23rd (Northumbrian) Division
The 23rd (Northumbrian) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, which fought briefly in the Battle of France during the Second World War. In March 1939, after the re-emergence of Germany as a European power and its occupation of Czechoslovakia, the British Army increased the number of divisions within the Territorial Army by duplicating existing units. The 23rd (Northumbrian) Division was formed in October 1939, as a second-line duplicate of the 50th (Northumbrian) Motor Division. It was made up of two brigades, unlike regular infantry divisions that were composed of three, with battalions hailing from the north of England.
For the similarly numbered formation in the First World War, see 23rd Division (United Kingdom).23rd (Northumbrian) Division
It was intended that the division would remain in the United Kingdom to complete training and preparation, before being deployed to France within twelve months of the war breaking out. The division spent little time training and its soldiers were dispersed and used to guard strategically important and vulnerable locations across North East England. Guard duty and little preparation for war were seen as a hindrance to good morale. In France, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was suffering from a manpower shortage among rear-line units. To boost morale, provide additional labour and guards for the rear echelon of the BEF, and score political points with the French Government and military, the division was sent to France in April 1940, leaving behind most of its administration and logistical units as well as heavy weapons and artillery. The men were assigned to aid in the construction and guarding of airfields. The Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Edmund Ironside, secured a promise from the BEF that the division would not be used in action owing to it being untrained and incomplete.
When Germany invaded Belgium and the Netherlands, the BEF and French armies moved to meet the attack, leaving behind the 23rd Division to continue guarding airfields. The main German attack came through the Ardennes and moved to cut off the British and French forces in northern France. With no other reserves available, the 23rd Division was ordered to the front line to defend the Canal du Nord—the only watercourse obstacle between the main German assault and the English Channel—and the only defensible position at which to stop the German attempt to encircle the BEF. By the time the division arrived at the canal, the Germans had already crossed south of their sector where French forces had yet to take up positions. Having destroyed the bridges in their area, the division was ordered to fall back to new positions to defend the town of Arras. Before the 70th Infantry Brigade could take up this new position, it was caught by advancing German armoured forces and overrun. The military situation further deteriorated, resulting in the decision to begin the Dunkirk evacuation. Elements of the division conducted delaying and rearguard actions around the perimeter before being evacuated on 31 May 1940, having suffered heavy losses. In Britain, the division was disbanded and its units were transferred to other formations to bring them up to strength.
Background[edit]
Throughout the 1930s, tensions built between Germany and the United Kingdom and its allies.[1] During late 1937 and 1938, German demands for the annexation of Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia led to an international crisis. To avoid war, the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, met with the German Chancellor Adolf Hitler in September and came to the Munich Agreement, which accepted that the Germans would annex the Sudetenland.[2] Chamberlain had intended the agreement to lead to further peaceful resolution of differences, but relations between both countries soon deteriorated.[3] On 15 March 1939, Germany breached the terms of the agreement by invading and occupying the remnants of the Czech state.[4]
On 29 March, the British Secretary of State for War Leslie Hore-Belisha announced plans to increase the part-time Territorial Army (TA) from 130,000 men to 340,000, doubling the number of divisions.[5][a] The plan was for existing TA divisions, referred to as the first-line, to recruit over their establishments, aided by an increase in pay for Territorials, the removal of restrictions on promotion which had hindered recruiting, the construction of better-quality barracks, and an increase in supper rations. The units would then form a new division, referred to as the second-line, from cadres.[5][10] This process was dubbed "duplicating". The 23rd (Northumbrian) Division was to be created as a second-line formation, a duplicate of the first-line 50th (Northumbrian) Motor Division.[11][b] Despite the intention for the army to grow, the programme was complicated by a lack of central guidance on the expansion and duplication process and issues regarding the lack of facilities, equipment and instructors.[5][15] It had been envisioned by the War Office that the duplicating process and recruiting the required numbers of men would take no more than six months.[15][16] The 50th (Northumbrian) Motor Division started this process in March. For example, the Durham Light Infantry (DLI) created three new battalions, each based around an initial cadre of just 25 officers and men.[17][18] In April, limited conscription was introduced. At that time 34,500 men, all aged 20, were conscripted into the regular army, initially to be trained for six months before being deployed to the forming second-line units.[11][19] The process varied widely between the TA divisions. Some were ready in weeks while others had made little progress by the time the Second World War began.[15][16]
History[edit]
Formation[edit]
The 50th Division created the 69th Infantry Brigade as a second-line duplicate of the 150th Infantry Brigade, and the 70th Infantry Brigade as a second-line duplicate of the 151st Infantry Brigade. These brigades had been created by the outbreak of the war and were administered by the 50th Division until the 23rd (Northumbrian) divisional headquarters was formed on 2 October 1939. At this point, they were transferred to the new division, which in turn was assigned to Northern Command.[20] Command of the division was given to Major-General William Norman Herbert, who was called out of retirement and had previously commanded the 50th Division.[21][22][23][24] The 69th Brigade comprised the 5th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment, the 6th and 7th Battalions, Green Howards; and the 70th Infantry Brigade comprised the 10th, 11th and 12th Battalions, DLI.[25]
The 23rd (Northumbrian) Division lacked any official descriptive, being labelled neither a "Motor" division like its first-line parent formation, nor an "Infantry" division akin to the majority of other British divisions.[21] The shoulder patch is debated in the sources. It has been described as the white rose of Yorkshire but also as a Tudor rose (an amalgamation of the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster). Sources differ on whether the background was blue or green.[26][27][28] Michael Chappell stated the white rose motif represented the Yorkshire regiments within the division, and that a green background represented the light infantry lineage of these regiments. "Examples of this sign made up for wear on uniform (with the rose stencilled on a felt patch) are in collections and indicate that the 23rd were probably one of [the few] formations wearing 'illegal' battle insignia in 1940".[27]