| 3rd Mechanised Division | |
|---|---|
Insignia of the 3rd Division |
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| Active | Since 18 June 1809 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | British Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Five Brigades |
| Part of | Land Forces |
| Garrison/HQ | Bulford, Wiltshire |
| Nickname | Iron Sides |
| Engagements | Napoleonic Wars Battle of Sabugal Battle of Orthez Battle of Nivelle Battle of Fuentes de Onoro Battle of Badajoz (1812) Battle of Vitoria Battle of Bussaco Battle of the Pyrenees Battle of Quatre Bras Battle of Waterloo Crimean War Battle of Alma Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) Second Boer War First World War Battle of Mons Battle of the Somme Battle of the Ancre Battle of Delville Wood Battle of Arras 1917 Second World War Battle of Belgium Battle of France D-day landings Battle of Normandy Operation Market Garden Overloon and Venraij Reichswald Rhine crossing Bremen |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Major General JG Lorimer DSO, MBE |
| Notable commanders |
Thomas Picton Charles Alten Bernard Montgomery William Ramsden |
| British Army Infantry Divisions (1914–present) | |
|---|---|
| Previous | Next |
| 2nd Infantry Division | 4th Infantry Division |
The 3rd Mechanised Division, known at various times as the Iron Division, 3rd (Iron) Division or as Iron Sides;[1] is a regular army division of the British Army. It was created in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, for service in the Peninsular War, and was known as the Fighting 3rd under Sir Thomas Picton during the Napoleonic Wars. The division is also sometimes referred to as the Iron Division, a nickname earned during the bitter fighting of 1916, during the First World War. The division's other battle honours include: the Battle of Waterloo, the Crimean War, the Second Boer War, the Battle of France (1940) and D-Day (1944). It was commanded for a time, during the Second World War, by Bernard Montgomery. The division was to have been part of a proposed Commonwealth Corps, formed for a planned invasion of Japan in 1945-46, but was disbanded when the war was ended by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
During the Second World War, the insignia became the "pattern of three" — a black triangle trisected by an inverted red triangle.
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The Division was part of the British forces that took part in the Peninsular War and fought in the Battle of Sabugal, Battle of Orthez, Battle of Badajoz (1812), Battle of Salamanca, Battle of Nivelle, Battle of Fuentes de Onoro, Battle of Vitoria, Battle of Bussaco and the Battle of the Pyrenees
Battle of Vitoria example
Commanding General: Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton (7,500)
According to Picton, the fighting by the 3rd was so intense at the Battle of Vitoria, that the division lost 1,800 men (over one third of all Allied losses at the battle) having taken a key bridge and village, where they were subjected to fire by 40 to 50 cannons, and a counter-attack on the right flank (which was open because the rest of the army had not kept pace).[2] The 3rd held their ground and pushed on with other divisions to capture the village of Arinez.
The 3rd Division was also present at the Battle of Quatre Bras and the Battle of Waterloo.in the Waterloo campaign under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Alten K.C.B. (Count Carl von Alten)
Major-General Sir Colin Halkett K.C.B.
Brevet Colonel Baron Christian Freiherr von Ompteda
Major-General Friedrich, Graf von Kielmansegge
Lieutenant Colonel John Samuel Williamson
The 3rd Division took part in the Crimean War and fought in the Battle of Alma and the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855)
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". Its first commander during the war, Major-General Hubert Hamilton, was killed by shellfire near Béthune in October 1914.
The brigade moved to the 25th Division in October 1915 and was replaced by the 76th Brigade.
The following battalions joined the brigade for periods in 1914 and 1915.
The following battalions joined the brigade for periods in 1915 and 1916.
The following battalions left the brigade for the 76th Brigade when it joined the division in October 1915:
Other battalions to serve with the brigade were:
The brigade moved to the 28th Division for a brief period in early 1915.
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 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.
The Division was part of the ill-fated British Expeditionary Force evacuated from Dunkirk early in the Second World War.
After the evacuation, the Division spent four years training in the UK, in preparation for an eventual assault landing in Europe.
The Third Division was the first British division to land at Sword Beach on D-Day and fought through the Battle of Normandy, the Netherlands and later the invasion of Germany. For the campaign in Normandy, the division was commanded by Major General Tom Rennie until 13 June 1944; Major General Lashmer Whistler, a highly popular commander, took command on 23 June 1944.
During the often intense fighting from Sword Beach to Bremen, the Division suffered 2,586 killed.[3]
Post war, the Division was reformed on 1 April 1951, in the Suez Canal Zone, under the command of Sir Hugh Stockwell. The division became part of Middle East Land Forces. 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.[4] It was an armoured division in the British Army of the Rhine from 1977[5] to 1991. When its sub-units were Task Force Echo (TFE) and Task Force Foxtrot (TFF), these changed around 1980 to 6 Armoured Brigade and 33rd Armoured Brigade.
The division was reraised in the mid 1990s after 3rd Armoured Division disbanded in BAOR. From 1995 it alternated with 1 (UK) Armoured Division in providing the headquarters for Multi National Division South West in Bosnia-Herzegovina, as part of IFOR.
On 1 September 1999 the Division was freed from its administrative and regional responsibilities and it became a deployable or "fly-away" division.[6]
As 3rd (UK) Mechanised Division it is now the only division at continual operational readiness in the United Kingdom (the other at operational readiness being 1st (UK) Armoured Division in Germany). It is based at Picton Barracks, Bulford Camp, in Wiltshire and reports to the Commander Land Forces at Andover.
Under the divisional command are four ready brigades:
Recent Commanders have been:[7]
GOC 3rd Division
GOC 3rd Armoured Division
GOC 3rd (UK) Division
GOC 3rd (UK) Mechanised Division
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