7th Division 7th Infantry Division
The divisional insignia during the First World War (1916 onwards)
Active	1811 - 1814 1900 - 1902 1914 - 1919 1938 - 1939
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Nickname(s)	The Mongrels (Peninsular War) The Immortal Seventh (First World War)
Engagements	Napoleonic War Peninsula War Second Boer War Battle of Poplar Grove First World War First Battle of Ypres Battle of Neuve Chapelle Battle of Aubers Ridge Battle of Festubert Battle of Loos Battle of the Somme Battle of Passchendaele Battle of Vittorio Veneto Siege of Antwerp Arab revolt Second World War

The 7th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army, first established by The Duke of Wellington as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army for service in the Peninsular War, and was active also during the First World War from 1914 to 1919, and briefly in the Second World War in 1939.

Peninsular War

During the French Revolutionary Wars and early in the Napoleonic Wars, the largest permanent organised structure within the British Army was the brigade. The brigade, which consisted of two or more battalions grouped together under the command of a major-general, suited the small size of the army and the operations that it conducted. When needed, larger forces were organised on an ad hoc basis. This included multiple brigades grouped into 'lines' or 'columns'. As the army and its operations grew, it implemented divisions—a single formation of two or more brigades, usually commanded by a lieutenant-general. The division concept was not new and had been used by other European armies towards the end of the Seven Years' War (1756–1763). On 18 June 1809, Lieutenant-General Arthur Wellesley, commander of British forces in Spain and Portugal during the Peninsular War, reorganised his force into four divisions.^[1] The following year, with the further expansion of his force, Wellington created the 7th Division. It consisted of British, German, Portuguese, and French troops. Due to the mixture of nationalities as well as line and light regiments, the division had a multitude of uniforms. This coined the nickname of The Mongrels.^[2]

The division was present at the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro the Battle of Vitoria the Battle of the Pyrenees the Battle of Nivelle the Battle of the Nive and the Battle of Orthez.^[3]

Second Boer War

The 7th Division was re-activated during the Second Boer War. The division took part in the Battle of Poplar Grove (March 1900) and the following occupation of Bloemfontein, then took part in Lord Roberts′ march to Pretoria.^[4]

First World War

Column of the 2nd Battalion, Gordon Highlanders marching to the trenches along the Becordel–Fricourt road, France, October 1916.

The 7th Division was a Regular Army formation that was formed in September 1914 by combining units returning from garrison outposts in the British Empire at the outbreak of the First World War the previous month.^[5][6] During the war, the division fought in the First Battle of Ypres, the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, the Battle of Aubers Ridge, the Battle of Festubert, the Battle of Loos, the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Passchendaele, and the Battle of Vittorio Veneto.^[6]

The division landed at Zeebrugge in Belgium on 6 October 1914 in an attempt to support the Belgian Army's defence of Antwerp, but was soon forced to retreat south-west as that city fell a few days later. It then played a crucial part in the stabilisation of the front during the First Battle of Ypres, preventing a German breakthrough, although at a high cost in terms of casualties.^[7] A floating division, the 7th was the first British Division to enter Ypres on 14 October. It was ordered to hold the line, while Field Marshal French brought up his remaining six divisions and redeployed them from the Aisne to the sea. The division held an 8 mile front for two weeks, opposite some 340,000 Germans. Some 18,000 soldiers strong on 15 October, the 7th left the line on 31 October, with just 2,000 troops remaining, mostly transport and supply.^[8]

The 7th Division fought in most of the major battles on the Western Front through to 1917 before being sent to the Italian Front for the remainder of the war. At the battle of Loos in late 1915, the division's General Officer Commanding (GOC), Major-General Thompson Capper, was killed in action at the height of the fighting. Unlike the first six regular divisions of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), a third of whose strength was made up of regular reservists, the 7th Division was originally composed entirely of serving regular soldiers, which gave rise to the division's nickname, 'The Immortal Seventh'.^[6]

Arab Revolt

In 1936, the Arab Revolt broke out in the British Mandate of Palestine.^[9] British troops were dispatched, ending the first phase of the war by the close of the year.^[10] Fighting soon resumed and reached its zenith during the summer of 1938. With rising tensions in Europe, the British began to withdraw troops from Palestine for use elsewhere.^[11] The conclusion of the Munich Agreement—on 30 September 1938—calmed the rising tensions in Europe and averted war, allowing the British to resume their military build-up in Palestine.^[12]

The 7th Division was reformed the following month, and placed under the command of Major-General Richard O'Connor.^[13] The division was deployed to Palestine on internal security duties as part of a build-up of 18,500 men in the region.^[12][14] This force then began to suppress the revolt. Meanwhile, Palestinian guerrillas had overrun the Old City of Jerusalem. O'Connor's men proceeded to sweep the area, declaring the Old City free of militants on 19 October. The same day, the division seized Acre and by the end of the month were clearing Jaffa of rebels.^[15][16] Many Palestinians were detained and rebel activity significantly dropped off in the area.^[16] In the north, the 8th Infantry Division, under Major-General Bernard Montgomery, and Special Night Squads engaged in counter-terror operations, with O'Connor writing that one brigadier "always encouraged his men to be brutal". General Officer Commanding (GOC) British Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan Robert Haining wrote in late 1938 that "unnecessary violence, vindictiveness ..., [and] killing in cold blood" had to be curbed. O'Connor was likewise opposed to the measures in the north, and wrote "harshness and unnecessary violence on the part of our soldiers" had to be curbed.^[17] During the operation in Jerusalem, only four to nineteen guerrillas were killed.^[18][19] In early 1939, the revolt finally came to an end.^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Second World War

On 31 August, just prior to the war beginning, the headquarters of the 7th Infantry Division relinquished command of all its troops. O'Connor and the divisional staff then left Jerusalem bound for Cairo, Egypt. From Cairo, the men moved forward to Mersa Matruh arriving on 7 September. The headquarters was then assigned all troops based there, with the exception of the 7th Armoured Division.^[14] The British Official Historian, I. S. O. Playfair, comments that this decision was undertaken to relieve the burden on Lieutenant-General Henry Maitland Wilson, GOC British Troops in Egypt, of "direct control of operations which had been his in addition to the command of all troops in Egypt".^[21] Due to the logistical problems in maintaining substantial forces across the Western Desert and on the Libya–Egypt border, Mersa Matruh was the forward British base of operations and supplied by rail. Positioned 200 miles (320 km) west of Alexandria and 120 miles (190 km) from the border, the location had been chosen to shield forward Royal Air Force (RAF) landing strips behind it and to defend the Nile Delta. Mersa Matruh also offered the British the strategy of drawing Italian or other forces forward to them, to allow a counter-attack after they ran into supply difficulties.^[22][23] On 3 November, the division was renamed the 6th Infantry Division.^[14]

General officers commanding

Victoria Cross recipients

Orders of battle

See also

• List of British divisions in the First World War
• List of British divisions in World War II
• Structure of the British Army in 1939
• W. N. Hodgson, poet who served with the division and was killed during the Battle of the Somme

Notes

Footnotes

Citations

References

Further reading

External sources