The 46th Infantry Division was a British Army infantry division formed during the Second World War that fought during the Battle of France, the Tunisian Campaign, and the Italian Campaign. In March 1939, after Germany re-emerged as a significant military power and occupied Czechoslovakia, the British Army increased the number of divisions in the Territorial Army (TA) by duplicating existing units. The 46th Infantry Division was formed in October 1939, as a second-line duplicate of the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division. The division's battalions were drawn largely from men living in the English North Midlands.

It was intended that the division would remain in the United Kingdom to complete training and preparation, before being deployed to France within twelve months of war breaking out. However, in April 1940, the division was sent to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France, leaving behind most of its administration, logistical units, heavy weapons, and artillery. The men were assigned to labouring duties. Following the German invasion of France, the division, only partly trained and ill-equipped, was ordered to the frontline. It was mauled in a series of engagements, before it was evacuated from France during the Dunkirk evacuation and in the subsequent evacuation codenamed Operation Aerial. Back in the United Kingdom, the division was rebuilt and trained extensively.

In December 1942, it departed for North Africa and fought in the campaign in Tunisia. In 1943, it landed at Salerno and fought in Italy through 1943 and into 1944. The division was then given a three-month respite in Africa and the Middle East before it returned to fight in Italy during the campaign to break through the Gothic Line. At the end of 1944, the division was dispatched to Greece after the second stage of the country's civil war broke out. It fought several skirmishes with communist partisans and assisted the Greek Government in restoring order. In 1945, the division returned to Italy just after the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy began. The division did not arrive at the forward area until after the campaign, and the war in Europe had ended. It then marched into Austria to form part of the occupation force. There, the division took part in Operation Keelhaul, which included the forced repatriation of Cossacks to the Soviet Union, some of whom were later executed. The division was disbanded in Austria in 1947 as part of Britain's post-war demobilisation.

Background During the 1930s, tensions increased between Germany and the United Kingdom and its allies. In late 1937 and throughout 1938, German demands for the annexation of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia led to an international crisis. To avoid war, the British prime minister Neville Chamberlain met with German chancellor Adolf Hitler in September and brokered the Munich Agreement. It averted a war and allowed Germany to annex the Sudetenland. Although Chamberlain had intended the agreement to lead to further peaceful resolution of issues, relations between the two countries soon deteriorated. On 15 March 1939, Germany breached the terms of the agreement by invading and occupying the remnants of the Czech state.

On 29 March, Leslie Hore-Belisha, the secretary of state for war, announced Britain's plans to increase the Territorial Army (TA) from 130,000 to 340,000 men and double the number of TA divisions. The plan was for existing TA divisions, referred to as the first-line, to recruit over their establishments (aided by an increase in pay for Territorials, the removal of restrictions on promotion which had hindered recruiting, construction of better-quality barracks, and an increase in supper rations) and then form a new division, known as the second-line, from cadres around which the new divisions could be expanded. This process was dubbed "duplicating". The 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division provided cadres to create a second-line "duplicate" formation, which became the 46th Infantry Division. Despite the intention for the army to grow, a lack of central guidance on the expansion and duplication process, and a lack of facilities, equipment, and instructors complicated the programme. In April 1939, 34,500 men, 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. The War Office had envisioned that the duplication process, and recruiting the required numbers of men, would take no more than six months. The process varied widely between the TA divisions. Some were ready in weeks while others had made little progress by the time the Second World War began on 1 September.

History Formation

On 2 October 1939, the 46th Infantry Division became active. The division took control of the 137th, the 138th, and the 139th Infantry Brigades, in addition to supporting divisional units, which had been administered by the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division. Major-General Algernon Ransome, who was called out of retirement and had previously commanded a brigade in the British Indian Army during the mid-1930s, was made the general officer commanding (GOC). and The 137th Brigade had been created as the second-line duplicate of the 147th Infantry Brigade, and comprised the 2/5th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment; the 2/6th Battalion, Duke of Wellington's Regiment (2/6DWR); and the 2/7DWR. The 138th Brigade was raised as the duplicate of the 146th Infantry Brigade and consisted of the 6th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment; the 2/4th Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (2/4KOYLI); and the 6th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment. The 139th Infantry Brigade was the second-line duplicate of the 148th Infantry Brigade, and on formation comprised the 2/5th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment (2/5LR); the 2/5th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters; and the 9th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters.

Because of the lack of official guidance, the newly formed units were at liberty to choose numbers, styles, and titles. The division adopted the number of their First World War counterpart, the 46th (North Midland) Division, but did not include a county within the name of the division. The division's battalions were drawn largely from the English North Midlands. To denote the association of the division with this area, a Sherwood Forest oak tree was chosen as the divisional insignia. The Imperial War Museum wrote that, "in addition, the oak was seen as an emblem of strength and reliability".

Initial service and transfer to France

The war deployment plan for the TA envisioned its divisions being sent overseas, as equipment became available, to reinforce the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) that had been already dispatched to Europe. The TA would join regular army divisions in waves as its divisions completed their training, the final divisions deploying a year after the war began. However, there was a need for men to guard strategically important locations, known as vulnerable points, and the division was primarily assigned to this duty until December 1939. This impacted training and spread the division out over a wide geographical area. While the division was ill-equipped and lacked transportation, it was assigned to anti-invasion duties in Yorkshire after the end of its guard-duty detail. On 5 December 1939, Major-General Henry Curtis took over command of the division; Curtis had previously commanded an infantry brigade within the BEF. At this point, the division was allocated a role within the defensive anti-invasion plan, codenamed Julius Caesar. Divisions assigned to this role, were tasked with launching an immediate attack on German parachutists. If that was not possible, the division was to cordon off and immobilise any German invasion effort until relieved by forces capable of launching a major counter-attack to defeat the Germans.

As 1939 turned into 1940, the division became caught up in an effort to address manpower shortages among the BEF's rear-echelon units. More men were needed to work along the line of communication, and the army had estimated that by mid-1940 it would need at least 60,000 pioneers. The lack of such men had taxed the Royal Engineers and Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps, and had also impacted frontline units that had to divert men from training to help construct defensive positions along the Franco-Belgian border. To address this issue, it was decided to deploy untrained territorial units as an unskilled workforce, thereby alleviating the strain on the existing pioneer units and freeing up regular units to complete their training. As a result, the decision was made to deploy the 12th (Eastern), 23rd (Northumbrian), and the 46th Infantry Divisions to France. Each division would leave their heavy equipment and most of their logistical, administrative, and support units behind. In total, the elements of the three divisions transported to France amounted to 18,347 men. The 46th Division was deployed to Brittany. The 137th Brigade was sent to aid in the unloading of supplies at Saint-Nazaire and Nantes, as well as helping construct railway sidings in that area. The other two brigades were deployed to Rennes to assist in railway construction and aid the transportation of ammunition supplies. The intent was that by August their job would be completed and they could return to the United Kingdom to resume training before being redeployed to France as front-line soldiers. The Army believed that this diversion from guard duty would also raise morale. Lionel Ellis, the author of the British official history of the BEF in France, wrote that while the divisions "were neither fully trained nor equipped for fighting ... a balanced programme of training was carried out so far as time permitted". Historian Tim Lynch commented the deployment also had a political dimension, allowing "British politicians to tell their French counterparts that Britain had supplied three more infantry divisions towards the promised nineteen by the end of the year."

General Edmund Ironside, chief of the imperial general staff, was opposed to such a use of these divisions. He reluctantly caved to the political pressure to release the divisions, having been assured by General Lord Gort (commander of the BEF) that the troops would not be used as frontline combat formations. The 46th Division departed Southampton on 28 April and arrived at Cherbourg the following day. Each of the division's nine battalions were equipped with four mortars, 18 Bren light machine guns, 10 Boys anti-tank rifles and 12 trucks. This placed the division below its establishment of 108 two-inch mortars, 361 anti-tank rifles, and 810 trucks for transporting troops; but over the required establishment of 28 Bren guns.

Battle of France

On 10 May 1940, the Phoney War—the period of inactivity on the Western Front since the start of the conflict—ended as the German military invaded Belgium and the Netherlands. As a result, most of the BEF along with the best French armies and their strategic reserves moved forward to assist the Belgian and Dutch armies. While these forces attempted to stem the tide of the German advance, the main German assault pushed through the Ardennes Forest and crossed the River Meuse. This initiated the Battle of Sedan and threatened to split the Allied armies in two, separating those in Belgium from the rest of the French military along the Franco-German border. The 46th Division was ordered to concentrate on the Belgian border, to act as a reserve to the BEF. As the German threat developed, Gort created an ad hoc force known as Macforce. This force was to protect the BEF's right-rear flank and lines of communication, and prevent the Germans from crossing the River Scarpe.