|
The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the Great War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as the Highland Division and later 51st (Highland) Division from 1915. The division's insignia was a stylised 'HD' inside a red circle. Early doubts about the division's performance earned it the nickname of "Harper's Duds" after the name of its commander Major-General G. M. Harper. The division was renamed the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division and fought during the Second World War as part of the Territorial Army after the Territorial Force was disbanded in 1920. The division was nicknamed the "''Highway Decorators''" in reference to the 'HD' insignia that adorned road signs along their axis of advance. A related formation, the 51st (Scottish) Division, was reformed in the Territorial Army after the Second World War. Beckett 2008 says that Territorial Army units that were in suspended animation were formally reactivated on 1 January 1947, though no personnel were assigned until commanding officers and permanent staff had been appointed in March and April 1947.〔Beckett 2008, 169.〕 By December 1947, the formation amalgamated with 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division had become 51st/52nd Scottish Division,〔Graham Watson, (The Territorial Army, 1947 ), v1.0, 10 March 2002, www.orbat.com〕 but, by March 1950, 52nd Division had been recreated as an independent formation.〔Beckett 2008, 178.〕 From December 1955, the division was placed on a lower establishment, for home defence purposes only.〔Beckett 2008, 180.〕 On 1 May 1961, the division was merged with Highland District to become 51st Highland Division/District.〔Beckett 2008, 183, 185, and regiments.org (archive), (Highland ), 1905–1995.〕 ==First World War== The First World War doubts were the result of the way in which the division was initially plundered in late 1914 to early 1915, during a period of great strain on the Regular Army troops of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). In August 1914, upon mobilization, the division's infantry element had comprised 12 battalions in 3 regimentally-named brigades:- The Seaforth and Cameron Brigade, The Gordon Highlanders Brigade and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Brigade. A crisis on the Western Front in the Autumn of 1914 saw increasing numbers of individual Territorial Force battalions being seconded to Regular Army formations on the Western Front. The first T.F. formation to be plundered in this way was the 1st London Division. By early 1915, the Highland Division had lost six of its 12 pre-war Highland infantry battalions to Regular Divisions. When T.F. divisions were finally ordered overseas as complete formations in their own right in early 1915, the Highland Division was only at half-strength and in no shape to be sent abroad at that time. Only by the last-minute addition of two Lowland battalions and a complete English brigade from the West Lancashire Division was the division, now numbered 51st (Highland) Division, considered numerically complete and was rushed to the Western Front in May 1915 to help stem the latest German onslaught at Ypres. Obviously, the lack of familiarity amongst these newly introduced disparate units hampered division efficiency and the division could only fare moderately in further the actions at Festubert and Givenchy. Indeed, General Sir Douglas Haig, later to command the entire BEF in France and Belgium, commented that the 51st was, at the time of Festubert, "''practically untrained and very green in all field duties"''. Moved to the quiet Somme front in late summer of 1915, the division had yet to satisfy the expectations of those expecting the familiar Highland flair in battle – this was the period of ''Harper's Duds''. The situation was only resolved when, by January 1916, the Lancashire brigade left the division and their place was filled by original Highland battalions released by the regular divisions and by battalions of the Black Watch not originally in the division. Given the chance to show their mettle in July 1916, they assaulted High Wood, which they attacked forcefully in the midst of a murderous field of fire without shelter. Though they failed to take the position, they had shown the fighting spirit expected of Highlanders. The division's reputation grew and they were chosen to capture the notorious fortress village of Beaumont-Hamel in November 1916. The 51st were "''Harper's Duds''" no longer, now they were, according to the German nickname, "''The Ladies From Hell''". By 1917, the 51st was considered a leading assault division and was handed more and more difficult tasks, throughout the year, from Arras in April/May to the combined tank-infantry assault at Cambrai in November. By early 1918, the division was below-strength due to losses in 1917 and the tired survivors were given a quiet part of the front line to hold. Unfortunately, the Germans had by chance chosen that location as one of the focal points for their Kaiserschlacht, the last great German assault on the West in March 1918. The neighbouring Portuguese troops bore the brunt of the initial German assault and when they started to retire from their positions and ran across the 51st's positions, they were mistaken for Germans in the poor visual conditions and the 51st opened fire on them, causing casualties. The under-strength 51st was also pushed back, but eventually held as the German offensive ebbed and flowed. The remains of the division survived the Spring battles and received replacements in time for Haig's Allied offensives of August 1918 onward. During 1918, members of the division were painted by the war artist Frederick Farrell, in France. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「51st (Highland) Division」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|