75th Division ( United Kingdom ) 75th Division was an infantry division of the British Army in World War I . It was raised in the field by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force ( EEF ) in 1917 and uniquely it included British , Indian and South African troops . It served in the Middle East during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign being involved in the Battles of Megiddo . Formation . On 16 March 1917 the War Office gave the EEF permission to raise a new British division from infantry battalions of the Territorial Force arriving in Egypt as reinforcements from India . These were primarily from the 43rd ( Wessex ) and 45th ( 2nd Wessex ) divisions , which had sailed to India in 1914 to relieve Regular troops . The division was assigned the number 75 , and its three infantry brigades the numbers 232 , 233 and 234 . Brigadier - General Philip Palin of 29th Indian Brigade was promoted to command the new division . 232nd Brigade began to form at Moascar on 14 April 1917 , but on 24 May the War Office ordered that some Indian Army battalions should also be included in order to speed up the formation of the Division . The first of these came from Palin ' s 29th Indian Brigade . The War Office then decided on 11 June that the division should be ' Indianised ' , with an establishment of one British and three Indian battalions to each brigade . However , this conversion was not completed until the summer of 1918 . The process of assembling the division was drawn out : 233rd Bde began to assemble at Zeitun on 25 May 1917 , but then took over the Rafa defences in Sinai and only joined 75th Division on 18 August . The division officially came into existence on 25 June when 234th Bde started to assemble at el ' Arish . Finding the necessary artillery for the division was a real difficulty . A new CLXXII Field Brigade reached Alexandria from the United Kingdom on 23 July , and was immediately broken up to form the nucleus of two 2nd Line Territorial brigades , CLXXII and XXXVII , taking the numbers of units that had been disbanded in France . The third field brigade came from South Africa in July , and joined 75th Division on 12 September after it had been reorganised and re - equipped with 18 - pounder guns . However , due to the shortage of 4 . 5 - inch howitzers it was not until October that the British brigades received their howitzer batteries , and the South African brigade ' s did not arrive until the following April . Order of Battle . 75th Division was constituted as follows : Staff 232nd Brigade 233rd Brigade 234th Brigade Artillery Brigadier - General , Royal Artillery : Brig - Gen H . A . Boyce Machine Guns Engineers Commanding Royal Engineers : Lt - Col G . S . C . Cooke < br > Lt - Col A . G . Turner ( from 1 September 1918 ) Pioneers Medical Veterinary Transport Service . 75th Division joined XXI Corps and took part in the invasion of Palestine , beginning with the Third Battle of Gaza on 27 October 1917 , leading to the capture of Gaza ( 6 – 7 November ) and Junction Station ( 13 – 14 November ) , and the Battle of Nebi Samwil ( 20 – 24 November ) . In the Spring of 1918 the division was involved in the actions at Tell ' Asur ( 11 – 12 March ) and Berukin ( 9 – 11 April ) . Battle of Sharon . Following its reorganisation in the summer of 1918 , 75th Division joined General Allenby ' s final offensive ( the Battles of Megiddo ) . At the Battle of Sharon ( 19 September ) , 75th Division was given the task of taking Miske and the trench system around the village of Et Tire , held by the Turkish 49th Division . Palin had under his command ' A ' Squadron ( Duke of Lancaster ' s Own Yeomanry ) of the Composite Corps Cavalry Regiment and 2nd Light Armoured Motor Battery , Machine Gun Corps . There was no preliminary bombardment : the advance began at 04 . 30 in moonlight behind a barrage fired by the field artillery , trench mortars and machine guns onto the enemy front line , while the howitzers and heavy artillery fired on specific targets behind . Once the attackers reached the front line , the 18 - pounders laid a creeping barrage in front of them onto the subsequent objectives . 75th Division had 232nd Bde on the right , while 234th Bde was on the left with two companies of the 5 / Somerset Light Infantry from 233rd Bde . The Somerset LI companies were to advance between 234th ' s left and right battalions to capture an isolated work while the others moved straight ahead . The rest of 233rd Bde was in reserve . 232nd Brigade swept through the enemy ' s front line , meeting little opposition . The pack mules carrying the brigade signal equipment were stampeded by the bombardment , so no news got back , but the brigade captured Miske with the aid of the South African Field Artillery , which had moved forward quickly after completing its bombardment programme . Et Tire , surrounded by trenches and cactus edges , was more formidable , and the leading troops were exhausted . The Imperial Service Troops of the 3rd Kashmir Rifles had moved up to Brigade HQ on the initiative of their British liaison officer , and were sent in to reinforce the attack . Simultaneously the divisional GSO1 ( Lt - Col Rowan - Hamilton ) had been sent up by Palin with the cavalry squadron and armoured cars . With the renewed attack and with armoured cars outflanking the village , the Turks evacuated their positions , leaving behind all the papers of their XXII Corps HQ . 234th Brigade had an easier task . The creeping barrage was so accurate that the leading battalions and the Somerset LI companies were able to follow close behind it and gain their objectives with little opposition . In fact the barrage was too slow , and the enemy was able to get away , the only hard fighting being on the Turkish gun lines , which were taken at bayonet point by the 1 / 152nd Indian Infantry . By 17 . 00 , XXI Corps ' attack had rolled up the whole Turkish right and allowed the Desert Mounted Corps to sweep forward to complete the envelopment of the Turkish army and begin the pursuit . Postwar . After the end of the fighting on 19 September , 75th Division and the rest of XXI Corps were left on salvage work and road repair until the Armistice with the Turks was signed on 31 October . Demobilisation began early in 1919 , but 75th Division was selected for the Army of Occupation of Palestine . In March 1919 it returned to garrison duty in Egypt , becoming responsible for the Eastern Delta , which was renamed 75th Division Area . Many other units were attached for this work . After July 1919 the disturbances in Egypt began to die down , and units began to disperse to their home countries . On 1 April 1920 the Division Area and remaining troops were handed over to 10th ( Irish ) Division and 75th Division ceased to exist . The divisional number has never been reactivated .