The 61st (2nd South Midland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army raised in 1915 during the Great War as a second-line reserve for the first-line battalions of the 48th (South Midland) Division. The division was sent to the Western Front in May 1916 and served there for the duration of the First World War.

Unit history

thumb|left|Battle of Hazebrouck. Men of the 2/7th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, moving a bed-ridden elderly man of Robecq, 12 April 1918.

The division landed in France in May 1916. On 19 July 1916, together with the 5th Australian Division, the 61st Division fought the Battle of Fromelles, designed as a feint attack as part of the Somme Offensive.

  • Major-General Richard Bannatine-Allason, December 1915 – February 1916
  • Major-General Sir Colin Mackenzie, KCB, February 1916 – May 1918
  • Major-General F. John Duncan, CB, CMG, DSO 1918

See also

  • List of British divisions in World War I

References

  • The Long, Long, Trail: The British Army in the Great War, The 61st (2nd South Midland) Division