58th (2/1st London) Division

58th (2/1st London) Division
Active1914–1919
1943–1945
Country United Kingdom
Branch Territorial Force
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
EngagementsFirst World War:
Arras
Passchendaele
German spring offensive
Amiens
Hundred Days Offensive
Second World War:
Operation Fortitude
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Maj-Gen H.D. Fanshawe
Maj-Gen A.B.E. Cator
Maj-Gen N.M. Smyth, VC
French and British soldiers of the 58th Division playing cards at Bernagousse, near Barisis on the extreme of the newly extended British line, 16 March 1918

The 58th (2/1st London) Division was an infantry division created in 1915 as part of the massive expansion of the British Army during the First World War. It was a 2nd Line Territorial Force formation raised as a duplicate of the 56th (1/1st London) Division. After training in Britain, the division joined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front in 1917. It saw action at the battles of Arras and Passchedaele in 1917 and the German spring offensive in 1918. It then took part in the Battle of Amiens and the final Allied Hundred Days Offensive of the war. The division was recreated during the Second World War, as an imaginary deception formation.