The 32nd Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was raised in 1914, during the First World War. The division was raised from volunteers for Lord Kitchener's New Armies, made up of infantry 'Pals battalions' and artillery brigades raised by public subscription or private patronage. The division was taken over by the War Office in September 1915. It served in France and Belgium in the trenches of the Western Front for the duration of the war. It saw action at the Battle of the Somme, the Pursuit to the Hindenburg Line, the Defence of Nieuport, the German spring offensive, and the Allied Hundred Days Offensive beginning at the Battle of Amiens. After the Armistice it marched into Germany as part of the Army of Occupation.
The Division was one of those created for Kitchener's Fifth New Army ('K5') on 10 December 1914 and was originally numbered 38th until the six K4 divisions were converted into reserve units. It landed in France in November 1915.[1][2][3] Major-General Reginald Barnes took command of the division for a short while in November 1916 before being replaced by the controversial Major-General Cameron Shute.[1][4][5]
The division's insignia was four 'eights' arranged in an 'X' shape.
The following units and formations served with the division during the war:[1][3]
The brigade joined from the 5th Division in December 1915, swapping with the 95th Brigade.
The brigade transferred to the 5th Division on 26 December 1915, swapping with the 14th Brigade.
2nd County Palatine Artillery Originally raised in Lancashire for 32nd Division by the Earl of Derby[7] but did not accompany the division to France in November 1915. Later joined 31st Division.
53rd (Welsh) Divisional Artillery Attached to 32nd Division in France between 22 November and 27 December 1915, later rejoining 53rd (Welsh) Division in Egypt
32nd Divisional Artillery Transferred from 31st Division, joining in France between 30 December 1915 and 3 January 1916
The division was engaged in the following major actions:[1][3][4][11]
32nd Division was occupying Avesnes when the Armistice with Germany came into effect on 11 November. Two days later it was informed that it would take part in the advance to the Rhine, which began on 19 November. However, the division was halted on the Meuse between Dinant and Namur, to act as reserve for the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). On 28 January 1919 the division began entraining for Bonn and on 3 February it took over the southern sector of the Cologne bridgehead while demobilisation of individuals continued. On 15 March the division was renamed the Lancashire Division in BAOR, and war-raised units were progressively replaced by Regulars during 1919. During the war the division lost 34,226 killed, wounded and missing.[1][11]
The following served as General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the division during the war:[1][4]
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