47th (1/2nd London) Division

The 47th (1/2nd London) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force.

For the equivalent formation in the Second World War, see 47th (London) Infantry Division.

2nd London Division
47th (1/2nd London) Division
47th (2nd London) Infantry Division
Insignia of the 47th (1/2nd London) Division, First World War.
Active1908–1919
1920–1936
CountryUnited Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
Peacetime HQDuke of York's Headquarters
EngagementsFirst World War
Second Battle of Ypres 1915
Battle of the Somme 1916
Battle of Arras 1917
Third Battle of Ypres 1917
Maj-Gen Sir Charles Monro, GOC 2nd London Division on the outbreak of World War I.

Formation

The Territorial Force (TF) was formed on 1 April 1908 following the enactment of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (7 Edw.7, c.9) which combined and re-organised the old Volunteer Force, the Honourable Artillery Company and the Yeomanry. On formation, the TF contained 14 infantry divisions and 14 mounted yeomanry brigades.[1] One of the divisions was the 2nd London Division.[2] In peacetime, the divisional headquarters was, from 1912, in the Duke of York's Headquarters.[2][3]

First World War
The march past of the British 47th Division in the Grande Place, 28 October 1918.

The 2nd London Division was designated the 47th Division in 1915, during the Great War, and referred to as the "1/2nd London Division" after the raising of the second-line 60th (2/2nd London) Division. The division was sent to France in March 1915, one of the first Territorial divisions to enter the fighting, and served on the Western Front for the duration of the war.[4]

In early 1916 the division was part of Lieutenant General Sir Henry Wilson's IV Corps. Wilson was not impressed by Charles Barter, the 47th's GOC, and at the end of March 1916 he and Lieutenant General Sir Charles Monro (GOC First Army) discussed getting rid of him, but could not come up with a reason for doing so; Barter survived until he was relieved during the Battle of the Somme.[5]

The 47th Division conducted effective mining operations against Vimy Ridge on 3 and 15 May 1916, but a German attack on the evening of Sunday 21 May moved forward 800 yards, capturing 1,000 yards of the British front line, and the division performed badly during a counterattack on 23 May. The 47th Division conducted a carefully planned single battalion raid on the night of 27–8 June, claiming to have killed 300–600 Germans for only 13 British casualties.[6]

In the final stages of the war the division's GSO1 (effectively chief of staff) was acting Lieutenant Colonel Bernard Montgomery.[7]

The division fought in the Battle of Aubers Ridge, the Battle of Festubert, the Battle of Loos, the 1 July 1916 Battle of the Somme, including the Battle of Flers-Courcelette and the capture of High Wood. After mid-1916 battles included the Battle of Le Transloy, the Battle of Messines, and the Battle of Cambrai.[8]

Order of battle

The composition of the division was as follows:[9][8][4]

140th (4th London) Brigade

Pre-war the brigade comprised the following battalions:

After it landed in France it had the following composition:

From February 1918, the brigade comprised the following battalions:

141st (5th London) Brigade
142nd (6th London) Brigade
Pioneers
Machine Guns
  • 239th Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps (from 17 July until 1 October 1917)
  • 255th Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps (from 19 November 1917 until 1 March 1918)
  • No. 47 Battalion, Machine Gun Corps (from 1 March 1918)
    • 140th, 141st, 142nd, 255th Machine Gun Companies
Mounted Troops
  • C Squadron 1st King Edward's Horse (from 25 April 1915 until 1 June 1916)
  • 2nd London Divisional Cyclist Company (until 1 June 1916)
Royal Artillery[10]
Drivers from CCXXXV Brigade RFA water their horses near Flesquières 24 November 1917 during the Battle of Cambrai.

(1st London Divisional Artillery also served with the division in January and February 1916)

47th (1/2nd London) Divisional Engineers[12][13]
Medical
  • 4th London Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps
  • 5th London Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps
  • 6th London Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps
  • 2nd London Sanitary Section (until 18 April 1917)
  • 2nd London Divisional Ambulance Workshop (to Divisional Train 3 April 1916)
  • 2nd London Mobile Veterinary Section, Army Veterinary Corps
Transport[15]
  • 2nd London Divisional Transport and Supply Column, Army Service Corps
    • 2nd London Divisional Company (HQ) (became 455 Company, ASC, 23 April 1915)
    • 4th London Brigade Company (became 456 Company, ASC, 23 April 1915)
    • 5th London Brigade Company (became 457 Company, ASC, 23 April 1915)
    • 6th London Brigade Company (became 458 Company, ASC, 23 April 1915)
Labour
  • 241st Divisional Employment Company (from May 1917)

Postwar

The division was reformed in 1920.[16] By 1935 the increasing need for anti-aircraft (AA) defence, particularly for London, was addressed by converting the 47th Division into the 1st Anti-Aircraft Division.[17]

Second World War
Main article: 47th (London) Infantry Division

During the Second World War, the division was once again raised, this time as a duplicate of the 1st London Division, initially as the 2nd London Division, but was redesignated in November 1940 as the 47th (London) Infantry Division.[18]

Commanders
Maj-Gen Sir George Gorringe, GOC 1916–18.

The following officers commanded 47th Division throughout its existence:[8]

Appointed General officer commanding (GOC)
March 1908 Major-General Vesey J. Dawson
31 March 1912 Major-General Charles C. Monro
5 August 1914 Major-General Thomas L. N. Morland
3 September 1914 Major-General Charles St. L. Barter
28 September 1916 Brigadier-General W. H. Greenly (temporary)
2 October 1916 Major-General Sir George F. Gorringe
14 October 1917 Brigadier-General R. McDouall (acting)
26 October 1917 Brigadier-General J. F. Erskine (acting)
5 November 1917 Major-General Sir George F. Gorringe
July 1919 Major-General Sir Nevill M. Smyth
July 1923 Lieutenant-General Sir William Thwaites
January 1927 Major-General Leopold C.L. Oldfield
January 1931 Major-General Richard D. F. Oldman
January 1935 Major-General Clive G. Liddell

Memorial
The two wooden memorial crosses were originally erected at High Wood and Eaucourt l'Abbaye by 47 Divisional Engineers in 1916.

Two wooden memorial crosses erected at High Wood and Eaucourt l'Abbaye by 47 Divisional Engineers in 1916[19] were falling into disrepair by 1925, when they were replaced in stone. The restored wooden crosses were preserved at the Duke of York's Headquarters in London (the former divisional HQ) until that building was sold in 2003, and are now at Connaught House, the HQ of the London Irish Rifles on the site of the former First Surrey Rifles drill hall at Flodden Road, Camberwell.[20][21]

See also

References
  1. Westlake 1992, p. 3
  2. Conrad, Mark (1996). "The British Army, 1914". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  3. Westlake, Ray (2011). The Territorials, 1908–1914: A Guide for Military and Family Historians. Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-1848843608.
  4. "47th (1/2nd London) Division". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  5. Jeffery 2006, pp. 156–8
  6. Jeffery 2006, pp. 161–4, 168–70
  7. Hamilton, p. 61.
  8. Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 69–75.
  9. Monthly Army List, August 1914.
  10. Litchfield, pp. 153–60.
  11. Litchfield, p. 162.
  12. Edwards.
  13. Watson & Rinaldi, pp. 11, 34, 62.
  14. Lord & Watson, p. 157.
  15. Young, Annexes D & Q.
  16. Titles and Designations of Formations and Units of the Territorial Army, London: War Office, 7 November 1927
  17. "1 AA Division 1936 at British Military History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  18. Joslen 2003, pp. 41–42
  19. Maude, facing p. 70.
  20. IWM WMA Ref 12077
  21. IWM WMA Ref 12078

Bibliography
  • Becke, Maj A. F. (2007) [1935]. History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2a: The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions. Vol. 42–56 (Naval & Military Press, Uckfield ed.). London: H M Stationery Office. ISBN 978-1-84734-739-8.
  • Edwards, Maj D. K. (1967) A History of the 1st Middlesex Volunteer Engineers (101 (London) Engineer Regiment, TA) 1860–1967, London.
  • Hamilton, Nigel (1981). Monty The Making of a General 1887–1942. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-025805-1.
  • Jeffery, Keith (2006). Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson: A Political Soldier. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-820358-2.
  • Joslen, H. F. (2003) [1960]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield, East Sussex: Naval and Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1.
  • Litchfield, Norman E. H. (1992) The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, ISBN 0-9508205-2-0.
  • Lord, Cliff & Watson, Graham (2003) Royal Corps of Signals: Unit Histories of the Corps (1920–2001) and its Antecedents, Solihull: Helion, ISBN 1-874622-92-2.
  • Maude, Alan H., ed. (1922). The 47th (London) Division, 1914–1919 by Some who Served with it in the Great War (online scan ed.). London: Amalgamated Press. OCLC 494890858. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  • Watson, Graham E.; Rinaldi, Richard A. (2018) The Corps of Royal Engineers: Organization and Units 1889–2018, Tiger Lily Books, ISBN 978-171790180-4.
  • Westlake, Ray (1992). British Territorial Units 1914–18. Men-at-Arms Series. Vol. 245. Osprey. ISBN 978-1-85532-168-7.
  • Young, Lt-Col Michael (2000) Army Service Corps 1902–1918, Barnsley: Leo Cooper, ISBN 0-85052-730-9.
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