Now the 77th (Holding) Division, it was responsible for retraining the soldiers who had been on medical leave, former prisoners of war, repatriates, and anyone who did not meet the army's physical standards.

The 77th Division was notionally held in reserve within the United Kingdom for the remainder of the war, but was otherwise unused for deception measures.

[3] During October, with the possibility of a German invasion during 1941, these new battalions were formed into independent infantry brigades that were then assigned to newly created county divisions.

[6] Using the recruits in this manner allowed the regular infantry divisions to be freed up from such duties, and form an all-important reserve that could be used to counterattack possible German landings.

[8][9] Prior to this point, the British Army had considerably increased the infantry force following the large intake of recruits.

The efforts by the War Office were intended to address this, by converting many of the newly raised infantry battalions to other roles.

Perry wrote there was considerable pressure "to increase the armoured component [of the army] and build up raiding and special forces".

[22] At the division, they were given five weeks of additional training at the section, platoon and company level, before undertaking a final three-day exercise.

It was replaced by the 11th Army Tank Brigade, in order to provide training facilities for the Royal Armoured Corps and retain reinforcements until they were ready to be deployed.

Lieutenant-Colonel H.F. Joslen wrote that the division's role was now "for sorting, retraining and holding personnel temporarily – due to disbandments, medical and other causes.

These tests were designed to establish what medical category the soldiers should be assigned, and what military job or capability would best suit them.

[25] Likewise, soldiers returning from long periods of overseas service were sent to the 11th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, part of the 203rd Infantry Brigade, for retraining.

Over the following six months, up to 75 per cent of these men would be deployed to reinforce the 21st Army Group, following the completion of their training and/or having come up to the required fitness levels.

[28] Historian Stephen Hart comments that, by September, the 21st Army Group "had bled Home Forces dry of draftable riflemen" due to the losses suffered during the Battle of Normandy, leaving the army in Britain (with the exception of the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division) with just "young lads, old men, and the unfit".

[21][30] Roger Hesketh states the reason behind this renumbering was due to the 45th Division being a "well-known territorial [formation from] before the war whose [number was] familiar to the public and [was] therefore of recruiting value".

While efforts were made to address this (such as transferring men from the Royal Artillery and Royal Air Force to be retrained as infantry), the War Office began disbanding divisions to downsize the army so as to transfer men to other units to help keep those as close to full strength as possible.

It was claimed that, with the war nearing an end, several Territorial Army divisions would revert to their peacetime recruiting role and release their equipment and resources to other units.