The intention was to increase battlefield mobility, enabling the motor divisions to follow armoured forces through breaches in the opposing front line rapidly to consolidate captured territory.

The division was to remain in the United Kingdom to complete training before being deployed to France within twelve months of the war breaking out.

Instead, after Dunkirk the division was dispersed to protect strategically important locations and undertake anti-invasion duties and was moved to Wales to defend the country from invasion.

The 47th Infantry (Reserve) Division was disbanded as part of the demobilisation of the British Armed Forces after the Second World War, in 1946 and was not reformed when the TA was reconstituted in 1947.

To avoid war, the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain met with the German Chancellor Adolf Hitler in September 1938 and signed the Munich Agreement, which accepted that Germany would annexe the Sudetenland.

[2] On 29 March, the British Secretary of State for War, Leslie Hore-Belisha, announced plans to increase the strength of the part-time Territorial Army (TA) from 130,000 men to 340,000, doubling the number of divisions.

[9][12] The process varied widely between the TA divisions; some were ready in weeks while others had made little progress by early September 1939, when war on Germany was declared.

[10][11] Due to a lack of official guidance, newly formed units were at liberty to choose numbers, styles, and titles.

In Cambridgeshire, the division was made Eastern Command's reserve formation, which was to be used as a counterattack force against any German airborne landings.

[25][26][28] Commander-in-Chief of Home Forces, General Walter Kirke, believing the East of England was under threat of invasion as a result of the German operations in mainland Europe, transferred several divisions to defend the coast.

The other remained in Cambridgeshire, with troops assigned to varying duties that included the protection of vulnerable points, construction of defensive positions, and defending Royal Air Force (RAF) airfields.

[14][33] As soon as the Battle of France ended, the British Army began implementing lessons learnt from the campaign; this included basing the standard division around three brigades and the abandonment of the motor-division concept.

The 114th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery and the remnants of the 36th Infantry Brigade were assigned to the 2nd London Division at this time.

The 36th Infantry Brigade was being reformed after suffering heavy casualties during the Battle of France; it was removed and assigned to III Corps shortly afterwards.

[15][d] During this period, two of the original battalions left the division because rifle units were selected to provide the motorised infantry support of armoured formations.

[46][e] This move, according to author Cyril Barclay, "emasculated the Division" and it was brought up to strength with former "pioneer and local defence battalions", which were "renamed, with small geographical or transitional justification".

[46] Following this, Willans was promoted to the War Office and was replaced as GOC on 8 December 1940 by Major-General Clifford Malden, who was previously Director of Military Training.

[15][48] In February 1941, the 47th Division was assigned to IV Corps and was deployed to West Sussex on the south coast of England for coastal defence duties.

[51][52] The school was a two-week training course, which included observing and practising fieldcraft, undertaking tactical exercises without troops, and engaging in battle drill in realistic conditions.

[53] French wrote, "Its purpose was to offer soldiers some experience of the noise and chaos of battle by giving them the opportunity to train under live-firing conditions".

[57] By May 1942, the division was based in Hampshire and tasked with countering any potential raids along the coast conducted by the German forces.

[60] Between April and October 1944, the 141st Brigade was made responsible for an embarkation sector in the Southampton area; an administrative and organisational role in support of Operation Overlord facilitating the movement of troops from their camps to ships to be deployed to France.

[18][61] By mid-1944, the five lower establishment divisions allocated to home-defence duties – the 38th (Welsh), the 45th, the 47th (London), the 55th (West Lancashire), and the 61st – had a combined strength of 17,845 men.

[62][g] The remaining 4,800 men were considered ineligible for service abroad for a variety of reasons, including a lack of training or being medically unfit.

[71][h] These soldiers were given five weeks of additional training at the section, platoon and company levels before undertaking a final three-day exercise.