History
The Division was created in 1908 along with the rest of the Territorial Force. On 24 September 1914, it accepted overseas service in India in order to relieve regular units that were required for active service in europe. The Divisional and Brigade HQs, both artillery and infantry, did not embark for India. The "Division" sailed on 9 October 1914 and arrived in India in November, where it remained throughout the Great War, reverting to peacetime service conditions. However, it supplied battalions and drafts of reinforcements for the divisions fighting in the Middle East.
In the Second World War, it fought in Normandy, where it was initially earmarked as a reserve for Operation Epsom. In July, it launched an attack against the German 9th SS Panzer Division at Hill 112, though it was beaten back after both sides had suffered horrendous casualties. The 43rd performed well, and was considered one of the best British Divisions in the Second World War.
It was the first British formation to cross the Seine river, with an assault crossing at the French town of Vernon opposed by the German 49th Infantry Division (see 'Assault Crossing, The River Seine 1944' by Ken Ford). This crossing enabled the armour of XXX Corps, under Gen. Brian Horrocks, to thrust across northern France into Belgium.
43rd Division later played a major role in Operation Market Garden as the support to the Guards Armoured Division. During Market Garden, a Battalion (4th Dorsets) successfully crossed the Rhine as a diversion, so that 1st Airborne could withdraw more safely; but many men of the 4th Dorsets were themselves left behind on the north Bank of the Rhine when the Division withdrew.
The division later played a small part in the Battle of the Bulge, where it was placed on the Meuse as a reserve, and a large part in the invasion of Germany and the Crossing of the Rhine (Operation Veritable).
By the end of hostilities, the 43rd had reached the Cuxhaven peninsula of northern Germany.
Read more about this topic: 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division
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“All things are moral. That soul, which within us is a sentiment, outside of us is a law. We feel its inspiration; out there in history we can see its fatal strength.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“We may pretend that we’re basically moral people who make mistakes, but the whole of history proves otherwise.”
—Terry Hands (b. 1941)