77th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)

77th Infantry Division 77th Infantry (Reserve) Division 77th (Holding) Division
The divisional insignia
Active	1 December 1941 –1 September 1944[1]
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Home defence, and training.

The 77th Infantry Division of the British Army was formed in 1941, during the Second World War, from the re-organisation of the Devon and Cornwall County Division. During its existence the division changed roles several times. The division's initial role was coastal defence, protecting Devon. On 20 December 1942, it was converted into a training formation, known as a reserve division. In this capacity, the division provided final tactical and field training for the infantry that had already passed their initial training. After five additional weeks of training, the soldiers would be posted to fighting formations overseas. The division also had a tank brigade attached to provide training in armoured warfare.

On 1 December 1943, the division took on a new role and was again renamed. Now the 77th (Holding) Division, it was responsible for retraining the soldiers who had been on medical leave, former prisoners of war, repatriates, and anyone who did not meet the army's physical standards. Once the men were brought up to the standard, they were allocated to formations fighting overseas. Notably, the formation was used as a source of reinforcements for the 21st Army Group, which fought in Normandy. After all available British Army troops left the United Kingdom for France, the division was disbanded. It was subsequently re-formed as a deception unit, to give Germany the impression that the British Army had more divisions than it actually did. The 77th Division was notionally held in reserve within the United Kingdom for the remainder of the war, but was otherwise unused for deception measures.