4 Infantry Division (1939)]

9 October 2018 [4 INFANTRY DIVISION (1939)]

th 4 Infantry Division (1)

Headquarters, 4th Infantry Division

th 10 Infantry Brigade (2)

Headquarters, 10th Infantry Brigade & Signal Section

2nd Bn. The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment 2nd Bn. The Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry st 1 Bn. The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment (3) 10th Infantry Brigade Anti-Tank Company

th 11 Infantry Brigade (4)

Headquarters, 11th Infantry Brigade & Signal Section

2nd Bn. The Lancashire Fusiliers 1st Bn. The East Surrey Regiment st 1 Bn. The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (5) 11th Infantry Brigade Anti-Tank Company

th 12 Infantry Brigade (6)

Headquarters, 12th Infantry Brigade & Signal Section

2nd Bn. The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) 1st Bn. The South Lancashire Regiment (The Prince of Wales’s Volunteers) st 1 Bn. The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) (7) 12th Infantry Brigade Anti-Tank Company

Divisional Troops

th 5 Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards (8)

nd 2 Bn. The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers (9)

Headquarters, 4th Infantry Divisional Royal Artillery th 17 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (10) (H.Q., 10/26th & 13th/92nd Field Batteries, Royal Artillery) nd 22 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (11) (H.Q., 32nd/33rd & 36th/55th Field Batteries, Royal Artillery) th 30 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (12) (H.Q., 104th/111th & 112th/117th Field Batteries, Royal Artillery) th 14 Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery (13) (H.Q., 38th, 61st, 68th & 88th Anti-Tank Batteries, Royal Artillery)

Headquarters, 4th Infantry Divisional Royal Engineers th 7 Field Company, Royal Engineers (14) th 9 Field Company, Royal Engineers (14) th 59 Field Company, Royal Engineers (14) th 18 Field Park Company, Royal Engineers (14)

th 4 Divisional Signals, Royal Corps of Signals (15)

NOTES:

1. This was a pre-war Regular Army formation, with its headquarters based at Colchester in Essex. It had originally been formed in 1902. The division arrived in France on 1 October 1940 and initially came under the command of II Corps. Following evacuation from Dunkirk, the division remained in the U.K. until March 1943 when it sailed for North Africa. It fought in Tunisia and Italy before deployment to Greece in late 1944, where it finished the war. 2. This was a regular brigade and was based at Shorncliffe. The battalions comprising the brigade were also based at Shorncliffe, with the exception of the 2nd Beds and Herts which was based at Gravesend. 3. This battalion left the brigade on 3 May 1940, transferring to 132nd Brigade in 44th Division. It was replaced on 4 May 1940 by: 1st/6th Bn. The East Surrey Regiment This battalion transferred in from 132nd Brigade. 4. This Brigade was a Regular Army formation stationed at Colchester in Essex. All the units in the brigade were also stationed at Colchester. 5. The battalion left the brigade on 29 January 1940, transferring to 143rd Brigade, 48th Division. It was replaced on the same day by: 5th (Huntingdon) Bn. The Northamptonshire Regiment This battalion transferred in from 143rd Brigade. 6. This was a Regular Army brigade stationed at Dover with all its constituent units. 7. The battalion left the brigade on 4 March 1940, transferring to 154th Brigade, 51st Division. It was replaced on the same day by: 6th (Perthshire) Bn. The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) This battalion transferred in from 154th Brigade. 8. This unit was the divisional reconnaissance regiment. It left the division on 31 March 1940, transferring to the 2nd Light Armoured Reconnaissance Brigade. 9. This unit was the divisional machine gun battalion. It officially came under the command of II Corps Troops, but remained attached to the division. It returned to the command of the division on 11 November 1941, staying throughout the war. 10. This was a pre-war Regular Army unit based at Woolwich. The regiment went to France and Belgium with the division. It was transferred to 51st Division on 19 February 1940. It was replaced by: 77th (Highland) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery This regiment transferred in from 51st Division on the same day. 11. A regiment originally formed in 1900 as the 33rd Brigade R.F.A. The regiment was based at Shorncliffe alongside the 10th Brigade. 12. A pre-war regiment, formed in 1936 as the 30th Field Brigade, R.A. It was based at Colchester and remained with the division throughout the war. 13. One of the only five pre-war regular anti-tank regiments in the Army, this regiment was formed in 1938 from the 14th Field Brigade, R.A.. It was based at Colchester and remained with the division throughout the war.

14. All four Engineer units were Regular Army companies. The 7th Field Company based at Shorncliffe. It remained with the division during the war. The 9th Field Company was also based at Shorncliffe, but left the division on 16 February 1940 transferring to 48th Division. It was replaced on the same day by: 225th (South Midland) Field Company, Royal Engineers This company transferred in from 48th Division. The 59th Field Company which was based at Canterbury, Kent and the 18th Field Park Company at Colchester. 15. The Divisional Signals was based at Colchester.

SOURCES:

Primary Sources – Army Lists

The Monthly Army List January 1930 Available From: Your Old Books and Maps at: http://youroldbooksandmaps.co.uk/british-army-lists-1901-1950.htm The Monthly Army List July 1937 Available From: Your Old Books and Maps at: http://youroldbooksandmaps.co.uk/british-army-lists-1901-1950.htm The Half Yearly Army List for the period ending 31st December 1938 Available on-line at: http://www.archive.org/details/armylisthalfjan1939grea The Monthly Army List April 1938 Available From: S & N Genealogy at: http://www.genealogysupplies.com/ The Half Yearly Army List for the period ending 31st December 1939 Available on-line at: http://www.archive.org/details/armylisthalfjan1940grea The Monthly Army List April 1940 Available From: S & N Genealogy at: http://www.genealogysupplies.com/

Secondary Sources

BELLIS Malcolm A. Divisions of the British Army 1939 – 1945 (Published BELLIS 2nd Edition, 2000) [ISBN 0-9529693-1-9] BELLIS, Malcolm A. British Tanks and Formations 1939 – 45 (England, BELLIS, Second Edition 1987) [ISBN 0 9512126 2 1] BELLIS, Malcolm A. Brigades of the British Army 1939 – 45 (England, BELLIS, 1986) [ISBN 0 9512126 1 3] BEVIS, Mark British and Commonwealth Armies 1939-43 (U.K. Helion and Company, 2001) [ISBN 1 874622 80 9] BEVIS, Mark British and Commonwealth Armies 1944-45 (U.K., Helion and Company, 2001) [ISBN 1 874622 90 6] BEVIS, Mark British and Commonwealth Armies 1939-45 Supplement Volume 1 (U.K., Helion and Company, 2005) [ISBN 1 874622 18 3] BEVIS, Mark British and Commonwealth Armies 1939-45 Supplement Volume 2 (U.K., Helion and Company, 2005) [ISBN 1 874622 38 8] HUGHES, Major General B. P., The History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery – Between the Wars 1919-39 (England, The Royal Artillery Institution 1992) [ISBN 0 08 040984 9] JOSLEN Lieut-Col H. F. (Ed.) Orders of Battle Second World War 1939-1945 (London: H.M.S.O., 1960) (Reprinted London: The London Stamp Exchange Ltd, 1990) [ISBN 0 948130 03 2] WILLIAMSON, Hugh The Fourth Division 1939 to 1945 (London, Newman Neame, 1951)

Websites

Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth. Author: T. F. MILLS Available on-line at: http://web.archive.org/web/20070622075214/http://www.regiments.org [Accessed 7 September 2018]