History
The British 8th Division was a Regular Army division that was formed by combining battalions returning from outposts in the British Empire at the outbreak of the First World War. Major-General Francis Davies took command on 19 September 1914. The division moved to France in November, 1914, following the First Battle of Ypres. The division fought on the Western Front for the duration of the war, taking part in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, the Battle of Aubers Ridge, the Battle of the Somme (1916) and the Third Battle of Ypres.
Brigadier-General R. Oxley took acting command of the Division on 27 July 1915, being succeeded by Major-General Havelock Hudson on 1 August 1915. Major-General W. Heneker took over on 10 December 1916.
Major-General Sir Bernard Montgomery commanded the 8th Infantry Division from 1938 to July 1939, followed by Major-General Reade Godwin-Austen.
The 8th Infantry Division was never a complete formation during the Second World War. In 1939 it was based in Palestine and consisted of two infantry brigades (14th and 16th Brigades). Due to the needs of defence against German and Italian forces these units were sent to places of need and reformed as different formations. Although it had infantry it had no divisional troops due to the shortage of artillery and engineers in the Middle-East.
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