In May 1940 it was preparing to go overseas to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France, but the German invasion of the Low Countries on 10 May ended the 'Phoney War' before the division was ready.

[17][19][20][21] When the Battle of France was lost and the BEF was being evacuated from Dunkirk, 43rd (W) Division was one of the few reasonably well-equipped formations left in Home Forces to counter a German invasion of the United Kingdom.

It formed part of the mobile GHQ Reserve disposed on the line from Northampton through North London to Aldershot, from which brigade groups could be despatched to any threatened area.

It was later noted that its habitual training area round Stone Street, outside Folkestone, bore a marked resemblance to the Bocage countryside in Normandy where it would later fight.

[17][25][26][27] In 1942, however, after the German invasion of the Soviet Union and the entrance of the United States into the war, the situation changed and the 43rd Division started training for offensive operations to return to mainland Europe.

Thomas was a decorated officer who had served as a young battery commander in the Royal Artillery on the Western Front during the First World War where he was twice wounded and awarded the Military Cross and the Distinguished Service Order.

Most of 43rd Recce Rgts's vehicles were landed from the beached fore part of the "Derrycunihy", and reinforcements were sent from England, but the regiment was not fully up to strength until the end of July 1944.

5th Battalion Dorsets and 9th Royal Tank Regiment, leading 130th Brigade against the farms on the lower ground, made quick progress, 7th Somerset Light Infantry passing through with the Churchills and Crocodiles to deal with Chateau de Fontaine.

The infantry and anti-tank guns held off counter-attacks through the night from the newly-arrived 9th SS Panzer Division, and were reinforced in the morning by a company of 1st Worcesters and briefly by a squadron of Sherman tanks from the Royal Scots Greys.

For the rest of the war Bernard Montgomery, commanding all British and Canadian troops in the campaign, preferred to use formations such as 43rd (Wessex) and 15th (Scottish) to spearhead his assaults.

[21][54][55] After a short rest 43rd (Wessex) Division moved to XXX Corps to launch an attack towards the dominating height of Mont Pinçon as part of Operation Bluecoat.

7th Somerset Light Infantry cleared the village in the dark and, with the aid of the divisional artillery, fought off a counter-attack accompanied by heavy armour (probably Jagdpanthers) that had to be stalked with PIATs.

It was a day of slow but steady progress against rifle and machine gun fire from commanding positions on the ridge in front, followed by another pre-dawn attack towards Ondefontaine, while 214th Brigade began working its way towards Mont Pinçon.

5th DCLI and B Squadron 4th/7th DG, supported by the divisional artillery and mortars, reached the top of the ridge and engaged enemy infantry and armour, while 1st Worcesters worked round the flank and took the crest.

[63][64] Generals Ivor Thomas and Brian Horrocks (who had just taken command of XXX Corps) were anxious to push on, and had already cancelled Operation Blackwater, designed to reach the River Noireau, because it was too risky with Mont Pinçon still in enemy hands.

[77][78][79] The breakout achieved, XXX Corps drove flat out for the River Seine (Operation Loopy), with 43rd (W) Division sent ahead to make an assault crossing at Vernon.

On the left, 4th Somerset LI got across in the storm boats relatively easily, but found that their bridgehead was on an island, and they were still cut off from the east bank, apart from a few men who scrambled over the wreckage of the railway bridge.

[88][89][90][91][92] The Wessex field companies now began work under fire on a Class 9 (9 tonne maximum load) Folding Boat Equipment (FBE) bridge while the infantry fought to expand the bridgehead and clear Vernonnet.

By nightfall the bridgehead was reasonably secure, the FBE bridge named 'David' was complete and 15th (Kent) GHQTRE's rafting troops were arriving to get a tank ferry into operation before morning.

[88][89][93][94][95] Next morning (27 August) a squadron each of 15th/19th Hussars' Cromwells and 4th/7th DGs' Shermans were rafted across and held off an armoured counter-attack, the infantry and 43rd Recce cleared the banks and pushed through the forest until they were firmly established on the heights.

By 28 August, 7th ATRE working under shellfire had built their Class 40 bridge, codenamed 'Goliath', and 11th Armoured was beginning to pour across to spearhead XXX Corps' advance.

The first elements moved up to Brussels to protect headquarters and carry out engineering works, then the division concentrated at Diest to take part in Operation Market Garden, beginning on 17 September.

5th DCLI, supported by a squadron of 4th/7th DG, was ordered to make a dash over the last 10 miles (16 km) to get in touch with the Polish Parachute Brigade at Driel on the south bank of the Nederrijn.

During the night 5th Dorsets and the divisional engineers ferried a few hundred Poles across the Nederrijn in assault boats to reinforce 1st Airborne Division's shrinking perimeter.

However, on the night of 26/27 September a furious firefight broke out when the Germans crossed the river in strength and attempted to emplace anti-tank guns in 43rd Recce's hidden positions.

Further north, 5th Dorsets beat off 116th Panzer Division and 7th Hampshires had to dislodge enemy troops who fortified themselves in some brick kilns, with the help of RAF Typhoons.

XXX Corps had 43rd Wessex and 84th US Divisions under command for this attack, which entailed breaching the Siegfried Line defences and capturing a string of fortified villages.

[21][119][120][121] The 43rd later played a large part in Operation Veritable attached to First Canadian Army, through the month-long fighting in the Reichswald to capture Kleve, roll up the Siegfried Line defences, cross the Goch escarpment and seize Xanten on the Rhine.

[157] The following officers commanded the division at various times:[4][6][17][158] The banner of the kings of Wessex bore a golden Wyvern, a dragon with two eagle-like legs and the barbed tail of a snake.

Finally, Sir Richard Onslow (formerly of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry) presented Rough Tor on Bodmin Moor to the National Trust as a memorial.