81st ( West Africa ) Division The 81st ( West Africa ) Division was formed under British control during World War II . It took part in the Burma Campaign . History . The inspiration for the division ' s formation came from General George Giffard , commander of the British Army ' s West Africa Command , who subsequently commanded India Command ' s Eastern Army , facing the Japanese army on the frontier between India and Burma . Giffard had wide experience with African troops , and was eager for them to participate in the war . The framework around which the division was formed was the Royal West African Frontier Force . One of the brigades ( the 3rd West African ) and several of the supporting units which formed the division had already seen action with the 11th ( African ) Division , against the Italians in East Africa . The division was established as the 1st ( West Africa ) Division on 1 March 1943 . Three days later it was renamed the 81st ( West Africa ) Division , taking the next vacant number in the list of British infantry divisions . The division ' s badge was a spider , in black on a yellow circular background . This spider was a reference to Ananse , a cunning character in Ashanti mythology , and drawn so that when a soldier raised his weapon to fire , the spider would appear to be going forwards . The division arrived in India on 14 August 1943 . The movement of the 5th ( West Africa ) Brigade was delayed , however , after the troopship which was to carry it was lost in the German attack on Convoy Faith off Portugal on the night of 11 / 12 July 1943 . The 3rd ( West Africa ) Brigade was detached to the Chindits , and was intended to garrison jungle bases for the raiding columns . The remainder of the division took part in the second Arakan campaign from February to May , 1944 , operating in the Kaladan Valley on the flank of Indian XV Corps in which this division suffered several hundreds of casualties by Indian National Army ( during the Battle of the Admin Box ) . Towards the end of the campaign , the division was forced to withdraw up the valley . Rejoined by 3rd Brigade , and converted to a standard establishment , the division took part in the third Arakan Campaign in December , 1944 . This time , the Japanese abandoned the province . The division was withdrawn to India to rest on 22 April 1945 . On 31 August , it was returned to West Africa and disbanded . Character and organisation . The division was originally intended to operate on a pack basis , with porters carrying all equipment and supplies . Lieutenant General William Slim , then commanding XV Corps , commented on first inspecting units of the division in late 1943 : Their discipline and smartness were impressive , and they were more obviously at home in the jungle than any troops I had yet seen . . . I was at once struck by two things . First , by the horde of unarmed porters who were needed to carry supplies , ammunition , baggage and the heavier weapons , and secondly by the large number of white men in a unit , fifty or sixty to a battalion . Accustomed as I was to Indian battalions in the field with usually only seven or eight Europeans , it struck me as an unnecessarily generous supply . Order of Battle ( as of February 1 , 1944 ) . General Officer Commanding : Major General Frederick Joseph Loftus - Tottenham 3 ( West Africa ) Infantry Brigade ( detached to " Special Force " )