Composition
Each British & Indian infantry division comprised a divisional headquarters & three brigades. The divisional headquarters contained signals, engineers, artillery, medical, admin & supply support units, as well as divisional defence units. The brigades each had a smaller version of the divisional headquarters, plus three infantry battalions.
At the Battle of Kohima, the British 2nd Division contained the 4th, 5th & 6th Infantry Brigades, each with three battalions drawn from English, Scottish or Welsh regiments:
4th Brigade comprised 1st Royal Norfolks, 1st Royal Scots & 1/8 Lancashire Fusiliers.
5th Brigade comprised 1st Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, 2nd Dorsetshire & 7th Worcestershire Regiments.
6th Brigade comprised 1st Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 1st Royal Berkshire Regiment & 2nd Durham Light Infantry.
Divisional Infantry comprised 2 Recce & 2 Manchester Regiments, as well as 143 Special Service Squadron.
Royal Artillery: 10, 16 & 99 Assault Field Regiments & 100 Light Anti-Aircraft/Anti-Tank Regiment RA.
Royal Engineers: 5, 21, 208 & 506 Field Companies RE.
Royal Signals: 2 Divisional Signal Regiment
Royal Army Service Corps: 18, 24 & 29 Companies RASC.
Royal Army Medical Corps: 4, 5 & 6 Field Ambulance RAMC
Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers: 2 Division Workshop REME
Two additional brigades were placed under command of the 2nd Division during the Battle of Kohima. They were the 33rd Indian Infantry Brigade, from 7th Indian Division, & the 161st Indian Infantry Brigade, from 5th Indian Division. Indian brigades contained one British and two Indian battalians.
At Kohima, the British 2nd Division was commanded by Major General John Grover MC, a World War I veteran, who had been wounded three times on the Western Front.
History
The Second Division was formed in 1809 to fight in Wellington’s army in the Peninsula War against Napoleonic France.
Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland Hill was its first commander.
Since then, 2nd Division has played a major role in the history of the British Army, with active service in many theatres:
World War 2
In the early days of World War 2, the War Office ordered that each formation should choose for itself some device which would be recognised easily and be simple to reproduce. General Loyd, then commanding 2nd Division in France, chose the emblem of the Crossed Keys. His previous command, a Guards Brigade, had a single key as its sign. He decided to add a second key for his new command.
In earlier days it was the custom for the Archbishop of Canterbury, when necessary, to raise an Army in the South of England, & for the Archbishop of York to raise a Second Army in the North. This Second Army carried on its banners & shields the emblem of the Crossed Keys, taken from the arms of the Archbishop of York & of St. Peter’s Church (York Minister). When the Division was sent to Yorkshire after Dunkirk, a distant historical connection was re-established by chance. This link was renewed when the Headquarters of the ‘Crossed Keys’ Division returned to York in 1983.
The outbreak of World War 2 found the Division in its traditional home in & around Aldershot & Bordon. The Division was then commanded by Major General Loyd & had been receiving reservists to bring it up to strength. The Division was in France by the middle of September & served with distinction in the many actions leading up to Dunkirk.
After recovery from Dunkirk the 2nd Division, now commanded by Major General Grover, was based in North Yorkshire for a period of training & re-equipping. A lot of recruiting also took place, with the result that the 1st Bn Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders had a large number of Yorkshire men in the ranks, who were referred to as the ‘Yorkshire Jocks’.
In 1942, at the height of the U-Boat campaign, 2nd Division sailed to India. The Division was not made welcome in India, as it was then the only completely British Division & was much more expensive to run and maintain, with different food, equipment & cultural requirements.
The Division was put to training for a seaborne landing at Rangoon to retake Burma from the Japanese. However, the necessary equipment was unavailable, so training switched to jungle warfare.
In 1943, 6th Brigade was detached as an Independent Brigade group to fight in the 1st Arakan Campaign, where the casualties included its commander, Brigadier Cavendish.
In 1944, 2nd Division was rushed 2,000 miles across India to meet the crisis of the invasion of India by the Imperial Japanese Army.
In 1945, 2nd Division assisted in liberating Burma from the Japanese.
Return to York
After 41 years of continuous overseas service, 2nd Division returned to York in 1983, from whence it had departed in 1942. Queen Elizabeth II inspected the troops at Imphal Barracks on May 16th 1983. She said: “This year you have come back to a part of the Country where you are well-known and warmly welcome.”
The End
With contraction of the army, the 2nd Infantry Division was disbanded & removed from the Order of Battle of the British Army.