Formation The
Territorial Force (TF) was formed on 1 April 1908 following the enactment of the
Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (7 Edw.7, c.9) 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
Home Counties Division. As the name suggests, the division recruited in the
Home Counties, particularly
Kent,
Middlesex,
Surrey and
Sussex. It was composed of the
Surrey,
Middlesex and
Kent Infantry Brigades (each of four
battalions), four artillery brigades of the
Royal Field Artillery recruited in Sussex and Kent, a heavy
battery of the
Royal Garrison Artillery (also recruited in Kent), plus support units of the
Royal Engineers (including the
Signal Service),
Royal Army Medical Corps and the
Army Service Corps. Two
Army Troops battalions of the
Royal Sussex Regiment were also attached for training, but were not integral to the division. In peacetime, the divisional
headquarters was in
Hounslow in Middlesex.
First World War In accordance with the
Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (7 Edw.7, c.9) which brought the
Territorial Force into being, the TF was intended to be a home defence force for service during wartime and members could not be compelled to serve outside the country. However, on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, many members volunteered for
Imperial Service. Therefore, TF units were split into 1st Line (liable for overseas service) and 2nd Line (home service for those unable or unwilling to serve overseas) units. 2nd Line units performed the home defence role, although in fact most of these were also posted abroad in due course. The Home Counties Division formed the
2nd Home Counties Division in this manner with an identical structure. The division mobilised on the outbreak of the war. Early in September 1914, the division sent two battalions to
Gibraltar to relieve
regular battalions; 7th and 8th
Middlesex left on 4 and 10 September respectively. Accordingly, the division accepted liability for service in India. It was joined by the 4th (
Cumberland and
Westmorland) Battalion,
Border Regiment (from
Carlisle) and the 4th Battalion,
King's (Shropshire Light Infantry) (from
Shrewsbury) to replace 7th and 8th Middlesex, and 1/1st
Brecknockshire Battalion,
South Wales Borderers (from
Brecon) as an extra battalion for garrison duties in
Aden. The division arrived at
Bombay on 1–3 December 1914, with the Brecknockshire Battalion departing again on 9 December for Aden. The division was effectively broken up on arrival in India in December 1914; the units reverted to peacetime conditions and were dispersed throughout India and
Burma. The battalions were posted to
Lucknow (2),
Cawnpore,
Fyzabad,
Mhow,
Kamptee,
Jubbulpore,
Jhansi,
Dinapore,
Fort William,
Rangoon and
Maymyo and the batteries were posted to Kamptee, Mhow (2),
Jullundur,
Multan,
Ferozepore, and Jubbulpore (3). to Aden in August 1915, to
Bareilly in January 1916, and to Multan in July 1918 where it remained until the end of the war. The 1/4th
KSLI went further afield; on arrival in India, it was posted to Rangoon, with a detachment in the
Andaman Islands. On 6 February 1915 it was dispatched to
Singapore to help to suppress a
mutiny. In April, part of the battalion went to
Hong Kong; the battalion was replaced at Rangoon by the 2/4th Border Regiment. The units pushed on with training to prepare for active service, handicapped by the need to provide experienced manpower for active service units. Nevertheless, individual units of the division proceeded overseas on active service through the rest of the war. All three artillery brigades went to
Mesopotamia in 1916 (III Home Counties) and 1917 (I and II Home Counties) and, likewise, so did 1/5th
Queen's, 1/5th Buffs, 1/5th
East Surrey,
1/9th Middlesex, 1/5th
QORWK infantry battalions.
Between the wars In 1919, the remaining units in India were repatriated to England. The division was reformed in 1920. and the 4th and 5th (
The Weald of Kent) Battalions, Buffs were amalgamated as the 4th/5th Battalion in the same year. In this way, the division was able to incorporate two Army Troops battalions of the Royal Sussex Regiment. The divisional artillery was reformed with three brigades: 1st Home Counties with 1–4 Sussex Batteries, 2nd Home Counties with 5–8 Sussex Batteries, and 3rd Home Counties with 1–4 Kent Batteries. These were renumbered in 1921 as the 57th (Home Counties), 58th (Home Counties) and 59th (Home Counties) Brigades, later 57th (Home Counties), 58th (Sussex) and 59th (Home Counties)(
Cinque Ports) Brigades. The division underwent a number of changes in the late 1930s. In 1936, it was decided to concentrate
Vickers machine guns in specialised machine gun battalions. Rather than resurrecting the
Machine Gun Corps, a number of line infantry regiments were converted instead; the Middlesex Regiment was one of four regiments selected for conversion. The 7th and 8th Battalions were converted at the same time. They were replaced by the 22nd and 24th Battalions of the
London Regiment, which from 1937 became the 6th (
Bermondsey) and 7th (
Southwark) Battalions of the
Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey). A major reorganisation in 1938 saw the TA divisions reduced from twelve to nine battalions. As a result, 9th Middlesex was converted to
60th (Middlesex) Searchlight Regiment,
RA, the 4th Queen's to
63rd (Queen's) Searchlight Regiment, RA and 5th East Surreys to 57th (
East Surrey) Anti-Tank Regiment, RA The latter remained part of the division. In the same year, the 59th (Home Counties)(Cinque Ports) Field Regiment, RA was converted to 75th (Home Counties)(Cinque Ports) Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA. It was replaced by 65th (8th London) Field Regiment, RA from the former
47th (2nd London) Division. By 1939 it became clear that a new European war was likely to break out, and the doubling of the Territorial Army was authorised, with each unit and formation forming a duplicate. The 44th (Home Counties) Division formed the
12th (Eastern) Infantry Division.
Second World War The division, as the
44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division (
Major-General Edmund Osborne), was mobilised on 3 September 1939 on the outbreak of the
Second World War. Initially in
Southern and then
Eastern Command, the division was sent overseas where it joined the
British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France on 1 April 1940 and was assigned to
III Corps (
Lieutenant-General Ronald Forbes Adam). After returning to England the division, much reduced in manpower and woefully short of equipment and now under the command of Major-General
Arthur Percival (who had taken command in late June 1940, until late March the following year), spent nearly two years on home defence, anticipating a
German invasion which never occurred, travelling through the counties of
Kent and
Sussex and serving under
I and
XII Corps. The division started the
Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 4 November) with two brigades. with the
7th Armoured Division and
50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division. The corps was on the southern flank with the task of tying down Axis reserves while the main thrust was made in the north by
XXX and
X Corps. The division was further reduced when the
131st Brigade was attached to the 7th Armoured Division on 1 November, as a lorried infantry brigade after the
7th Motor Brigade was transferred to the
1st Armoured Division. The Battle of El Alamein was the last engagement of the 44th Division; it was disbanded on 31 January 1943.
Post Second World War The
Territorial Army (TA) was formally disbanded at the end of the Second World War. TA units were reactivated on 1 January 1947, though no personnel were assigned until commanding officers and permanent staff had been appointed in March and April 1947. The division, under the command of Major-General
Philip Gregson-Ellis, was reformed in 1947; it included the
Northamptonshire Yeomanry, and 47th (London),
131st (Surrey), and
133rd (Kent & Sussex) Infantry Brigades. On 1 May 1961, all ten TA divisions were merged with the
districts, and the division became
44th (Home Counties) Division/District, thus ending the division's separate existence. Subsequently, redesignated as
South Eastern District, it was used to form the
4th Division on 1 April 1995. ==Orders of battle==