In May 1941 Christison returned to the United Kingdom and, after serving briefly as a Brigadier General Staff (BGS), on 17 June 1941 was promoted to the acting rank of major-general and became General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division, taking over from Major-General Sir Oliver Leese, who had been a fellow student at the Staff College in the late 1920s, and who he would encounter later in the war. The division, with the 44th, 45th and 46th Brigades along with supporting divisional troops under control, was slightly different from that which he had served during the First World War, being a second line TA formation, composed largely of part-time soldiers and, instead of recruiting from all over Scotland, now recruited mainly from the Scottish Lowlands.