British 23rd (Northumbrian) Division
Encyclopedia
The 23rd Infantry Division was a 2nd Line Territorial Army duplicate of the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division during the Second World War.
on 22 April 1940 on Labour and training duties, without any of its artillery , signals, or administration units.
On 20 May 1940 the division suffered heavy casualties trying to delay the German
advance at Arras
. On its return to Britain
, after Dunkirk, the 23rd Division was disbanded due to the heavy losses it had suffered.
Its component units, however, would go on to see further action; the 69th Brigade was assigned to 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, the division's first-line counterpart, and the 70th Infantry Brigade was assigned to 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division.
Its Machine Gun and Motorcycle battalions, the 8th (Motorcycle) and 9th (Machine Gun) Battalions the Northumberland Fusiliers, would also survive with the 9th surviving until February 1942 as the Machine Gun Battalion for the 18th Division until its capture at Singapore and the 8th would survive until the end of the war having been converted to the 3rd Reconnaissance Regiment the Reconnaissance Corps under the 3rd British Infantry Division right up till the end of the war.
History
The 23rd (Northumbrian) Infantry Division was raised in October 1939, and was sent to FranceBattle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
on 22 April 1940 on Labour and training duties, without any of its artillery , signals, or administration units.
On 20 May 1940 the division suffered heavy casualties trying to delay the German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
advance at Arras
Arras
Arras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard dialect...
. On its return to Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, after Dunkirk, the 23rd Division was disbanded due to the heavy losses it had suffered.
Its component units, however, would go on to see further action; the 69th Brigade was assigned to 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, the division's first-line counterpart, and the 70th Infantry Brigade was assigned to 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division.
Its Machine Gun and Motorcycle battalions, the 8th (Motorcycle) and 9th (Machine Gun) Battalions the Northumberland Fusiliers, would also survive with the 9th surviving until February 1942 as the Machine Gun Battalion for the 18th Division until its capture at Singapore and the 8th would survive until the end of the war having been converted to the 3rd Reconnaissance Regiment the Reconnaissance Corps under the 3rd British Infantry Division right up till the end of the war.
Component Units
- 69th Infantry Brigade
- 5th battalion The East Yorkshire Regiment
- 6th battalion The Green HowardsThe Green HowardsThe Green Howards was an infantry regiment of the British Army, in the King's Division...
- 7th battalion The Green Howards
- 70th Infantry Brigade
- 10th battalion The Durham Light InfantryDurham Light InfantryThe Durham Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1968. It was formed by the amalgamation of the 68th Regiment of Foot and the 106th Regiment of Foot along with the militia and rifle volunteers of County Durham...
- 11th battalion The Durham Light Infantry
- 12th (Tyneside Scottish) battalion, The Durham Light Infantry (later 1st battalion The Tyneside ScottishTyneside ScottishTyneside Scottish is an honour title which has been held by a variety of British Army units since 1914. The Regiments which have held the title are the Northumberland Fusiliers, Durham Light Infantry, Black Watch and Royal Artillery....
, The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment))
- 10th battalion The Durham Light Infantry
- Support Units
- 8th battalion The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, 3rd Regiment Reconnaissance CorpsReconnaissance CorpsThe Reconnaissance Corps or simply Recce Corps was a short-lived elite corps of the British Army whose units provided the mobile spearhead of infantry divisions from the Far East to Europe during the Second World War. It was formed from Infantry Brigade Reconnaissance Groups on 14 January 1941...
- 9th battalion The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, Machine Gun Battalion
- 8th battalion The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, 3rd Regiment Reconnaissance Corps
See also
- British Divisions in World War IIBritish Divisions in World War IIThis page is a list of British Army divisions that fought in World War II.-Armoured:*Guards Armoured Division*1st Armoured Division*2nd Armoured Division - Formed 15 December 1939 in the UK. Served in Egypt from January 1941 until March 1941 and from April 1941 until May 1941, and in Libya from...
- British Army Order of Battle - September 1939