50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division

50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division. "Fifty Div". A first-line Territorial Army Division peopled by miners and shipbuilders from the region of northeastern England bounded by the Rivers Tyne and Tees (hence the TT shoulder patch), the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division was organized on 3 September 1939 under command of Major General Giffard LeQuesne Martel. Following hard fighting with the British Expeditionary Force in Belgium, the division began evacuating Dunkirk on 27 May 1940, reorganized, and joined the British Home Forces. Deployed to North Africa on 22 April 1941, "Fifty Div" was so nicknamed while performing with distinction in the Battles of Gazala and El Alamein. After assaulting Sicily on 10 July 1943 and campaigning there, Fifty Div returned to Britain in mid-October. , , Taking command on 19 January 1944, Major General D. A. H. Graham began preparing the division for its assault on Normandy, adding the 23 1st Infantry Brigade to the division's organic 69th and 151st Infantry Brigades and temporarily attaching the 56th Infantry Brigade. On D-Day, Fifty Div was to establish a beachhead between Arromanches and Ver-sur-Mer, then drive inland to secure the Caen-Bayeux Road (RN 13). , , Forming the first wave, the 231st and 69th Infantry Brigades would assault the Jig and King sectors of Gold Beach; the second-wave 56th and 151st Infantry Brigades, supported by the 8th Armored Brigade, would attack south toward RN 13. Link up with troops on Juno and Omaha Beaches was to occur as the assault unfolded. Landing in Jig sector commenced at 0600 with the 1st Hampshires receiving heavy enfilade fire from Le Hamel. Without armor or artillery support, the infantry nevertheless managed to reach Les Roquettes and by 0730 was turning westward to Asnelles-sur-Mer. Encountering less resistance to the east, the 1st Dorsets swarmed inland, attacking south to Meuvaines, then turned west toward Arromanches. The Hampshires attack on Le Hamel intensified with the arrival of the 2nd Devons, which allowed the 47th Royal Marine Commando to bypass the engagement and head west for Port-en-Bessin and an eventual link-up with the U.S. 1st Infantry Division. , , The 69th Infantry Brigade's landing in King sector proved nearly flawless, with the Green Howards and 5th East Yorkshires attacking inland between Hable de Heurtot and La Revière. By noon, the 56th and 151st Brigades were ashore behind the 231st and 69th Brigades respectively and poised to press inland between them towards Bayeux and Esquay-sur-Seulles. By nightfall, the 231st had taken the radar site at Arromanches, the 36th had established a defensive position between La Rosière and Bayeux, the 151st had secured Esquay-sur-Seulles, and the 69th had reached Coulombs. Bayeux fell early on D+1. , , The sole Victoria Cross awarded to a British soldier for gallantry on D-Day went to Company Sergeant Major Stanley Hollis of the 69th Brigade's Green Howards. , , In tribute to 2nd Lieutenant Ron "Cherub" Griffiths, so dubbed by his Commanding Officer for being, at age twenty, the youngest officer in the Regiment at the time. He went in with the assault on 6 June 1944 with the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division's 61st Reconnaissance Regiment, which on D+2 supported the 8th Armored Brigade's critical penetration through Saint-Pierre toward Tilly-sur-Seulles. Erected by his friends at Eaglescliffe Golf Club, Stockton-on-Tees, England, to mark the 65th anniversary of D-Day.