41st Division (United Kingdom)
The 41st Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised during the First World War as part of Lord Kitchener's New Armies. The division saw service on the Western Front and later on the Italian Front.
Formation history
After training and home service, the 41st Division, commanded by Major-General Sydney Lawford, deployed overseas to reinforce the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in the first week of May 1916; its first major combat came in September of that year, at the Battle of Flers–Courcelette, part of the larger Battle of the Somme.After fighting in 1917 at the Battle of Messines and the Battle of Passchendaele it was transferred with four other divisions to the Italian Front. It remained here for three months throughout the winter of 1917–18 before returning to the Western Front, where it arrived just before the German Army launched its Spring Offensive in March. It participated in the Allied "Hundred Days Offensive" and ended the war in Flanders, from where it moved to join the Army of Occupation in Germany, following the Armistice of 11 November 1918.
The 41st Division was commanded by Major-General Lawford throughout its existence and was demobilised in March 1919, with some units transferred to the 47th (1/2nd London) Division, British Army of the Rhine.
Order of battle
The 41st Division was constituted as follows during the war:122nd Brigade
- 12th (Service) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment (Bermondsey)
- 15th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment
- 11th Battalion, Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)
- 18th (Service) Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps (Arts and Crafts)
- 122nd Machine Gun Company
- 122nd Trench Mortar Battery
- 11th Battalion, Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
- 10th Battalion, Queen's Own
- 23rd (Service) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (2nd Football)
- 20th (Service) Battalion, Durham Light Infantry (Wearside)
- 123rd Machine Gun Company
- 123rd Trench Mortar Battery
- 10th (Service) Battalion, Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) (Battersea)
- 26th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (Bankers)
- 32nd (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (East Ham)
- 21st (Service) Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps (Yeoman Rifles)
- 20th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry
- 124th Machine Gun Company
- 124th Trench Mortar Battery
- 13th (Service) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment (Wandsworth)
- 23rd Battalion, Middlesex Regiment
- 238th Machine Gun Company
- 199th Machine Gun Company
- 41st Battalion M.G.C.
- Divisional Mounted Troops
- *B Squadron, Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry
- *41st Divisional Cyclist Company, Army Cyclist Corps
- 41st Divisional Train Army Service Corps
- *296th, 297th, 298th and 299th Companies
- 52nd Mobile Veterinary Section Army Veterinary Corps
- CLXXXIII Brigade, Royal Field Artillery R.F.A.
- CLXXXVII Brigade, R.F.A.
- CLXXXIX Brigade, R.F.A.
- CXC Brigade, R.F.A.
- 41st Divisional Ammunition Column R.F.A.
- V.41 Heavy Trench Mortar Battery, R.F.A.
- X.41, Y.41 and Z.41 Medium Mortar Batteries, R.F.A.
- XIII Belgian Field Artillery Regiment
- 228th Field Company
- 233rd Field Company
- 237th Company
- 41st Divisional Signals Company
- 138th Field Ambulance
- 139th Field Ambulance
- 140th Field Ambulance
- 84th Sanitary Section