46th (North Midland) Division


The 46th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, part of the Territorial Force, that saw service in the First World War. At the outbreak of the war in 1914, the 46th Division was commanded by Major-General Hon. Hon. E. J. Montagu-Stuart-Wortley. Originally called the North Midland Division, it was redesignated as the 46th Division in May 1915.

Formation

The Territorial Force was formed on 1 April 1908 following the enactment of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 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. One of the divisions was the North Midland Division.
The North Midland Division was created by combining two existing Volunteer Infantry brigades, the Staffordshire Brigade and the North Midland Brigade. The Staffordshire Brigade was composed of battalions of the South Staffordshire Regiment and the Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire Regiment). The North Midland Brigade was split into two, one, the Lincoln and Leicester Brigade, composed of battalions of the Lincolnshire and Leicestershire Regiments, the other, the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Brigade, comprising the four TF battalions of the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment. In peacetime, the divisional headquarters was in Lichfield.

First World War

1914

The North Midland Division, commanded by Major General Edward Montagu-Stuart-Wortley, concentrated in the Luton area by mid-August 1914, before relocating to Stansted and Bishops Stortford.

1915

King George V inspected the division on 19 February. The division's advance parties landed at Boulogne on 23 February, with the units arriving over the next eight days. Concentration was completed by 8 March, making the North Midland the first TF division to arrive complete in a theatre of war.
The division moved to the Lys valley and then to the Ploegsteert sector, where it received instruction from the 4th [Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|4th Division]. It spent the spring on the Messines ridge front, south of the Ypres Salient. On 12 May, it was retitled as the 46th (North Midland) Division, with its three infantry brigades renumbered accordingly. The division moved to Ypres in June and took part in several engagements, including:
In December 1915, the division was ordered to proceed to Egypt, leaving some units behind.

1916

Most units reached Egypt via Marseilles by 13 January 1916.
After this very brief stint in Egypt, the division's move was countermanded, and units returned to France. The DAC, Train, and Vets rejoined, and the division remained on the Western Front for the rest of the war.
The division was later involved in the Battle of the Somme in July 1916, where, in the opening phase, as part of VII Corps, the southernmost corps of the British Third Army, the 46th Division took part in the diversionary attack at Gommecourt on the first day on the Somme, 1 July 1916, which was a catastrophic failure resulting in heavy losses of 2,445 officers and men. The division's commander, Montagu-Stuart-Wortley, was relieved from his position by General Sir Douglas Haig, commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, and Montagu-Stuart-Wortley's immediate superior, Lieutenant General Thomas Snow, believed the 46th to suffer from a "lack of offensive spirit".

1917

The division, now commanded by Major General William Thwaites after Montagu-Stuart-Wortley was sacked after the division's "failure" on the Somme, took part in the following operations throughout the year 1917:

1918

The division took part in the following engagements in 1918:
File:Riqueval Bridge 1918.jpg|thumb|right|Brig-Gen John Campbell VC on Riqueval Bridge addresses men of the 137th (Staffordshire) Infantry Brigade after breaking the German's Hindenburg Line defences on 29 September 1918.
The events on the Somme dogged the division, now under Major General Gerald Boyd, afterwards with a poor reputation until 29 September 1918, during the Hundred Days Offensive, when it re-established its name at the Battle of St Quentin Canal. Utilising life-belts and collapsible boats, it crossed the formidable obstacle of the canal and used scaling ladders to surmount the steep gradient of the opposite bank and captured multiple fortified machine-gun posts.
The division's forward units were at Sains-du-Nord on 11 November 1918.
During the war, it served in the First, Second, Third and Fifth armies, and in the I, II, III, V, VII, XI, XIII, XIV, XVII and XVIII corps. Additionally, the 46th Division's total losses between February 1915, when it first went overseas, and 11 November 1918 were: officers, 275 killed, 1,104 wounded and 123 missing; other ranks, 3,475 killed, 21,285 wounded and 3,307 missing.

Order of battle

During the war, the composition of the division was as follows:
; 137th (Staffordshire) Brigade
; 138th (Lincoln and Leicester) Brigade
; 139th (Sherwood Foresters) Brigade
;Mounted Troops
; Artillery :
;Engineers
; Pioneers :
;Machine Guns
  • 46th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps '
  • * 137th Company, MGC '
  • * 138th Company, MGC '
  • * 139th Company, MGC '
  • * 178th Company, MGC '
;Medical Services
;Transport
  • North Midland Divisional Train, ASC '
  • * 451st Horse Transport Company, ASC
  • * 452nd HT Company, ASC
  • * 453rd HT Company, ASC
  • * 454th HT Company, ASC
;Labour

Postwar

The Territorial Force was disbanded after the war. It was reformed as the Territorial Army in 1920 as was the 46th Division. However, the 46th Division was disbanded in 1936, the headquarters was converted into 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division and several of its infantry battalions into AA units. Most of the remainder of 46th Division's units were sent to other divisions, mainly the 49th (West Riding).

Commanders

The following officers commanded the division at various times:
AppointedGeneral officer commanding
April 1908Brigadier-General Hugh J. Archdale
January 1911Major-General Hubert I. W. Hamilton
1 June 1914Major-General Hon. Edward Montagu-Stuart-Wortley
6 July 1916Brigadier-General H. M. Campbell
8 July 1916Major-General William Thwaites
2 September 1918Brigadier-General F. G. M. Rowley
5 September 1918Major-General Gerald F. Boyd
June 1919Major-General Sir A. Reginald Hoskins
June 1923Major-General Casimir C. van Straubenzee
May 1927Major-General Sir Percy O. Hambro
May 1931Major-General Oswald C. Borrett
December 1932Major-General Maurice G. Taylor
April 1934Major-General Sir Hereward Wake

Victoria Cross recipients