66th Division ( United Kingdom ) The 66th ( 2nd East Lancashire ) Division of the British Army was a second - line Territorial Force division , formed in 1914 , which saw service on the Western Front during the later years of the First World War . It was reformed in 1939 as the 66th Infantry Division in the Territorial Army , but disbanded in 1940 without seeing active service in the Second World War . The division was formed as a duplicate of the 42nd ( East Lancashire ) Division in 1914 , composed primarily of soldiers from eastern Lancashire and the industrial towns around Manchester . After training and home service , it deployed to the Western Front in early 1917 ; its first major combat came in October of that year , at the Battle of Poelcappelle . In early 1918 , it took heavy losses during the German Spring Offensive , and was withdrawn from the line and reduced to a cadre in order to rebuild . It returned to the front in time for the Battle of Cambrai , part of the " Hundred Days Offensive " , and the Battle of the Selle . Following the Armistice , it was stationed in Belgium , where it was demobilised in March 1919 . The division was not reformed after the war , but was reconstituted as the 66th Infantry Division during the hurried expansion of the Territorial Army in 1939 . It was active for slightly over a year before being finally disbanded in June 1940 , having only seen home service . Formation and home service . The division was created as the " 2nd East Lancashire Division " , a second - line formation of the East Lancashire Division at the end of August 1914 . At this time , Territorial Force soldiers could not be deployed overseas without their consent , and the existing Territorial units were accordingly split into a " first line " , with men who had volunteered for overseas service , and a " second line " , which was intended for home service only . The second line units also served to absorb the large number of new , untrained , recruits who had joined the Territorial Force following the outbreak of war . Its initial commander was Brigadier - General Charles Beckett , a 65 - year old retired officer who had commanded a Yeomanry brigade some years earlier . As with the original East Lancashire Division , the 2nd East Lancashire was organised into three four - battalion infantry brigades . These were later numbered as the 197th , composed of the 2 / 5th , 2 / 6th , 2 / 7th and 2 / 8th Lancashire Fusiliers ; the 198th , composed of the 2 / 4th and 2 / 5th East Lancashire Regiment and the 2 / 9th and 2 / 10th Manchester Regiment ; and the 199th , composed of the 2 / 5th , 2 / 6th , 2 / 7th and 2 / 8th Manchester Regiment . The 197th drew its men from Bury and Salford ; the 198th from Blackburn , Burnley , Ashton - under - Lyne and Oldham ; and the 199th from Wigan , Manchester , and Ardwick . The division also raised second - line Territorial artillery , medical , signal and engineer units , all from the Lancashire - Manchester recruiting area , and was assigned an attached squadron of the Bedfordshire Yeomanry . Through the next two years , the 2nd East Lancashire , numbered as the 66th Division in 1915 , provided trained men for its parent unit as well as carrying out home defence duties in England . Elements of the division assembled near Southport in late 1914 , then moved south to the Kent - Sussex area in May 1915 , and to Essex in early 1916 . In early 1915 , one second - line battalion ( the 2 / 5th Lancashire Fusiliers ) was detached for overseas service , joining 51st ( Highland ) Division , and was replaced by its third - line counterpart , the 3 / 5th Lancashire Fusiliers ; this would become one of the few third - line territorial battalions to see active service . One of the three companies of Royal Engineers was also sent to France in 1915 ( to join 48th ( South Midland ) Division ) , and during 1916 three of the division ' s four heavy and howitzer artillery batteries were withdrawn or broken up . Following the Military Service Act 1916 , all Territorial soldiers were deemed to able to serve outside the UK , and so the division became eligible for overseas service ; in February 1917 , it was instructed to prepare for a move to the Continent , and received a new and experienced commanding officer , Herbert Lawrence . Western Front . Flanders and Poelcappelle , 1917 . The division arrived in France at the end of February , and was assigned to the relatively quiet coastal sector in Flanders . During the summer , it was held in reserve to support a breakthrough following the Operation Hush offensive along the coast , but this was delayed and then cancelled . At the end of September , it was relieved by the 42nd ( East Lancashire ) Division , its parent unit , and moved south to the Ypres area , where it saw its first major action at the Battle of Poelcappelle . The division ' s lead brigade , the 199th , moved into the front line to replace 3rd Australian Division on 5 October ; this was badly mismanaged , however , leading the Australian staff officers to seriously doubt the division ' s efficiency . On the night of the 8th , the two other brigades , the 197th and 198th , began to cover the two and a half miles , around an hour and a half ' s normal march , to the front line ; despite starting ten hours before the attack was to begin , the 197th failed to reach it in time . The 198th attacked on the left into strong defences mostly untouched by the artillery barrage , and were held up short of their objective ; meanwhile , the 197th , on their right , arrived late , exhausted , and disorganised after twelve hours march through mud and water , but successfully pushed through into Passchendaele village , their final objective . Elements of the 197th were ordered to fall back to keep touch with the neighbouring units , but this was misinterpreted as a general withdrawal by the other battalions , and the brigade ended the day holding positions just past their first objective line . Battle of St . Quentin . During the winter of 1917 – 18 , three battalions ( the 3 / 5th Lancashire Fusiliers , and 2 / 8th and 2 / 10th Manchester ) were disbanded , and the brigade machine - gun companies were consolidated into a single battalion . The division also acquired a pioneer battalion , the 1 / 5th Border Regiment . In late December 1917 , the division also acquired a new commanding officer , Major - General Neill Malcolm , formerly the chief of staff of Fifth Army . In March 1918 , the 66th Division was one of the units which took heavy losses in the Battle of St . Quentin , the start of the German Spring Offensive . The attack began on 21 March ; after a day of heavy fighting , the 66th and its neighbouring division , the 24th , were outflanked and had to fall back . The retreat continued the following day , when despite heavy resistance the division retreated in order to avoid being surrounded , but by the 23rd the situation began to stabilise . The 66th launched a series of counterattacks over the following days , with major fighting around Rosières on 27 March and Aubercourt on 30 March . By the evening of 30 March , the division had been reduced to around 2 , 500 all ranks , with around 7 , 000 casualties . It was withdrawn from the line at the start of April and reduced to a cadre in order to rebuild , though elements may have participated in the Battle of the Avre on 4 April . The command of the division also changed ; on 29 March , Malcolm had been badly wounded in his good leg ( he was lame in the other , following an injury in South Africa ) , and he left the division to recover . His replacement was the 45 - year - old Keppel Bethell , who had previously commanded a New Army brigade in 25th Division ; he arrived on 31 March . Reconstitution and the Hundred Days Offensive . The 66th Division had a complicated organisational history as it regained its strength over the following months , with a large number of individual units being attached or withdrawn for short periods , while others were merged or disbanded ; in total , around thirty infantry battalions were attached for short periods . Meanwhile , the divisional artillery and supply columns remained in support of the front line , while one ambulance company was transferred to serve with the American 27th Division . By the end of September , following amalgamations and reorganisation , the 198th Brigade consisted of the 5th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers , the 6th Royal Dublin Fusiliers and the 6th Lancashire Fusiliers , while the 199th consisted of the 9th Manchester Regiment , 5th Connaught Rangers and the 18th King ' s ( Liverpool Regiment ) . The 197th Brigade had been detached and replaced with the South African Brigade , and the divisional pioneers were the 9th Gloucestershire Regiment . Less than a year and a half after arriving in France , the division only retained two of the twelve infantry battalions it had initially possessed ( the 6th Lancashire and 9th Manchester ) , and both of these had been amalgamated with other units from the 42nd Division . Following its return to the front lines during the Hundred Days Offensive , the division saw action at the Battle of Cambrai . Here , it was part of XIII Corps in Fourth Army , which broke through the German front lines and advanced forward several miles . The 66th captured Serain on 8 October and continued to press forwards , with advance patrols entering Le Cateau late on 10 October and reaching the River Selle . On the night of 16 October , the divisional pioneers and engineers bridged the Selle , and the South African Brigade crossed to capture the eastern side of Le Cateau after heavy fighting on 17 October . This crossing was the opening stages of the Battle of the Selle , and thus the final advance into Germany . In early November , the division fought at the Battle of the Sambre , where it supported the 25th Division ' s capture of Landrecies , and on 7 November leapfrogged past the 25th to advance forward as one of the leading units of the Fourth Army . On 11 November , at the Armistice , it had reached the Sivry - Beaumont area in Lorraine . Demobilisation and the Second World War . Following the Armistice , the 66th was selected to move north to secure eastern Belgium . On 18 November it began to move north into the Namur region , where it was stationed around the Huy - Rochefort area . The division remained here while it demobilised , and ceased to exist on 24 March 1919 . The division was not re - established in the Territorial Army after the war , but in September 1939 , the existing Territorial divisions were all instructed to form a second line formation as part of the preparation for the Second World War . At this point , the 66th was re - embodied , duplicating units of the 42nd ( East Lancashire ) Infantry Division , as the 66th Infantry Division . It was headquartered in Manchester and retained its local association with the North - West of England , though it now contained units from Liverpool and the Borders as well as Lancashire and Manchester . It did not see active service , and was disbanded in June 1940 following the Dunkirk evacuation . Following the disbandment of the division , its constituent units were dispersed . 197th Brigade ( along with 257th Field Company RE and 110th Field Regiment RA ) was assigned to 59th ( Staffordshire ) Infantry Division ; it fought in the Normandy Campaign before its battalions were disbanded to make up combat losses in August 1944 . The brigade was then assigned a number of support units for to battlefield clearance duties . The 198th Brigade was independent for six months , and was then assigned to 54th ( East Anglian ) Infantry Division ; after the division was disbanded at the end of 1943 , it became an administrative headquarters for lines of communications units . The 199th Brigade ( with 109th Field Regiment RE ) was assigned to 55th ( West Lancashire ) Infantry Division , and renumbered the 166th Infantry Brigade in 1944 . The 111th Field Artillery Regiment was assigned to the 42nd ( East Lancashire ) Division , and the 256th Field Company RE would later serve with 78th Infantry Division in Africa and Italy .