The history of 75th Division
This formation was created during the war. On 16 March 1917 the War Office gave permission to the Egyptian Expeditionary Force to form a new division from the units of the Territorial Force which were now arriving in that theatre of war from India. On 21 May further instructions were given that the three infantry brigades should incorporate Indian battalions. This was augmented on 11 June by instructions that each brigade should have three Indian battalions and one British. It was, strictly, a division of the Territorial Force but “Indianised” to a great extent. Divisional headquarters came into existence at El Arish on 25 June 1917. The complete division was a long time in formation, the artillery not being full to establishment until October 1917.
75th Division was under command of Major-General Philip Charles Palin throughout its existence, except for a brief period in December 1917 when he was away for medical treatment and his place temporary taken by Brigadier-General Edward Murray Colston.
The division took the field in time for the Third Battle of Gaza and remained in action in Palestine, taking part in the following engagements. The division was under command of XXI Corps in all of them:
1917
- The Third Battle of Gaza (27 October – 7 November 1917, including the Capture of Gaza on 6-7 November)
- The Capture of Junction Station (13 – 14 November 1917)
- The Battle of Nabi Samweil (20 – 24 November 1917)
1918
- The Battle of Tell’Asur (11 – 12 March 1918)
- The action of Berukin (9 – 11 April 1918)
- The Battle of Sharon (19 September 1918)
The 75th Division was withdrawn for rest after Sharon and went into reserve at Tyre. On 22 October it became to move to Haifa and was there on 31 October when Turkey signed an Armistice. A gradual move back to Egypt took place, the units going via Lydda and Kantara. By March 1919 Divisional HQ was at Alexandria and brigades at Heliopolis and Ismailia. The division remained in existence, gradually demobilising, until 1 April 1920.
The order of battle of the 75th Division
| 232nd Brigade | formed at Moascar on 14 April 1917 |
| 1/5th Bn, the Devonshire Regiment | left 4 May 1918 |
| 2/5th Bn, the Hampshire Regiment | disbanded by 13 August 1918 |
| 1/4th Bn, the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry | left for 233rd Bde 4 June 1917 |
| 2nd Bn, the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment | under orders to join Bde 20 April 1917 but this appears to have been countermanded on 24 April 1917, with 233rd Bde 4 June 1917 |
| 2/3rd Bn, the Ghurka Rifles | joined from 233rd Bde 22 July 1917 |
| 2/4th Bn, the Somerset Light Infantry | joined at Deir el Belah 16 October 1917, left 2 May 1918 |
| 1/4th Bn, the Wiltshire Regiment | joined from 223rd Bde 3 May 1918 |
| 72nd Bn, Punjabis | joined near Wadi Ballut on 28 April 1918 |
| 2/4th Bn, the Dorsetshire Regiment | borrowed from 233rd Bde 1-2 May 1918 |
| 3rd Bn, the Kashmir Rifles | joined near Rantis 3 August 1918 |
| 229th Machine Gun Company | joined at Deir el Belah 18 June 1917, moved to 75th Bn MGC 3 May 1918 |
| 232nd Trench Mortar Battery | formed 26 July 1917 |
| 233rd Brigade | formed 25 May 1917, joined Division 18 August 1917 |
| 1/5th Bn, the Somerset Light Infantry | |
| 2/4th Bn, the Hampshire Regiment | left 2 May 1918 |
| 2nd Bn, the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment | joined 4 June 1917, left for 234th Bde 25 June 1917 |
| 1/4th Bn, the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry | joined from 232nd Bde 4 June 1917, left for 234th Bde 25 June 1917 |
| 2/3rd Bn, the Ghurka Rifles | joined 29 June 1917, left for 232nd Bde 16 July 1917 |
| 3/3rd Bn, the Ghurka Rifles | joined at Rafa 30 June 1917 |
| 29th Bn, Punjabis | joined 28 April 1918 |
| 2/4th Bn, the Dorsetshire Regiment | joined from 234th Bde 2 May 1918, lent to 232nd Bde 1-2 May 1918, disbanded 10 August 1918 |
| 2/154th Bn, Infantry | joined near Rantis 25 July 1918 |
| 230th Machine Gun Company | joined at Rafa 15 July 1917, moved to 75th Bn MGC 3 May 1918 |
| 233rd Trench Mortar Battery | joined near Gaza 1 September 1917 |
| 234th Brigade | formed 25 June 1917 |
| 2nd Bn, the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment | joined from 233rd Bde 25 June 1917, left 9 August 1917 |
| 1/4th Bn, the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry | joined from 233rd Bde 25 June 1917 |
| 13rd Bn, Outram’s Rifles | joined at El Arish 1 July 1917 |
| 58th Bn, Rifles | joined 16 September 1917 |
| 2/4th Bn, the Dorsetshire Regiment | joined at Deir el Belah 19 September 1917, left for 233rd Bde 25 April 1918 |
| 2/4th Bn, the Devonshire Regiment | joined at Ramle 13 December 1917, disbanded at Wadi Ballut 23 May 1918 |
| 1/152nd Bn, Infantry | joined near Rantis 26 July 1918 |
| 231st Machine Gun Company | joined at El Arish 13 August 1917, moved to 75th Bn MGC 3 May 1918 |
| 234th Trench Mortar Battery | formed near Qubeibe 7 December 1917 |
| Divisional Troops | |
| 2/32nd Bn, Sikhs | joined as Divisional Pioneer Bn 20 July1918 |
| 75th Battalion MGC | formed 3 May 1918 |
| Divisional Mounted Troops | the 75th Division had no mounted troops |
| Divisional Artillery | |
| XXXVII Brigade, RFA | history of the brigade |
| CLXXII Brigade, RFA | history of the brigade |
| I South African Brigade, RFA | joined at Deir el Belah 12 September 1917 |
| VIII Mountain Brigade, RGA | joined 25 March 1918, left 15 September 1918 |
| 75th Divisional Ammunition Column RFA | joined at Sheikh Nabdan on 19 October 1917 after a march of just under 159 miles in ten days, having first formed at El Ferdan on 29 August 1917 |
| X.75, Y. 75 and Z.75 Medium Mortar Batteries, RFA | joined at Deir el Belah 3 October 1917, disbanded 22 February 1918 |
| Royal Engineers | |
| 496th (1/2nd Kent) Field Company | joined at El Arish 4 July 1917 |
| 495th (1/1st Kent) Field Company | joined at Sheikh Abbas 26 August 1917, left 26 May 1918 |
| 10/2nd Queen Victoria’s Own Sappers & Miners | joined near Ramle 7 December 1917 |
| 16/2nd Queen Victoria’s Own Sappers & Miners | joined at Wadi Ballut 23 May 1918 |
| 75th Divisional Signals Company | joined at El Arish 29 July 1917 |
| Royal Army Medical Corps | |
| 145th Field Ambulance | joined at Deir el Belah 14 August 1917, disbanded 19 May 1918 |
| 146th Field Ambulance | joined at Rafa 14 August 1917, disbanded 19 May 1918 |
| 147th Field Ambulance | joined at El Arish 14 August 1917, disbanded 19 May 1918 |
| 123rd Combined Field Ambulance | joined as 123rd Indian Field Ambulance 14 May 1918, renamed by 21 May |
| 127th Combined Field Ambulance | joined 14 May 1918 |
| 163rd Combined Field Ambulance | joined 14 May 1918 |
| 107th Sanitary Section | joined at El Arish 14 July 1917 |
| Other Divisional Troops | |
| 75th Divisional Train ASC | 925, 926, 927 and 928 Companies ASC, joined at El Arish 4 July 1917. Formerly X Divisional Train |
| 60th Mobile Veterinary Section AVC | joined at El Arish 3 July 1917 |
There is no memorial or published history of 75th Division.