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5th Division    5th Division went to France in 1939 and saw action during the Battle of France in 1940. On return to the UK they under went training and served in Ireland, India, The Middle East, Sicily, Italy and North Western Europe. 17th Nov 1939 On the Move 23rd of November 1939 Orders 18th Jan 1940 Conference 19th January1940 Orders 20th January 1940 Recce 21st Jan 1940 Recce 23rd January 1940 Conference 24th January 1940 Recce 11th of March 1940 Orders 1st Apr 1940 Exercise 2nd Apr 1940 Orders 3rd Apr 1940 Visit 4th Apr 1940 Visit 5th Apr 1940 Visit 8th Apr 1940 Reorganisation 9th Apr 1940 Reorganisation 10th Apr 1940 Orders 11th Apr 1940 Stand Fast 12th Apr 1940 Discussion 13th Apr 1940 Orders 14th Apr 1940 Return 15th Apr 1940 Orders 17th Apr 1940 On the Move 20th Apr 1940 Orders 22nd Apr 1940 Orders 23rd Apr 1940 Conference 25th Apr 1940 Advance Party 25th Apr 1940 On the Move 26th Apr 1940 Orders 26th Apr 1940 In Action 26th Apr 1940 Orders 26th Apr 1940 In Action 27th Apr 1940 Admin 27th Apr 1940 Under Fire 27th Apr 1940 In Action 28th Apr 1940 Warning 28th Apr 1940 Reorganisation 30th Apr 1940 Orders 30th Apr 1940 On the Move 1st May 1940 On the Move 1st May 1940 Train Detrailed 2nd May 1940 On the Move 3rd May 1940 Move Cancelled 4th May 1940 Preparations 5th May 1940 On the Move 6th May 1940 On the Move 7th May 1940 Concentration 8th May 1940 Training 9th May 1940 Training 10th May 1940 Orders 11th May 1940 Orders 12th May 1940 Divisional HQ Moves 13th May 1940 Recce 14th May 1940 Orders 15th May 1940 Orders 16th May 1940 On the Move 17th May 1940 In Action 18th May 1940 On the Move 19th May 1940 On the Move 19th May 1940 Planning 20th May 1940 Air Raids 20th May 1940 Orders 21st May 1940 Hard Fighting 21st May 1940 Orders 21st May 1940 Orders 21st May 1940 Orders 21st May 1940 Intelligence 21st May 1940 Planning 22nd May 1940 Shelling 22nd May 1940 Under Pressure 22nd May 1940 Attacks Repulsed 23rd May 1940 Enemy Advance 23rd May 1940 Surrounded 23rd May 1940 Withdrawal 23rd May 1940 Shortening the Front 24th May 1940 Congested Roads 24th May 1940 Fighting Withdrawal 24th May 1940 On the Move 24th May 1940 Transport 24th May 1940 Hide 24th May 1940 Air Raids 24th May 1940 Orders 25th May 1940 Orders 25th May 1940 Orders 25th May 1940 Congestion 25th May 1940 Orders 25th May 1940 Orders 25th May 1940 Marking the Occassion 25th May 1940 Conference 25th May 1940 Defence 25th May 1940 Orders 25th May 1940 Orders 26th May 1940 In Defence 26th May 1940 Line Held 26th May 1940 Bombing 26th May 1940 In Defence 26th May 1940 In Action 26th May 1940 Escape corridor 26th May 1940 Situation Serious 26th May 1940 Into Positions 26th May 1940 Orders 27th May 1940 Under Pressure 27th May 1940 In Action 27th May 1940 Air Attacks 27th May 1940 In Action 27th May 1940 Driven Back 27th May 1940 Enemy Attacks 27th May 1940 On the Move 27th May 1940 Heavy Shelling 27th May 1940 Withdrawal 27th May 1940 Withdrawal 27th May 1940 In Action 27th May 1940 Holding the Line 28th May 1940 Heavy Shelling 28th May 1940 Enemy Advance 28th May 1940 Air Attacks 28th May 1940 Equipment 28th May 1940 In Action 28th May 1940 Rear Guard 28th May 1940 Under Attack 28th May 1940 Withdrawal 28th May 1940 Withdrawal 28th May 1940 Orders 28th May 1940 In Action 28th May 1940 Guns Lost 29th May 1940 Orders 29th May 1940 Shelling 29th May 1940 Withdrawal 29th May 1940 Air Raids 29th May 1940 Withdrawal 29th May 1940 On the March 29th May 1940 Rear Guard 29th May 1940 Positions Held 29th May 1940 Reorganisation 30th May 1940 On the March 30th May 1940 Rear Guard 30th May 1940 Withdrawal 30th May 1940 In Defence 30th May 1940 Rear Guard 30th May 1940 Withdrawal 30th May 1940 Reduced Strength 30th May 1940 Withdrawal 31st May 1940 Enemy Aircraft 31st May 1940 Heavy Shelling 31st May 1940 Withdrawal 1st Jun 1940 Safety 2nd June 1940 Air Raids Jan 1942 On the Move 25th February 1942 Equipment 17th Mar 1942 On the Move 21st May 1942 On the Move 21st May 1942 On the Move 23rd May 1942 On the Move Jun 1942 Training 20th Aug 1942 On the Move 19th Sep 1942 On the Move 11th Nov 1942 On the Move 26th Feb 1943 On the Move 12th Apr 1943 On the Move 1st June 1943 Locations of units 3rd Jun 1943 On the Move 4th June 1943 Move 14th June 1943 Move to Transit Camp 15th June 1943 Exercise BROMYARD 16th June 1943 Move 26st June 1943 General Montgomery visited 27th June 1943 Advance Party 28th of June 1943 Traffic Control 28th of June 1943 Orders 28th of June 1943 Markings 28th of June 1943 Signage 28th of June 1943 Ferry Services 30th June 1943 Embarkation 1st July 1943 Embarkation at Suez 3rd July 1943 On the Move 4th July 1943 Disembarked 5th July 1943 On the Move 8th July 1943 At Rest 9th July 1943 On the Move 10th July 1943 Landing 12th July 1943 On the Move 13th July 1943 Arrival 14th July 1943 Vehicles 15th July 1943 On the Move 16th July 1943 Verbal orders 21st July 1943 No changes in situation 22nd July 1943 Posting 24th July 1943 No Air Activity 25th July 1943 Postings 27th July 1943 Quiet 28th July 1943 Reorganisation 29th July 1943 Reorganisation 31st July 1943 No Chamge 4th August 1943 1-4 August: No appreciate change 4th August 1943 Orders 4th August 1943 Support 5th August 1943 Move of 99 and 252 Btys 5th August 1943 Move 5th August 1943 Advance 6th August 1943  6th August 1943 Advance Stalled 7th August 1943 C.O. visits Btys 8th August 1943 RHQ moves to new location 8th August 1943 In Reserve 9th August 1943 Guns stay put 10th August 1943 252LAA Bty under new command 10th August 1943 Contact 11th August 1943 No appreciate changes 12th August 1943 Operation Order No. 7 13th August 1943 REME new location 13th September 1943 Warning order to move 15th August 1943 14-15 August: No appreciate change 16th August 1943 Verbal orders 20th August 1943 17-20 August: Situation unchanged and refits for new task 21st August 1943 New instructions from 5 Div 22nd August 1943 Position planning instructions 24th August 1943 23-24 August: Situation unchanged 25th August 1943 Position planning 26th August 1943 Visit army commander 27th August 1943 QM arrived 28th August 1943 No change 29th August 1943 Operation orders for Baytown 30th August 1943 More operation orders Baytown 31st August 1943 Awaiting orders for new invasion 1st September 1943 Operation Order Baytown received 2nd September 1943 Mov. Instr. No. 3 2nd Sep 1943 Planning 3rd September 1943 C.O. disembarked in Italy 3rd Sep 1943 Advance 3rd Sep 1943 On the Move 4th September 1943 Serial 169 shipped to Italy 4th Sep 1943 Advance 5th September 1943 139LAA Bty to relieve 252LAA Bty 6th September 1943 Verbal order confirmed 7th September 1943 Operation Order No 2 Issued 8th September 1943 Orders issued and 352LAA Bty under command 18LAA Regt. 9th September 1943 Instructions and move 10th September 1943 Instruction 072 11th September 1943 Instructions issued 12th September 1943 Op. Instr. No 3 issued 14th September 1943 Operation Instruction No. 4 15th September 1943 RHQ to move 16th September 1943 Operation Instruction No 5 issued 16th September 1943 Patrols 17th September 1943 RHQ move to Maratea 18th September 1943 Operation Instruction No 6 issued 19th September 1943 Moving forward 20th September 1943 RHQ move to Sala Consilina 21st September 1943 Operation Instruction No 7 issued 24th September 1943 Operation Instruction No 8 issued 29th September 1943 25-29 September: resting and regrouping 30th September 1943 Operation Instruction No 9 issued 1st October 1943 RHQ to move 2nd October 1943 Move to Potenza 3rd October 1943 C.O. and Adjt leave for Foggia 4th October 1943 C.O. attends conference Div HQ 5th October 1943 Instructions for protection of Div given 6th October 1943 99 Bty to report to RHQ 7th October 1943 Protection of road 8th October 1943 Recce for 139 Bty 9th October 1943 99 Bty partly under new command 10th October 1943 139 Bty in harbour area 15th October 1943 11-15 Oct.: Concentrated training 16th October 1943 New Commanding Officer 17th October 1943 Relief complete 18th October 1943 Lt. Col. G.L. Moss leaves RHQ for U.K 19th October 1943 I.O. visits 8 Army 20th October 1943 20-22 Oct.: Nothing to report 23rd October 1943 Operation orders and instructions from Regt and Div issued 24th October 1943 Concentration area Vinchiaturo 25th October 1943 Conference with C.O. 99LAA Regt 26th October 1943 26th October 1943 New cmd 139 Bty 27th October 1943 Orders to protect 91 Fd Regt 28th October 1943 Operation order No. 20 from RA 5 Div 29th October 1943 Operation Instruction No. 21 30th October 1943 RHQ established in bombed palace 31st October 1943 252 Bty in Bojano 1st November 1943 Move tomorrow 2nd November 1943 Together with 91 Fd Rgt 3rd November 1943 RHQ moves to Cantalupo 4th November 1943 Impossible to get to Carpinone 5th November 1943 Contact with shot down British officers 6th November 1943 Me 109’s spotted 7th November 1943 Defend X-roads 8th November 1943 Batteries move 9th November 1943 99 BHQ moves 11th November 1943 B/99 move with 92 Id Rgt 13th November 1943 Operation Order No. 14 issued 14th November 1943 Special security precautions 15th November 1943 Tac HQ at Isernia 16th November 1943 Plan to move to Rionero 17th November 1943 CO returns to RHQ 18th November 1943 Permission to fire 4 rounds 19th November 1943 4 rounds fired for practice 20th November 1943 RA Operation Order No. 23 21th November 1943 Order for relief 99 Bty 24th November 1943 CO and 2 i/c return from and leave for Tac RHQ 25th November 1943 Delegation Canadian LAA Regt arrives 26th November 1943 Shelled in Rionero, 5 wounded 27th November 1943 Shelling during visit 99 Bty 28th November 1943 CO returned to Tac RHQ 29th November 1943 CO visits gun sites 30th November 1943 RHQ established at new location 1st December 1943 RHQ moved to Isernia 2nd December 1943 CO visits B/99 section and 5 Div. 3rd December 1943 Admin. Arrangement no A26 5th December 1943 Capt. B. Williams killed by mine 7th December 1943 Order for relief 9th December 1943 Orders to for move 10th December 1943 280LAA Rgt to take over commitments 11th December 1943 RHQ moves to Agnone 12th December 1943 Recces 13th December 1943 Conference at RHQ 14th December 1943 Operation Order No. 16 15th December 1943 Recce for new Tac RHQ 16th December 1943 First of several air attacks 16th Dec 1943 Advance 17th December 1943 CO visits gun sites 18th December 1943 Visit from Brigadier Martin 18th Dec 1943 Very Hard Fighting 19th December 1943 Visit gun sites and lunch with CO 99LAA Rgt 20th December 1943 Take over duties and new appointments 21th December 1943 Visits to RHQ 21st Dec 1943 Preparations 22nd December 1943 99 Bty moving 23rd December 1943 Polish visit and heavy artillery barrage 24th December 1943 Visits, liaison and conference 25th December 1943 Christmas visits, Splice the Mainbrace 25th Dec 1943 Bombardment 26th December 1943 CO visits HQRA and 252 BHQ 27th December 1943 Fw190 and other aircraft engaged by guns 28th December 1943 New postings for officers 29th December 1943 Obtain information of relief 30th December 1943 Move postponed and troops stopped 31st December 1943 More visits 19th Jun 1944 On the Move 6th Jul 1944 On the Move 10th July 1944 Reorganisation 14th July 1944 Reorganisation 1st August 1944 Morning course and Pay Duties lecture 2nd August 1944 Morning course and Ensa Concert 3rd August 1944 Leave Party to Beirut 4th August 1944 Cocktail Party 5th August 1944 CO on leave in Beirut 5th Aug 1944 On the Move 6th August 1944 Inspection by dentist 7th August 1944 Instructional films and lectures 8th August 1944 Drill Cadre commenced and Leave Party to Beirut 9th August 1944 Major Mather left for Cairo 10th August 1944 Hygiene inspection 11th August 1944 Major Mather returned from Cairo 12th August 1944 Visit UMI Expert 13th August 1944 40 OR’s on leave for Beirut 14th August 1944 Arrangements for Regt visit to Nahariya 15th August 1944 Visit UMI Expert 16th August 1944 Visit of Brigadier Buffey and Adm. Order no. 2 17th August 1944 Capt. Pinder left Regt. 18th August 1944 Visits and 29ORs leave party for Beirut 19th August 1944 Advance party left for Nahariya 20th August 1944 Main body of Regt moved to Nahariya 21st August 1944 Guns and Vehicles left for Cairo 22nd August 1944 Nothing to Report 23rd August 1944 29 ORs leave for Beirut 24th August 1944 Rifle practice 25th August 1944 Rifle practice 26th August 1944 Lieut. admitted to hospital 27th August 1944 Nothing to report 28th August 1944 28 ORs on leave to Beirut 29th August 1944 C.O. to attend Div Study Period 30th August 1944 Instructions to post all surplus personnel 31st August 1944 Lieut. rejoined from hospital 1st September 1944 C.O. returned, officer admitted to hospital 2nd September 1944 Officer to attend course photograph interpretation 3rd September 1944 Nothing to report 3rd October 1944 Signal Exercise and Leave Party for Beirut 4th September 1944 Officer admitted to hospital 5th September 1944 Officer rejoined from hospital 6th September 1944 Lecture on LAA in an operational role 7th September 1944 Officer rejoined from hospital 8th September 1944 C.O. and Adjutant returned and officer rejoined from hospital 9th September 1944 RHQ returned to Camp 70 and officer rejoined from hospital 10th September 1944 Regiment returned to Camp 70 and officer admitted to hospital 11th September 1944 Officer rejoined from hospital and other postings 12th September 1944 Officer rejoined Regt from hospital 13th September 1944 Drill order 14th September 1944 Application to HQRA for Court Martial Berry and Balson 15th September 1944 Drill Orders 16th September 1944 C.O. visits Btys 17th September 1944 Nothing to report 18th September 1944 Drill orders 19th September 1944 Drill orders 20th September 1944 Visit Camp 505 and Drill order 20th Sep 1944 Inter Battalion Exercise 21st September 1944 Drill order 22nd September 1944 Drill orders 23rd September 1944 Officer to attend Admin. Course 24th September 1944 Officer admitted to hospital 25th September 1944 Officer returned from Air Photo Interpretation Course and Drill orders 26th September 1944 Exercise Matthew commenced, Drill order and recce new area 26th Sep 1944 Exercise 27th September 1944 C.O. visits exercise 28th September 1944 Second leave commenced, exercise Matthew finished, Padre returned, Drill order 29th September 1944 Padre left, visit G.D.C.A. and Drill order 30th September 1944 2 i/c admitted to hospital 1st October 1944 Mess Committee meeting and Cricket Match 2nd October 1944 Drawing party left for Syria 3rd October 1944 Signal Exercise and Leave Party for Beirut 4th October 1944 Drill Order 5th October 1944 Brigadier Edge killed by shell, others wounded 6th October 1944 Exercise ‘Mark’, Funeral and Court of Inquiry 7th October 1944 Exercise ‘Mark’ finished 8th October 1944 Bty Commanders Conference and C.O. left for Regtl. Commanders Course 9th October 1944 Move & Adm. Instruction 2 issued 10th October 1944 Move to Camp 508 11th October 1944 Left for Exercise Ferret 12th October 1944 Recce in Gerdera 13th October 1944 Nothing to report 14th October 1944 Rear party to Camp 508 15th October 1944 CO returns from Haifa 16th October 1944 2 i/c to attend camouflage course 17th October 1944 CO attended conference at RA 5 Div 18th October 1944 74 ORs on leave and demonstration of rocket & canon firing in Tel Aviv 19th October 1944 Visit from Brigadier Buffey 20th October 1944 Skill at Arms competition 21th October 1944 Officer rejoined after attending course 22nd October 1944 IO attended conference at Div HQ and Skill at Arms competition 23rd October 1944 5 days leave and exercise ‘Luke’ 24th October 1944 2 i/c rejoined from camouflage course 25th October 1944 Gas Course 26th October 1944 Skill at Arms competition held 27th October 1944 Lecture 28th October 1944 5 days leave and umpire at Div HQ 29th October 1944 Nothing to report 30th October 1944 Hockey 31st October 1944 2nd in Div Skill at Arms competition 1st November 1944 Lecture and demonstration detachment to METC 2nd November 1944 Nothing to report 3rd November 1944 Shooting competition 4th November 1944 Operation Instruction No 1 issued. Football match lost 5th November 1944 Rainy season started 6th November 1944 New Adjutant, Op. Instr. No 2 issued 7th November 1944 5 days leave 8th November 1944 Commanding Officers Conference 9th November 1944 CO visits Practice Camp. Two officers rejoined from hospital 10th November 1944 Nothing to report 11th November 1944 Day at rifle range 12th November 1944 Leave for some, practice camp for others 13th November 1944 Lecture on ‘The War Situation’ 14th November 1944 2 i/c visits 99 Bty 15th November 1944 CO visits 99 Bty 16th November 1944 2 i/c returned from Nahariya 17th November 1944 4 days leave for 53 ORs 18th November 1944 Special leave for Runners Up Skill in Arms Competition 19th November 1944 Leave for and return from Practice Camp 20th November 1944 2 i/c left for Practice Camp and personnel posted at BDRA 21st November 1944 Exercise in Mountain Warfare School 22nd November 1944 Leave for 27 ORs, flame thrower demonstration for officers 23rd November 1944 2 i/c returned from Nahariya 24th November 1944 Nothing to report 25th November 1944 CO returned from Nahariya 26th November 1944 252 Bty returned from Practice Camp 27th November 1944 5 days leave for 48 ORs 28th November 1944 Nothing to report 29th November 1944 Football match and visit of Major General Hull DSO 30th November 1944 CO visited Div HQ 1st December 1944 Nothing to report 2nd December 1944 Officers Mess Dance 3rd December 1944 Officer posted to regiment, LAA Course in Haifa 4th December 1944 Day on rifle range 5th December 1944 Lecture and demonstrations at METC 6th December 1944 Education course at Haifa 7th December 1944 Rifle shooting contest 8th December 1944 Football match 9th December 1944 Nothing to report 10th December 1944 CO to visit GHQ Cairo, officers to UK for compassionate leave 11th December 1944 Seven a side football match 12th December 1944 Seven a side football match 13th December 1944 Nothing to report 13th Dec 1944 Rifle Meeting 14th December 1944 CO rejoined from Cairo 15th December 1944 Football match 16th December 1944 Football match 17th December 1944 Nothing to report 18th December 1944 Nothing to report 19th December 1944 Conference at RHQ 20th December 1944 Nothing to report 21st December 1944 Film ‘Battle of Russia’ 22nd December 1944 Semi final soccer 23rd December 1944 CO admitted to hospital 24th December 1944 Festivities 25th December 1944 Christmas in traditional style 26th December 1944 Festivities 27th December 1944 Ensa Show 28th December 1944 Film ‘The Battle for Stalingrad’ 29th December 1944 Rugby match 30th December 1944 Instructors 31st December 1944 Nothing to report 1st February 1945 Nothing to report 2nd February 1945 Nothing to report 3rd February 1945 Rugby match 4th February 1945 Nothing to report 5th February 1945 Visit 6th February 1945 CO returned 7th February 1945 Posting 8th February 1945 Nothing to report 9th February 1945 Rocket target demonstration 10th February 1945 Rugby match 11th February 1945 Nothing to report 12th February 1945 Visit 13th February 1945 Nothing to report 14th February 1945 Nothing to report 15th February 1945 Visit 16th February 1945 Nothing to report 17th February 1945 CO visits Jerusalem 18th February 1945 Nothing to report 19th February 1945 Nothing to report 20th February 1945 Reorganisation 21st February 1945 60 ORs posted to BDRA 22nd February 1945 Nothing to report 23rd February 1945 On the Move 23rd Feb 1945 On the Move 24th February 1945 On the Move 25th February 1945 On the Move 26th February 1945 Nothing to report 27th February 1945 Nothing to report 28th February 1945 Nothing to report 7th Mar 1945 On the Move Mar 1945 On the Move 20th Mar 1945 Training 16th Apr 1945 On the Move 17th Apr 1945 On the Move 19th Apr 1945 Ultimatum 20th Apr 1945 On the Move 21st Apr 1945 Prisoners Taken 26th Apr 1945 Conference 28th Apr 1945 Wood Cleared 2nd May 1945 Rapid Progress 4th Mar 1945 On the Move 14th May 1945 Orders 17th May 1945 Reliefs 18th May 1945 Reliefs 19th May 1945 On the Move 21st May 1945 In Action 22nd May 1945 Advance If you can provide any additional information, especially on actions and locations at specific dates, please add it here. Those known to have served with 5th Division during the Second World War 1939-1945. Lings Charles. Cpl. The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website. Announcements 1st of September 2024 marks 25 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time. The Wartime Memories Project has been running for 25 years. If you would like to support us, a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting and admin or this site will vanish from the web. 19th Nov 2024 - Please note we currently have a huge backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 264989 your information is still in the queue, please do not resubmit, we are working through them as quickly as possible. Looking for help with Family History Research?   Please read our Family History FAQs The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation. Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our Library contains an ever growing number diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text. Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home. If you have any unwanted photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted. World War 1 One ww1 wwII second 1939 1945 battalion Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations. Want to know more about 5th Division? There are:544 items tagged 5th Division available in our Library   These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War.