71st Division (United Kingdom)
| 71st Division | |
|---|---|
| Active | November 1916 - April 1918 |
| Country |
 United Kingdom
|
| Branch |
 British Army
|
| Type | Infantry |
| Role | Home Defence and training |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Major-General Hon H.A. Lawrence Major-General C.J. Blomfield |
71st Division was a short-lived infantry division of the British Army during the First World War. It served in the Home Defence forces and never went overseas.
On the outbreak of the First World War, the Territorial Force (TF) immediately mobilised for home defence, but shortly afterwards (31 August 1914), its units were authorised to raise 2nd battalions formed from those men who had not volunteered for, or were not fit for, overseas service, together with new volunteers, while the 1st Line went overseas to supplement the Regulars. Early in 1915 the 2nd Line TF battalions were also raised to full strength to form new divisions, and began to form Reserve (3rd Line) units to supply drafts. The remaining Home Service men were separated out in May 1915 to form brigades of Coast Defence Battalions (termed Provisional Battalions from June 1915).
6th Provisional Brigade was formed mainly from details of regiments from London and East Anglia, with the following composition:
By July 1916 the brigade was under the control of Northern Army of Home Forces, with its battalions billeted across Suffolk as follows:
66th Provisional Battalion at Darsham, attached to 3rd Provisional Bde, later transferred into 6th Provisional Bde.
Late in 1916 the War Office decided to form three new home-service divisions and 71st was the first of these, assembling in Hampshire and Surrey in November. The division was based on 6th Provisional Bde, which moved from Suffolk and provided four infantry battalions and many of the support units. (On 1 January 1917 these all received new designations and numbers.) In addition, 190th (2nd Durham Light Infantry) Brigade, left over after the earlier disbandment of 63rd (2nd Northumbrian) Division, was brought from Catterick and renumbered. 64th (2nd Highland) Division at Catterick also provided a number of artillery batteries. The division had the following composition:
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