British 1st Infantry Division
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List of military divisions — List of British divisions in WWI — List of British divisions in WWII

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The British 1st Division was a permanently established Regular Army division that was amongst the first to be sent to France at the outbreak of World War I. It served on the Western Front for the duration of the war After the war the division was part of the occupation force stationed at Bonn.. The division's insignia was the signal flag for the 'Number 1'.

During World War II the division was in France until June 1940. In 1943 it fought in North Africa and then was in Italy for 1944 including Anzio from January to May.

Unit History

World War I

World War II

Formation

World War I

The division comprised the following infantry brigades:

; 1st Brigade :

• 1st Battalion, the Black Watch
• 1st Battalion, the Cameron Highlanders
• 1/14th (County of London) Battalion, the London Regiment (until February 1916)
• 10th (Service) Battalion, the Gloucester Regiment (until February 1918)
• 8th (Service) Battalion, the Royal Berkshire Regiment (until February 1918)
• 1st Battalion, the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment (from 2nd Brigade - February 1918)

Originally called the '1st (Guards) Brigade' because it contained the 1st Battalions of the Coldstream Guards and the Scots Guards. When the Guards Division was formed in August 1915 and these two battalions departed, the brigade was redesignated.

; 2nd Brigade :

• 2nd Battalion, the Royal Sussex Regiment
• 1st Battalion, the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment (to 1st Brigade - February 1918)
• 1st Battalion, the Northamptonshire Regiment
• 2nd Battalion, the King's Royal Rifle Corps

Also attached to the 2nd Brigade for periods during 1915:

• 1/5th Battalion, the King's Own Regiment
• 1/9th Battalion, the King's (Liverpool) Regiment
• 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, the Royal Sussex Regiment

; 3rd Brigade :

• 1st Battalion, the South Wales Borderers
• 1st Battalion, the Gloucester Regiment
• 2nd Battalion, the Welsh Regiment
• 2nd Battalion, the Royal Munster Fusiliers (until February 1918)

Also attached to the 3rd Brigade were:

• 1/6th (Glamorgan) Battalion, the Welsh Regiment (October 1915 to May 1916)
• 1/4th (Denbighshire) Battalion, the Royal Welch Fusiliers (November 1914 to September 1915)
• 1/9th Battalion, the King's (Liverpool) Regiment (November 1915 to January 1916)

World War II

During the World War II, the division contained a number of different brigades at various times. Between June and November 1942 it was a mixed division containing tank brigades.

Divisional Troops

• 13th/18th Hussars 03/09/39-31/03/40
• 1st Recconnaissance Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps 01/01/44-31/08/45

• 17th Field Company, Royal Engineers 03/09/39-02/11/39
• 23rd Field Company, Royal Engineers 03/09/39-31/08/45
• 26th Field Company, Royal Engineers 03/09/39-28/04/40
• 248th Field Company, Royal Engineers 02/11/39-31/08/45
• 238th Field Company, Royal Engineers 29/02/40-31/04/45

• 6th Field Park Company, Royal Engineers 03/09/39-31/08/45

• 1st Bridging Platoon, Royal Engineers 18/10/43-31/08/45

• 1st Division Signals, Royal Corps of Signals 03/09/39-31/08/45

• 2nd Field Regiment, Royal Artillery 03/09/39-31/08/45
• 19th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery 03/09/39-31/08/45
• 24th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery 03/09/39-31/01/40
• 67th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery 31/01/40-31/08/45

• 21st Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery 03/09/39-10/10/41
• 81st Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery 05/11/40-08/04/45
• 93rd Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery 09/05/45-31/08/45

• 90th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery 27/01/42-07/11/44
• 11th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery 19/11/44-17/01/45
• 1st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery 22/03/45-31-08/45

• 4th Battalion Cheshire Regiment 11/11/41-01/10/42
• 2nd/7th Mx Battalion 29/05/44-31/08/45

• 1st Reconaissance Battalion 08/01/41-05/06/42
• 1st Reconaissance Regiment 06/06/42-31/12/43

• 2nd/7th Mx Support Battalion 17/08/43-27/05/44

; 1st Infantry Brigade (September 3 1939 to June 1 1941) :

• 3rd Battalion, the Grenadier Guards
• 2nd Battalion, the Coldstream Guards
• 2nd Battlion, the Hampshire Regiment

; 2nd Infantry Brigade (September 3 1939 to August 31 1945) :

• 1st Battalion, the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
• 2nd Battalion, the Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire Regiment)
• 1st Battalion, the Gordon Regiment (until December 1940)
• 6th Battalion, the Gordon Regiment (from May 1940)

; 3rd Infantry Brigade (September 3 1939 to August 31 1945) :

• 1st Battalion, the Duke of Wellington's Regiment
• 2nd Battalion, the Sherwood Foresters
• 1st Battlion, the King's Shropshire Light Infantry

; 210th Infantry Brigade (November 25 1941 to January 12 1942) :

• 2nd Battalion, the London Irish Rifles
• 1st Battalion, the Royal Irish Fusiliers

; 38th (Irish) Infantry Brigade (January 13 1942 to June 7 1942) :

• 2nd Battalion, the London Irish Rifles
• 1st Battalion, the Royal Irish Fusiliers
• 6th battalion, the Inniskilling Fusiliers

; 34th Tank Brigade (June 8 1942 to September 2 1942) :

• North Irish Horse Regiment
• 147th Battalion, Royal Armoured Corps
• 153rd Battalion, Royal Armoured Corps

; 25th Tank Brigade (September 3 1942 to November 13 1942) :

• 51st Battalion, Royal Tank Regiment
• 142nd Battalion, Royal Armoured Corps
• North Irish Horse Regiment

; 24th (Guards) Infantry Brigade (December 6 1942 to March 7 1944) :

• 1st Battalion, the Scots Guards
• 1st Battalion, the Irish Guards
• 5st Battalion, the Grenadier Guards

; 18th Infantry Brigade (March 8 1944 to August 16 1944) :

• 9th Battalion, the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
• 1st Battalion, the Buffs (East Kent) Regiment
• 14th Battalion, the Sherwood Foresters

; 66th Infantry Brigade (August 19 1944 to August 31 1945) :

• 2nd Battalion, the Royal Scots Regiment
• 1st Battalion, the Hertfordshire Regiment
• 11th Battalion, the Lancashire Fusiliers

Higher Formations Assigned To

• I Corps 03/09/39-18/05/40
• II Corps 19/05/40-24/05/40
• I Corps 24/05/40-13/11/41
• II Corps 14/11/41-15/12/41
• II Corps District 15/12/41-25/10/42
• I Corps 26/10/42-06/02/43
• War Office Control 06/02/43-09/03/43
• First Army 09/03/43-24/03/43
• V Corps 25/03/43-11/05/43
• IX Corps 12/05/43-03/06/43
• Allied Forces Headquarters 03/06/43-16/06/43
• Tunisia District 17/06/43-15/10/43
• Allied Forces Headquarters 15/10/43-04/12/43
• 15th Army Group 05/12/43-20/01/44
• US VI Corps 20/01/44-21/05/44
• US Fifth Army 22/05/44-30/06/44
• V Corps 01/07/44-31/07/44
• Eighth Army 01/08/44-05/08/44
• XIII Corps 05/08/44-16/01/45
• Headquartes Allied Armies in Italy 17/01/45-27/01/45
• General Headquarters Middle East Forces 29/01/45-01/02/45
• Headquarters, Palestine and Transjordan 02/02/45-31/08/45

Battles

World War I

World War II

• Operation Shingle

External Links

• The British Army in the Great War: The 1st Division

The original article can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_1st_Infantry_Division.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.