1939 The Territorial Army and the 53rd (Welsh) Division, commanded by
Major-General Bevil Wilson serving under
Western Command, was mobilised on 1 September 1939, the day the
German Army invaded Poland, and two days later the
Second World War officially began. The early days of the war for the 53rd Division were spent in training the divisions' 2nd Line duplicate, the
38th (Welsh) Infantry Division, created earlier in the year, and containing many former members and much equipment, of the 53rd Division. In October, just over a month after the war began, most of the 53rd Division was sent to
Northern Ireland, coming under command of
British Troops Northern Ireland. The divisions came under the command of
III Corps. In March 1941, the garrison was reinforced with the
5th Infantry Division, a
Regular Army formation that had fought in France in 1940. The 53rd Division took part in many
exercises, training by
battalion,
brigade,
division and
corps level. "It was a very different 53rd Division which returned to near its own countryside in November 1941, from the comparatively untrained one which had moved to Ireland in driblets between October 1939 and April 1940." The 53rd Division, now commanded by Major-General
Gerard Bucknall, returned to the Welsh Border counties again in November 1941, with the divisional HQ based in
Whitchurch, Shropshire.
1942–1943 The division was again serving under Western Command. In April 1942 the division was sent to defend
Kent in
South-Eastern Command, under
Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery, between 1942–1943, joining
XII Corps ready to defeat a German invasion (
Operation Sea Lion), serving with the
43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division and
46th Infantry Division. The 53rd Division was later earmarked to form part of the
Second Army for the
invasion of Europe. s fixed, men of the 7th Battalion,
Royal Welch Fusiliers charge down a bank on an
assault course at Teddesley Hall,
Penkridge in
Staffordshire, England, 27 March 1942. In September 1942, the division received a new
GOC (General Officer Commanding), Major-General
Robert Knox "Bobby" Ross, an
officer of the
Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) who arrived to replace Major-General
Gerard Bucknall. On 17 May 1942 the 53rd (Welsh) Division was reorganised, its
159th Infantry Brigade detaching to help form the
11th Armoured Division (The Black Bull), with the
31st Tank Brigade taking its place as part of an experiment with
New Model Divisions (or Mixed Divisions) of one tank brigade and two infantry brigades. The experiment was abandoned in late 1943, being judged unsuitable for the terrain in North-western Europe and the 31st Tank Brigade was replaced by the
71st Infantry Brigade (containing the 1st
East Lancashire Regiment, 1st
Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and 1st
Highland Light Infantry, nicknamed the
Foreign or International Brigade) from the disbanded
42nd Armoured Division, in October. The division spent the remaining period in the build-up to the
Allied invasion of Normandy (
Operation Overlord) in training. The intensity of training was stepped up in 1944. Early in the year 53rd (Welsh) Division was involved in two corps-level exercises. In March divisional HQ and the brigade and ancillary HQs took part in 'Exercise Shudder' to study 'thrust line' technique, then in April the whole division was engaged in 'Exercise Henry' on the
South Downs training area; this included a river crossing and full-scale simulated attack. In May 'Exercise Bud' practised loading vehicles onto landing craft. Finally, in the last week of May, the division began moving into its concentration area at
Herne Bay, ready for the invasion.
1944–1945 53rd (Welsh) Division landed in Normandy on 28 June 1944, the second last British infantry division to land and was placed under command of XII Corps, defending the Odon Valley position. The division was involved in much fighting in this area, with the
158th Brigade detached to fight with the
15th (Scottish) Infantry Division in the
Second Battle of the Odon (Operation Greenline) before
Operation Goodwood in mid-July. In August it began to push beyond the Odon and crossed the
river Orne, helping to close the
Falaise Pocket. It was during this fighting that
Acting Captain Tasker Watkins,
Officer Commanding (OC) B Company of the 1/5th Battalion,
Welch Regiment was awarded the
Victoria Cross, the first and only to be awarded to the regiment and division during the war, as well as the only
Welshman of the
British Army during the Second World War to be awarded the VC. On 2 August, the GOC, Major-General Ross, decided that due to the casualties suffered by the division in Normandy and an acute lack of infantry replacements, the battalions of 158th Brigade (the 4th, 6th and 7th Battalions of the
Royal Welch Fusiliers) were replaced and sent to other brigades of the division, the 4th RWF transferring to 71 Brigade and 6th RWF to 160 Brigade while the 7th RWF remained in 158 Brigade.
"It was found that with three Battalions of one Regiment in the same Brigade – as in the case of the 158th Brigade with its three Battalions of Royal Welch Fusiliers – difficulties were experienced in providing reinforcements in the event of heavy casualties. This was particularly so with Officer reinforcements." The division had managed to capture over 3,800
prisoners of war (POWs). . team of the 2nd Battalion,
Monmouthshire Regiment in action during the advance of 53rd (Welsh) Division towards Laroche in Belgium, 5 January 1945. The division took part in the
Swan (swift advance)
to Belgium where much fighting took place to secure an important bridgehead at the Junction Canal near
Lommel. The 53rd Division then fought hard to expand the salient south of
Eindhoven in conjunction with the
Operation Market Garden, which ended in failure due to events at the
Battle of Arnhem in late September, where the
British 1st Airborne Division was virtually destroyed in severe fighting. Advancing into the Netherlands, 53rd (Welsh) Division liberated the city of
's-Hertogenbosch in four days of heavy fighting from 24 October. , Germany, 8 February 1945. In December 1944, attached to
XXX Corps, it was one of the British divisions that took part in the mainly American
Battle of the Bulge, helping to cut off the northern tip of the German salient. The
Commanding Officer (CO) of the 1st Battalion,
East Lancashire Regiment described the fighting in the forest as a
"terribly wearing business for the men. Psychologically and mentally. It was nearly all bayonet, Sten and grenade fighting. The Bosch reserves fought very well, stubborn and had to be dug out with the bayonet." Throughout Veritable the 53rd Division suffered almost 2,500 casualties (including psychiatric casualties), roughly a quarter of what they suffered throughout the entire campaign, while capturing over 3,000 prisoners. in
Weeze, Germany, 3 March 1945. The division, now under command of XII Corps, under Lieutenant-General
Neil Ritchie, took part in
Operation Plunder, the crossing of the Rhine, and
advancing into Germany, where they ended the war. Throughout its 10 months of almost continuous combat, the 53rd (Welsh) Division had suffered nearly 10,000 casualties: 113 officers and 1,396 other ranks killed, 387 officers and 7,221 other ranks wounded and 33 officers and 1,255 other ranks missing. Of those declared missing, 3 officers and 553 other ranks rejoined their units, bringing the total casualties for the division to 9,849 killed, wounded or missing. As with most divisions, the majority of these casualties were sustained by the average "
Tommy" in the
infantry–nicknamed the PBI or "Poor Bloody Infantry"–who had sustained more than 80 percent of the total losses. According to Ross the division "
captured some 35,000 prisoners of war and probably accounted for the same amount in dead and wounded." ==Post-war==