British 1st Infantry Division

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1st Infantry Division

Active	1809 - 1978
Country	Great Britain
Branch	British Army
Type	Infantry
Battles/wars	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) o Battle of Pozières Third Battle of Ypres Battle of Epehy
Commanders
Notable commanders	Maj.Gen.Harold Alexander Maj.Gen.K.A.N.Anderson

The British 1st Division was first formed in 1809 when the Duke of Wellington formed it, in Portugal, from two British brigades and one Hanoverian brigade of the King's German Legion.

1 World War I
- 1.1 Composition During World War I
2 World War II
3 Post War
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] World War I

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 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'.

[edit] Composition During World War I

The division comprised the following infantry brigades:

1st Brigade

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

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

2nd Brigade

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

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

1/5th Battalion, The King's Own (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 Fusiliers (until February 1918)

Also attached to the 3rd Brigade were:

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

[edit] World War II

During World War II the division was in France until June 1940. In 1943 it fought in North Africa and then was in Italy for 1944 including Operation Shingle, the Anzio landing, from January to May. Between June and November 1942 it was a mixed division containing tank brigades. At the end of the war it was transferred to Palestine for internal security duties.

[edit] Post War

After the war the division only remained in Palestine for a short time. It was transferred to Egypt 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 augmented back into a full division and deployed to Germany as part of British I Corps in the British Army of the Rhine. It remained there until 1978 when it was redesignated as the 1st Armoured Division.