Guards Division (United Kingdom)

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There was also a Guards Division in the Second World War which was formed on 12 June 1945 from the Guards Armoured Division which had undergone reorganisation.

History

First World War

Formation

File:The Battle of the Somme, July-november 1916 Q1509.jpg
The massed pipes and drums of the Guards Division seen during an inspection of the division by Prince Arthur, the duke of Connaught, at Lumbres, near Wizernesat, 1 November 1916.

In July 1915, during the First World War (1914–1918), George V approved the formation of a Guards Division and in August 1915 the division was formed at Lumbres, near St Omer, France.[1]

The 4th (Guards) Brigade was transferred complete from the 2nd Division and redesignated as the 1st Guards Brigade; the 2nd Guards Brigade was formed with two battalions from England and two more transferred from 1st (Guards) Brigade, 1st Division; and the 3rd Guards Brigade likewise with two more battalions from England and two transferred from 20th Brigade, of the 7th Division. Soon after formation, each brigade formed a machine gun (M.G.) company of 16 machine guns, and between March and May 1916 each brigade was also provided with a Trench Mortar (T.M.) Battery of eight 3" Stokes Mortars.[2]

The division was provided with three artillery brigadesTemplate:EfnTemplate:SndLXXIV, LXXV and LXXVI Brigades, RFA each of four batteries of four 18 pounder gunsTemplate:Sndfrom the 16th (Irish) Division[3] and a howitzer brigadeTemplate:SndLXI (Howitzer) Brigade, RFA of four batteries of four 4.5" howitzersTemplate:Sndfrom the 11th (Northern) Division which remained in England when the division was posted to Gallipoli.[4] 16th (Irish) Division also provided the Divisional Ammunition Column, two field companies of Royal Engineers and the signal company (Royal Engineer Signals Service).[3] The third field company joined from 7th Division. The pioneers were the 4th Battalion, Coldstream Guards which joined from England on 18 August.[2]

War service

In 1915, the Guards Division took part in the Battle of Loos (26 SeptemberTemplate:Snd8 October) and Hohenzollern Redoubt (18Template:Snd19 October).

In 1916, it fought in the later stages of the Battle of the Somme, in particular the Battle of Flers–Courcelette (15Template:Snd16 and 20Template:Snd22 September), the Battle of Morval (25Template:Snd28 September), and the Capture of Lesboeufs (25 September).

In 1917, it saw action in the Battle of Passchendaele (or the Third Battle of Ypres) including the Battle of Pilckem Ridge (31 AugustTemplate:Snd2 July), the Battle of Poelcappelle (9 October), and the First Battle of Passchendaele (12 October). It then took part in the Battle of Cambrai (24 NovemberTemplate:Snd3 December).[1]

File:4thColdstreamGuardsHouthulstForestBattleOfPeolcappelle.jpg
Four men of the 4th (Pioneer) Battalion, Coldstream Guards perched on a wrecked gun outside a German concrete blockhouse on the outskirts of Houthulst Forest, Belgium, 9 October 1917.

In February 1918, BritishTemplate:Efn divisions on the Western Front were reduced from a 12-battalion to a 9-battalion basis (brigades from four to three battalions).[5] As a result, the 4th Guards Brigade was formed on 8 February 1918 by taking a battalion from each of the brigades:

  • 3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards from 1st Guards Brigade
  • 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards from the 2nd Guards Brigade and
  • 4th Battalion, Grenadier Guards from the 3rd Guards Brigade.[2]

The 4th Guards Brigade was transferred to the 31st Division at noon on the same day.[6] On 25 February, the pioneer battalionTemplate:Snd4th Battalion, Coldstream GuardsTemplate:Snd was reorganized from a four-company to a three-company basis.[7]

File:The Hundred Days Offensive, August-november 1918 Q7446.jpg
Mayor of Maubeuge presenting the Guards Division with a flag as an appreciation from the town which was taken by the division on 9 November 1918. Major-General Torquhil Matheson is seen receiving the flag, 14 November 1918.

1918 saw the return of the war of movement. It had to withstand the German Army's Spring Offensive in the First Battles of the Somme (1Template:Snd25 March) then switched over to counter-attack in the Second Battles of the Somme (21Template:Snd23 August), the Second Battle of Arras (26 AugustTemplate:Snd3 September), the Battles of the Hindenburg Line (12 SeptemberTemplate:Snd12 October), and in the Final Advance in Picardy including the battles of the Selle and of the Sambre. Its final action was the Capture of Maubeuge on 9 November.[8] It ended the war with VI Corps in the British Third Army.[9]

Post-war

At the Armistice of 11 November 1918, the division was in and around Maubeuge, and on 17 November it regained 4th Guards Brigade which was broken up and the battalions returned to their original brigades. The next day it began the march on Germany and crossed the frontier on 11 December. By 19 December it had reached the Cologne area. Units started returning to England on 20 February 1919 and the last had completed the move by 29 April.[8]

Second World War

The Guards Division was reformed during the Second World War on 12 June 1945 by the reorganization and redesignation of the Guards Armoured Division.[10] The division retained all of its original units,[11] but with some changes:

Major-General Sir Allan Adair remained in command of the reorganized division.[10][11] In January 1947, the division was disbanded.[21]

Orders of battle

Orders of Battle – August 1915, November 1918, June 1945
On formation, August 1915[5]
1st Guards Brigade Royal Artillery
  • LXXIV Brigade, RFA
  • LXXV Brigade, RFA
    • A, B, C and D BatteriesTemplate:Efn
    • LXXV Brigade Ammunition Column
  • LXXVI Brigade, RFA
    • A, B, C and D BatteriesTemplate:Efn
    • LXXVI Brigade Ammunition Column
  • LXI (Howitzer) Brigade, RFA
    • A (H), B (H), C (H) and D (H) BatteriesTemplate:Efn
    • LXI (H) Brigade Ammunition Column
  • Divisional Ammunition Column
 Mounted Troops

Royal Engineers

  • 55th, 75th and 76th Field Companies
  • Guards Divisional Signal Company

Pioneers

  • 4th Battalion, Coldstream Guards

Medical

  • 3rd, 4th and 9th Field Ambulances, RAMC
  • 46th Mobile Veterinary Section, AVC

Guards Divisional Train, ASC

  • 11th, 124th, 168th and 436th Companies
2nd Guards Brigade
  • 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards
  • 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards
  • 1st Battalion, Scots Guards
  • 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards
  • 2nd Guards Brigade M.G. Company
3rd Guards Brigade
  • 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards
  • 4th Battalion, Grenadier Guards
  • 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards
  • 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards
  • 3rd Guards Brigade M.G. Company
At the end of the war, November 1918[5][22]
1st Guards Brigade
  • 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards
  • 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards
  • 1st Battalion, Irish Guards
  • 1st Guards T.M. BatteryTemplate:Efn
 Royal Artillery
  • LXXIV Brigade, RFA
  • LXXV Brigade, RFA
  • Divisional Ammunition Column
  • Trench Mortar Batteries
Royal Engineers
  • 55th, 75th and 76th Field Companies
  • Guards Divisional Signal Company

Pioneers

  • 4th Battalion, Coldstream Guards

Machine Gunners

Medical

  • 3rd, 4th and 9th Field Ambulances, RAMC
  • 46th Mobile Veterinary Section, AVC

Divisional Employment Company

  • Guards

Guards Divisional Train, ASC

  • 11th, 124th, 168th and 436th Companies
2nd Guards Brigade
  • 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards
  • 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards
  • 1st Battalion, Scots Guards
  • 2nd Guards T.M. BatteryTemplate:Efn
3rd Guards Brigade
  • 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards
  • 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards
  • 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards
  • 3rd Guards T.M. BatteryTemplate:Efn

1945

Order of battle when reformed from the Guards Armoured Division, June 1945[10]

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5th Guards Brigade[12][13]

Royal Artillery

Royal Engineers

  • 14th Field Company
  • 615th Field Company
  • 148th Field Park Company
  • 11th Bridging Troop

Signals

Reconnaissance

Infantry

6th Guards Brigade[17][18]

32nd Guards Infantry Brigade[15]

  • 5th Battalion, Coldstream Guards
  • 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards
  • 3rd Battalion, Irish Guards
  • 2nd Battalion, Welsh GuardsTemplate:Efn

Notable members

2nd Lieutenant Jack Kipling, son of the famous author Rudyard Kipling, served with the Guards Division in France as a platoon commander in the 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards. He was aged just 18, his birthday being only a month before, and was killed in the 1915 Battle of Loos, yet exactly how he died still remains a mystery even nearly 100 years later.

Commanders

The division had the following General Officers Commanding (GOCs):[23][24]

From Name Notes
15 August 1915 Brigadier-General F. J. Heyworth temporary
18 August 1915 Major-General Earl of Cavan
3 January 1916 Major-General G. P. T. Feilding
11 September 1918 Major-General T. G. Matheson disestablished 1919
12 September 1942 Major-General A. H. S. Adair on re-establishmentTemplate:Efn
December 1945 Major-General J. C. O. Marriott

See also

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Notes

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References

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Bibliography

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External links

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