39th Division (United Kingdom)

The 39th Division was an infantry formation of the British Army, raised as part of Kitchener's New Armies during World War I. It did not have a regional title, but was composed primarily of recruits from the Midlands, London, and the south of England. Most of its original units had been raised by local communities, and bore the names of their towns or sponsors. After training and home service, it deployed to the Western Front in early 1916 and saw action at the Somme, at Ypres and against the German spring offensive of 1918. Following near-destruction at the Battle of the Lys, the division was reduced to a cadre, which spent the remainder of the war training newly arrived units of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). It was disbanded in July 1919 after the end of the war.