48th (South Midland) Infantry Division

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 48th (South Midland) Division


caption=
dates= World War I
1908 - June 1919
World War II
1939 - 1945
country= United Kingdom
allegiance=
branch= Territorial Force
type= Infantry
battles= Battle of the Somme (1916)
Third Battle of Ypres
notable_commanders=
anniversaries=

The British 48th (South Midland) Division was a Territorial Force division. Originally called the 'South Midland Division', it was redesignated as the 48th Division in 1915.

Unit history

1914 - 1918

The division was sent to France in March 1915 and served on the Western Front and in Italy during the First World War. It took part in the Battle of the Somme (1916), the Battle of Pozières and the Third Battle of Ypres.

1939 - 1945

The Division was still a 1st Line Territorial Army division of the British Army during the Second World War .

In 1940 the division was sent to France to join the British Expeditionary Force . It was involved in the short battle and the retreat from Dunkirk .

After returning from France the division did not serve outside the United Kingdom for the duration of the war. It was reduced to a Reserve Division in 1944.

It does not appear to have been reformed in the Territorial Army after the Second World War.

Composition, World War I

; 143rd Brigade (Warwickshire) :

*1/5th Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment
*1/6th Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment
*1/7th Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment
*1/8th Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment ("until September 1918")

; 144th Brigade (Gloucester and Worcester) :

*1/4th (City of Bristol) Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment
*1/6th Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment
*1/7th Battalion, The Worcestershire Regiment
*1/8th Battalion, The Worcestershire Regiment ("until September 1918")

; 145th Brigade (South Midland) :

*1/5th Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment ("until September 1918")
*1/4th Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
*1/1st Buckinghamshire Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
*1/4th Battalion, Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment)

; Pioneers :

*1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, The Royal Sussex Regiment

World War II formation

"Composition, World War II"

See also

*List of British divisions in WWI

External links