The 7th Infantry Division was an infantrydivision of the British Army, first established by The Duke of Wellington as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army for service in the Peninsular War, and was active also during the First World War from 1914 to 1919, and briefly in the Second World War in 1939.
Peninsular War
During the French Revolutionary Wars and early in the Napoleonic Wars, the largest permanent organised structure within the British Army was the brigade. The brigade, which consisted of two or more battalions grouped together under the command of a major-general, suited the small size of the army and the operations that it conducted. When needed, larger forces were organised on an ad hoc basis. This included multiple brigades grouped into 'lines' or 'columns'. As the army and its operations grew, it implemented divisions—a single formation of two or more brigades, usually commanded by a lieutenant-general. The division concept was not new and had been used by other European armies towards the end of the Seven Years' War (1756–1763). On 18 June 1809, Lieutenant-General Arthur Wellesley, commander of British forces in Spain and Portugal during the Peninsular War, reorganised his force into four divisions.[1] The following year, with the further expansion of his force, Wellington created the 7th Division. It consisted of British, German, Portuguese, and French troops. Due to the mixture of nationalities as well as line and light regiments, the division had a multitude of uniforms. This coined the nickname of The Mongrels.[2]
The division landed at Zeebrugge in Belgium on 6 October 1914 in an attempt to support the Belgian Army's defence of Antwerp, but was soon forced to retreat south-west as that city fell a few days later. It then played a crucial part in the stabilisation of the front during the First Battle of Ypres, preventing a German breakthrough, although at a high cost in terms of casualties.[7] A floating division, the 7th was the first British Division to enter Ypres on 14 October. It was ordered to hold the line, while Field Marshal French brought up his remaining six divisions and redeployed them from the Aisne to the sea. The division held an 8 mile front for two weeks, opposite some 340,000 Germans. Some 18,000 soldiers strong on 15 October, the 7th left the line on 31 October, with just 2,000 troops remaining, mostly transport and supply.[8]
The 7th Division fought in most of the major battles on the Western Front through to 1917 before being sent to the Italian Front for the remainder of the war. At the battle of Loos in late 1915, the division's General Officer Commanding (GOC), Major-GeneralThompson Capper, was killed in action at the height of the fighting. Unlike the first six regular divisions of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), a third of whose strength was made up of regular reservists, the 7th Division was originally composed entirely of serving regular soldiers, which gave rise to the division's nickname, 'The Immortal Seventh'.[6]
Arab Revolt
In 1936, the Arab Revolt broke out in the British Mandate of Palestine.[9] British troops were dispatched, ending the first phase of the war by the close of the year.[10] Fighting soon resumed and reached its zenith during the summer of 1938. With rising tensions in Europe, the British began to withdraw troops from Palestine for use elsewhere.[11] The conclusion of the Munich Agreement—on 30 September 1938—calmed the rising tensions in Europe and averted war, allowing the British to resume their military build-up in Palestine.[12]
The 7th Division was reformed the following month, and placed under the command of Major-General Richard O'Connor.[13] The division was deployed to Palestine on internal security duties as part of a build-up of 18,500 men in the region.[12][14] This force then began to suppress the revolt. Meanwhile, Palestinian guerrillas had overrun the Old City of Jerusalem. O'Connor's men proceeded to sweep the area, declaring the Old City free of militants on 19 October. The same day, the division seized Acre and by the end of the month were clearing Jaffa of rebels.[15][16] Many Palestinians were detained and rebel activity significantly dropped off in the area.[16] In the north, the 8th Infantry Division, under Major-General Bernard Montgomery, and Special Night Squads engaged in counter-terror operations, with O'Connor writing that one brigadier "always encouraged his men to be brutal". General Officer Commanding (GOC) British Forces in Palestine and Trans-JordanRobert Haining wrote in late 1938 that "unnecessary violence, vindictiveness ..., [and] killing in cold blood" had to be curbed. O'Connor was likewise opposed to the measures in the north, and wrote "harshness and unnecessary violence on the part of our soldiers" had to be curbed.[17] During the operation in Jerusalem, only four to nineteen guerrillas were killed.[18][19] In early 1939, the revolt finally came to an end.[a]
Second World War
On 31 August, just prior to the war beginning, the headquarters of the 7th Infantry Division relinquished command of all its troops. O'Connor and the divisional staff then left Jerusalem bound for Cairo, Egypt. From Cairo, the men moved forward to Mersa Matruh arriving on 7 September. The headquarters was then assigned all troops based there, with the exception of the 7th Armoured Division.[14] The British Official Historian, I. S. O. Playfair, comments that this decision was undertaken to relieve the burden on Lieutenant-GeneralHenry Maitland Wilson, GOC British Troops in Egypt, of "direct control of operations which had been his in addition to the command of all troops in Egypt".[21] Due to the logistical problems in maintaining substantial forces across the Western Desert and on the Libya–Egypt border, Mersa Matruh was the forward British base of operations and supplied by rail. Positioned 200 miles (320 km) west of Alexandria and 120 miles (190 km) from the border, the location had been chosen to shield forward Royal Air Force (RAF) landing strips behind it and to defend the Nile Delta. Mersa Matruh also offered the British the strategy of drawing Italian or other forces forward to them, to allow a counter-attack after they ran into supply difficulties.[22][23] On 3 November, the division was renamed the 6th Infantry Division.[14]
General officers commanding
Victoria Cross recipients
Orders of battle
Peninsular War
During this period, brigades were referred to by their commander's names. Due to changes in command, the brigade names fluctuated frequently.
91st Brigade Machine Gun Company (from 14 March 1916, until 1 April 1918)
91st Trench Mortar Battery (joined May 1916)
Divisional Mounted Troops
1st Northumberland Hussars (On 12 April 1915, two of the three squadrons were transferred to other formations leaving the 7th Division with just A Squadron. A Squadron left on 13 May 1916)
W. N. Hodgson, poet who served with the division and was killed during the Battle of the Somme
Notes
Footnotes
^Montgomery's 8th Division launched a major operation that defeated the rebels on a military level.[20] On a political level, the British Government drew up the White Paper of 1939 conceding to the demands of the Arab Higher Committee: "Self-government—an Arab-controlled Palestine—would be implemented within 10 years and in the meantime Jewish immigration would cease after five years."[17]
^The divisional history lists Angus as a private, whereas the Gazette states that he was a lance-corporal.[41][47]
^"Hart's Annual Army List, Militia List, and Imperial Yeomanry List for 1907". London: John Murray. p. 99a. Retrieved 13 January 2021. and "Hart's Annual Army List, Militia List, and Imperial Yeomanry List for 1909". London: John Murray. p. 102. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
Becke, Archibald Frank (1935). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 1: The Regular British Divisions. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. OCLC 929528172.
Creswicke, Louis (1900a). South Africa and the Transvaal War. Vol. IV. Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack. OCLC 154231374.
Creswicke, Louis (1900b). South Africa and the Transvaal War. Vol. V. Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack. OCLC 154231374.
Creswicke, Louis (1901). South Africa and the Transvaal War. Vol. VI. Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack. OCLC 154231374.
Grehan, John; Mace, Martin (2015). Operations in North Africa and the Middle East 1939–1942: Tobruk, Crete, Syria and East Africa (Despatches from the Front). Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 978-1-78346-217-9.
Haythornthwaite, Philip (2016). Picton's Division at Waterloo. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-78159-102-4.
History of the War in South Africa. Vol. III. London: Hurst and Blackett Limited. 1908. OCLC 775290586.
Holden, Robert (1887). Historical Record of the Third and Fourth Battalions of the Worcestershire Regiment. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Co. OCLC 558575677.
Joslen, H. F. (2003) [1960]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield, East Sussex: Naval and Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1.
Lord, Cliff; Watson, Graham (2003). The Royal Corps of Signals: Unit Histories of the Corps (1920–2001) and its Antecedents. West Midlands: Helion. ISBN 978-1-874622-07-9.
Marston, Daniel (2010) [2008]. Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare. Oxford: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-84908-164-1.
Maurice, Frederick (1906). History of the War in South Africa 1899–1902. Vol. I. London: Hurst and Blackett Limited. OCLC 775290050.
McGuigan, Ron; Burnham, Robert (2017). Wellington's Brigade Commanders. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 978-1-47385-079-8.
Oman, Charles (1930). A History of the Peninsular War. Vol. VII August 1813 – April 14, 1814. Oxford: Oxford University Press. OCLC 185228609.
Playfair, I. S. O.; et al. (2004) [1954]. Butler, J. R. M. (ed.). The Mediterranean and Middle East: The Early Successes Against Italy (to May 1941). History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. Vol. I. London: Naval & Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84574-065-8.
Reid, Stuart (2004). Wellington's Army in the Peninsula 1809–14. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-517-4.
Crosse, Ernest Courtenay (1919). The Defeat of Austria as seen by the 7th Division: Being a Narrative of the Fortunes of the 7th Division from the time it left the Asiago Plateau in August 1918 till the conclusion of the armistice with Austria on November 4, 1918. London: H. F. Deane & Sons. OCLC 253141714.
Forbes, Helen Emily (1920). The Saga of the Seventh Division. London: John Lake. OCLC 162944266. (poem)
External sources
The British Army in the Great War: The Long, Long Trail
Hughes, Richard M. (2014). Tommy Capper's "Immortals": How effective was the 7th Division at the 1st Battle of Ypres? (Masters thesis). Birmingham: University of Birmingham.