disembarking at
Cherbourg,
France, from the steamer 'Royal Sovereign', 16 September 1939. Upon the outbreak of the
Second World War, in September 1939, the 5th Infantry Division was a
Regular Army formation, commanded by
Major-General Harold Franklyn, who had been in command since 1938. The division was based at
Catterick under
Northern Command. Both of its infantry brigades (the
13th and
15th) went to France to join the rest of the
British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in early October 1939 as independent infantry brigades, but the divisional Headquarters crossed to France on 19 December 1939, coming under the command of
Lieutenant-General Alan Brooke's
II Corps from 23 December. By the new year of 1940 the division was reformed with three infantry brigades –the 13th, 15th and
17th, all commanded by men who would achieve high rank in the next few years. The division, having sustained very heavy losses, remained in the United Kingdom for the next 21 months, with most of 1940 being spent in
Scotland under
Scottish Command, reforming in numbers and being brought up to strength with large numbers of
conscripts, alongside training in anti-invasion duties and preparing for
Operation Sea Lion, the German invasion of the United Kingdom which never arrived. In late March 1941 the division, now under the command of Major-General Horatio Berney-Ficklin, who had taken over in July 1940 (and previously commanded the 15th Brigade), was sent to
Northern Ireland, coming under command of Lieutenant-General
James Marshall-Cornwall's
III Corps, under overall control of
British Troops Northern Ireland, and, as in Scotland, continued training to repel a German invasion there (see
Operation Green).
section of the 6th Battalion,
Seaforth Highlanders, creep forward during
exercises at
Crum Castle in
County Fermanagh,
Northern Ireland, November 1941. The division left Northern Ireland on 16 March 1942 and served and travelled in so many regions of the world that they were known as the
Globe Trotters, and became the most travelled division of the
British Army during the Second World War. In April 1942 the 13th and 17th Infantry Brigades and a portion of the divisional troops were detached to '
Force 121' for
Operation Ironclad, the invasion of
Vichy French held
Madagascar. The division was not complete again until August 1942. It was sent from the United Kingdom to
India for three months and then to
Middle East Command, where it trained in
mountain warfare. trudge down a snow-covered hillside, Italy, on
New Year's Day, 1 January 1944. In March 1944 the division, after holding its positions that it gained during the battle, was transferred again, this time to the
Anzio bridgehead (or, more appropriately,
beachhead) where they came under command of
Major General Lucian Truscott's
U.S. VI Corps and relieved the battered 56th Division, which was returning to the Middle East. Although by this time the major
battles for the Anzio beachhead were over, the division was involved in minor skirmishing and operating in conditions more reminiscent of the
trench warfare of the
First World War. In May the division participated in
Operation Diadem and the
breakout from Anzio, which led to the capture of the Italian capital of
Rome in early June. During the fighting,
Sergeant Maurice Rogers of the 2nd Battalion,
Wiltshire Regiment was posthumously awarded the
Victoria Cross, the first and only to be awarded to the 5th Division during the Second World War. Soon afterwards the division, having sustained just under 3,000 casualties since its arrival at Anzio three months before, was then withdrawn to
Palestine, arriving there in mid-July. The division then came under command of
Persia and Transjordan Command. •
91st (4th London) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (
until 26 April 1942, and again from 2 July 1942) •
92nd (5th London) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (
left 30 April 1940, returned 6 June 1940) •
97th (Kent Yeomanry) Army Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (
from 14 to 31 May 1940) •
156th (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (
from 29 August 1942) •
52nd (6th London) Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery (
from 28 December 1939) • 18th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (
from 5 February 1943) • 245th (Welsh) Field Company,
Royal Engineers (from 29 December 1939) • 252nd (West Lancashire) Field Company, Royal Engineers
(from 29 December 1939) •
506th Field Company, Royal Engineers (
until 29 January 1940) • 38th Field Company,
Royal Engineers (
from 29 January 1940 until 7 April 1942, and again from 30 June 1942) • 254th (West Lancashire) Field Park Company, Royal Engineers
(from 29 December 1939) • 18th Bridging Platoon, Royal Engineers (
from 16 March 1943) • 5th Divisional Signals Regiment,
Royal Corps of Signals ==Post War and Cold War==