At a conference as to the reorganisation of the Force held on 1st April, 1919, when the Secretary of State for War met representatives of the County Associations, Mr. Churchill said: “I could not meet this body representing the Territorial Associations of the United Kingdom without expressing on behalf of the War Office and on behalf of King and country our profound gratitude to the Territorial Force for the services which they have rendered in the Great War. There have been killed in the Territorial Force more than 6,500 officers, and more than 105,000 men; and in the killed, wounded, and missing, 26,900 officers and 565,000 men are included. This Force, which in so many quarters was hardly regarded seriously as a military factor before the Great War, has sent 1,045,000 men to fight against the best troops of Germany and of Turkey, and having sustained these terrible losses, has acquitted itself on all occasions in a manner which has won the whole-hearted acceptance of their Regular comrades and of the finest soldiers who have come to our assistance from the Dominions overseas. Twenty-nine officers and forty-two men of other ranks in the Territorial Force have gained the supreme honour of the Victoria Cross.”
As some of the principal newspapers did not quote this part of Mr. Churchill’s remarks it is excusable to repeat it here.
Most grateful acknowledgment is made of the permission granted by the Controller of His Majesty’s Stationery Office to quote the extracts given from the published despatches as appearing in the Gazette, also, of that of Messrs. J. M. Dent and Sons, Limited, to refer to their edition of Sir Douglas Haig’s Despatches, December 1915-April 1919, edited by Lieutenant-Colonel J. H. Boraston, O.B.E., Private Secretary to Earl Haig. Permission to refer to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s British Campaign in France and Flanders has also very kindly been given. Although that work is not recognised as an official history, Sir Arthur had a very large mass of official material placed at his disposal, and much of the information he gives, particularly in regard to the work of divisions and the losses sustained by them in the big battles, is of great value. Thanks for similar permissions are also tendered to the author of The Fifth Army in March 1918, Mr. W. Shaw Sparrow, and his publishers Messrs. John Lane, The Bodley Head, Limited, and to the author of The Story of the Fourth Army, Major-General Sir Archibald Montgomery, K.C.M.G., C.B., and his publishers Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton, Limited. In a letter signifying his approval, Major-General Montgomery remarks: “I know what excellent work the Territorial Divisions did and I hope that they will always get full credit for it.”
CONTENTS
| PAGE | |
| Introduction | [v] |
| 42nd (East Lancashire) Division. First Line | [1] |
| 43rd (Wessex Division), First Line. 44th (Home Counties Division), First Line. 45th (Wessex) Division, Second Line | [15] |
| 46th (North Midland) Division. First Line | [21] |
| 47th (London) Division, Formerly 2nd London. First Line | [29] |
| 48th (South Midland) Division. First Line | [41] |
| 49th (West Riding) Division. First Line | [51] |
| 50th (Northumbrian) Division. First Line | [59] |
| 51st (Highland) Division. First Line | [75] |
| 52nd (Lowland) Division. First Line | [91] |
| 53rd (Welsh) Division. First Line | [109] |
| 54th (East Anglian) Division. First Line | [121] |
| 55Th (West Lancashire) Division. First Line | [129] |
| 56th (London) Division, Formerly 1st London. First Line | [141] |
| 57th (West Lancashire) Division. Second Line | [151] |
| 58th (1st London) Division. Second Line | [155] |
| 59th (North Midland) Division. Second Line | [165] |
| 60th (2nd London) Division. Second Line | [169] |
| 61st (South Midland) Division. Second Line | [179] |
| 62nd (West Riding) Division. Second Line | [187] |
| 66th (East Lancashire) Division. Second Line | [195] |
| Appendix | [203] |
THE
TERRITORIAL DIVISIONS
42ND (EAST LANCASHIRE) DIVISION
First Line
The Division sailed for Egypt on September 10th, 1914, at a time when sanguine people thought that the only rôle of the Territorial Force would be to provide garrisons for our outlying Dependencies. It was the first Territorial division to leave Britain.
While in Egypt the Division supplied part of the Canal Defence Force, the Artillery and Engineers of the Division being engaged in February 1915, when the Turkish attack on the Canal was driven off. See despatches from Sir A. Wilson, C.B., dated 11th February, 1915, and 1st August, 1915. In the former, paragraph 37, the 19th Lancashire Battery R.F.A., T.F., was said to have rendered excellent service.
During the six months following their arrival in Egypt, the Division did much hard marching and training of all kinds.