3rd Infantry Division (United Kingdom)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| 3rd Infantry Division | |
|---|---|
 Insignia of the 3rd Division |
|
| Active | Since 18 June 1809 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | British Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Part of | Land Command |
| Nickname | Iron Division |
| Battles/wars | Battle of France Battle of Normandy Nederrijn |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Major General A R D Shirreff CBE |
| Notable commanders |
Bernard Montgomery K.A.N.Anderson William Ramsden |
The British 3rd Infantry Division, known as the Iron Division, was originally formed in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington for service in the Peninsula War, and was known as the Fighting 3rd under Sir Thomas Picton during the Napoleonic Wars. The Division fought at the battle of Waterloo, the Crimean War and the Second Boer War.
Contents |
[edit] World War I
During the First World War it was a permanently established Regular Army division that was amongst the first to be sent to France at the outbreak of the war. It served on the Western Front for four years. During this time, it was nicknamed "The Iron Division".
[edit] Composition during World War I
- 7th Brigade (to October 18, 1915)
- 3rd Battalion, The Worcester Regiment
- 2nd Battalion, The South Lancashire Regiment
- 1/4th Battalion, The South Lancashire Regiment
- 1st Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment
- 2nd Battalion, the Royal Irish Rifles
- 1/1st Battalion, the Honourable Artillery Company
The brigade moved to the 25th Division in October 1915 and was replaced by the 76th Brigade.
- 2nd Battalion, the Royal Scots Regiment
- 8th (Service) Battalion, The East Yorkshire Regiment
- 7th (Service) Battalion, the King's Shropshire Light Infantry
- 1st Battalion, the Royal Scots Fusiliers
The following battalions joined the brigade for periods in 1914 and 1915.
- 2nd Battalion, the Royal Irish Regiment (from August 1914 to March 1915)
- 4th Battalion, The Middlesex Regiment (from August 1914 to November 1915)
The following battalions joined the brigade for periods in 1915 and 1916.
- 13th (Service) Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment) (from October 1915 to April 1916)
- 1/5th (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (from October 1915 to February 1916)
The following battalions left the brigade for the 76th Brigade when it joined the division in October 1915:
- 2nd Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment (from October 1914)
- 1st Battalion, the Gordon Highlanders (from August 1914)
- 1/4th Battalion, the Gordon Highlanders (from February 1915)
- 9th Brigade
- 1st Battalion, the Northumberland Fusiliers
- 4th Battalion, the Royal Fusiliers
- 12th (Service) Battalion, The West Yorkshire Regiment (from November 1915)
- 13th (Service) Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment) (from April 1916)
Other battalions to serve with the brigade were:
- 1/10th (Scottish) Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment) (from November 1914 to January 1916)
- 1st Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment (from August 1914 to November 1915)
- 1st Battalion, the Royal Scots Fusiliers (from August 1914 to April 1916)
The brigade moved to the 28th Division for a brief period in early 1915.
- 76th Infantry Brigade (from October 15 1915)
- 8th (Service) Battalion, The King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment)
- 13th (Service) Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment)
- 10th (Service) Battalion, the Royal Welch Fusiliers
- 2nd Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment
- 1st Battalion, the Gordon Highlanders
- 1/4th Battalion, the Gordon Highlanders (until February 1916)
The brigade joined the division from the 25th Division in October 1915.
After the end of the First World War, the division was stationed in southern England where it formed part of the Southern Command. In 1937, one of its brigades was commanded by Bernard Montgomery. He assumed command of the division shortly before Britain declared war on Germany.
[edit] World War II
The Division was part of the ill-fated British Expeditionary Force evacuated from Dunkirk early in World War II. It was the first British division to land at Sword Beach beach on D-Day and fought through the Battle of Normandy and later the invasion of Germany. For the campaign in Normandy, the division was commanded by Major General T.G. Rennie until the 13 June, 1944; Major General L.G. Whistler took command on 23 June.
When General Bernard Montgomery commanded the division during World War II, the insignia was the 'pattern of three' - a black triangle trisected by an inverted red triangle. The Division is sometimes referred to as the 'Iron Division,' a nickname earned during the bitter fighting of 1916.
[edit] Composition 1939 - 1945
- 1st Battalion, the Suffolk Regiment
- 2nd Battalion, the East Yorkshire Regiment
- 1st Battalion, the South Lancashire Regiment
- 9th Brigade
- 2nd Battalion, the Lincolnshire Regiment
- 1st Battalion, the King's Own Scottish Borderers
- 2nd Battalion, the Royal Ulster Rifles
- 185th Brigade
- 2nd Battalion, the Royal Warwickshire Regiment
- 1st Battalion, the Royal Norfolk Regiment
- 2nd Battalion, the King's Shropshire Light Infantry
- Support Units
- 2nd Battalion, The Middlesex Regiment
- 3rd Reconnaissance Regt. The Northumberland Fusiliers
- 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars
[edit] Post World War II
Post war, the Division was reformed on April 1, 1951, under the command of Sir Hugh Stockwell. It consisted of three recently reraised brigades, the 32nd Guards, the 19th Infantry, and the 39th Infantry. It served in the UK for many years; in 1968 it was part of the Army Strategic Command, comprising 5th, 19th, and 24th Brigades. It was an armoured division in the British Army of the Rhine from 1976 to 1990-1.
Currently the 3rd Division is the only division at continual operational readiness in the United Kingdom (the other being British 1st Armoured Division in Germany). It reports to Commander Field Army within Headquarters Land Command at Wilton, Wiltshire. Under the divisional command are three ready brigades:
In April 2007, 52 Infantry Brigade will be transferred to the operational command of 3 Division.
[edit] External links
- Gregory Blaxland, The Regiments Depart: A History of the British Army 1945-70, William Kimber, London, 1971.
- 3 (UK) Division
- The British Army in the Great War: The 3rd Division
