39th Division (United Kingdom)

The 39th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised during the First World War. The division was part of Kitchener's New Armies and saw service on the Western Front and in Italy from 1916 onwards.

39th Division
Division insignia
Active1915–1919
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Gerald Cuthbert
Neill Malcolm
Cyril Blacklock

History

The division was formed as part of the fifth wave (K5) of divisions in the New Army; it did not have a regional title, but was composed primarily of recruits from the Midlands, London, and the south of England. Several of its battalions had been raised by local communities, and were named for their towns or industries. After training and home service, it deployed to the Western Front in early 1916, and fought in the Battle of the Somme. The following year, it saw action at the Third Battle of Ypres, and in 1918 took heavy losses in the German Army's Spring Offensive. The General Officer Commanding, Major-General Edward Feetham, was killed in the action in March 1918.[1]

Following near-destruction at the Battle of the Lys, the division was reduced to a cadre, which spent the remainder of the war training newly arrived units of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). The division demobilised after the Armistice with Germany, and had ceased to exist by July 1919.[2]

Order of battle

The following units served with the division:[2]

116th Brigade

The brigade was originally numbered the 121st intended for the 40th Division of the Fifth New Army. The brigades first commander was Brigadier-General Reginald Barnes.

117th Brigade

118th Brigade

39th Divisional Composite Brigade

Formed on 10 April 1918 after the Division suffered heavy losses and placed under command of Brig-Gen. A. Hubback. Fought in the Battles of the Lys as an independent command attached to XXII Corps. Returned to Division and men deployed to old units by 6 May 1918.

  • 1st Battalion (formed from remnants of 11th Royal Sussex and 1/1st Hertfordshire)
  • 2nd Battalion (formed from remnants of 13th Gloucestershire and 13th Royal Sussex)
  • 3rd Battalion (formed from remnants of units of 117th Brigade)
  • 4th Battalion (formed from remnants of units 118th Brigade)
  • 5th Battalion (formed from remnants of units of all three Brigades)
  • 118th Trench Mortar Battery
  • No 4 (287th) Company, 39th Divisional Train Army Service Corps (A.S.C.)

Divisional Troops

  • 13th (Service) Battalion, (Forest of Dean) Gloucestershire Regiment (divisional pioneers, left as a cadre by 6 May 1918)
  • 228th Machine Gun Company (joined 19 July 1917, moved to 39th Battalion M.G.C. 14 March 1918, left 11 September 1918)
  • 39th Battalion M.G.C. (formed 14 March 1918, absorbing the brigade MG companies)
  • Divisional Mounted Troops
  • 39th Divisional Train A.S.C.
    • 284th, 285th, 286th and 287th Companies
  • 50th Mobile Veterinary Section Army Veterinary Corps
  • 236th Divisional Employment Company (joined 30 June 1917)

For short periods in the summer of 1918, 47 battalion cadres from reorganised divisions that had suffered heavy losses in the German spring offensives were attached to the brigades and division HQ.

39th (Deptford) Divisional Artillery
The whole divisional artillery was raised by the Mayor and Corporation of Deptford; operated as an independent formation after April 1918[3]

Royal Engineers

  • 225th (Stockton on Tees) Field Company
  • 227th (Stockton on Tees) Field Company
  • 234th (Stockton on Tees) Company
  • 39th Divisional Signals Company (Empire)

Royal Army Medical Corps

  • 132nd Field Ambulance
  • 133rd Field Ambulance
  • 134th Field Ambulance
  • 82nd Sanitary Section (left 17 April 1917)

General Officers Commanding

See also

References
  1. Davies, Frank; Maddocks, Graham (1995). Bloody Red Tabs: General Officer Casualties of the Great War 1914–1918. Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-0850524635.
  2. Baker, Chris. "39th Division". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  3. Lt-Col H.W. Wiebkin, A Short History of the 39th (Deptford) Divisional Artillery, 1915–1918, London: Berryman, 1923/Uckfield: Royal Artillery Museum and Naval & Military Press, 2004, ISBN 1-845740-82-3.
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