39th Division (United Kingdom)
| 39th Division | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1915–1919 |
| Country |
 United Kingdom
|
| Branch |
 British Army
|
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Gerald Cuthbert Neill Malcolm Cyril Blacklock |
The 39th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised during World War I. The division was part of Kitchener's New Armies and saw service on the Western Front and in Italy from 1916 onwards.
The division was formed as part of the fifth wave (K5) of divisions in the New Army; it did not have a regional title, but was composed primarily of recruits from the Midlands, London, and the south of England. Several of its battalions had been raised by local communities, and were named for their towns or industries. After training and home service, it deployed to the Western Front in early 1916, and fought in the Battle of the Somme. The following year, it saw action at the Third Battle of Ypres, and in 1918 took heavy losses in the German Army's Spring Offensive.
Following near-destruction at the Battle of the Lys, the division was reduced to a cadre, which spent the remainder of the war training newly arrived units of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). The division demobilised after the Armistice with Germany, and had ceased to exist by July 1919. The division was not reformed after the war, and did not serve in the Second World War.
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