BRITISH DIVISIONS 1939-45

Researching the activities of British units which fought in WW2 is becoming more and more commonplace; either for those with an interest in specific regiments or divisions, or for family historians. This new and important part of the site will examine the Order of Battle of every British Division that saw active service in WW2. For each division all the units that served with it are listed, with details of where it served and in which major battles. A list of divisional commanders is included, and under the Notes section are listed any known published histories of the division, any Victoria Crosses won, and other miscellaneous information.

For the moment I have only listed divisions which saw active service during WW2 - those that remained in Britain and supplied drafts are not shown. And to start with I have largely included divisions which saw service in Italy and North-West Europe.

The material is based in part on Lieutenant Colonel H.F.Joslen's Orders of Battle Second World War 1939-1945 (HMSO 1960), but I have also used a large number of unpublished sources in the Public Records Office along with other Official Histories, and divisional and unit histories. The inspiration for including this type of material comes from Chris Baker's excellent British Army in the Great War website, which covers the army in detail for WW1.

Corrections and amendments welcome!

This may take me some time to complete - so keep checking back!

Paul Reed
Battlefields of WW2

[email protected] 

BRITISH DIVISIONS 1939-45