[2] It was a wholly new formation, although its three infantry brigade headquarters (HQs) had previously existed in the Volunteers, as had most of its constituent units.

[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] On the outbreak of war in August 1914 the division's units had just left for their annual training camps, the 1st and 3rd London brigades around Wool, Dorset, and the 2nd at Eastbourne, Sussex.

They immediately returned to their drill halls to mobilise, and then proceeded to their initial war stations guarding railways in Southern England.

On 1 September the whole of 1/1st London Brigade, with its associated signal and medical units, set off to relieve the regular garrison of Malta; individual battalions joined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front.

[4][22][23][24][25] The 56th Division's first operation as a complete formation was the attack on the Gommecourt Salient on 1 July 1916, the first day on the Somme.

At nightfall the survivors made their way back to British lines, the division having lost over 4,300 casualties, mainly among the seven attacking battalions.

[34][35][36][37] After the Munich Crisis the TA once again expanded by creating duplicate units, and the 2nd (London) Motor Division began to come ito existence in March 1939.

The divisional insignia during the Second World War was changed to an outline of a black cat in a red background.

[41][40] The division sat out the Allied invasion of Sicily and moved to Italy in September 1943, where they fought in the landings at Salerno under the command of the British X Corps.

In January 1944, the 56th Division, now commanded by Major-General Gerald Templer,[40] saw service in the Battle of Monte Cassino, serving there until February 1944 and participated in the Anzio campaign until relieved in March.

[41] After being withdrawn to Egypt at the end of March, the division, under Major-General John Whitfield,[40] returned to Italy in July 1944, where it took part in the Battles along the Gothic Line and remained there until after Victory in Europe Day.

[41] During the fighting of 1944 and 1945, some of the infantry battalions that suffered heavy casualties were disbanded, to make up for an acute manpower shortage.

divisional headquarters were merged with regular army districts and matched with Civil Defence Regions, to aid the mobilisation for war.

An echo of the 56th Division emerged again from 1987 to 1993, when the public duties battalions in the London District were grouped as the 56th Infantry Brigade.

A new sign consisting of the red sword of St Paul on a khaki background was authorised in 1936 for the London Division in case of war, but it was never used.