The 41st Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised during the First World War as part of Lord Kitchener's New Armies. The division saw service on the Western Front and later on the Italian Front. Unit history The division was formed as part of the fifth wave (K5) of divisions in the New Army; it did not have a regional title, but was composed primarily of recruits from the south of England. Several of its battalions had been raised by local communities and were named for their towns or industries. After training and home service, the 41st Division, commanded by Major-General Sydney Lawford, deployed overseas to reinforce the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front in the first week of May 1916; its first major combat came in September of that year, at the Battle of Flers–Courcelette, part of the larger Battle of the Somme. After fighting in 1917 at the Battle of Messines and the Battle of Passchendaele (also known as the Third Battle of Ypres) it was transferred with four other divisions to the Italian Front. It remained here for three months throughout the winter of 1917–18 before returning to the Western Front, where it arrived just before the German Army launched its Spring Offensive in March. It participated in the Allied "Hundred Days Offensive" and ended the war in Flanders, from where it moved to join the Army of Occupation in Germany, following the Armistice of 11 November 1918. The 41st Division was commanded by Major-General Sydney Lawford throughout its existence and was demobilised in March 1919, with some units transferred to the 47th (1/2nd London) Division, British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Order of battle The 41st Division was constituted as follows during the war: 122nd Brigade 12th (Service) Battalion (Bermondsey), East Surrey Regiment 15th (Service) Battalion (2nd Portsmouth), Hampshire Regiment 11th (Service) Battalion (Lewisham), Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) (disbanded March 1918) 18th (Service) Battalion (Arts and Crafts), King's Royal Rifle Corps 122nd Machine Gun Company (joined May 1916, moved to 41st Battalion Machine Gun Corps (M.G.C.) March 1918) 122nd Trench Mortar Battery (joined June 1916) 123rd Brigade 11th (Service) Battalion, Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) 10th (Service) Battalion (Kent County), Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) 23rd (Service) Battalion (2nd Football), Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment) 20th (Service) Battalion (Wearside), Durham Light Infantry (transferred to 124th Brigade March