76th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)

76th Infantry Division 76th Infantry (Reserve) Division
The shoulder insignia of the division
Active	18 November 1941–1 September 1944
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Home defence, training and deception.

The 76th Infantry Division of the British Army was raised during the Second World War to defend the Norfolk coast against a possible German invasion, before being transformed into a training division in late 1942. New recruits to the Army were assigned to the division to complete their training. Once fully trained, the recruits were allocated to formations fighting overseas. The formation was used as a source of reinforcements for the 21st Army Group, that was fighting in Normandy. After all available British army troops left the United Kingdom for France, the division was disbanded in September 1944.

In addition to the actual formation, a phantom 76th Infantry Division was formed for deception. The phantom division was part of the notional British Fourth Army, to be used for the fictitious Operation Trolleycar. This operation aimed to deceive the Germans into believing that an Allied landing would occur along the northern German coast. While the deception effort was not a complete success, it managed to divert German attention to the northern flank for the remainder of the war.

In the early stages of the Second World War following the Battle of France in 1940, the United Kingdom was under threat of invasion from Germany but during the summer, the Battle of Britain dampened this threat. As the year progressed, the size of the British Army increased dramatically as 140 new infantry battalions were raised. In late 1940, with the possibility of a German invasion during 1941, these new battalions were formed into independent infantry brigades that were then loaned to newly created County Divisions.