53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division

Welsh Division 53rd (Welsh) Division 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division
Formation patch of the 53rd (Welsh) Division, Second World War
Active	1908–1919 1920–1945
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Territorial Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Division
Peacetime HQ	Shrewsbury
Engagements	First World War: Gallipoli Campaign First Battle of Gaza Second World War: Battle of Normandy Falaise Pocket Battle of the Bulge Battle of the Reichswald
Battle honours	First World War: Battle of Gallipoli Battle of Sari Bair First Battle of Gaza Battle of Beersheba (1917) Battle of Mughar Ridge Battle of Jerusalem (1917) Battle of Megiddo (1918) Second World War: Battle of Normandy Battle of Falaise Battle of the Bulge Battle of the Reichswald Crossing of the Rhine
Commanders
Notable commanders	Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd Gerard Bucknall Robert Knox Ross

The 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought in both the First and Second World Wars. Originally raised in 1908 as the Welsh Division, part of the Territorial Force (TF), the division saw service in First World War, being designated 53rd (Welsh) Division in mid-1915, and fought in the Gallipoli Campaign and in the Middle East. Remaining active in the Territorial Army (TA) during the interwar period as a peacetime formation, the division again saw action in Second World War, fighting in North-western Europe from June 1944 until May 1945.

The 53rd Division was temporarily disbanded at the end of the war, but was reactivated in 1947 when the Territorial Army was reformed and reorganised. In 1968 the division was finally deactivated, but its 160th Brigade remains in service today. As the name suggests, the division recruited mainly in Wales, but also in Herefordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire.