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 Division, British Army of the Rhine.

Order of battle

The 41st Division was constituted as follows during the war:
122nd Brigade
123rd Brigade
  • 11th Battalion, Queen's
  • 10th Battalion, Queen's Own
  • 23rd Battalion, Middlesex Regiment
  • 20th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry
  • 123rd Machine Gun Company
  • 123rd Trench Mortar Battery
124th Brigade
  • 10th Battalion, Queen's
  • 26th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers
  • 32nd Battalion, Royal Fusiliers
  • 21st Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps
  • 20th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry
  • 124th Machine Gun Company
  • 124th Trench Mortar Battery
Divisional Troops
Royal Artillery
  • 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
Royal Engineers
  • 228th Field Company
  • 233rd Field Company
  • 237th Company
  • 41st Divisional Signals Company
Royal Army Medical Corps