| Highland Division 51st (Highland) Division 51st (Highland) Infantry Division 51st/52nd (Scottish) Division | |
|---|---|
_Division&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:WW1_British_51stDivision.svg) The insignia of the 51st (Highland) Division, during the First World War. | |
| Active | August 1908 – March 1919 1920–1946 1950–1968 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Territorial Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Peacetime HQ | Perth |
| Nickname(s) | First World War: *Harper's Duds *Ladies from Hell Second World War: *Highway Decorators |
| Engagements | First World War: *Battle of the Somme (1916) *Battle of Arras (1917) *Third Battle of Ypres (1917) *Battle of Cambrai (1917) *German Spring Offensive *Hundred Days Offensive Second World War: *Battle of France *Second Battle of El Alamein *Allied invasion of Sicily *Normandy Campaign *Operation Veritable *Operation Plunder |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | First World War: Major-General George Harper Second World War: Victor Fortune Alan Cunningham Neil Ritchie Douglas Wimberley Tom Rennie |
The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World 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 George Harper although they would go on to gain a fearsome reputation with the Allies and Germans.
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. In June 1940, the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division was attached to French 10th Army and after a fighting retreat from the Somme the greater part of the division was forced to surrender, having been cut off at St Valery-en-Caux on the Channel coast. In North Africa, the reconstituted Highland Division was nicknamed the "Highway Decorators" in reference to the 'HD' insignia that adorned road signs along their axis of advance.
By December 1947, the formation amalgamated with 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division to become 51st/52nd Scottish Division,[1] but, by March 1950, 51st Division and 52nd Division had been recreated as separate formations.[2] 51st (Highland) Division finally disbanded in 1968.
- ^ Graham Watson, The Territorial Army, 1947 Archived 5 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine, v1.0, 10 March 2002.
- ^ Beckett 2008, 178.