- published: 04 Apr 2016
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The 61st Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army raised shortly before the Second World War and was part of the Territorial Army. The division was formed in 1939 as a 2nd Line duplicate of the 48th (South Midland) Division and recruited mainly from the South Midlands area of England. The division remained mainly in the United Kingdom for the war.
The 61st Infantry Division was in the Territorial Army and was formed as a 2nd Line duplicate formation of the 1st Line 48th (South Midland) Division and, like its parent 48th Division, recruited from areas of the South Midlands of England. The division was formed in 1939 when the Territorial Army was ordered to be doubled in size as war with Nazi Germany was becoming increasingly likely.
War was declared on 3 September 1939 and the division was mobilised. On 15 April 1940 part of the division (the 146th Infantry Brigade and 61st Division HQ) was converted into Maurice Force, a formation created for operations in the Norwegian Campaign. After the British Expeditionary Force was evacuated from France, the 61st Division was sent to Northern Ireland with the 53rd (Welsh) Division to guard against a German invasion there. The division moved there on 20 June 1940 and returned to the mainland on 2 February 1943.
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through every station, through every town
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from peepshow to disco, from Spain to Camber Sands
Europe is our playground, London is our town