The 77th Infantry Division of the British Army was formed in 1941, during the Second World War, from the re-organisation of the Devon and Cornwall County Division. During its existence the division changed roles several times. The division's initial role was coastal defence, protecting Devon. On 20 December 1942, it was converted into a training formation, known as a reserve division. In this capacity, the division provided final tactical and field training for the infantry that had already passed their initial training. After five additional weeks of training, the soldiers would be posted to fighting formations overseas. The division also had a tank brigade attached to provide training in armoured warfare. On 1 December 1943, the division took on a new role and was again renamed. Now the 77th (Holding) Division, it was responsible for retraining the soldiers who had been on medical leave, former prisoners of war, repatriates, and anyone who did not meet the army's physical standards. Once the men were brought up to the standard, they were allocated to formations fighting overseas. Notably, the formation was used as a source of reinforcements for the 21st Army Group, which fought in Normandy. After all available British Army troops left the United Kingdom for France, the division was disbanded. It was subsequently re-formed as a deception unit, to give Germany the impression that the British Army had more divisions than it actually did. The 77th Division was notionally held in reserve within the United Kingdom for the remainder of the war, but was otherwise unused for deception measures. Background In 1940, following the Second World War's Battle of France, the United Kingdom was under threat of invasion from Germany. The Battle of Britain, fought between July and October, reduced this threat. As the year progressed, the size of the British Army increased dramatically as 140 new infantry battalions were raised. During October, with the possibility of a German invasion during 1941, these new battalions were formed into independent infantry brigades that were then assigned to newly created county divisions. The county divisions, including the Devon and Cornwall County Division, were around 10,000 men strong and assigned to defend the coastlines of threatened sections of the country, including the manning of coastal artillery. These divisions were largely static and lacked divisional assets such as artillery, engineers, and reconnaissance forces. Using the recruits in this manner allowed the regular infantry divisions