of the anti-aircraft command structure. The divisions were replaced by seven groups, which were intended to reduce the overall number of formations, save manpower, and be more flexible.

+Anti-aircraft divisionsFormation nameExisting formation or date createdDate formation ceased to existDivisional insigniaLocations servedNotable campaignsSource(s)1st Anti-Aircraft DivisionExistingOctober 1942UKBattle of Britain, The Blitz2nd Anti-Aircraft DivisionExistingUKBattle of Britain, The Blitz3rd Anti-Aircraft DivisionExistingUKBattle of Britain, The Blitz4th Anti-Aircraft DivisionExistingUKBattle of Britain, The Blitz5th Anti-Aircraft DivisionExistingUKBattle of Britain, The Blitz6th Anti-Aircraft DivisionExistingUKBattle of Britain, The Blitz7th Anti-Aircraft DivisionExistingUKBattle of Britain, The Blitz8th Anti-Aircraft DivisionUKThe Blitz9th Anti-Aircraft DivisionUKThe Blitz10th Anti-Aircraft DivisionUKThe Blitz11th Anti-Aircraft DivisionUKThe Blitz12th Anti-Aircraft DivisionUKThe Blitz

Armoured