The 48th (South Midland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army. Part of the Territorial Force (TF) and raised in 1908, the division was originally called the South Midland Division, and was redesignated as the 48th (South Midland) Division in 1915. During the First World War, the division saw service on the Western Front before being transferred to the Italian Front in November 1917 and remaining there for the rest of the war.
Reformed in 1920 in the Territorial Army (TA) as the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division, it saw active service in the Second World War with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in Belgium and France before being evacuated from Dunkirk to the United Kingdom. It was converted into a training reserve division in December 1942, remaining in the United Kingdom in that status for the rest of the war. Disbanded after the war, the division was not reformed again. In both world wars, the division raised a second line reserve formation; the 61st (2nd South Midland) Division in the First World War, and 61st Division in the Second World War.
Formation In 1901, following lessons learned from the Second Boer War and diplomatic clashes with the growing German Empire, the United Kingdom sought to reform the British Army so it would be able to engage in European affairs if required. This task fell to Secretary of State for War, Richard Haldane who implemented several policies known as the Haldane Reforms. As part of these reforms, the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 created a new Territorial Force by merging the existing Yeomanry and Volunteer Force in 1908. This resulted in the creation of 14 Territorial Divisions, including the South Midland Division.
As part of the legislation, the territorials were only liable to serve within the United Kingdom. Haldane envisioned that the territorials would take over the defence of the country against what was perceived as a very real threat of invasion, which would allow the regular army to be deployed aboard. In addition, Haldane saw the territorials as a source of reinforcements for the regular army. Six months following mobilisation, during which time the troops would have come up to an acceptable training standard, Haldane was confident that up to a quarter of the men would opt to go and fight abroad.
The 1910 edition of the Hazell's Annual reported that, in 1909, "The South Midland Division ... had 13 units up to or over establishment, and the others very little below it." The following year, the Territorial Force as a whole peaked at a strength of 276,000 men; 26,000 men short of the peacetime establishment set by Haldane's reforms. However, between 1910 and 1914, the overall strength of the force had declined to 250,000, 52,000 short of the peacetime establishment. In peacetime, the divisional headquarters was in the Old Barracks in Warwick.
First World War 1914
On the outbreak of the First World War in the summer of 1914, the division composed the Warwickshire Brigade, the Gloucester and Worcester Brigade and the South Midland Brigade. In August 1914, the South Midland Division departed for its annual summer training camp. The Warwickshire Brigade, for example, departed for Rhyl in Northern Wales.
Following the declaration of war, the division was mobilised and moved south to take up defensive positions along the southern coast. Due to German-invasion scares, the division-numbering 6,000 men-moved to Essex. While there was no invasion, the division remained in the area on defensive duties and to continue training.
During the opening weeks of the war, as the Territorials were not required to be deployed overseas, the troops were asked to volunteer. By the end of August, more than 70 battalions across the TF had volunteered, with the number rising higher as the year progressed.
1915–1918 In March 1915, with the threat of a German invasion having subsided, the South Midland Division was dispatched to France with the Territorials who had volunteered for overseas service.
On 13 May 1915 the division was numbered, becoming the 48th (South Midland) Division and the brigades in the division were also numbered, the Warwickshire Brigade became the 143rd (Warwickshire) Brigade, the Gloucester and Worcester Brigade became the 144th (Gloucester and Worcester) Infantry Brigade and the South Midland Brigade became the 145th (South Midland) Infantry Brigade.
The members of the division who did not, or were not able to, volunteer for overseas service, were transferred to newly created second line units intended for home defence. These second line units were eventually formed into the 61st (2nd South Midland) Division and, following the passing of the Military Service Act 1916, deployed to France in May 1916.
The division, now commanded by Major General Robert Fanshawe, who would command for just over three years, took part in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, the Battle of Pozières and the Battle of Passchendaele (also known as the Third Battle of Ypres) in the following year.
In November 1917, the division was sent to the Italian front, where it remained until the end of the war. It fought the Battle of the Piave River (15–16 June 1918) and the Battle of Vittorio Veneto from October to November.
48th (South Midland) Division (1914–1918)143rd (Warwickshire) Brigade 1/5th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment 1/6th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment 1/7th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment 1/8th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment (until September 1918) 143rd Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps (formed 8 January 1916; moved to 48th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps on 22 March 1918) 143rd Trench Mortar Battery (formed 14 June 1916)
144th (Gloucester and Worcester) Brigade 1/4th (City of Bristol) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment 1/6th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment 1/7th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment 1/8th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment (until September 1918) 144th Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps (formed 23 January 1916; moved to 48th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps on 22 March 1918) 144th Trench Mortar Battery (formed 14 June 1916)
145th (South Midland) Brigade 1/5th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment (until September 1918) 1/4th Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry 1/1st Buckinghamshire Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry 1/4th Battalion, Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment) 145th Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps (formed 11 January 1916, moved to 48th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps on 22 March 1918) 145th Trench Mortar Battery (formed 14 June 1916)
Mounted Troops 'B' Squadron, 1st King Edward's Horse (joined 24 April 1915, joined IV Corps Cavalry Regiment on 13 May 1916) South Midland Divisional Cyclist Company (formed on 3 December 1914, joined VIII Corps Cyclist Battalion on 14 May 1916)
48th (South Midland) Divisional Artillery Royal Field ArtilleryFarndale, p. 94. XXCL (I South Midland) Brigade 1/1st, 1/2nd, 1/3rd Gloucestershire Batteries I South Midland Brigade Ammunition Column CCXLI (II South Midland) Brigade 1/1st, 1/2nd, 1/3rd Worcestershire Batteries II South Midland Brigade Ammunition Column CCXLII (III South Midland) Brigade (became an Army Field Artillery Brigade on 20 January 1917) 1/1st, 1/2nd, 1/3rd Warwickshire Batteries III South Midland Brigade Ammunition Column CCXLIII (IV South Midland) (Howitzer) Brigade (broken up 16 October 1916) 1/4th, 1/5th Warwickshire (H) Batteries IV South Midland (H) Brigade Ammunition Column 48th Divisional Ammunition Column Heavy Artillery South Midland (Warwickshire) Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery (left 16 April 1915) Trench Mortar Batteries V/48 Heavy Trench Mortar Battery (formed 21 April 1916, disbanded 10 November 1917) X/48, Y/48 and Z/48 Medium Mortar Batteries, RFA (formed 15 March 1916; on 21 March 1918 Z was absorbed by X and Y)
48th (South Midland) Divisional Engineers 474th (1/1st South Midland) Field Company (left 4 December 1914, rejoined 1 May 1915) 475th (1/2nd South Midland) Field Company 1/1st West Lancashire Field Company (attached 18–28 April 1915) 7th Field Company (joined 29 April 1915, left 17 June 1915) 477th (2/1st South Midland) Field Company (joined 10 June 1915) 48th (South Midland) Divisional Signal CompanyLord & Watson, p. 159.
Pioneers 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment (joined 21 August 1915)
Machine Gun Units 251st Machine Gun Company (joined 16 November 1917, moved to 48th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps on 22 March 1918) 48th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps (formed 22 March 1918 with 143rd, 144th, 145th and 251st Companies)
Medical and Veterinary 1/1st South Midland Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps 1/2nd South Midland Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps 1/3rd South Midland Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps 1st South Midland Mobile Veterinary Section Army Veterinary Corps 48th (1/1st South Midland) Sanitary Section, Royal Army Medical Corps (formed 21 February 1915, left for III Corps 4 April 1917) 48th (1/1st South Midland) Ambulance Workshop (joined in concentration area, absorbed in Divisional Supply Column on 4 April 1916)
Divisional Train, Army Service Corps 459th (Divisional Headquarters) Company, ASC 460th (Warwickshire Brigade) Company, ASC 461st (Gloucester and Worcester Brigade) Company, ASC 462nd (South Midland Brigade) Company, ASC
Others 242nd Divisional Employment Company (formed 16 June 1917)
Interwar After the war, the 48th Divisional Signal Company was posted to Iran as part of Norperforce.Haldane. The division was disbanded in June 1919, along with the rest of the Territorial Force. However, the Territorial Force was reformed in 1920 as the Territorial Army (TA) and the 48th Division was reconstituted as the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division.
During the interwar period, the British Army envisioned that, during future conflicts, the Territorial Army would be used as the basis for future expansion so as to avoid raising a new Kitchener's Army. However, as the 1920s and 1930s wore on, the British Government prioritised funding for the regular army over the territorials, allowing recruitment and equipment levels to languish. Baron Templemore, as part of a House of Lords debate on the Territorial Army, stated that the division - on 1 October 1924 - mustered 338 officers and 7,721 other ranks. Historian David French highlights that "by April 1937 the Territorial Army had reached less than 80 per cent of its shrunken peacetime establishment" and "Its value as an immediate reserve was, therefore, limited." Edward Smalley comments that "48th Divisional Signals operated on an improvised organizational structure" for most of the 1930s, due to being below 50 per cent strength. He further highlights how the TA, and the division in particular, "never kept pace with technological developments." In 1937, the division was operating just two radio sets on a full-time basis and had to borrow additional units from the 3rd Infantry Division for annual training camps.
Second World War