On the outbreak of war, the South Midland was the second strongest
division in the Territorial Force (TF); by October 1914, it was
considered to be the second most efficient of the TF's fourteen 1st Line
formations. Like other TF divisions, its pre-war officers and other
ranks came from a variety of urban and rural backgrounds, trades and
professions, but in contrast to the Kitchener formations, all of its
units had a history and tradition dating back to the mid-19th century at
least. It became the third TF division to be dispatched to the Western
Front and, having spent 30 months in France and Belgium, it deployed to
Italy as one of the British formations tasked to support the Italian
Army. In the same way as the majority of British divisions, 48th (South
Midland) Division was not an especially spectacular formation, with no
particular or outstanding success to its name. It did suffer the
indignity of having its commander sacked, but on the whole, it earned a
reputation as a good, solid, reliable formation.
This volume explains the division's prewar difficulties in trying to
raise, equip and train efficient units; it also assesses those units'
successes and failures in their major engagements. It examines the
extent to which the TF ethos and the division's local character were
maintained during the course of the war and how well its various
constituent units adapted to the tactical and operational evolution
apparent within the British Army. The key elements of command and
leadership - and what in modern conceptual doctrine is known as
'fighting power' - are analyzed across the component units, with
considerable attention also being paid to the essential roles played by
the supporting arms.
The book offers a comprehensive study of the character and activities of
a reasonably typical TF division, but also of a formation which although
competent and efficient, received few of the plaudits enjoyed by many of
its fellow 'Saturday afternoon soldiers'.
