The division, commanded since the year before by Major General
William Douglas, was embodied upon the outbreak of war. The war station was intended to be Ireland; but, due to its pacific state, the intended move did not materialise. After a brief period at their drill halls, the various units proceeded to large tented camps at Turton Bottoms (near Bolton), Chesham (near Bury) and Holingworth Lake, Littleborough (near Rochdale). The personnel were asked to volunteer for
overseas service, and the overwhelming majority did so, the deficiencies made up of men from the National Reserve and other re-enlistments. The 'home service' men formed the cadre of duplicate units, intended to train the rush of volunteers at the drill halls. These would form the divisional reserve, and later become the
66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division. In 1914, the East Lancashire Division was one of 14 infantry divisions and 55 mounted regiments, called the
Yeomanry, that made up the
Territorial Force.
Lord Kitchener, the Secretary of State for War, described these divisions and regiments of mainly white–collar workers as "a town clerk's army". Their junior officers were trained at the Officer Training Corps set up at the universities and large public schools, such as Eton and Harrow. Kitchener sent these forces to the peripheral campaigns; to the Sudan,
Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Caucasus, to release Regular British Army soldiers for duty on the
Western Front because he thought these amateur soldiers 'might not be able to hold their own with the
German Army'.
Egypt The East Lancashire Division arrived in
Egypt on 25 September 1914 and served in the interior, around Cairo (with some elements stationed in
Cyprus and the
Sudan) together with some Yeomanry units, and the Australian and New Zealand contingents before going to
Gallipoli. The division was sent to
Egypt to defend the
Suez Canal against anticipated
Turkish attacks. The
15 pounder gun batteries were deployed at key points on the west bank in support of
Indian Army and New Zealand troops manning guardposts. The 20th Battery (
Bolton Artillery) fired the division's first artillery rounds of the Great War, and the first of the Territorial Force of the campaign, near El Ferdan on 2 February 1915. The 19th Battery (Bolton Artillery) was in action in support of Indian and New Zealand troops between Tussum and Serapeum on the night and morning of 3–4 February 1915, against the attempted crossing of the canal by the 74th Regiment,
Turkish 25th Division.
Gallipoli , bound for
Gallipoli. Photo by
Ernest Brooks. Beginning in early May 1915, the division joined the British Army Corps, from June known as
VIII Corps, at
Cape Helles following the failure of the Allies to achieve the anticipated swift success at Gallipoli during April. On 26 May 1915 the division received its number, becoming the
42nd (East Lancashire) Division, and the brigades were also numbered, becoming
125th (1/1st Lancashire Fusiliers) Brigade,
126th (1/1st East Lancashire) Brigade and
127th (1/1st Manchester) Brigade. of the
1/6th Battalion, Manchester Regiment advancing over open terrain during the
Third Battle of Krithia, June 1915. The 4th (
Blackburn) battery, 1 section of the 6th (
Burnley) battery, and 19th and 20th (Bolton) batteries did not join the division on Gallipoli until 23/24 September, and the 1st/2nd East Lancs Brigade
RFA (Manchester Artillery) arrived in Egypt in May from Britain and remained in Egypt. The 125th (Lancashire Fusiliers) Brigade landed in time to participate in the
Second Battle of Krithia on 6 May and the 126th Brigade arrived on 11 May. The entire division was involved in the
Third Battle of Krithia on 4 June. The division carried out the Helles diversion at the start of the
Battle of Sari Bair in what became known as the
Battle of Krithia Vineyard.
Captain William Thomas Forshaw of the 1/9th Battalion,
Manchester Regiment was awarded the
Victoria Cross for his actions in this battle from 7 to 9 August.
Second Lieutenant Alfred Victor Smith of the 1/5th Battalion,
East Lancashire Regiment was posthumously awarded the VC for his action at Helles on 23 December. The division remained at Gallipoli until the final evacuation of Helles in January 1916 but was severely depleted by casualties and illness. The 42nd Division's casualties at Gallipoli were 395 officers and 8,152 other ranks killed, wounded and missing.
Egypt and the Sinai Campaign After the evacuation of Gallipoli, the division returned to Egypt, and was renamed the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division. As such it participated in the
Battle of Romani and the advance from Romani to
Katia. The 42nd Division served at Kantara on the Suez Canal in No. 3 Section of the Suez Canal Defences under General Lawrence until they were entrained for the railhead at Pelusium on the first day of the
Battle of Romani on 4 August 1916. On arrival late in the day, the 127th Brigade of the 42nd Division took over outpost duties at 1930 hours while the New Zealand Mounted Rifle and 5th Mounted Yeomanry Brigades, which had been heavily involved in fighting during the day, withdrew to water and rest at Pelusium. On the second day of battle, 5 August 1916, the 42nd Division along with the
52nd (Lowland) Division, which had fought the previous day from their entrenched position, were ordered to move out to support the
Australian Light Horse and
New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigades in a pursuit of the enemy. The 42nd Division was not prepared for the conditions they found in the Sinai desert. They had not been trained to operate in heavy sand in mid summer heat, and with insufficient water, extreme distress and tragedy followed. The mounted troops alone, were unable to stop the enemy making a disciplined withdrawal to water at
Katia and to fall back in good order, the following day. The 127th Brigade, 42nd Division eventually reached Katia the next day, 6 August; 800 men had died in the two-day march from Pelusium Station. The 125th Brigade of the 42nd Division and the
155th, and
157th brigades of the 52nd Division also had many men fall victim to thirst and the blazing sun; the infantry pursuit could not go on. Robert Bethel,
Army Service Corps, and McPherson, an officer in the
Egyptian Camel Transport Corps, worked to transport provisions and water to the 125th and 127th brigades. They recorded what they saw of these terrible days. Nearly 50 years after serving with the 42nd Division in the Sinai, one veteran, gunner J. Thompson, confessed that the "sight of a leaking tap" made him "squirm". By December 1916, the 42nd Division was furnishing units to protect the lines of communication at Salmana, Abu Tilul and the railway station Maadan and took part in a practice attack on 13 December. On 21 December, 42nd and 52nd Divisions marched from Kilo 128 to Bardawil and continued to move eastwards towards Masaid. On 17 January 1917, the 42nd Division was no longer in the Sinai Campaign, having been among the first of the Territorial Force to receive orders for the
Western Front. The division was replaced in Desert Column by another Territorial Division, the
53rd (Welsh) Division commanded by Dallas. The two other Territorial infantry divisions, the 52nd at Rafa and the
54th (East Anglian) Division ordered out to Romani from the Suez Canal, were put directly under General Dobell commander of Eastern Force. The 42nd Division departed Egypt early in February 1917.
Western Front The division moved to France and joined
3 Corps in the
Fourth Army in March 1917 and received a new commander in the same month, Major General Douglas, who had commanded since before the war, being replaced by Major General
Bertram Mitford. It relieved the
48th (South Midland) Division on 8 May 1917 and held the line at
Épehy before relieving the
20th (Light) Division and holding the line at
Havrincourt, north of Epéhy, from 23 May 1917. Its infantry was relieved by the
58th (2/1st London) Division on 8 July 1917 but its divisional artillery remained in the line in support of 58th and then the
9th (Scottish) Division at Havrincourt Wood. It moved to the
Ytres sector on 9 July 1917. On 23 August 1917, it joined V Corps in the
Fifth Army, although the infantry in
Poperinghe area behind Ypres for training. Its divisional artillery entered line immediately in support of the
15th (Scottish) Division near Potijze Chateau. Its infantry relieved the 15th (Scottish) Division in the line to the right of Potijze Road near Frezenberg Ridge at
Ypres on 1 September 1917 and on 6 September the 125th Brigade made an unsuccessful attempt to capture the fortified Iberian, Borry and Beck Farms during the
Third Battle of Ypres. The divisional infantry were relieved by the 9th (Scottish) Division and retired to Poperinghe area on 18 September 1917. Its divisional artillery remained in the line until 29 September, participated in the
Battle of the Menin Road Ridge (20–26 September 1917) and advanced to exposed positions on Frezenberg Ridge on 25 September. On 26 September it relieved the
66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division. The divisional artillery rejoined and it held the line at
Nieuport. , 26 January 1918 , 28 January 1918 On 29 November 1917 it relieved the
25th Division and held the line at
Givenchy on the
La Bassée sector. It constructed fortifications according to the new British defensive doctrine of "defended localities" in anticipation of major German attack.
Private Walter Mills of C Company, the 1/10th Manchesters, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for actions at Red Dragon Crater,
Givenchy on the night of 10 December 1917. It was relieved by the
55th (West Lancashire) Division on 15 February 1918. It was held in reserve and undertook training at
Busnes–
Burbure–
Fouquieres area, forming part of the I Corps reserve and then the GHQ reserve from 1 March 1918. On 23 March 1918 it joined VI Corps under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir
Aylmer Haldane in the
Third Army, initially in reserve, and then at
Ervillers, to defend the line against the German 17th Army under the command of General
Otto von Below on the right (i.e. north) wing of the German Spring Offensive (
Kaiserschlacht) in the
First Battle of the Somme (1918) and then the
First Battle of Bapaume. It counterattacked in the afternoon with seven tanks and 300 infantry from Logeast Wood to delay the German VI Reserve Corps on 25 March 1918. The 10th Manchesters repelled eight attacks by the German
2nd Guard Reserve Division, at Ervillers. It retired the
Ervillers–
Bucquoy area on 26 March 1918. Together the 42nd and
62nd (2nd West Riding) Division held the Rossignol Wood–Bucquoy sector under heavy shelling against six attacks by the German
3rd Guard Infantry Division, the last with assistance of 11 Mk. IV tanks. Crossroads, held by 125 Brigade in heavy fighting on 5 April 1918 It then held the line until end of final German assault on 5 April 1918 at
Bucquoy and held the line at Bucquoy,
Gommecourt,
Hébuterne from 6 April 1918. It served with the
IV Corps in the Third Army from 21 August 1918 and attacked and advanced Miraumont, across the River Ancre, Pys, Warlencourt during the
Second Battle of the Somme (1918) including the
Battle of Albert (1918). Their opponent was the
183rd Division. Lance-
Sergeant Edward Smith of the 1/5th Battalion,
Lancashire Fusiliers was awarded the Victoria Cross for actions in the capture of The Lozenge (Hill 140, a German machine-gun nest) on 21 August and enemy counter-attacks on 22 August. The infantry withdrew for two days rest in Miraumont–Pys area on 25 August 1918. The divisional artillery went into action under heavy fire in support of
63rd (Royal Naval) Division on the outskirts of Loupart Wood. It then relieved 63rd Division in the line and resumed its advance on 28 August 1918. It attacked and advanced to
Thilloy,
Riencourt-lès-Bapaume,
Villers-au-Flos, Ytres, across the Canal du Nord to
Metz-en-Couture in the
Second Battle of the Somme (1918) including the
Second Battle of Bapaume. Its infantry relieved by
New Zealand Division and moved to rest in Pys-Tholloy area on 6 September 1918. The divisional artillery remained in the line in support of New Zealand Division. On 21 September 1918 it relieved
37th Division east of Havrincourt Wood. File:CemeteryTrescault-RibecourtRoad.jpg|thumb|left|Graves of 42nd Division's fallen in the breaking of the Hindenburg Line, near Bilhem Farm, Trescault–Ribecourt Road, photographed in 1919 (Today known as Ribecourt Road Cemetery) On 27 September 1918 it attacked and advanced Havrincourt Wood through the Siegfriedstellung (
Hindenburg Line) via objectives called the Black, Red, Brown, Yellow and Blue lines, to Welsh Ridge. The Hindenburg Line was attacked
in enfilade, or diagonally, as can be seen from the map. Many casualties were sustained from machine guns situated in Beaucamps to the right of the division's front during the
Battle of the Canal du Nord. Its infantry relieved by New Zealand Division and withdrew to Havrincourt Wood for rest on 29 September 2018. The divisional artillery remained in action in support of the New Zealand Division in the
Pursuit to the Selle. On 9 October 1918 its infantry marched up to the front through Lesdain, Esnes,
Beauvois and relieved New Zealand Division, who had established a bridgehead across the River Selle at
Briastre. It defended Briastre against German counterattacks and shelling from 12 October 1918 and then advanced across the River Selle to Marou, Virtigneul and Belle Vue Farm during the
Battle of the Selle. Private
Alfred Robert Wilkinson of the 1/5th Manchesters was awarded the Victoria Cross for actions on 20 October 1918 at Marou. The division's opponent in these actions was the
25th Division. On 20 October 1918 at
Briastre Private J. H. Chapman of the 1/10th Manchester Regt was awarded the Military Medal. He was the No.1 of a Lewis Gun Team when the leading men of his Company were passing through the enemy wire and brought his gun into action when fired at close range by an enemy machine gun, he successfully knocked out the gun killing the crew. Being wounded he handed his Lewis gun over to the No.2 and continued the advance, a matter of 1,500 yards as a rifleman to the final objective where he bayonetted several of the enemy. He only had his wounds dressed after the position had been consolidated. It was relieved by New Zealand Division on 24 October 1918 and withdrew to
Beauvois for a rest. It then moved up though
Le Quesnoy and
Forêt de Mormal in support of the advance of the 37th Division and New Zealand Division on 3 November 1918. It relieved the New Zealand Division in line of attack on eastern edge of Forest of Mormal and attacked and advanced to
Hautmont in the
Arrondissement of Avesnes-sur-Helpe on 6 November 1918. It was standing fast on line
Maubeuge–
Avesnes-sur-Helpe Road when the
Armistice of 11 November 1918 came into force. ==First World War composition==