View source for Dorset County Division

{{Short description|British infantry in WWII}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2015}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=Dorset County Division
|image=File:Dorset County Division Insignia.svg
|caption=The [[Divisional insignia of the British Army|shoulder insignia]] of the division
|dates=24 February 1941&nbsp;–31 December 1941
|country={{flag|United Kingdom}}
|branch={{army|United Kingdom|23px}}
|type=Static [[Infantry]]
|role=Home defence
|size=10,000 men
}}

The '''Dorset County Division''' was formed on 24 February 1941. However it did not take over operational commitments from Southern Area until March 10 and it did not finally assume command of its allocated infantry brigades until 24 April. It only had a short existence, being reduced to an administrative headquarters on 24 November at midday. The whole headquarters was disbanded on 31 December.

==Divisional history==
===Background===

In 1940, following the [[World War II|Second World War's]] [[Battle of France]], the [[United Kingdom]] was under [[Operation Sea Lion|threat of invasion]] from [[Nazi Germany]].{{sfn|Fraser|1999|p=83}} During the summer, the [[Battle of Britain]] dampened this threat.{{sfn|Fraser|1999|p=83}} As the year progressed, the size of the [[British Army]] increased dramatically as 140 new infantry [[battalion]]s were raised.{{sfn|Perry|1988|p=53}} During October, with the possibility of a German invasion during 1941, these new battalions were formed into independent [[infantry]] [[brigade]]s that were then assigned to newly created [[British County Divisions|County Divisions]] (a total of nine such formations were raised).{{sfn|Perry|1988|p=53}}{{sfn|Forty|2013|loc=County Divisions}}

The County Divisions, including the Dorset County Division, were around 10,000 men strong and assigned to defend the coastlines of threatened sections of the country, including the manning of coastal artillery.{{sfn|Perry|1988|p=53}}{{sfn|Churchill|Gilbert|2001|p=1321}}{{sfn|Joslen|2003|p=108}} These divisions were largely static, lacking mobility as well as divisional assets such as [[artillery]], [[Sapper|engineers]], and [[reconnaissance]] forces.{{sfn|Joslen|2003|p=108}} Using the recruits in this manner allowed the regular infantry divisions to be freed up from such duties, undertake training, and form an all-important reserve that could be used to counterattack any possible German landing.{{sfn|Messenger|1994|p=61}}

===Service===
The division was formed on 24 February 1941, however it did not take command of any troops until 24 April. [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] [[Gerald Gartlan|G. I. Gartlan]] was given command of the division, and it comprised the [[210th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home)]] and [[226th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|226th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home)]].{{sfn|Joslen|2003|pp=373, 389}} The [[Imperial War Museum]] comments that the division insignia was "adapted from the arms of [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]] and the [[Dorset County Council|County Council]]."<ref name="IWM">{{cite web |url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30072482|title=Badge, formation, Dorset County Division|website=[[Imperial War Museum]] |access-date=15 May 2015}}</ref>

The division was assigned to [[V Corps (United Kingdom)|V Corps]], and spread out across the western coast of [[Dorset]]. Across the county line to the west was the [[Devon and Cornwall County Division]], and likewise to the east was the [[Hampshire County Division]]. In reserve, held back from the beaches as a counterattack force, was the [[48th (South Midland) Division|48th (South Midland) Infantry Division]] to the northwest between the Dorset and the Devon and Cornwall divisions, and the [[3rd Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|3rd Infantry Division]] to the northeast between the Dorset and Hampshire divisions.{{sfn|Joslen|2003|p=109}}{{sfn|Collier|1957|p=229}}

===Demise===
On 22 June 1941, Germany [[Operation Barbarossa|launched a massive attack]] upon the [[Soviet Union]]; this attack all but removed the threat of a German invasion of the United Kingdom. However, the British still had to consider the threat of a German invasion due to the possibility that the Soviet Union could collapse under the German onslaught and the ease in which Germany could transfer troops back to the west. In late 1941, the arrival of autumn and winter weather meant that the threat of invasion subsided. This, coupled with the production of new equipment for the British army, allowed the [[War Office]] to begin steps to better balance the army due to the large number of infantry units formed during the preceding year and a half.{{sfn|Goldstein|McKercher|2003|p=274}}{{sfn|Perry|1988|p=65}} As part of this reform, the County Divisions were disbanded. The 140 recently raised battalions were, on the whole, transferred to other arms of the British Army to be retrained, primarily within the [[Royal Artillery]] or the [[Royal Armoured Corps]].{{sfn|Goldstein|McKercher|2003|p=274}}{{sfn|Perry|1988|pp=53–54}}{{efn|The large intake of men into the army had considerably increased the infantry arm. The reforms intended to address this, with many of the newly raised battalions being "converted to other arms, particularly artillery and armour".{{sfn|Perry|1988|pp=53–54}} In addition to this, historian F.W. Perry comments, there was considerable pressure "to increase the armoured component [of the army] and build up [[British Commandos|raiding]] and special forces". These pressures, and the re-balancing of the military, resulted in seven of the nine County Divisions being disbanded and only two being reformed as infantry divisions{{sfn|Perry|1988|p=65}}}}

==General officer commanding==
{{see also|General officer commanding}}
Commanders included:
{|
!Appointed
!General officer commanding
|-
|24 February 1941
|[[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] [[Gerald Gartlan|G. I. Gartlan]]{{sfn|Joslen|2003|p=109}}
|}

==Order of battle==
{| class="toccolours collapsible collapsed" style="width:100%; background:transparent;"
!colspan= | Dorset County Division
|-
|colspan="2" |
210th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home){{sfn|Joslen|2003|p=373}}
{{main |210th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) | l1 = 210th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home) }}
* 7th Battalion, [[Suffolk Regiment]] (until 8 November 1941)
* [[8th Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment]]
* 10th Battalion, [[Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire)]]
* 10th Battalion, [[Somerset Light Infantry]] (until 13 June 1941)

226th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home){{sfn|Joslen|2003|p=389}}
{{main |226th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom) | l1 = 226th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home)}}
* 12th Battalion, [[Devonshire Regiment]] (until 19 June 1941)
* 14th Battalion, [[Royal Warwickshire Regiment]] (until 9 June 1941)
* 8th Battalion, [[Essex Regiment]]
* [[9th Battalion, Essex Regiment (1940–42)|9th Battalion, Essex Regiment]] (until 23 November 1941)
* 10th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry (from 14 June 1941)
* 8th Battalion, [[East Lancashire Regiment]] (from 26 July until 19 November 1941)
|}

==Notes==
{{Portal|United Kingdom}}

===Footnotes===
{{Notelist}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book|ref=CITEREFChurchillGilbert2001|last=Churchill|first=Winston|author-link=Winston Churchill|editor-last=Gilbert|editor-first=Martin|editor-link=Martin Gilbert|title=The Churchill War Papers: The Ever-Widening War|volume=3|location=New York|publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]]|year=2001|isbn=978-0-393-01959-9}}
* {{cite book |first=Basil|last=Collier|author1-link=Basil Collier|editor-last=Butler |editor-first=J. R. M. |editor-link=James Ramsay Montagu Butler |series=[[History of the Second World War]], United Kingdom Military Series |title=The Defence of the United Kingdom|location=London |publisher=[[Office of Public Sector Information|Her Majesty's Stationery Office]]|year=1957|oclc=375046}}
* {{cite book|last=Fraser|first=David|author-link=David Fraser (British Army officer)|title=And We Shall Shock Them: The British Army in the Second World War|location=London|publisher=[[Orion Publishing Group|Cassell Military]]|year=1999|orig-year=1983|isbn=978-0-304-35233-3}}
* {{cite book|editor-last1=Goldstein|editor-first1=Erik|editor-last2=McKercher|editor-first2=Brian|title=Power and Stability: British Foreign Policy, 1865–1965|series=Diplomacy & Statecraft|location=London|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2003|isbn=978-0-7146-8442-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Forty|first=George|title=Companion to the British Army 1939–1945|publisher=[[The History Press|Spellmount]]|year=2013|orig-year=1998|edition=ePub|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7509-5139-5}}
* {{Joslen-OOB}}
* {{cite book |last=Messenger |first=Charles |year=1994 |series=A History of British Infantry |title=For Love of Regiment 1915–1994 |volume=2 |location=London|publisher=[[Pen and Sword Books|Pen & Sword Books]] |isbn=978-0-85052-422-2}}
* {{Cite book|first=Frederick William|last=Perry|title=The Commonwealth Armies: Manpower and Organisation in Two World Wars|series=War, Armed Forces and Society|location=Manchester|publisher=[[Manchester University Press]]|year=1988|isbn=978-0-7190-2595-2}}
{{refend}}

{{British Divisions in World War II}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorset County Division}}
[[Category:British county divisions]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1941]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1941]]
[[Category:Military units and formations in Dorset]]