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The British 2nd Infantry Division has seen much service including fighting in Burma against the Japan ese during World War II . HISTORY The British 2nd Division was originally formed in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke Of Wellington for service in the Peninsula War . During the First World War it was a permanently established Regular Army Division that was amongst the first to be sent to France at the outbreak of the war. It served on the Western Front for the duration of the war. After the war the division was part of the occupation force stationed at Cologne . It continued life as a regular army formation that served in France 1940 , and after being stationed in Britain until April 1942 was then shipped off to India where it would spend the rest of the war fighting in the Burma Campaign . It gained the World War II Battle Honours of the Dyle, St. Omer-La Bassee, Kohima and Mandalay . Amalgamated in the Far East with the 36th Division in 1946-7, the division was disbanded soon afterwards there and reformed in Germany by February 1947 utilising the structure of the disbanding 53rd Welsh Division . The Division was to stay in Germany with I(BR) Corps for decades, and spend a period as 2nd Armoured Division, a small five-battle group armoured division probably incorporating Task Force Charlie and Task Force Delta, from 1976 to 1983 . The Division was brought home in the 1982-3 reorganisation, and headquartered at York. Consisting of 15 (TA) , 49 (TA) and 24th Brigade s, its war role would have been to cross the Channel and protect the corps rear area in the event of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe. Following the end of the Cold War, the division disbanded, but the title was resurrected for the amalgamation of several Military District s - North East District and part of Eastern District, when the formation reformed on 1 April 1995. The 1998 Strategic Defence Review led to a reorganisation of Land Command and 2nd Division absorbed Scotland District and it's headquarters moved to Craigiehall, near Edinburgh. The Division reports to Commander Regional Forces, a Lieutenant General, at Headquarters Land Command at Wilton. Following further reshuffing, 52nd Infantry Brigade was reformed as an operational, rather than regional, brigade consisting of several light infantry battalions, and as a result will leave the formation to join 3 Division in 2007. WORLD WAR I FORMATION ; 4th (Guards) Brigade :
The brigade left the division on August 20 1915 to join the Guards Division and was renamed the 1st Guards Brigade. ; 5th Brigade :
The following battalions were part of the brigade during 1915.
; 6th Brigade :
The following battalions were part of the brigade during 1915.
The 17th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers joined the brigade from the 5th Brigade in February 1918. ; 19th Brigade ( August 19 1915 to November 25 1915 ) :
The brigade joined the division in August 1915 from the 27th Division and left in November for the 33rd Division , where it swapped with the 99th Brigade. ; 99th Brigade :
The brigade joined the division from the 33rd Division in November 1915. The following battalions left the brigade shortly afterwards:
WORLD WAR II STRUCTURE (On Deployment to India, April 1942) 4th Infantry Brigade See Also: 4th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom) l1=4th Infantry Brigade
5th Infantry Brigade See Also: 5th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom) l1=5th Infantry Brigade
6th Infantry Brigade See Also: 6th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom) l1=6th Infantry Brigade
Support
CURRENT STRUCTURE The Division is tasked with maintaining the infrastructure and resources and the command and control responsibilities, for the training and administration of all Regular Army and Territorial Army units in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the North of England. The Division has it's Headquarters at Craigiehall, near Edinburgh and comprises Catterick Garrison and three Regional Brigades: 52nd Infantry Brigade was transferred from the 2nd Division to 3 (Mechanised) Division in April 2007. REFERENCES SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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