British 1st Infantry Division
Encyclopedia
The 1st Infantry Division was a regular British Army
division
with a long history having been present at the Peninsula War, the Crimean War
, the First World War, and during the Second World War.
for service in the Peninsula War, drawing initially from two British brigades and one Hanoverian brigade of the King's German Legion
.
During the Peninsula War it was involved in most of the engagements between the Allies and France including the Battle of Talavera, Battle of Salamanca
in 1812, Siege of Tarragona (1813)
, Battle of Vitoria
, Siege of San Sebastian
, Battle of the Pyrenees
, Battle of the Bidassoa (1813)
, Battle of Toulouse (1814)
.
returned during the Congress of Vienna
. On 13 March, seven days before Napoleon reached Paris, the powers at the Congress of Vienna declared him an outlaw
; four days later the United Kingdom
, Russia
, Austria
and Prussia
, members of the Seventh Coalition, bound themselves to put 150,000 men each into the field to end his rule. This set the stage for the last conflict in the Napoleonic Wars
and for the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo
, the restoration of the French monarchy for the second time and the permanent exile of Napoleon to the island of Saint Helena
, where he died in May 1821.
1st Division was involved in the Waterloo Campaign seeing its first action at the Battle of Quatre Bras
then at the Battle of Waterloo
, where it held Wellington's right flank. On the extreme right was the chateau, garden, and orchard of Hougoumont
which was defended by the Divisions 2nd Brigade.
The initial attack was by Maréchal de Camp Bauduin's 1st Brigade of the 5th Division emptied the wood and park, but was driven back by heavy British artillery fire and cost Bauduin his life. The British guns were distracted into an artillery duel with French guns and this allowed a second attack by General de Brigade Baron Soye's 2nd Brigade of the 6th Division. They managed a small breach on the south side but could not exploit it. An attack by elements of the 1st Brigade of the 6th Division attacked the north side was more successful. This attack lead to one of the most famous skirmishes in the Battle of Waterloo — Sous-Lieutenant Legros, wielding an axe, managed to break through the north gate. A desperate fight ensued between the invading French soldiers and the deefending Guards. In a near-miraculus attack, Macdonell, a small party of officers and Corporal James Graham
fought through the melee to shut the gate, trapping Legros and about 30 other soldiers of the 1st Legere inside. All of the French who entered, apart from a young drummer boy, were killed in a desperate hand to hand fight. The French attack in the immediate vicinity of the farm were repulsed by the arrival of the 2nd Coldstream Guards and 2/3rd Foot Guards. Fighting continued around Hougoumont all afternoon with its surroundings heavily invested with French light infantry and co-ordinated cavalry attacks sent against the troops behind Hougoumont.
The Crimean War (1853–1856) was fought between Imperial Russia on one side and an alliance of France
, the United Kingdom
, the Kingdom of Sardinia
, and the Ottoman Empire
on the other. Most of the conflict took place on the Crimean Peninsula
, with additional actions occurring in western Turkey
, and the Baltic Sea
region.
The Crimean War is sometimes considered to be the first "modern" conflict and "introduced technical changes which affected the future course of warfare."
The Division which now consisted of the Guards Brigade
and the Highland Brigade
,was involved in the Battle of Alma
(September 20, 1854) , which is considered to be the first battle of the Crimean war.They were next in action during the Battle of Balaclava
, The battle started with a successful Russian attack on Ottoman positions. This led to the Russians breaking through into the valley of Balaklava
(anglicised as "Balaclava"), where British forces were encamped. The Russian advance was intended to disrupt the British base and attack British positions near Sevastopol
from the rear.
An initial Russian advance south of the southern line of hills was repulsed by the British. A large attacking force of Russian cavalry advanced over the ridgeline, and split into two portions. One of these columns drove south towards the town of Balaklava itself, threatening the main supply of the entire British army. That drive was repulsed by the muskets of the 93rd (Highland) Regiment, which had been formed into a lone line of two rows by its commander, Sir Colin Campbell
. This action became known in history as "The Thin Red Line
" , this battle was also well known for the Charge of the Light Brigade
.They were also invold in the Battle of Inkerman
(November 5 , 1854).
was given command of 1st Division of two infantry brigades, 1st (Guards) under Maj-Gen Sir Henry Colville
and 2nd under Maj-Gen Henry Hildyard, with 4th Brigade Division (three batteries) of the Royal Field Artillery
(RFA) under Col C.J. Long. The British commander, Sir Redvers Buller
, had intended to march with the whole army corps across the Orange River
to Bloemfontein
, capital of the Orange Free State
, but by the time the troops reached Cape Town
the Boers had seized the Orange River crossings and begun sieges of Ladysmith
, Kimberley
and Mafeking
. Buller was forced to split his forces, sending divisions to relieve Ladysmith and Kimberley. Methuen and 1st Division were assigned to the relief of Kimberley, but the situation at Ladysmith deteriorated, and Buller diverted Hildyard’s 2nd Brigade and Long’s artillery to that sector. The division that Methuen assembled at Orange River Station in November 1899 comprised Colville’s Guards Brigade and a ‘scratch’ brigade numbered 9th under Maj-Gen S.R. Fetherstonehaugh, with the 9th Lancers and a brigade division of RFA under Col Hall. Methuen could also call on the 3rd (Highland) Brigade under Maj-Gen Andrew Wauchope
(diverted from 2nd Division), in reserve at De Aar.
AAG: Col R.B. Mainwaring
DAAGs: Lt-Col H.P. Norcott
Maj R.H.L. Warner
1st (Guards) Brigade
Maj-Gen Sir Henry Colville
9th Brigade
Maj-Gen S.R. Fetherstonehaugh (wounded at Belmont))
Maj-Gen Reginald Pole-Carew
Cavalry
Col Bloomfield Gough
Artillery
Lt-Col F.H. Hall
Engineers
Naval Brigade
South African Reserve
Methuen followed the railway in the direction of Kimberley, and encountered large Boer forces at Belmont
, where 1st Division obtained ‘a victory of sorts’ on 23 November, though with heavy casualties. They followed up and attacked again at Graspan (25 November) and at Modder River
(28 November), again forcing the Boers from their positions but without landing a decisive punch. After receiving reinforcements, Methuen attacked at Magersfontein
(11 December 1899. Despite the heavy artillery preparation and night approach, the attack failed. Together with failed attacks on the other fronts at Stormberg
and Colenso
, the news of Magersfontein led to the political crisis of Black Week
in Britain.
1st (Guards) Brigade (as above)
3rd (Highland) Brigade (arrived 10 December) Maj-Gen Andrew Wauchope
9th Brigade (as above)
Cavalry Brigade Maj-Gen J.M. Babington
Artillery
Divisional troops
Total: 10,200 rifles, 800 sabres, 33 guns
Having failed to break through at Magersfontein, Methuen was obliged to stand on the Modder River
, apart from sending 9th Brigade raiding into the Orange Free State. Behind the screen provided by 1st Division, the newly-arrived commander-in-chief, Lord Roberts
, assembled a large army to renew the offensive. After the disaster it had suffered at Magersfontein, where Wauchope was killed, the Highland Brigade and its new commander, Brig-Gen Hector Macdonald
, refused to serve under Methuen, and Roberts transferred them to a new 9th Division under Colville. He also sacked Babington from command of the cavalry. And when Roberts advanced in February 1900, he stripped the Guards Brigade from 1st Division to join a new 11th Division under Pole-Carew and took much of the artillery and transport, This left Methuen and a reduced 1st Division to cover Roberts’s lines of communication.
Following the Battle of Paardeburg (18–27 February), the reliefs of Kimberley and Ladysmith, and the fall of Bloemfontein, Roberts reorganised his force to pursue the defeated Boers. Methuen was tasked with clearing the country along the Vaal River
on the Boers’ flank and driving towards Mafeking, which was still besieged. On 5 April Methuen led out his Mounted Infantry under Brig-Gen Lord Chesham
, with the Kimberley Mounted Corps and 4th Battery RFA, and caught a Boer Commando led by a French volunteer, the Comte de Villebois-Mareuil
. At the small Battle of Boshof
, the Imperial Yeomanry (in action for the first time) surrounded the Boers and then closed with the bayonet. De Villebois-Mareuil was killed and his men killed or captured.
GOC: Lt-Gen Lord Methuen
9th Brigade Maj-Gen Charles Douglas
20th Brigade Maj-Gen Arthur Paget
Mounted Troops
Artillery
Engineers
Increasingly, Roberts’ forces were operating as mobile columns rather than formed divisions. Methuen’s 1st Division became known as the ‘Mobile Marvels’ and the ‘Mudcrushers’ because of their prodigious marches. They also acquired the nicknames ‘The Salvation Army’ and ‘Beechams’ (from Beecham’s Pills
, a popular cure-all) because they relieved so many outposts and besieged garrisons. With 9th Brigade and the Imperial Yeomanry, Methuen’s Column took part in the operations of June 1900 to trap the elusive Boer leader Christiaan de Wet
. Advancing along the Kroonstad
railway, they encountered de Wet at Rhenoster River. After a heavy artillery bombardment, the Loyal North Lancashires broke through the Boer lines and many Boers surrendered. But de Wet got away with most of his mounted men and Methuen’s troops were too exhausted to pursue. The frustrating pursuit of de Wet and other Boer leaders went on for months. After July 1900 1st Division existed only on paper, and Methuen’s Column consisted of an ad hoc brigade of raw recruits - ‘colonel’s work’, Methuen described it.
with two brigades (eight battalions), ‘fairly well organized for mobilization’. Under Lord Haldane’s 1907 reforms, which laid down plans for the despatch of a British Expeditionary Force in case of war, 1st Division was one of the two permanent divisions in Aldershot Command
that would constitute I Corps.
GOC: Maj-Gen James Grierson
(Brigades consisted of four battalions Actual units within this structure varied as battalions, batteries and RE companies rotated between home and overseas stations.)
The Division was a permanently established Regular Army division
that was amongst the first to be sent to France
at the outbreak of the First World War. It served on the Western Front
for the duration of the war. In October 1914 divisional commander Samuel Lomax
was killed in action. 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 the war the Division was involved in the following battles: Battle of Mons
, First Battle of the Marne
, Battle of the Aisne
, First Battle of Ypres
, Battle of Aubers Ridge
, Battle of Loos
, Battle of the Somme (1916)
, Battle of Pozières
, Third Battle of Ypres , Battle of Epehy
.
brigade
s:
1st Brigade :
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 renamed.
2nd Brigade :
Also attached to the 2nd Brigade for periods during 1915:
3rd Brigade :
Also attached to the 3rd Brigade were:
in France until evacuated from Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo
in June 1940. In 1943 it fought in North Africa during the Tunisia Campaign
as part of the British First Army
and then was in Italy
for 1944 including Operation Shingle
,
the Anzio
landing, from January to May. Between June and November 1942 it was a Mixed Division containing the 34th Army Tank Brigade , (replaced in September by the 25th). At the end of the war it was transferred to Palestine for internal security duties.
General Officer Commanding
: Maj-Gen Hon. H.R.L.G. Alexander
in west central Tunisia
. The Axis forces
involved were primarily from the German-Italian Panzer Army (the redesignated German Panzer Army Africa) led by Field Marshal
Erwin Rommel
and the Fifth Panzer Army led by General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim
. The Allied forces
involved came mostly from the U.S. Army's II Corps commanded by Major-General Lloyd Fredendall
which was part of the British First Army
commanded by Lieutenant-General Kenneth Anderson
.
On 19 February Rommel launched an assault. The next day, he personally led the attack by the 10th Panzer Division
, lent to him from von Arnim's Fifth Panzer Army to the north, hoping to take the supply dumps, while the German 21st Panzer Division
, also detached from the Fifth Panzer Army, continued attacking northward through the Sbiba gap.
Within minutes, the U.S. lines were broken. Their light guns and tanks had no chance against the heavier German equipment, and they had little or no experience in armored warfare. The German Panzer IV
s and Tiger tank
s fended off all attacks with ease; the M3 Lee
and M3 Stuart tanks they faced were inferior in firepower and their crews far less experienced. Under fierce tank attack, the American units on Highway 13 also gave way during the night, with men at all points retreating before the Italian 131st Centauro Armoured Division.
After breaking into the pass, the German forces divided into two groups, each advancing up one of the two roads leading out of the pass to the northwest.
The attack by the German 21st Panzer Division
up to Sbiba
was stopped on February 19 by elements of the British 1st Infantry Brigade (Guards)
, the 2nd Battalion of the Coldstream Guards
.
, was an Allied
amphibious landing against Axis
forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno
, Italy
. The operation was commanded by Major General John P. Lucas
and was intended to outflank German
forces of the Winter Line
and enable an attack on Rome
. The resulting combat is commonly called the Battle of Anzio.
Order of Battle Operation Shingle
The landings began on 22 January 1944.
Although resistance had been expected, as seen at Salerno
during 1943, the initial landings were essentially unopposed, with the exception of desultory Luftwaffe
strafing
runs.
By midnight, 36,000 soldiers and 3,200 vehicles had landed on the beaches. Thirteen Allied troops were killed, and 97 wounded; about 200 Germans had been taken as POWs
. The 1st Division penetrated 2 miles (3 km) inland, the US Rangers captured Anzio's port, the 509th PIB captured Nettuno, and the US 3rd Division penetrated 3 miles (5 km) inland.
the plan was the U.S. II Corps on the left would attack up the coast along the line of Route 7 towards Rome. The French Corps to their right would attack from the bridgehead across the Garigliano into the Aurunci Mountains. British XIII Corps in the centre right of the front would attack along the Liri valley whilst on the right 2nd Polish Corps would isolate the monastery and push round behind it into the Liri valley to link with XIII Corps. Canadian I Corps would be held in reserve ready to exploit the expected breakthrough. Once the German Tenth Army had been defeated, U.S. VI Corps including the 1st Infantry Division would break out of the Anzio beachhead to cut off the retreating Germans in the Alban Hills.
, who had replaced Lt. Gen. John P. Lucas
as commander of U.S. VI Corps, launched a two pronged attack using five (three U.S. and two British) of the seven divisions in the bridgehead at Anzio. The German Fourteenth Army facing this thrust was without any armoured divisions because Kesselring had sent his armour south to help the German Tenth Army in the Cassino action.
for a few months before going back to Palestine in April 1946. Two years later as the British mandate over Palestine ended the division returned to Egypt, also spending periods in Libya up until 1951. In October of that year, as British forces pulled out of Egypt outside of the Suez Canal Zone the division garrisoned that small area. After British forces withdrew from Egypt the division returned to the UK for a short while in 1955 and 1956. Whilst in the UK it was reduced to one brigade in 1956.
In 1960 it was disbanded before being reformed as the 1st Division based in Verden an der Aller in Germany
as part of British I Corps in the British Army of the Rhine
.
GOC 1st Division
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
with a long history having been present at the Peninsula War, the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
, the First World War, and during the Second World War.
Napoleonic Wars
The British 1st Division was originally formed in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
for service in the Peninsula War, drawing initially from two British brigades and one Hanoverian brigade of the King's German Legion
King's German Legion
The King's German Legion was a British Army unit of expatriate German personnel, 1803–16. The Legion achieved the distinction of being the only German force to fight without interruption against the French during the Napoleonic Wars....
.
During the Peninsula War it was involved in most of the engagements between the Allies and France including the Battle of Talavera, Battle of Salamanca
Battle of Salamanca
The Battle of Salamanca saw Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish armies under the Duke of Wellington defeat Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces among the hills around Arapiles south of Salamanca, Spain on July 22, 1812 during the Peninsular War....
in 1812, Siege of Tarragona (1813)
Siege of Tarragona (1813)
In the Siege of Tarragona , an overwhelming Anglo-Allied force commanded by Lieutenant General John Murray, 8th Baronet failed to capture the Spanish port of Tarragona from a small Franco-Italian garrison led by General of Brigade Antoine Bertoletti.-Background:Murray's Anglo-Sicilian-Spanish army,...
, Battle of Vitoria
Battle of Vitoria
At the Battle of Vitoria an allied British, Portuguese, and Spanish army under General the Marquess of Wellington broke the French army under Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan near Vitoria in Spain, leading to eventual victory in the Peninsular War.-Background:In July 1812, after...
, Siege of San Sebastian
Siege of San Sebastian
In the Siege of San Sebastián Allied forces under the command of General Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington captured the city of San Sebastián in northern Spain from its French garrison under Brigadier-General Louis Rey...
, Battle of the Pyrenees
Battle of the Pyrenees
The Battle of the Pyrenees was a large-scale offensive launched on 25 July 1813 by Marshal Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult from the Pyrénées region on Emperor Napoleon’s order, in the hope of relieving French garrisons under siege at Pamplona and San Sebastián...
, Battle of the Bidassoa (1813)
Battle of the Bidassoa (1813)
In the Battle of the Bidassoa on 7 October 1813 the Allied army of Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington wrested a foothold on French soil from Nicolas Soult's French army. The Allied troops overran the French lines behind the Bidassoa River on the coast and along the Pyrenees crest between the...
, Battle of Toulouse (1814)
Battle of Toulouse (1814)
The Battle of Toulouse was one of the final battles of the Napoleonic Wars, four days after Napoleon's surrender of the French Empire to the nations of the Sixth Coalition...
.
Peninsular formation
(April 1814)- General Officer: Lieutenant General Sir John Hope (Major General Kenneth Howard)
- Maitland's Brigade: Major General Maitland
- 1/1st Foot Guards
- 3/1st Foot Guards
- 1 coy., 5/60th FootKing's Royal Rifle CorpsThe King's Royal Rifle Corps was a British Army infantry regiment, originally raised in colonial North America as the Royal Americans, and recruited from American colonists. Later ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire...
- Stopford's Brigade: Major General Stopford
- 1st Bn., Coldstream Foot Guards
- 1/3rd Foot Guards
- 1 coy., 5/60th Foot
- Hinuber's Brigade: Major General von Hinuber
- 1st Line Bn., King's German LegionKing's German LegionThe King's German Legion was a British Army unit of expatriate German personnel, 1803–16. The Legion achieved the distinction of being the only German force to fight without interruption against the French during the Napoleonic Wars....
- 2nd Line Bn., KGL
- 5th Line Bn., KGL
- 1st Light Bn., KGL
- 2nd Light Bn., KGL
- 1st Line Bn., King's German Legion
- Aylmer's Brigade: Major General Lord Aylmer
- 1/37th Foot37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of FootThe 37th Regiment of Foot was raised in Ireland in February 1702.During the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 - 46 the regiment fought at the Battle of Falkirk where it was commanded by Sir Robert Munro, 6th Baronet and later at the Battle of Culloden where it was commanded by Col. Dejean.Initially...
- 2/62nd Foot62nd (Wiltshire) Regiment of FootThe 62nd Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, which was raised as a line regiment in 1756 and saw service through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries...
- 76th Foot76th Regiment of FootThe 76th Regiment of Foot was originally raised as Lord Harcourt's Regiment on 17 November 1745 and disbanded in June 1746. Following the loss of Minorca to the French, it was raised again in November 1756 as the 61st Regiment, but renumbered to 76th, by General Order in 1758, and again disbanded...
- 77th Foot77th (East Middlesex) Regiment of FootThe 77th Regiment of Foot was a line regiment of the British Army . In 1881 it was united with the 57th Regiment of Foot to form The Middlesex Regiment ....
- 85th Foot
- 1/37th Foot
Waterloo campaign
Napoleon Bonaparte’sNapoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
returned during the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
. On 13 March, seven days before Napoleon reached Paris, the powers at the Congress of Vienna declared him an outlaw
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
; four days later the United Kingdom
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
, Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, Austria
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
and Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
, members of the Seventh Coalition, bound themselves to put 150,000 men each into the field to end his rule. This set the stage for the last conflict in the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
and for the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, the restoration of the French monarchy for the second time and the permanent exile of Napoleon to the island of Saint Helena
Saint Helena
Saint Helena , named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha...
, where he died in May 1821.
Battle of Quatre Bras
The Battle of Quatre Bras, between Wellington's Anglo-Dutch army and the left wing of the Armée du Nord under Marshal Michel Ney, was fought near the strategic crossroads of Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815.- Prelude :...
then at the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, where it held Wellington's right flank. On the extreme right was the chateau, garden, and orchard of Hougoumont
Hougoumont (farmhouse)
Château d'Hougoumont is a large farmhouse situated at the bottom of an escarpment near the Nivelles road in Braine-l'Alleud, near Waterloo, Belgium. The escarpment is where British and other allied forces faced Napoleon's Army at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815.The name "Hougoumont" is...
which was defended by the Divisions 2nd Brigade.
The initial attack was by Maréchal de Camp Bauduin's 1st Brigade of the 5th Division emptied the wood and park, but was driven back by heavy British artillery fire and cost Bauduin his life. The British guns were distracted into an artillery duel with French guns and this allowed a second attack by General de Brigade Baron Soye's 2nd Brigade of the 6th Division. They managed a small breach on the south side but could not exploit it. An attack by elements of the 1st Brigade of the 6th Division attacked the north side was more successful. This attack lead to one of the most famous skirmishes in the Battle of Waterloo — Sous-Lieutenant Legros, wielding an axe, managed to break through the north gate. A desperate fight ensued between the invading French soldiers and the deefending Guards. In a near-miraculus attack, Macdonell, a small party of officers and Corporal James Graham
James Graham (soldier)
James Graham was an Irish non-commissioned officer in the British Army during the Napoleonic wars, recognised as the "bravest man in the army". Serving in the Coldstream Guards, he was commended for his gallantry during the defence of Hougoumont, at Waterloo...
fought through the melee to shut the gate, trapping Legros and about 30 other soldiers of the 1st Legere inside. All of the French who entered, apart from a young drummer boy, were killed in a desperate hand to hand fight. The French attack in the immediate vicinity of the farm were repulsed by the arrival of the 2nd Coldstream Guards and 2/3rd Foot Guards. Fighting continued around Hougoumont all afternoon with its surroundings heavily invested with French light infantry and co-ordinated cavalry attacks sent against the troops behind Hougoumont.
Formation at Waterloo
Commanding General: Major-General George Cooke- 1st Brigade , Major-General Peregrine MaitlandPeregrine MaitlandSir Peregrine Maitland, KCB, GCB was a British soldier and colonial administrator who played first-class cricket from 1798 to 1808....
- 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment of Foot Guards , Lieutenant Colonel Henry AskewHenry AskewLieutenant General Sir Henry Askew bart served at Waterloo and became a baronet.-Biography:Askew was born in 1775 the third son of John Askew of Pallinsburn in Northumberland.His first mission was to Holland and Flanders with the "1st foot"...
- 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment of Foot Guards , Lieutenant Colonel the Honorable William Stewart
- 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment of Foot Guards , Lieutenant Colonel Henry Askew
- 2nd Brigade , Major-General Sir John Byng
- 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards , Colonel A. Woodford
- 2nd Battalion, 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards , Lieutenant Colonel Francis Hepburn
Crimean war
The Crimean War (1853–1856) was fought between Imperial Russia on one side and an alliance of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
, the Kingdom of Sardinia
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...
, and the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
on the other. Most of the conflict took place on the Crimean Peninsula
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
, with additional actions occurring in western Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, and the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
region.
The Crimean War is sometimes considered to be the first "modern" conflict and "introduced technical changes which affected the future course of warfare."
The Division which now consisted of the Guards Brigade
Brigade of Guards
The Brigade of Guards is a historical elite unit of the British Army, which has existed sporadically since the 17th century....
and the Highland Brigade
Highland Brigade (Scottish)
The Highland Brigade is a historical unit of the British Army, which has been formed a number of times. It recruited men from the Highlands of Scotland.-Crimean War:...
,was involved in the Battle of Alma
Battle of Alma
The Battle of the Alma , which is usually considered the first battle of the Crimean War , took place just south of the River Alma in the Crimea. An Anglo-French force under General St...
(September 20, 1854) , which is considered to be the first battle of the Crimean war.They were next in action during the Battle of Balaclava
Battle of Balaclava
The Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, was part of the Anglo-French-Turkish campaign to capture the port and fortress of Sevastopol, Russia's principal naval base on the Black Sea...
, The battle started with a successful Russian attack on Ottoman positions. This led to the Russians breaking through into the valley of Balaklava
Balaklava
Balaklava is a former city on the Crimean peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol which carries a special administrative status in Ukraine. It was a city in its own right until 1957 when it was formally incorporated into the municipal borders of Sevastopol by the Soviet government...
(anglicised as "Balaclava"), where British forces were encamped. The Russian advance was intended to disrupt the British base and attack British positions near Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
from the rear.
An initial Russian advance south of the southern line of hills was repulsed by the British. A large attacking force of Russian cavalry advanced over the ridgeline, and split into two portions. One of these columns drove south towards the town of Balaklava itself, threatening the main supply of the entire British army. That drive was repulsed by the muskets of the 93rd (Highland) Regiment, which had been formed into a lone line of two rows by its commander, Sir Colin Campbell
Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde
Field Marshal Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde GCB, KSI was a British Army officer from Scotland who led the Highland Brigade in the Crimea and was in command of the ‘Thin red line’ at the battle of Balaclava...
. This action became known in history as "The Thin Red Line
The Thin Red Line (1854 battle)
The Thin Red Line was a military action by the Sutherland Highlanders red-coated 93rd Regiment at the Battle of Balaclava on October 25, 1854, during the Crimean War. In this incident the 93rd aided by a small force of Royal Marines and some Turkish infantrymen, led by Sir Colin Campbell, routed a...
" , this battle was also well known for the Charge of the Light Brigade
Charge of the Light Brigade
The Charge of the Light Brigade was a charge of British cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War. The charge was the result of a miscommunication in such a way that the brigade attempted a much more difficult objective...
.They were also invold in the Battle of Inkerman
Battle of Inkerman
The Battle of Inkerman was fought during the Crimean War on November 5, 1854 between the allied armies of Britain and France against the Imperial Russian Army. The battle broke the will of the Russian Army to defeat the allies in the field, and was followed by the Siege of Sevastopol...
(November 5 , 1854).
Formation during the Crimean War
Commanding General: Duke of CambridgePrince George, Duke of Cambridge
Prince George, Duke of Cambridge was a member of the British Royal Family, a male-line grandson of King George III. The Duke was an army officer and served as commander-in-chief of the British Army from 1856 to 1895...
- Guards Brigade Major General Bentinck
- 3rd Battalion, Grenadier GuardsGrenadier GuardsThe Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...
- 1st Battalion, Coldstream GuardsColdstream GuardsHer Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, also known officially as the Coldstream Guards , is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division or Household Division....
- 1st Battalion, Scots Fusilier GuardsScots GuardsThe Scots Guards is a regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, whose origins lie in the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland...
- 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards
- Highland Brigade , Colonel Sir Colin CampbellColin Campbell, 1st Baron ClydeField Marshal Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde GCB, KSI was a British Army officer from Scotland who led the Highland Brigade in the Crimea and was in command of the ‘Thin red line’ at the battle of Balaclava...
,- 42nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Highlanders, the Black Watch)Black WatchThe Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The unit's traditional colours were retired in 2011 in a ceremony led by Queen Elizabeth II....
- 79th Regiment of Foot (Cameron Highlanders)Cameron HighlandersCameron Highlanders may mean:* The Highlanders , infantry regiment in the Scottish Division of the British Army* The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa, Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Forces...
- 93rd Regiment of Foot (Sutherland Highlanders)
- 42nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Highlanders, the Black Watch)
Second Anglo-Boer War
When an army corps of three divisions was mobilised and despatched to South Africa at the outbreak of the Boer War, Lt-Gen Lord MethuenPaul Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen
Field Marshal Paul Sanford Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen GCB, GCMG, GCVO was a British military commander.-Early life:...
was given command of 1st Division of two infantry brigades, 1st (Guards) under Maj-Gen Sir Henry Colville
Henry Edward Colville
Major-General Sir Henry Edward Colville KCMG CB was an English soldier.-Biography:Colville was born at Kirkby Hall, Leicestershire. He was the son of Charles Robert Colville and Hon. Katherine Sarah Georgina Russell....
and 2nd under Maj-Gen Henry Hildyard, with 4th Brigade Division (three batteries) of the Royal Field Artillery
Royal Field Artillery
The Royal Field Artillery of the British Army provided artillery support for the British Army. It came into being when the Royal Artillery was divided on 1 July 1899, it was reamalgamated back into the Royal Artillery in 1924....
(RFA) under Col C.J. Long. The British commander, Sir Redvers Buller
Redvers Buller
General Sir Redvers Henry Buller VC GCB GCMG was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....
, had intended to march with the whole army corps across the Orange River
Orange River
The Orange River , Gariep River, Groote River or Senqu River is the longest river in South Africa. It rises in the Drakensberg mountains in Lesotho, flowing westwards through South Africa to the Atlantic Ocean...
to Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...
, capital of the Orange Free State
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...
, but by the time the troops reached Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
the Boers had seized the Orange River crossings and begun sieges of Ladysmith
Siege of Ladysmith
The Siege of Ladysmith was a protracted engagement in the Second Boer War, taking place between 30 October 1899 and 28 February 1900 at Ladysmith, Natal.-Background:...
, Kimberley
Kimberley, Northern Cape
Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...
and Mafeking
Mafikeng
Mahikeng – formerly legally, but still commonly known as Mafikeng – is the capital city of the North-West Province of South Africa. It is best known internationally for the Siege of Mafeking, the most famous engagement of the Second Boer War.Located on South Africa's border with Botswana, it is ...
. Buller was forced to split his forces, sending divisions to relieve Ladysmith and Kimberley. Methuen and 1st Division were assigned to the relief of Kimberley, but the situation at Ladysmith deteriorated, and Buller diverted Hildyard’s 2nd Brigade and Long’s artillery to that sector. The division that Methuen assembled at Orange River Station in November 1899 comprised Colville’s Guards Brigade and a ‘scratch’ brigade numbered 9th under Maj-Gen S.R. Fetherstonehaugh, with the 9th Lancers and a brigade division of RFA under Col Hall. Methuen could also call on the 3rd (Highland) Brigade under Maj-Gen Andrew Wauchope
Andrew Gilbert Wauchope
Major-General Andrew Gilbert Wauchope was a British Army officer, killed commanding a brigade at the Battle of Magersfontein in the South African War....
(diverted from 2nd Division), in reserve at De Aar.
Order of Battle at Belmont, Graspan and Modder River
GOC: Lt-Gen Lord MethuenPaul Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen
Field Marshal Paul Sanford Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen GCB, GCMG, GCVO was a British military commander.-Early life:...
AAG: Col R.B. Mainwaring
DAAGs: Lt-Col H.P. Norcott
Maj R.H.L. Warner
1st (Guards) Brigade
Maj-Gen Sir Henry Colville
Henry Edward Colville
Major-General Sir Henry Edward Colville KCMG CB was an English soldier.-Biography:Colville was born at Kirkby Hall, Leicestershire. He was the son of Charles Robert Colville and Hon. Katherine Sarah Georgina Russell....
- 3rd Bn Grenadier GuardsGrenadier GuardsThe Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...
- 1st Bn Coldstream GuardsColdstream GuardsHer Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, also known officially as the Coldstream Guards , is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division or Household Division....
- 2nd Bn Coldstream Guards
- 1st Bn Scots GuardsScots GuardsThe Scots Guards is a regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, whose origins lie in the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland...
9th Brigade
Maj-Gen S.R. Fetherstonehaugh (wounded at Belmont))
Maj-Gen Reginald Pole-Carew
- 1st Bn Northumberland Fusiliers
- 2nd Bn Northamptonshire RegimentNorthamptonshire RegimentThe Northamptonshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1960. Its lineage is now continued by The Royal Anglian Regiment.-Formation:The regiment was formed as part of the reorganisation of the infantry by the Childers reforms...
- 2nd Bn King's Own Yorkshire Light InfantryKing's Own Yorkshire Light InfantryThe King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry was a regiment of the British Army. It officially existed from 1881 to 1968, but its predecessors go back to 1755. The regiment's traditions and history are now maintained by The Rifles.-The 51st Foot:...
- Half 1st Bn Loyal North Lancashire Regiment (remainder forming garrison of Kimberley)
Cavalry
Col Bloomfield Gough
- 9th Lancers
- Two and a half companies Mounted Infantry (MI)
- Detachment New South Wales Lancers1st Royal New South Wales LancersThe 1st Royal New South Wales Lancers was a former Australian Army light cavalry regiment. Its complicated lineage includes the New South Wales Lancers which were first formed as a colonial unit in 1885, and subsequently saw action in the Second Boer War, and later during First World War at...
- Rimington's GuidesRimington's GuidesRimington's Guides were a unit of light horse in the British Army active in the Second Boer War. They were led by Major M. F. Rimington, later Colonel Rimington. He also led a column in the later stages of the war...
Artillery
Lt-Col F.H. Hall
- 18th Battery RFA
- 75th Battery RFA
- 62nd Battery RFA (arrived in time for Modder River)
Engineers
- 4 Companies Royal EngineersRoyal EngineersThe Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
(RE)
Naval Brigade
South African Reserve
Methuen followed the railway in the direction of Kimberley, and encountered large Boer forces at Belmont
Battle of Belmont (1899)
The Battle of Belmont is the name of an engagement of the Second Boer War near the town of Belmont, 23 November 1899, where the British under Lord Methuen assaulted a Boer position on a kopje....
, where 1st Division obtained ‘a victory of sorts’ on 23 November, though with heavy casualties. They followed up and attacked again at Graspan (25 November) and at Modder River
Battle of Modder River
The Battle of Modder River was an engagement in the Boer War, fought at Modder River, on 28 November 1899...
(28 November), again forcing the Boers from their positions but without landing a decisive punch. After receiving reinforcements, Methuen attacked at Magersfontein
Battle of Magersfontein
The Battle of MagersfonteinSpelt incorrectly in various English texts as "Majersfontein", "Maaghersfontein" and "Maagersfontein". was fought on 11 December 1899, at Magersfontein near Kimberley on the borders of the Cape Colony and the independent republic of the Orange Free State...
(11 December 1899. Despite the heavy artillery preparation and night approach, the attack failed. Together with failed attacks on the other fronts at Stormberg
Battle of Stormberg
The Battle of Stormberg was the first British defeat of Black Week, in which three successive British forces were defeated by Boer irregulars in the Second Boer War.-Background:...
and Colenso
Battle of Colenso
The Battle of Colenso was the third and final battle fought during the Black Week of the Second Boer War. It was fought between British and Boer forces from the independent South African Republic and Orange Free State in and around Colenso, Natal, South Africa on 15 December 1899.Inadequate...
, the news of Magersfontein led to the political crisis of Black Week
Black Week
In one disastrous week, dubbed Black Week, from 10-17 December 1899, the British Army suffered three devastating defeats by the Boer Republics at the battles of Stormberg , Magersfontein and Colenso , with 2,776 men killed, wounded and captured...
in Britain.
Order of Battle at Magersfontein
GOC: Lt-Gen Lord Methuen1st (Guards) Brigade (as above)
3rd (Highland) Brigade (arrived 10 December) Maj-Gen Andrew Wauchope
Andrew Gilbert Wauchope
Major-General Andrew Gilbert Wauchope was a British Army officer, killed commanding a brigade at the Battle of Magersfontein in the South African War....
- 2nd Bn Royal Highlanders (Black Watch)42nd Regiment of FootThe 42nd Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Originally the 43rd Highlanders they were renumbered the 42nd in 1748.- Early history :...
- 2nd Bn Seaforth HighlandersSeaforth HighlandersThe Seaforth Highlanders was a historic regiment of the British Army associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The Seaforth Highlanders have varied in size from two battalions to seventeen battalions during the Great War...
- 1st Bn Highland Light InfantryHighland Light InfantryThe Highland Light Infantry was a regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1959. In 1923 the regimental title was expanded to the Highland Light Infantry ...
- 1st Bn Argyll and Sutherland HighlandersArgyll and Sutherland HighlandersThe Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland....
9th Brigade (as above)
Cavalry Brigade Maj-Gen J.M. Babington
- 9th Lancers
- 12th Lancers
- 1st King's Own Yorkshire Light InfantryKing's Own Yorkshire Light InfantryThe King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry was a regiment of the British Army. It officially existed from 1881 to 1968, but its predecessors go back to 1755. The regiment's traditions and history are now maintained by The Rifles.-The 51st Foot:...
MI company - 1st Northumberland Fusiliers MI company
- 1st Loyal North Lancashire Regiment MI company
- Rimington’s GuidesRimington's GuidesRimington's Guides were a unit of light horse in the British Army active in the Second Boer War. They were led by Major M. F. Rimington, later Colonel Rimington. He also led a column in the later stages of the war...
Artillery
- G Battery Royal Horse ArtilleryRoyal Horse ArtilleryThe regiments of the Royal Horse Artillery , dating from 1793, are part of the Royal Regiment of Artillery of the British Army...
- 18th Battery RFA
- 62nd Battery RFA
- 65th (Howitzer) Battery RFA
- 75th Battery RFA
- Australian Artillery
Divisional troops
- 1st Bn Gordon Highlanders
Total: 10,200 rifles, 800 sabres, 33 guns
Having failed to break through at Magersfontein, Methuen was obliged to stand on the Modder River
Modder River, Northern Cape
Modder River is an irrigation and stock farming town situated south of Kimberley near the confluence of the Riet and Modder rivers in the Northern Cape province of South Africa....
, apart from sending 9th Brigade raiding into the Orange Free State. Behind the screen provided by 1st Division, the newly-arrived commander-in-chief, Lord Roberts
Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts
Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, Bt, VC, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, KStJ, PC was a distinguished Indian born British soldier who regarded himself as Anglo-Irish and one of the most successful British commanders of the 19th century.-Early life:Born at Cawnpore, India, on...
, assembled a large army to renew the offensive. After the disaster it had suffered at Magersfontein, where Wauchope was killed, the Highland Brigade and its new commander, Brig-Gen Hector Macdonald
Hector MacDonald
Major-General Sir Hector Archibald MacDonald, also known as Fighting Mac , was a distinguished Victorian soldier....
, refused to serve under Methuen, and Roberts transferred them to a new 9th Division under Colville. He also sacked Babington from command of the cavalry. And when Roberts advanced in February 1900, he stripped the Guards Brigade from 1st Division to join a new 11th Division under Pole-Carew and took much of the artillery and transport, This left Methuen and a reduced 1st Division to cover Roberts’s lines of communication.
Following the Battle of Paardeburg (18–27 February), the reliefs of Kimberley and Ladysmith, and the fall of Bloemfontein, Roberts reorganised his force to pursue the defeated Boers. Methuen was tasked with clearing the country along the Vaal River
Vaal River
The Vaal River is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source in the Drakensberg mountains in Mpumalanga, east of Johannesburg and about 30 km north of Ermelo and only about 240 km from the Indian Ocean. It then flows westwards to its conjunction...
on the Boers’ flank and driving towards Mafeking, which was still besieged. On 5 April Methuen led out his Mounted Infantry under Brig-Gen Lord Chesham
Charles Cavendish, 3rd Baron Chesham
Charles Compton William Cavendish, 3rd Baron Chesham KCB, PC, DL , styled The Honourable Charles Cavendish between 1863 and 1882, was a British soldier, courtier and Conservative politician...
, with the Kimberley Mounted Corps and 4th Battery RFA, and caught a Boer Commando led by a French volunteer, the Comte de Villebois-Mareuil
George Henri Anne-Marie Victor de Villebois-Mareuil
George Henri Anne-Marie Victor de Villebois-Mareuil was a Colonel in the French Infantry, and French Nationalist who fought and died on the side of the Boers during the Second Anglo-Boer War.He was the first of only two Boer foreign volunteers to be handed the grade of Major-General in...
. At the small Battle of Boshof
Boshof
Boshof is the administrative town in the goldfields region of the Free State province, South Africa. The town was formed in 1855 on the Vanwyksvlei farm. It was named after Jacobus Boshoff who became the 2nd President of the Orange Free State on the 27 August 1855.The local commando was involved in...
, the Imperial Yeomanry (in action for the first time) surrounded the Boers and then closed with the bayonet. De Villebois-Mareuil was killed and his men killed or captured.
Order of Battle May–June 1900
1st Division (Methuen’s Column)GOC: Lt-Gen Lord Methuen
9th Brigade Maj-Gen Charles Douglas
- 1st Bn Northumberland Fusiliers
- 1st Bn Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
- 3rd Volunteer Bn South Wales Borderers
- 2nd Bn Northamptonshire RegimentNorthamptonshire RegimentThe Northamptonshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1960. Its lineage is now continued by The Royal Anglian Regiment.-Formation:The regiment was formed as part of the reorganisation of the infantry by the Childers reforms...
20th Brigade Maj-Gen Arthur Paget
- 1st Bn Royal Munster FusiliersRoyal Munster FusiliersThe Royal Munster Fusiliers was a regular infantry regiment of the British Army. One of eight Irish regiments raised largely in Ireland, it had its home depot in Tralee. It was originally formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of two regiments of the former East India Company. It served in India and...
- 2nd Bn King's Own Yorkshire Light InfantryKing's Own Yorkshire Light InfantryThe King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry was a regiment of the British Army. It officially existed from 1881 to 1968, but its predecessors go back to 1755. The regiment's traditions and history are now maintained by The Rifles.-The 51st Foot:...
- 4th Volunteer Bn Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
- 4th Volunteer Bn South Staffordshire RegimentSouth Staffordshire RegimentThe South Staffordshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 38th Regiment of Foot and the 80th Regiment of Foot. In 1959 the regiment was amlagamated with the North Staffordshire Regiment to form the Staffordshire Regiment...
Mounted Troops
- 3rd Bn Imperial YeomanryImperial YeomanryThe Imperial Yeomanry was a British volunteer cavalry regiment that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Officially created on 24 December 1899, the regiment was based on members of standing Yeomanry regiments, but also contained a large contingent of mid-upper class English volunteers. In...
(Lt-Col G.J. Younghusband)- 9th Yorkshire Company
- 10th Nottinghamshire (Sherwood Rangers) Company
- 11th Yorkshire Company
- 12th South Nottinghamshire Company
- 5th Bn Imperial Yeomanry ((Lt-Col F.C. Meyrick)
- 13th Shropshire Company
- 14th Northumberland Company
- 15th Northumberland Company
- 16th Worcestershire Company
- 10th Bn Imperial Yeomanry (Lt-Col Eric Smith)
- 37th Buckinghamshire Company
- 38th Buckinghamshire Company
- 39th Berkshire Company
- 40th Oxfordshire Company
- 15th Bn Imperial Yeomanry (Lt-Col L. Sandwith)
- 56th Buckinghamshire Company
- 57th Buckinghamshire Company
- 58th Brtkshire Company
- 59th Oxfordshire Company
- Warwick’s Scouts
Artillery
- 4th Battery RFA
- 20th Battery RFA
- 37th Howitzer Battery RFA
- 38th Battery RFA
- Diamond Fields Artillery
- 23rd Company (Western) Royal Garrison ArtilleryRoyal Garrison ArtilleryThe Royal Garrison Artillery was an arm of the Royal Artillery that was originally tasked with manning the guns of the British Empire's forts and fortresses, including coastal artillery batteries, the heavy gun batteries attached to each infantry division, and the guns of the siege...
Engineers
- 11th Company RE
Increasingly, Roberts’ forces were operating as mobile columns rather than formed divisions. Methuen’s 1st Division became known as the ‘Mobile Marvels’ and the ‘Mudcrushers’ because of their prodigious marches. They also acquired the nicknames ‘The Salvation Army’ and ‘Beechams’ (from Beecham’s Pills
Beecham's Pills
Beecham's Pills were a laxative first marketed around 1842 in St Helens, Lancashire. They were invented by Thomas Beecham , grandfather of Thomas Beecham ....
, a popular cure-all) because they relieved so many outposts and besieged garrisons. With 9th Brigade and the Imperial Yeomanry, Methuen’s Column took part in the operations of June 1900 to trap the elusive Boer leader Christiaan de Wet
Christiaan De Wet
Christiaan Rudolf de Wet was a Boer general, rebel leader and politician.He was born on the Leeuwkop farm, in the district of Smithfield in the Boer Republic of the Orange Free State...
. Advancing along the Kroonstad
Kroonstad
Kroonstad is the third-largest town in the Free State province of South Africa, and lies two hours drive from Gauteng. In the 1991 census it had a population of 110,963...
railway, they encountered de Wet at Rhenoster River. After a heavy artillery bombardment, the Loyal North Lancashires broke through the Boer lines and many Boers surrendered. But de Wet got away with most of his mounted men and Methuen’s troops were too exhausted to pursue. The frustrating pursuit of de Wet and other Boer leaders went on for months. After July 1900 1st Division existed only on paper, and Methuen’s Column consisted of an ad hoc brigade of raw recruits - ‘colonel’s work’, Methuen described it.
Prior to First World War
With the return of the troops from South Africa at the end of the Boer War, 1st Division was reformed at AldershotAldershot
Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...
with two brigades (eight battalions), ‘fairly well organized for mobilization’. Under Lord Haldane’s 1907 reforms, which laid down plans for the despatch of a British Expeditionary Force in case of war, 1st Division was one of the two permanent divisions in Aldershot Command
Aldershot Command
-History:After the success of the Chobham Manoeuvres of 1853, a permanent training camp was established at Aldershot in 1854 on the recommendation of the Commander-in-Chief, Viscount Hardinge...
that would constitute I Corps.
Establishment May 1907
1st DivisionGOC: Maj-Gen James Grierson
James Grierson
Lieutenant General Sir James Moncrieff Grierson KCB, CMG, CVO, ADC was a British soldier.- Military career :Grierson was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1877....
- 1st Brigade (AldershotAldershotAldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...
) - 2nd Brigade (BlackdownBlackdown- Places :In England:* Blackdown, Dorset, a village near Chard* Blackdown, Hampshire, a village near Winchester* Blackdown, West Sussex, a hill also spelt Black Down* Blackdown, Warwickshire, a village near Leamington Spa...
) - 3rd Brigade (BordonBordonBordon is a town in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It lies 5.4 miles southeast of Alton and forms a part of the civil parish of Whitehill, the adjoining village. Both settlements are on the A325 road and close to the A3 road between London and Portsmouth...
) - Three Field Artillery Brigades (each of three batteries)
- One Field Artillery (Howitzer) Brigade
- Two Field Companies, Royal EngineersRoyal EngineersThe Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
- Two Divisional Telegraph Companies, Royal Engineers.
(Brigades consisted of four battalions Actual units within this structure varied as battalions, batteries and RE companies rotated between home and overseas stations.)
First World War
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
that was amongst the first to be sent to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
at the outbreak of the First World War. It served on the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
for the duration of the war. In October 1914 divisional commander Samuel Lomax
Samuel Lomax
Lieutenant General Samuel Holt Lomax was a senior and highly respected British general who served in the opening months of World War I and was the first British Lieutenant Generals to be killed on active service during the entire war.-Military service:Born in August 1855 to Thomas and Mary Helen...
was killed in action. 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 the war the Division was involved in the following battles: Battle of Mons
Battle of Mons
The Battle of Mons was the first major action of the British Expeditionary Force in the First World War. It was a subsidiary action of the Battle of the Frontiers, in which the Allies clashed with Germany on the French borders. At Mons, the British army attempted to hold the line of the...
, First Battle of the Marne
First Battle of the Marne
The Battle of the Marne was a First World War battle fought between 5 and 12 September 1914. It resulted in an Allied victory against the German Army under Chief of Staff Helmuth von Moltke the Younger. The battle effectively ended the month long German offensive that opened the war and had...
, Battle of the Aisne
Battle of the Aisne
The Battle of the Aisne is the name of three battles fought along the Aisne River in northern France during the First World War.*First Battle of the Aisne - Anglo-French counter-offensive following the First Battle of the Marne....
, First Battle of Ypres
First Battle of Ypres
The First Battle of Ypres, also called the First Battle of Flanders , was a First World War battle fought for the strategic town of Ypres in western Belgium...
, Battle of Aubers Ridge
Battle of Aubers Ridge
The Battle of Aubers Ridge was a British offensive mounted on the Western Front in 1915 during World War I.- Background :The battle was the initial British component of the combined Anglo-French offensive known as the Second Battle of Artois...
, Battle of Loos
Battle of Loos
The Battle of Loos was one of the major British offensives mounted on the Western Front in 1915 during World War I. It marked the first time the British used poison gas during the war, and is also famous for the fact that it witnessed the first large-scale use of 'new' or Kitchener's Army...
, Battle of the Somme (1916)
Battle of the Somme (1916)
The Battle of the Somme , also known as the Somme Offensive, took place during the First World War between 1 July and 14 November 1916 in the Somme department of France, on both banks of the river of the same name...
, Battle of Pozières
Battle of Pozières
The Battle of Pozières was a two week struggle for the French village of Pozières and the ridge on which it stands, during the middle stages of the 1916 Battle of the Somme. Though British divisions were involved in most phases of the fighting, Pozières is primarily remembered as an Australian battle...
, Third Battle of Ypres , Battle of Epehy
Battle of Epéhy
The Battle of Épehy was a World War I battle fought on 18 September 1918, involving the British Fourth Army against German outpost positions in front of the Hindenburg Line.- Prelude :...
.
Formation During the First World War
The division comprised the following infantryInfantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
s:
1st Brigade :
- 1st Battalion, the Black WatchBlack WatchThe Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The unit's traditional colours were retired in 2011 in a ceremony led by Queen Elizabeth II....
- 1st Battalion, The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
- 1/14th (County of LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
) 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
Coldstream Guards
Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, also known officially as the Coldstream Guards , is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division or Household Division....
and the Scots Guards
Scots Guards (1914)
The Scots Guards is a regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army.-World War I:On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife the Countess Sophie were assassinated by a Serbian nationalist...
. When the Guards Division was formed in August 1915 and these two battalions departed, the brigade was renamed.
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 CorpsKing's Royal Rifle CorpsThe King's Royal Rifle Corps was a British Army infantry regiment, originally raised in colonial North America as the Royal Americans, and recruited from American colonists. Later ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire...
Also attached to the 2nd Brigade for periods during 1915:
- 1/5th Battalion, The King's Own (Royal Lancaster 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 FusiliersRoyal Munster FusiliersThe Royal Munster Fusiliers was a regular infantry regiment of the British Army. One of eight Irish regiments raised largely in Ireland, it had its home depot in Tralee. It was originally formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of two regiments of the former East India Company. It served in India and...
(until February 1918)
Also attached to the 3rd Brigade were:
- 1/6th (GlamorganGlamorganGlamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...
) Battalion, The Welsh Regiment (October 1915 to May 1916) - 1/4th (DenbighshireDenbighshireDenbighshire is a county in north-east Wales. It is named after the historic county of Denbighshire, but has substantially different borders. Denbighshire has the distinction of being the oldest inhabited part of Wales. Pontnewydd Palaeolithic site has remains of Neanderthals from 225,000 years...
) Battalion, The Royal Welch FusiliersRoyal Welch FusiliersThe Royal Welch Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. It was founded in 1689 to oppose James II and the imminent war with France...
(November 1914 to September 1915) - 1/9th Battalion, The King's (Liverpool) Regiment (November 1915 to January 1916)
Second World War
During the Second World War the division formed part of the British Expeditionary ForceBritish Expeditionary Force (World War II)
The British Expeditionary Force was the British force in Europe from 1939–1940 during the Second World War. Commanded by General Lord Gort, the BEF constituted one-tenth of the defending Allied force....
in France until evacuated from Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo
Operation Dynamo
The Dunkirk evacuation, commonly known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, code-named Operation Dynamo by the British, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between 26 May and the early hours of 3 June 1940, because the British, French and Belgian troops were...
in June 1940. In 1943 it fought in North Africa during the Tunisia Campaign
Tunisia Campaign
The Tunisia Campaign was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African Campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces. The Allies consisted of British Imperial Forces, including Polish and Greek contingents, with American and French corps...
as part of the British First Army
British First Army
The First Army was a field army of the British Army that existed during the First and Second World Wars. Despite being a British command, the First Army also included Indian and Portuguese forces during the First World War and American and French during the Second World War.-First World War:The...
and then was in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
for 1944 including Operation Shingle
Operation Shingle
Operation Shingle , during the Italian Campaign of World War II, was an Allied amphibious landing against Axis forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno, Italy. The operation was commanded by Major General John P. Lucas and was intended to outflank German forces of the Winter Line and enable an...
,
the Anzio
Anzio
Anzio is a city and comune on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome.Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine Islands of Ponza, Palmarola and Ventotene...
landing, from January to May. Between June and November 1942 it was a Mixed Division containing the 34th Army Tank Brigade , (replaced in September by the 25th). At the end of the war it was transferred to Palestine for internal security duties.
Battle of France
Order of Battle, France 1940General Officer Commanding
General Officer Commanding
General Officer Commanding is the usual title given in the armies of Commonwealth nations to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC II Corps or GOC 7th Armoured Division...
: Maj-Gen Hon. H.R.L.G. Alexander
Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis
Field Marshal Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis was a British military commander and field marshal of Anglo-Irish descent who served with distinction in both world wars and, afterwards, as Governor General of Canada, the 17th since Canadian...
- 1st Guards Brigade Brig M.B. Beckwith-Smith
- 3rd Bn Grenadier GuardsGrenadier GuardsThe Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...
- 2nd Bn Coldstream GuardsColdstream GuardsHer Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, also known officially as the Coldstream Guards , is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division or Household Division....
- 2nd Bn Hampshire Regiment
- 3rd Bn Grenadier Guards
- 2nd Infantry Brigade Brig C.E. Hudson
- 1st Bn The Loyal Regiment
- 2nd Bn North Staffordshire RegimentNorth Staffordshire RegimentThe North Staffordshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, which was in existence between 1881 and 1959. It can date its lineage back to 1756 with the formation of a second battalion by the 11th Regiment of Foot, which shortly after became the 64th Regiment of Foot...
- 6th Bn Gordon Highlanders
- 3rd Infantry Brigade Brig T.N.F. Wilson
- 1st Bn The Duke of Wellington's RegimentThe Duke of Wellington's RegimentThe Duke of Wellington's Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, forming part of the King's Division.In 1702 Colonel George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, was authorised to raise a new regiment, which he did in and around the city of Gloucester. As was the custom in those days...
- 2nd Bn The Sherwood Foresters
- 1st Bn The King's Shropshire Light InfantryThe King's Shropshire Light InfantryThe King's Shropshire Light Infantry was a regiment of the British Army, formed in 1881, but with antecedents dating back to 1755. The KSLI was amalgamated with three other county light infantry regiments in 1968 to became part of The Light Infantry...
- 1st Bn The Duke of Wellington's Regiment
- Divisional Troops - Royal ArtilleryRoyal ArtilleryThe Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
- 2nd Field Regt (35, 42, 53 & 87 Batteries)
- 19th Field Regt (29, 39, 96 & 97 Batteries)
- 67th (South Midland) Field Regt (265 (Worcester) & 266 (Worcester) Batteries)
- 21st Anti-Tank Regt (Q, Y, Z & BB Batteries)
- Divisional Troops - Royal EngineersRoyal EngineersThe Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
- 23rd, 238th, 248th Field Companies
- 6th Field Park Company
Battle of the Kasserine Pass
The Battle of Kasserine Pass took place during the Tunisia Campaign and was,a series of battles fought around Kasserine Pass, a two-mile (3 km) wide gap in the Grand Dorsal chain of the Atlas MountainsAtlas Mountains
The Atlas Mountains is a mountain range across a northern stretch of Africa extending about through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The highest peak is Toubkal, with an elevation of in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert...
in west central Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
. The Axis forces
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
involved were primarily from the German-Italian Panzer Army (the redesignated German Panzer Army Africa) led by Field Marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....
and the Fifth Panzer Army led by General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim
Hans-Jürgen von Arnim
Hans-Jürgen Bernhard Theodor von Arnim was a German Generaloberst who served during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...
. The Allied forces
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
involved came mostly from the U.S. Army's II Corps commanded by Major-General Lloyd Fredendall
Lloyd Fredendall
Lloyd Fredendall was an American General during World War II. Major General Fredendall is best known for his command of the Central Task Force landings during Operation Torch, and his command of the US II Corps during the early stages of the Tunisia Campaign...
which was part of the British First Army
British First Army
The First Army was a field army of the British Army that existed during the First and Second World Wars. Despite being a British command, the First Army also included Indian and Portuguese forces during the First World War and American and French during the Second World War.-First World War:The...
commanded by Lieutenant-General Kenneth Anderson
Kenneth Arthur Noel Anderson
General Sir Kenneth Arthur Noel Anderson, KCB, MC was a British Army officer in both the First and Second World Wars. He is mainly remembered as the commander of the First Army during Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of Tunisia. He had an outwardly reserved character and did not court...
.
On 19 February Rommel launched an assault. The next day, he personally led the attack by the 10th Panzer Division
German 10th Panzer Division
The 10th Panzer Division was a formation of the German Wehrmacht during World War II.It was formed in Prague in March 1939, and served in the Army Group North reserve during the invasion of Poland of the same year. The division participated in the Battle of France in 1940, where it captured Calais,...
, lent to him from von Arnim's Fifth Panzer Army to the north, hoping to take the supply dumps, while the German 21st Panzer Division
German 21st Panzer Division
The 21st Panzer Division was a German armoured division best known for its role in the battles of the North African Campaign from 1941–1943 during World War II when it was one of the two armoured divisions making up the Afrika Korps.-Origins:...
, also detached from the Fifth Panzer Army, continued attacking northward through the Sbiba gap.
Within minutes, the U.S. lines were broken. Their light guns and tanks had no chance against the heavier German equipment, and they had little or no experience in armored warfare. The German Panzer IV
Panzer IV
The Panzerkampfwagen IV , commonly known as the Panzer IV, was a medium tank developed in Nazi Germany in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz...
s and Tiger tank
Tiger I
Tiger I is the common name of a German heavy tank developed in 1942 and used in World War II. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. E, often shortened to Tiger. It was an answer to the unexpectedly formidable Soviet armour encountered in the initial months of...
s fended off all attacks with ease; the M3 Lee
M3 Lee
The Medium Tank M3 was an American tank used during World War II. In Britain the tank was called "General Lee", named after Confederate General Robert E. Lee, and the modified version built with a new turret was called the "General Grant", named after U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant.Design commenced...
and M3 Stuart tanks they faced were inferior in firepower and their crews far less experienced. Under fierce tank attack, the American units on Highway 13 also gave way during the night, with men at all points retreating before the Italian 131st Centauro Armoured Division.
After breaking into the pass, the German forces divided into two groups, each advancing up one of the two roads leading out of the pass to the northwest.
The attack by the German 21st Panzer Division
German 21st Panzer Division
The 21st Panzer Division was a German armoured division best known for its role in the battles of the North African Campaign from 1941–1943 during World War II when it was one of the two armoured divisions making up the Afrika Korps.-Origins:...
up to Sbiba
Sbiba
Sbiba is a city in the province of Kasserine. It is the site of the ancient city of Sufes. It is famous of its apples and tomatoes....
was stopped on February 19 by elements of the British 1st Infantry Brigade (Guards)
British 1st Infantry Brigade (Guards)
The 1st Mechanized Brigade is a British Army formation with a long history including service during the First and Second World Wars .- History :Initially as 1st Brigade, the formation was part of 1st Division during World War I...
, the 2nd Battalion of the Coldstream Guards
Coldstream Guards
Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, also known officially as the Coldstream Guards , is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division or Household Division....
.
Operation Shingle
Operation Shingle (22 January 1944), during the Italian CampaignItalian Campaign (World War II)
The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. Joint Allied Forces Headquarters AFHQ was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it planned and commanded the...
, was an Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
amphibious landing against Axis
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno
Nettuno
Nettuno is a town and comune of the province of Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy, 60 kilometers south of Rome. It is named in honour of the Roman god Neptune...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. The operation was commanded by Major General John P. Lucas
John P. Lucas
John Porter Lucas was an American Major General and one of the commanders of VI Corps during the Italian Campaign of the Mediterranean Theater of World War II.-Early career:...
and was intended to outflank German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
forces of the Winter Line
Winter Line
The Winter Line was a series of German military fortifications in Italy, constructed during World War II by Organisation Todt. The primary Gustav Line ran across Italy from just north of where the Garigliano River flows into the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west, through the Apennine Mountains to the...
and enable an attack on Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. The resulting combat is commonly called the Battle of Anzio.
Order of Battle Operation Shingle
- 2nd Infantry Brigade
- 1st Bn, The Loyal Regiment
- 2nd Bn, The North Staffordshire Regiment
- 6th Bn, The Gordon HighlandersThe Gordon HighlandersThe Gordon Highlanders was a British Army infantry regiment from 1794 until 1994. The regiment took its name from the Clan Gordon and recruited principally from Aberdeen and the North-East of Scotland.-History:...
- 3rd Infantry Brigade
- 1st Bn, The Duke of Wellington's RegimentThe Duke of Wellington's RegimentThe Duke of Wellington's Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, forming part of the King's Division.In 1702 Colonel George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, was authorised to raise a new regiment, which he did in and around the city of Gloucester. As was the custom in those days...
- 2nd Bn, The Sherwood Foresters
- 1st Bn, The King's Shropshire Light InfantryThe King's Shropshire Light InfantryThe King's Shropshire Light Infantry was a regiment of the British Army, formed in 1881, but with antecedents dating back to 1755. The KSLI was amalgamated with three other county light infantry regiments in 1968 to became part of The Light Infantry...
- 1st Bn, The Duke of Wellington's Regiment
- 24th Guards Infantry Brigade
- 5th Bn, Grenadier GuardsGrenadier GuardsThe Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...
- 1st Bn, Irish GuardsIrish GuardsThe Irish Guards , part of the Guards Division, is a Foot Guards regiment of the British Army.Along with the Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish regiments remaining in the British Army. The Irish Guards recruit in Northern Ireland and the Irish neighbourhoods of major British cities...
- 1st Bn, Scots GuardsScots GuardsThe Scots Guards is a regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, whose origins lie in the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland...
- 5th Bn, Grenadier Guards
- Divisional Units
- 2/6th The Middlesex Regiment
- 2, 19 & 67 Field Regiment, Royal ArtilleryRoyal ArtilleryThe Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
- 81 Anti-tank Regiment, RA
- 90 Light Anti-aircraft Regiment, RA
- 23, 238 & 248 Field Companies, Royal EngineersRoyal EngineersThe Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
- 6 Field Park Company, RE
- 1 Bridging Platoon, RE
- 46th Royal Tank Regiment
- 2nd Special Service Brigade2nd Special Service BrigadeThe 2nd Special Service Brigade was formed in late 1943 in the Middle East and saw service in Italy, the Adriatic, the landings at Anzio and took part in operations in Yugoslavia....
(partial)- No. 9 CommandoNo. 9 CommandoNo. 9 Commando was a battalion-sized commando raised by the British Army during the Second World War. They took art in raids across the English Channel and in the Mediterranean ending the was in Italy as part of the 2nd Special Service Brigade...
- No. 43 (Royal Marine) Commando
- No. 9 Commando
Initial Landings
Although resistance had been expected, as seen at Salerno
Salerno
Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....
during 1943, the initial landings were essentially unopposed, with the exception of desultory Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
strafing
Strafing
Strafing is the practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons. This means, that although ground attack using automatic weapons fire is very often accompanied with bombing or rocket fire, the term "strafing" does not specifically include the...
runs.
By midnight, 36,000 soldiers and 3,200 vehicles had landed on the beaches. Thirteen Allied troops were killed, and 97 wounded; about 200 Germans had been taken as POWs
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
. The 1st Division penetrated 2 miles (3 km) inland, the US Rangers captured Anzio's port, the 509th PIB captured Nettuno, and the US 3rd Division penetrated 3 miles (5 km) inland.
Operation Diadem
Operation Diadem was the final battle for Monte CassinoMonte Cassino
Monte Cassino is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, Italy, c. to the west of the town of Cassino and altitude. St. Benedict of Nursia established his first monastery, the source of the Benedictine Order, here around 529. It was the site of Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944...
the plan was the U.S. II Corps on the left would attack up the coast along the line of Route 7 towards Rome. The French Corps to their right would attack from the bridgehead across the Garigliano into the Aurunci Mountains. British XIII Corps in the centre right of the front would attack along the Liri valley whilst on the right 2nd Polish Corps would isolate the monastery and push round behind it into the Liri valley to link with XIII Corps. Canadian I Corps would be held in reserve ready to exploit the expected breakthrough. Once the German Tenth Army had been defeated, U.S. VI Corps including the 1st Infantry Division would break out of the Anzio beachhead to cut off the retreating Germans in the Alban Hills.
Anzio breakout
As the Canadians and Poles launched their attack on 23 May, General Lucian TruscottLucian Truscott
Lucian King Truscott, Jr. was a U.S. Army General, who successively commanded the 3rd Infantry Division, VI Corps, U.S. Fifteenth Army and U.S. Fifth Army during World War II.-Early life:...
, who had replaced Lt. Gen. John P. Lucas
John P. Lucas
John Porter Lucas was an American Major General and one of the commanders of VI Corps during the Italian Campaign of the Mediterranean Theater of World War II.-Early career:...
as commander of U.S. VI Corps, launched a two pronged attack using five (three U.S. and two British) of the seven divisions in the bridgehead at Anzio. The German Fourteenth Army facing this thrust was without any armoured divisions because Kesselring had sent his armour south to help the German Tenth Army in the Cassino action.
Post war
After the war the division only remained in Palestine for a short time. It was transferred to EgyptEgypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
for a few months before going back to Palestine in April 1946. Two years later as the British mandate over Palestine ended the division returned to Egypt, also spending periods in Libya up until 1951. In October of that year, as British forces pulled out of Egypt outside of the Suez Canal Zone the division garrisoned that small area. After British forces withdrew from Egypt the division returned to the UK for a short while in 1955 and 1956. Whilst in the UK it was reduced to one brigade in 1956.
In 1960 it was disbanded before being reformed as the 1st Division based in Verden an der Aller in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
as part of British I Corps in the British Army of the Rhine
British Army of the Rhine
There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine . Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War, and the other after the Second World War.-1919–1929:...
.
Commanders
Commanders since 1902 have been:GOC 1st Division
- 1902-1906 Lieutenant-General Arthur Paget
- 1906-1910 Lieutenant-General James GriersonJames GriersonLieutenant General Sir James Moncrieff Grierson KCB, CMG, CVO, ADC was a British soldier.- Military career :Grierson was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1877....
- 1910-1914 Lieutenant-General Samuel LomaxSamuel LomaxLieutenant General Samuel Holt Lomax was a senior and highly respected British general who served in the opening months of World War I and was the first British Lieutenant Generals to be killed on active service during the entire war.-Military service:Born in August 1855 to Thomas and Mary Helen...
- Nov 1914-Dec 1914 Major-General David Henderson
- 1914-1915 Major-General Richard HakingRichard HakingGeneral Sir Richard Cyril Byrne Haking, GBE, KCB, KCMG was a British general in the First World War. He is remembered chiefly for the high casualties suffered by his forces at the second Battle of Fromelles, although at least one British historian has sought to defend his reputation, regarding...
- 1915-1916 Major-General Arthur Holland
- 1916-1919 Major-General Peter StricklandPeter StricklandLieutenant-General Sir Peter Strickland KCB KBE CMG DSO was a British Army officer who commanded 1st Infantry Division during World War I.-Military career:...
- 1919-1923 Major-General Guy BainbridgeGuy BainbridgeMajor-General Sir Guy Bainbridge KCB was a British Army officer who commanded 25th Division during World War I.-Military career:...
- 1923-1926 Major-General Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd
- 1926-1928 Major-General Cecil RomerCecil RomerGeneral Sir Cecil Francis Romer GCB KBE CMG was a British Army general who reached high command during the 1920s.-Military career:...
- 1928-1929 Major-General John DuncanJohn Duncan (British Army officer)Major-General Sir John Duncan KCB CMG CVO DSO was a British Army officer who commanded the Shanghai Defence Force.-Military career:...
- 1929-1930 Major-General Felix ReadyFelix ReadyGeneral Sir Felix Fordati Ready GBE KCB CSI CMG DSO was Quartermaster-General to the Forces.-Military career:Educated at Wellington College, Ready was commissioned into the Royal Berkshire Regiment in 1891. He took part in the Nile Expedition and the Siege of Khartoum and also the Second Boer...
- 1930-1934 Major-General Wentworth HarmanWentworth HarmanLieutenant-General Sir Wentworth Harman KCB DSO was a British Army officer who commanded 1st Infantry Division.-Military career:...
- 1934-1936 Major-General John KennedyJohn Kennedy (British Army officer)Major-General Sir John Kennedy GBE CB CMG DSO was a British Army officer who commanded 1st Infantry Division.-Military career:Educated at Haileybury, Kennedy was commissioned into the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1898...
- 1936-1938 Major-General Clement ArmitageClement ArmitageGeneral Sir Clement Armitage KCB CMG DSO was a British Army officer who commanded 1st Infantry Division shortly before World War II.-Military career:...
- 1938-1940 Major-General Harold AlexanderHarold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of TunisField Marshal Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis was a British military commander and field marshal of Anglo-Irish descent who served with distinction in both world wars and, afterwards, as Governor General of Canada, the 17th since Canadian...
- 1940-1941 Major-General Kenneth AndersonKenneth Arthur Noel AndersonGeneral Sir Kenneth Arthur Noel Anderson, KCB, MC was a British Army officer in both the First and Second World Wars. He is mainly remembered as the commander of the First Army during Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of Tunisia. He had an outwardly reserved character and did not court...
- May-Nov 1941 Major-General Edwin MorrisEdwin Morris (British Army officer)Lieutenant General Sir Edwin Logie Morris KCB OBE MC was a British Army General during World War II.-Military career:Edwin Morris was commissioned into the Royal Engineers: he was an Instructor at the Staff College, Camberley between 1926 and 1930: he went on to become a General Staff Officer at...
- 1941-1943 Major-General Walter ClutterbuckWalter ClutterbuckMajor-General Walter Edmond Clutterbuck DSO MC was a British Army officer who commanded 1st Infantry Division during World War II.-Military career:...
- 1943-1944 Major-General Ronald PenneyRonald PenneyMajor-General Sir Ronald Penney KBE CB DSO MC was a British Army officer who commanded 1st Infantry Division during World War II.-Military career:...
- 1944-1946 Major-General Charles LoewenCharles LoewenGeneral Sir Charles Falkland Loewen GCB, KBE, DSO was a Canadian born and educated soldier who became Adjutant-General to the Forces in the United Kingdom.-Military career:...
- 1946-1947 Major-General Richard GaleRichard Nelson GaleGeneral Sir Richard Nelson "Windy" Gale GCB, KBE, DSO, MC was a soldier in the British Army who served in both world wars. In World War I he was awarded the Military Cross in 1918 whilst serving as a junior officer in the Machine Gun Corps...
- 1947-1950 Major-General Horatius MurrayHoratius MurrayGeneral Sir Horatius Murray GCB KBE DSO was a British Army General during World War II.-Military career:Horatius Murray was commissioned into the Cameronians in 1923....
- 1950-1952 Major-General Francis MatthewsFrancis Matthews (British Army officer)Major General Francis Raymond Gage Matthews CB DSO was Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong.-Military career:Matthews was commissioned into the York and Lancaster Regiment in 1923...
- 1952-1955 Major-General Thomas BrodieThomas Brodie-External links:*...
- 1955 Major-General Rodney MooreJames Newton Rodney MooreGeneral Sir Rodney Moore, GCVO KCB CBE DSO was a senior British Army officer.-Military career:Educated at Harrow School and the Royal Military College Sandhurst, Moore was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards in 1925. From 1942 to 1944 he was General Staff Officer 1 Guards Armoured Division...
- 1956-1959 Major-General Guy GregsonGuy GregsonMajor-General Guy Patrick Gregson CB CBE DSO & Bar MC was a British Army officer who became General Officer Commanding 1st Division.-Military career:...
- 1959-1960 Major-General Reginald HobbsReginald HobbsMajor-General Reginald Geoffrey Stirling Hobbs CB DSO OBE was a British Army officer who became Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.-Military career:...
See also
- List of component units of British 1st Infantry Division
- List of higher formations British 1st Infantry Division served under
- List of military divisions
- List of British divisions in WWII
- List of British divisions in WWI
- British Army Order of Battle - September 1939
External links
- The British Army in the Great War: The 1st Division
- 1 Infantry Division (1944-45)
- Maj J.F. Ellis, History of the Second World War: The War in France and Flanders 1939-1940
- The Royal Artillery 1939-1945
- British Military History: 1 Division (1930-38)
- British Military History: 1 Infantry Division (1939)
- British Military History: 1 Infantry Division (1940)
- British Military History: 1 Infantry Division (1943)
- British Military History: 1 Infantry Division (1943-45)