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Puttees (file 5013)

1st Division was a Regular division at the outbreak of war; the Division served in France and Belgium from September 1939 to June of 1940.   A long period of reorganization and training followed, and the Division sailed to North Africa at the end of February 1943, arriving in the theatre in March.  After the German surrender in May, the Division moved to garrison Pantelleria briefly in June, then moved back to Africa where it sat out the Sicily campaign.  The Division once again landed in Italy in December 1943, where it served until January 1945, when it moved to Palestine.

The 4th Division was a prewar regular formation that went to France in October 1939; the division was reestablished in the UK after Dunkirk until reorganization in June 1942 as a mixed division incorporating a brigade of tanks.   It went to North Africa in March 1943, stayed there after the fall of Tunisia in May and in December moved to Egypt where it reorganized as an infantry division.  In February 1944 the division moved to Italy where it stayed until December, moving to Greece that month to help quiet civil unrest, and ending the war there.

The 5th Division was a prewar Regular formation.   Two of its brigades went to France as independent brigades in October 1939, and the division reformed in France at the end of the year.  The Division returned to the UK at the end of May 1940 following the defeat in France, served in India briefly between May and August 1942, then moved to the Middle East, serving in Madagascar, Persia (Iran), Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Palestine.  The Division did not serve in the North African campaign as front line troops, but were among the first troops to land in Sicily in July 1943, moving to Italy in September and serving there until July 1944.  The Division returned to Egypt in July, then moved to Palestine where it served until February 1945, being shipped back to Italy for a two week stay there, from whence it moved to Northwest Europe in Mach 1945, where it remained until after the cessation of hostilities.

The 6th Division was formed in Egypt in November 1939 after the reorganization of the 7th Division, but was disbanded in 1940, and reformed in Egypt in February 1941.  It served in Egypt an d Syria.  In October 1941 the Division was redesignated the 70th Division, and went to Libya to fight the Germans.   The Division returned to Egypt in December 1941, served briefly in Syria, then Egypt again, and finally moved to India in March 1942.    The division disbanded in October 1943, reorganizing itself as members of the Special Force (the official name of Wingate's famous "Chindits.")

It is believed that this division did not use divisional insignia on their uniforms.

A first line Territorial infantry division at the outbreak of war, the Division served briefly on the continent in April and May 1940, then trained in the UK until May 1942.  It arrived in Egypt in July 1942.  The Division fought in several engagements in North Africa, and was disbanded after El Alamein where it fought in the southern sector of the front; official disbandment of Divisional Headquarters followed in late January 1943.

A second line Territorial Division raised in October 1939, the 46th Division moved to France in April 1940 for training and labour duties, and eventually saw action with the BEF.  Returning to the UK in June 1940, the Division embarked for North Africa in January 1943.  The Division did not serve in Sicily, moving from North Africa to the Italian mainland in September 1943.  In March 1944, the Division moved to North Africa, then Palestine, back to Egypt and finally back to Italy in August 1944 where it again served until January 1945.  Service in Greece followed between January and April 1945, and the Division moved back to Italy once again in April, finishing the war in Austria.

50th Division was formed in the UK in September 1939 and organized as an infantry division in 1940.  It served in the France and Belgium from January to June of 1940, returning to the UK where it served until April 1941.  The Division moved to North Africa, where it served until the end of hostilities there, then moved to Sicily as part of the invasion force, and stayed there until October 1943.  The Division returned to the UK, and trained as one of the assault divisions for D-Day.  After making the landings in Normandy on 6 June, the Division served in France until December 1944, when it moved back to the United Kingdom where it remained until the end of the war.

51st (Highland) Division was a first line Territorial Army division in September 1939; the original division went to France where all but the 154th Infantry Brigade were taken prisoner in June 1940.  In August of that year, the 9th (Highland) Division was rechristened 51st.  The "new" 51st Highland Division spent two years training in the UK, then moved to Egypt in August 1942, fighting in North Africa until the German surrender in Tunisia in May 1943.  The Division landed in Sicily in July 1943, and stayed there after the fall of the island.  In November 1943, the division returned to the UK, where it trained for the Invasion, and on 6 July 1944 returned to the Continent.  The Division fought in Northwest Europe until the cessation of hostilities in May 1945.

Originally known as the 1st (London) Division, this formation was a first line Territorial division at the outbreak of war.  With the reorganization as an infantry division in 1940, the Division was redesignated  56th (London) Division in November 1940.  The Division did not serve in France, remaining in the UK, and moving to the Middle East in November 1942, serving in Iraq and Palestine until moving to Egypt in March 1943 and thence forward to Libya, and the front, in April.  The division sat out the Sicily campaign and moved to Italy in September 1943, serving there until March 1944.  After being withdrawn to Egypt at the end of March, the Division returned to Italy in July 1944 and remained there until after VE Day.

The 78th Division was formed in the UK in the summer of 1942 and arrived in North Africa in November.  The division saw action before the end of 1942, and after the close of the African campaign landed in Sicily on the 26th of July 1943.  The Division moved to Italy in September, where it served until August 1944.  The Division moved to Egypt from Italy, then in September 1944 moved back to Italy, entering Austria in May 1945, where it ended the war.

In 1939, the Armoured Division (Egypt) was a Regular Division; it was redesignated the 7th Armoured Division in 1940.  The Division served in North Africa from September 1939 until September 1943, when it moved to Italy.   After three month's service there, the Division was withdrawn to the UK, and after a period of training landed in Normandy on 8 July 1944.  The Division remained in Northwest Europe until after the cessation of hostilities in May 1945.