to be freed up from such duties, and form an all-important reserve that could be used to counterattack possible German landings. On 22 June 1941, Germany launched a massive attack upon the Soviet Union; this attack all but removed the threat of a German invasion of the United Kingdom. However, the British still had to consider the threat of a German invasion due to the possibility that the Soviet Union could collapse under the German onslaught and the ease in which Germany could transfer troops back to the west. In late 1941, the arrival of autumn and winter weather meant that the threat of invasion subsided. This, coupled with the production of new equipment for the British Army, allowed the War Office to take steps to better balance the army. Prior to this point, the British Army had considerably increased the infantry force following the large intake of recruits. The efforts by the War Office were intended to address this, by converting many of the newly raised infantry battalions to other roles. In particular, infantry units were converted into artillery or armour units. The historian F.W. Perry wrote there was considerable pressure "to increase the armoured component [of the army] and build up raiding and special forces". These pressures and the re-balancing of the military, resulted in seven of the nine county divisions being disbanded and only two being reformed as infantry divisions. History Home defence During the war, the divisions of the British Army were classified as either higher or lower establishment formations. The former were intended for deployment overseas and combat, whereas the latter were strictly for home defence in a static role. On 1 December 1941, the Devon and Cornwall County Division was abolished and reformed as the 77th Infantry Division, a lower establishment division. The division, like its predecessor, comprised the 203rd, the 209th, and the 211th Infantry Brigades. That day, the division was assigned artillery, engineers, and signallers. An anti-tank regiment and reconnaissance troops joined the following month. In 1944, the war-establishment's on-paper strength of an infantry division was 17,298 men. Major-General Godwin Michelmore, who had commanded the Devon and Cornwall County Division since 30 October, retained command of the division. The 77th was assigned to the VIII Corps, and remained based in the Devon area. According to the Imperial War Museum, the divisional insignia references "Arthur's sword Excalibur, acknowledging the [division's] connections with the