66th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)

The 66th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army, which was active between September 1939 and June 1940 during the Second World War. In March 1939, after the re-emergence of Germany as a European power and its occupation of Czechoslovakia, the British Army increased the number of divisions within the Territorial Army by duplicating existing units. The 66th Infantry Division was formed in September 1939, as a second-line duplicate of the 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division. The division's battalions were all raised in the Lancashire and Cumbria area.

It was intended that the division would remain in the United Kingdom to complete training and preparation, before being deployed to France within twelve months of the war breaking out. Instead, the division spent the majority of its existence guarding vulnerable points in the United Kingdom. By May 1940, the division had been assigned to the initial plan to defend the country against any potential German invasion. As a result of the rapid German victory on mainland Europe in 1940, the division was not deployed overseas. Once the British Army returned from France, it implemented experience gained from the campaign. This involved the break-up of several divisions, including the 66th Division, in order to bring others up to full strength.

Background

Throughout the 1930s, tensions built between Germany and the United Kingdom and its allies. During late 1937 and 1938, German demands for the annexation of Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia led to an international crisis. To avoid war, the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, met with the German Chancellor, Adolf Hitler, in September and came to the Munich Agreement, which accepted that the Germans would annexe the Sudetenland. Chamberlain had intended the agreement to lead to further peaceful resolutions to differences, but relations between both countries soon deteriorated. On 15 March 1939, Germany breached the terms of the agreement by invading and occupying the remainder of the Czech state.

On 29 March, the British Secretary of State for War, Leslie Hore-Belisha announced plans to increase the part-time Territorial Army (TA) from 130,000 men to 340,000 and double the number of divisions. The plan was for existing TA divisions, referred to as the first-line, to recruit over their establishments, aided by an increase in pay for Territorials, the removal of restrictions on promotion which had hindered recruiting, the construction of better-quality barracks, and an increase in supper rations. The units would then form a new division, referred to as the second-line, from cadres. This process was dubbed "duplicating". The 66th Infantry Division was to be created as a second line formation, a duplicate of the first line 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division. Despite the intention for the army to grow, the programme was complicated by a lack of central guidance on the expansion and duplication process and issues regarding the lack of facilities, equipment and instructors. It had been envisioned by the War Office that the duplicating process and recruiting the required numbers of men would take no more than six months. In April, limited conscription was introduced. At that time 34,500 men, all aged 20, were conscripted into the regular army, initially to be trained for six months before being deployed to second line units. The process varied widely between the TA divisions, and was complicated by a lack of central guidance, as well as the lack of facilities, equipment, and instructors. Some were ready in weeks while others had made little progress by the time the Second World War began.

History

Formation and home defence

On 17 July 1939, the embryo of the division was formed. Major-General Arthur Purser, formally Brigadier, Royal Artillery, for Eastern Command, was assigned as General Officer Commanding (GOC). The same month, the 42nd Division created the 197th Infantry Brigade as a second line duplicate of the 125th Infantry Brigade, the 198th Infantry Brigade as a second line duplicate of the 126th Infantry Brigade, and the 199th Infantry Brigade as a second line duplicate of the 127th Infantry Brigade. However, the embryonic division and its brigades were administered by the 42nd Division until the 66th divisional headquarters was formed on 27 September 1939, located in Lancaster. At this point, the brigades were transferred to the 66th Division, which in turn was assigned to Western Command. The 197th Brigade comprised the 2/5th and the 2/6th Battalions, Lancashire Fusiliers, and the 5th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment; the 198th Brigade comprised the 6th and the 7th Battalions, Border Regiment, as well as the 8th (Irish) Battalion, King's Regiment (Liverpool); the 198th Brigade comprised the 2/8th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, and the 6th and the 7th Battalions, Manchester Regiment. Due to the lack of official guidance, the newly formed units were at liberty to choose numbers, styles, and titles. The division adopted the number of their First World War counterpart, the 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division, and their divisional insignia. While the insignia was adopted, it was never actually worn by the men of the division.

The Government and military envisioned that the TA divisions each be deployed intact to reinforce the regular army formations in France as equipment became available, with all 26 TA divisions deployed by the end of the first year of the war. This was a lofty goal for the 66th Infantry Division. For example, at the start of the war, the 6th Battalion, Border Regiment had no small arms. The men of the battalion were billeted in their own homes, and attended their local drill hall for the start of their training. Training was further impeded by a large portion of the division's manpower being assigned to guarding strategically important locations, known as vulnerable points. These included railway bridges, Royal Ordnance Factories, and Royal Air Force bases. In November, the division was placed under the control of Northern Command. On 10 January, due to ill-health, Purser stepped down from his role as GOC. He was replaced on the same day by Major-General Alan Cunningham, who had previously commanded the 5th Anti-Aircraft Division.

In October 1939, Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces, General Walter Kirke, was tasked with drawing up a defensive plan to defend the United Kingdom from a German invasion, which was codenamed Julius Caesar. The divisions assigned to this defensive plan were constantly changing, and, by May 1940, included the 66th Division. The division replaced the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division in Northern Command's part of this plan, and as a result moved from positions around Manchester into Yorkshire. The division's role was to launch an immediate attack on German parachutists, or failing that, to cordon off and immobilise any German invasion effort, until relieved by forces capable of launching a counter-attack to defeat the Germans. On 9 April, following the German invasion of Norway, the second-line infantry divisions in the United Kingdom were requested to each form an independent infantry company consisting of 289 volunteers, who would be deployed to Norway. The 66th Division formed No. 10 Independent Company. However, the company was not deployed to Norway. Following the conclusion of the campaign, No. 10 Independent Company was based in Scotland and did not return to the division. In May 1940, the divisional artillery was equipped with only seven First World War howitzers against a war establishment of seventy-two modern 25-pounder field guns. Historian David John Newbold described all forces under Kirke's command in May, including the 66th, as having "been severely weakened by departures overseas", "spread very thinly" and "largely semi-trained, relatively immobile and lacking in all types of heavy equipment, especially artillery and anti-tank guns." In particular, the division relied heavily on civilian transport. It had, prior to moving to Yorkshire, conducted little training. The move, it was hoped, would rectify this situation. Shortly after transferring, the division began platoon and company size training exercises.

Disbandment

As a result of the Battle of France and the Dunkirk evacuation, the division did not leave Britain. As soon as the British troops returned from France, the British Army began implementing lessons learnt from the campaign. This involved the decision to abandon the two-brigade motor division concept and for the basic infantry division to be based around three brigades. Four second-line TA infantry divisions were to broken-up to reinforce depleted formations and aid in transforming the Army's five motor divisions into infantry divisions. As a result, the 66th Infantry Division was chosen to be disbanded, which occurred on 23 June when its units were dispersed.

Specifically, the 197th Infantry Brigade (along with the 257 Field Company, Royal Engineers (RE), and the 110th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (RA)) was transferred to the 59th (Staffordshire) Motor Division to finalise its re-organisation into an infantry division. These units, as part of the 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division, would go on to fight in the Battle of Normandy. The 198th Infantry Brigade became an independent formation that was initially attached to the 1st London Division, before being assigned to the 54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division at the end of 1940 and remained in the United Kingdom during the war. The 199th Infantry Brigade (along with the 109th Field Regiment, RA) was transferred to the 55th (West Lancashire) Motor Division to finalise its re-organisation into an infantry division. These units, as part of the 55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Division, were not deployed and remained in the United Kingdom through the end of the war. The 255th Field Company, RE, was disbanded, and the 256th Field Company, RE was eventually assigned to the 78th Infantry Division. The 111th Field Regiment, RA was transferred to the 66th Division's first line counterpart, the 42nd Division. Several days after the break-up of the division, Cunningham was assigned as GOC of the 9th (Highland) Infantry Division.

Order of battle

See also

* British Army order of battle (September 1939)
* British Army during the Second World War
* List of British divisions in World War II

Notes

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{{DEFAULTSORT:66 Infantry Division
Infantry divisions of the British Army in World War II
Military units and formations established in 1939
Military units and formations disestablished in 1940
D66
1914 establishments in the United Kingdom