18th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)

18th Infantry Division
Active	Second World War
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Territorial Army
Type	Infantry
Engagements	France (1940) Battle of Muar (53rd Infantry Brigade) Singapore (1942)
Commanders
Notable commanders	Bernard Paget

British Army Infantry Divisions (1914–present)
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18th (Eastern) Division (First World War)	19th (Western) Division

For the First World War unit, see 18th (Eastern) Division.

The 18th Infantry Division was a Division of the British Army in the Second World War. It was a duplicate of the 54th (East Anglian) Division using mostly units with connections to East Anglia .

Among its brigades, the 53rd Brigade was converted (seemingly redesignated) from the British 163rd Infantry Brigade on September 18, 1939. The Brigade arrived at Singapore on January 13, 1942, before the rest of the division, and was attached to the Indian 11th Infantry Division and Westforce on mainland Malaya where it was involved in the retreat back to Singapore, fighting the Battle of Muar in company with Indian units.

The main part of the 18th Infantry Division landed at Singapore a few weeks before the fall of the island. After the violent week long Battle of Singapore, General Arthur Percival, commander of the Singapore garrison, surrendered to the Japanese on February 15, 1942. The division's soldiers went into Japanese POW camps.

The division was not reformed.

General Officer Commanding

• 30.09.1939 Maj-Gen.T.G. McArthur
• 30.11.1939 Maj-Gen. Bernard Charles Tolver Paget
• 20.04.1940 (Acting) Maj-Gen. E. H .W. Backhouse
• 14.05.1940 Maj-Gen. Bernard Charles Tolver Paget
• 27.05.1940 (Acting) Brig. G. E. W. Franklyn
• 01.06.1940 Maj-Gen.T.R.Eastwood
• 09.06.1940 Maj-Gen. L.H.K. Finch
• 14-07-1940 Maj-Gen. Merton Beckwith-Smith (P.O.W 15.02.1942)

Order of battle

SS Empress of Asia beached and burning, 5 February 1942. The convoy comprised four vessels bringing the remainder of the 18th Division to Singapore, and was the last convoy to reach the island before it fell.

In January 1942 before the surrender in Singapore

18th Division H.Q.

• 135th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry)Field Regt, Royal Artillery
• 198th Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps
• 118th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery
• 287th Field Company, Royal Engineers
• 125th Anti Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery
• 148th Field Regt, Royal Artillery
• 288th Field Coy, Royal Engineers
• 560th Field Coy, Royal Engineer
• 251st Battalion, The Recce Regt (5th Battalion, The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) )
• 9th Battalion, The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, M.G. - Lieut.Col.Lechmere Thomas/Henry (Flossie) Flower

53rd Infantry Brigade

• Brigadier C.L.B. Duke
• 2nd Battalion, The Cambridgeshire Regiment - Lieut.Col.Thorne
• 5th Battalion, The Royal Norfolk Regiment
• 6th Battalion, The Royal Norfolk Regiment - Lieut.Col.Ian Lywood (Hospitalised with malaria but killed during the massacre at Alexandra Hospital)

Commander previous to Duke were Brig. M.D. Jephson and Brig. S. Collingwood.

54th Infantry Brigade

• Brigadier E.K.W.Backhouse
• 4th Battalion, The Royal Norfolk Regiment
• 4th Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment
• 5th Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment

55th Infantry Brigade

• Brigadier J.B.Coates
• 1st Battalion, The Cambridgeshire Regiment - Lieut.Col.Gerald Carpenter
• 5th Battalion, The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment
• 1st/5th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters - Lieut.Col.Harold Lilly

See also

• British Divisions in World War II
• Battle of Singapore
• British Army Order of Battle - September 1939

References

• 'Singapore Burning', Colin Smith. Penguin Books 2006. England. ISBN 978-0-14-101036-6

External links

• Order of Battle
• Unit History
• Order of Battle Data Base
• Cambridgeshire Regt. Site
• History of Malayan Campaign