61st (2nd South Midland) Division

2025-04-08T18:18:39Z

145.224.66.99:

{{Short description|British Army infantry division in the First World War}}
{{For|the similarly numbered formation in the [[World War II|Second World War]]|61st Infantry Division (United Kingdom)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2015}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = 61st (2nd South Midland) Division
| image = 61st division ww1.svg
| caption = Division insignia
| dates = January 1915 – January 1919
| country = {{flagcountry|UKGBI}}
| allegiance =
| branch = {{army|United Kingdom|23px}}
| type = [[Infantry]]
| role =
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| colonel_of_the_regiment =
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| battles = [[First World War]]
:[[Battle of Fromelles]]
| notable_commanders =
| anniversaries =
}}
The '''61st (2nd South Midland) Division''' was an [[infantry]] [[Division (military)|division]] of the [[British Army]] raised in 1915 during the [[Great War]] as a second-line reserve for the first-line battalions of the [[48th (South Midland) Division]]. The division was sent to the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] in May 1916 and served there for the duration of the First World War.

==Unit history==
[[File:The German Spring Offensive, March-july 1918 Q6511.jpg|thumb|left|Battle of Hazebrouck. Men of the 2/7th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, moving a bed-ridden elderly man of Robecq, 12 April 1918.]]

The division landed in France in May 1916.<ref name=trail>{{cite web|url=http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/61st-2nd-south-midland-division/|title=61st (2nd South Midland) Division|publisher=The Long, Long Trail|access-date=21 May 2020}}</ref> On 19 July 1916, together with the 5th Australian Division, the 61st Division fought the [[Battle of Fromelles]], designed as a feint attack as part of the Somme Offensive.<ref name=trail/> The attack, against well prepared German positions based on a ridge, was a disaster and responsible for the subsequent poor reputation of the Division.<ref name=thesis/> The division later took part in the advance to the [[Hindenburg Line]] and the [[Third Battle of Ypres]].<ref name=trail/>

==Order of Battle==
The order of battle was as follows:<ref name=trail/><br>
; '''[[182nd (2nd Warwickshire) Brigade]]''' :
* [[Birmingham Rifles|2/5th Battalion]], [[Royal Warwickshire Regiment]] (''disbanded February 1918'')
* [[6th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment|2/6th Battalion]], Royal Warwickshire Regiment
* 2/7th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment
* 2/8th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment (''disbanded February 1918'')
* 2/8th Battalion, [[Worcestershire Regiment]] (''from 183rd Bde. February 1918'')

; '''[[183rd (2nd Gloucester and Worcester) Brigade]]''' :
The brigade contained the following battalions until February 1918 when
most of them were disbanded.
* [[City of Bristol Rifles#2/4th (City of Bristol) Battalion|2/4th (City of Bristol) Battalion]], [[Gloucestershire Regiment]]
* [[6th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment#2/6th Gloucesters|2/6th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment]]
* [[2/7th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment]]
* 2/8th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment (''to 182nd Bde. February 1918'')

Between February and June 1918 the 183rd Brigade contained the following
battalions.
* [[9th Battalion, Royal Scots|1/9th (Highlanders) Battalion]], [[Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment)]]
* 1/5th (Buchan and Formartin) Battalion, [[Gordon Highlanders]]
* 1/8th ([[Argyllshire]]) Battalion, [[Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders]]

From May 1918 the following battalions joined the Brigade.
* 1st Battalion, [[East Lancashire Regiment]]
* [[List of Northumberland Fusiliers battalions in World War I#9|9th (Service) Battalion]], [[Northumberland Fusiliers]]
* [[11th (Service) Battalion, Suffolk Regiment (Cambridgeshire)]]

; '''[[184th (2nd South Midland) Brigade]]''' :
* [[2nd Gloucestershire Rifle Volunteers#2/5th Gloucesters|2/5th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment]]
* 2/4th Battalion, [[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry]]
* 2/1st [[Buckinghamshire]] Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (''disbanded February 1918'')
* 2/4th Battalion, [[Royal Berkshire Regiment]]

; '''Divisional Troops''' :
* 1/5th Bn, the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry joined as Divisional Pioneer Bn April 1916
* 267th Machine Gun Company joined 18 January 1918, moved to 61st Bn MGC 1 March 1918
* 61st Battalion MGC formed 1 March 1918

; '''Divisional Mounted Troops''' :
* 2/1st Bedfordshire Yeomanry joined October 1915, left February 1916
* 2/2nd County of London Yeomanry joined 24 January 1916, left February 1916
* C Sqn, 1/1st Hampshire Yeomanry joined 18 March 1916, left 7 June 1916
* 2nd South Midland Divisional Cyclist Company left June 1916

; '''61st (2nd South Midland) Divisional Artillery''' : (the artillery of 59th Division was also attached between 8 and 26 August 1918)
* [[Gloucestershire Volunteer Artillery|CCCV (2/I South Midland) Brigade]], [[Royal Field Artillery]] (RFA) broken up 17 September 1916
* [[306th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery|CCCVI (2/II South Midland) Brigade, RFA]]
* [[307th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery|CCCVII (2/III South Midland) Brigade, RFA]]
* [[308th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery|CCCVIII (2/IV S.M.) (Howitzer) Brigade, RFA]] broken up 27 January 1917
* [[South Midland (Warwickshire) Royal Garrison Artillery|2/1st South Midland (Warwicks) Heavy Battery]], [[Royal Garrison Artillery]] (RGA) left 3 February 1916
* [[London Heavy Brigade, Royal Garrison Artillery|2/2nd London Heavy Battery]] RGA joined 24 January 1916, left 3 February 1916
* [[Wessex (Hampshire) Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery|1/1st Wessex Heavy Battery]] RGA attached 24 January to February 1916
* [[Wessex (Hampshire) Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery|2/1st Wessex Heavy Battery]] RGA attached 24 January to February 1916
* 61st Divisional Ammunition Column RFA
* V.61 Heavy Trench Mortar Battery, RFA formed by 16 August 1916; left 7 February 1918
* X.61, Y.61 and Z.61 Medium Mortar Batteries, RFA formed June 1916; on 7 February 1918, Z broken up and batteries reorganised to have 6 x 6-inch weapons each

; '''[[61st (2nd South Midland) Divisional Engineers]]''' :
* 477th (2/1st South Midland) Field Company moved independently to France and joined 48th Division June 1915
* 478th (2/2nd South Midland) Field Company
* 479th (3/1st South Midland) Field Company
* 476th (1/3rd South Midland) Field Company joined by May 1916
* 61st Divisional Signals Company

; '''Royal Army Medical Corps''' :
* 2/1st South Midland Field Ambulance
* 2/2nd South Midland Ambulance
* 2/3rd South Midland Field Ambulance
* 61st Sanitary Section left for IV Corps 12 April 1917

; '''Other Divisional Troops''' :
* 61st Divisional Train ASC 521, 522, 523 and 524 Companies ASC
* 2/1st South Midland Mobile Veterinary Section AVC
* 251st Divisional Employment Company joined 7 June 1917

==Battles==
* [[Battle of Fromelles]]

==General Officer Commanding==
Commanding officers were:
* Brigadier-General [[James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury|The Marquess of Salisbury]], September 1915 – December 1915<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=PF38kelDYrYC&pg=PA33 |title=Order of Battle of Divisions|year=1935|first=Archibald Frank |last=Becke|publisher=H. M. Stationery Office|page=33}}</ref>
* Major-General [[Richard Bannatine-Allason]], December 1915 – February 1916<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firstworldwar.bham.ac.uk/donkey/bannatine.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060216031313/http://www.firstworldwar.bham.ac.uk/donkey/bannatine.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 February 2006|title=Richard Bannatine-Allason|publisher=Centre for First World War Studies, University of Birmingham|access-date=26 May 2020}}</ref>
* Major-General [[Colin Mackenzie (British Army officer)|Sir Colin Mackenzie]], KCB, February 1916 – May 1918<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.westernfrontassociation.com/world-war-i-articles/british-divisional-commanders-during-the-great-war-first-thoughts/|title=British Divisional Commanders During the Great War – First Thoughts: Note 19|publisher=Western Front Association|access-date=26 May 2020}}</ref>
* Major-General [[John Duncan (British Army officer, born 1870)|F. John Duncan]], CB, CMG, DSO 1918<ref name=thesis>{{cite thesis |author= |url=http://clevelode-battletours.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/61st-Division-in-WW1-UNIVERSITY-OF-BIRMINGHAM.pdf |title=The 61st Division had the Reputation of Being a poorly Performing Formation. How did it Acquire this Reputation and was it a Justified Description? |type=MA |publisher=University of Birmingham |location=Birmingham |id=984318 |edition=online |access-date=25 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407173728/http://clevelode-battletours.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/61st-Division-in-WW1-UNIVERSITY-OF-BIRMINGHAM.pdf |archive-date=7 April 2016 |url-status=usurped }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|United Kingdom}}
* [[List of British divisions in World War I]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* The Long, Long, Trail: The British Army in the Great War, [http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/61st-2nd-south-midland-division/ The 61st (2nd South Midland) Division]

{{British Army Divisions}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:61 Infantry Division}}
[[Category:Infantry divisions of the British Army in World War I]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1915]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1919]]

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61st (2nd South Midland) Division