59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division
The 59th Infantry Division was formed in September 1939. It was a duplicate of the 55th Motor Division. The division was assigned to the Second Army and fought in the Battle of Normandy. In August 1944, the division was disbanded and its men transferred to other units.
About 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division in brief
The 59th Infantry Division was formed in September 1939. It was a duplicate of the 55th Motor Division. The division was assigned to the Second Army and fought in the Battle of Normandy. In August 1944, the division was disbanded and its men transferred to other units to bring them up to strength. The 59th Division was officially disbanded on 19 October 1944. It took control of the 16th and 177th Brigades, as well as support units, which had previously been administered by the 55rd Motor Division, which was disbanded. The 16th Brigade was made up of the 26th, 26th and 27th Infantry Brigades and the 6th and 7th Battalions, South Staffordshire. It is the only division to have been formed using the motor division concept. It remained within the United Kingdom until 1944, assigned to anti-invasion and guard duties, while training for combat overseas. In late June 1944, it was transferred to France and took part in Operation Charnwood, which resulted in the capture of the German-occupied city of Caen. By late July, the German frontline was crumbling, and a general offensive was launched. It advanced and captured a bridgehead over the River Orne, fending off several counter-attacks to maintain its hold; during these actions one member of the division earned the Victoria Cross. The fighting played an important role in distracting German forces from the major British offensive, Operation Goodwood. It suffered several thousand casualties during these battles, and was broken up on 26 August, and officially disbanded in October 1944, when the British Army was badly short of manpower.
In March 1939, after Germany re-emerged as a significant military power and occupied Czechoslovakia, the UK increased the number of divisions in the Territorial Army by duplicating existing units. The plan was for existing TA divisions, referred to as the first-line, to recruit over their establishments and then form a new division, known as the second-line. This process was dubbed ‘duplicating’ The division’s battalions were all, initially, raised in Staffordshire, and initially consisted of the 176th, 177th and 176th Infantry Brigade. On 15 September 1939, the 59th Motor Division became active and took up control of 16th Battalions, North Staffordshire and the 7th Battalion, 7th Regiment of the Staffordshire Regiment. In April, limited conscription was introduced. This resulted in 34,500 twenty-year-old militiamen being conscripted into the regular army, initially to be trained for six months before deployment to Second World War units. Some TA divisions were able to complete this work within a matter of weeks; others were unable to complete the work within weeks of work. By the end of the war, some TA divisions had made little progress by the time the work was complete. The British Army had a total of 340,000 men in the part-time Territorial army, and the division had a strength of 130,000.
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