76th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)

76th Infantry Division 76th Infantry (Reserve) Division
The divisional insignia was a red Norfolk wherry
Active	18 November 1941–1 September 1944[1]
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Home defence, training and deception.

The 76th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army, which was formed in November 1941 and served during the Second World War. It was created when the Norfolk County Division, initially raised in 1940 to defend the Norfolk coast from a potential German invasion, was redesignated. The division maintained the defensive duties that had been assigned to it, prior to it being renamed, until late 1942 when it became a training formation. It was then responsible for providing final tactical and field training to soldiers who had already passed their initial training. After five additional weeks of training, the soldiers were posted to fighting formations overseas. The formation was used as a source of reinforcements for the 21st Army Group, that was fighting in the Normandy campaign. After all available British troops had left the United Kingdom for France, the division was disbanded in September 1944.

In addition to the actual formation, a phantom 76th Infantry Division was formed for deception purposes. The phantom division was part of the notional British Fourth Army, to be used for the fictitious Operation Trolleycar. This operation aimed to deceive the Germans into believing that an Allied landing would occur along the northern German coast. While the deception effort was not a complete success, it managed to divert German attention to the northern flank for the remainder of the war.