'To the greater glory of God and in memory of those who died whilst serving with the 59th Staffordshire division. 1939 -1945'.
'This plaque is a duplicate of that erected on the battlefield at Thury Harcourt in Normandy'.
Stafford Park
The Battalions that together made up the 59 (Staffordshire)
Division were informed of the decision to disband the formation between 18th
and 20th August.
After four years of preparation leading to the execution of
all they had learned across the battlefields of Normandy the disbandment came
as a bitter blow. The rationale for the decision was however logical. All of
the British regiments engaged in the Normandy campaign had been badly mauled in
the ten weeks of fighting since D Day. Of the Divisions in the field, the 59th
was a junior formation recreated at the outbreak of the war and it was for this
reason that it was sacrificed in order to replenish the ranks of longer
established regiments within other Divisions. Thus the men of the 59th
were dispersed and transferred into reinforcement hungry English, Welsh and
Scottish regiments.
It was on the 29th August that my Grandfather was
transferred into the 11th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers.
This was a regiment that had fought cheek by jowl alongside the South
Staffords, nost notably at Fontenay le Pesnel and Noyers.
After the war, Major General L. O. Lyne, Divisional
Commanding Officer of the 59 (Staffordshire) Division described how he received
the news of the decision to disband the formation.
‘Field Marshall Montgomery wrote to me and told me the sad
news that, because of the acute shortage of trained reserves, particularly in
the infantry, it would be necessary to break up 59 Division. He had selected us
for one reason only; that we were the junior division and a war-formed one at
that. I could not of course question the decision, but it was with a heavy
heart that I faced the problem of how best to achieve this end without lowering
morale. I went over as soon as possible to the Commander-in-Chief and gave him
conditions, to which he readily agreed, on which I could best carry out his
orders’
And his personal feelings on his time as the Divisional C.O.
he continued;
‘I realised in this period how very fond I had grown of 59
Division. They had always had a fine esprit-de-corps and pride in themselves,
and I had seen them develop into one of the hardest fighting divisions in the
Army Group. Everything that they were asked to do was undertaken in the same
spirit of dogged determination to succeed. It was always a great pleasure and
pride to me to hear, as I so often did, from other Divisional Commanders during
the remainder of the campaign, what a high opinion they had of drafts from 59
Division.’
Accolades were also poured upon the men of the South
Staffordshire Regiments within the Division. The last comments on the conduct
of the South Staffords in the struggle I will leave to two officers of my
Grandfather’s 5th Battalion.
Major Pearson wrote, ‘It was a bitter pill to swallow, but
with a job well done and in the true Staffordshire spirit of ‘We’ll show ‘em’
those who remained able to fight left the battalion and, with heads high in the
air, joined their new battalions with the knowledge that they were respected
fighters wherever they might serve.’
He continued, ‘So for the time being ended the history of a
great fighting battalion who, against great odds, upheld the highest traditions
of the regiment and the county. Whenever the battle of Normandy is mentioned only
the highest praise can be spoken of the gallant Staffordshires.’
A former adjutant of the 5th Battalion, Captain
A.E. Scrimshaw, wrote to the then Mayor of Walsall concerning the decision to
disband the Division.
‘We must feel however, that if our dispersal was necessary,
to hasten the success of our arms, the sacrifice, great though it was, has not
been in vain. We remember with pride the men of our regiment who have fallen in
the fight, who, in their turn, were proud to wear the South Staffordshires’
badge, and we look forward to a rebirth at the earliest possible moment.’
'To the officers men and women
of Staffordshire units and all
other Staffordshire men and
women who gave their lives
for their country in the
War of 1939 -1945 '
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