The division began landing at the Helles front on the Gallipoli peninsula in June, 1915. The 156th Brigade was landed in time to be mauled in the Battle of Gully Ravine. Advancing along Fig Tree Spur, to the right of the ravine, the brigade had little artillery support and no experience of the Gallipoli battlefield. The brigade suffered 1400 casualties, or about half its strength, of which 800 were killed.
When the remaining brigades were landed, they were sent in to attack towards Krithia along Achi Baba Nullah on July 12. They succeeded in capturing the Turkish trenches but were left unsupported and vulnerable to counter-attack. For a modest gain in ground, they suffered 30% casualties and were in no fit state to exploit their position.
The division moved to Egypt where it manned the east-facing defensive fortifications during the Battle of Romani but was not heavily involved in the fighting which was concentrated on the Australian light horse and New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade to the south. Following the battle they advanced across the Sinai but remained in a supporting role as the fluid nature of the fighting suited the mounted troops best.
Second and Third Battles of Gaza.
Battle of Jerusalem.
In March, 1918 the division moved to France where it fought in the 2nd Battles of the Somme, the 2nd Battles of Arras and at the Hindenburg Line.
After the war the Division remained in existence as a Territorial Army division and was mobilised again in 1939 as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France.
After evacuation from France in 1940 having been part of the 'Second BEF' that remained in France after Dunkirk, it trained as a mountain warfare formation but was never used in that role. In August 1944, it became part of the British I Airborne Corps. (As a mountain formation, it had little heavy equipment and transport, and could therefore operate as an air-transportable formation.
In October 1944, it was moved to the Netherlands, and took part in the operations to capture the island of Walcheren. It later fought through Germany as part of the British Liberation Army in 1945. Divisional Commanders during World War II included Major General E Hakewell Smith, late of the Royal Scots Fusiliers, and Major General Neil Ritchie, the former Eighth Army commander.
Although the division was disbanded after the war, the division's number and traditions were later embodied in the 52nd Lowland Regiment, a Territorial Army unit.
