18th (Eastern) Division

18th (Eastern) Division
Active	September 1914 - 20 March 1919
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Infantry
Part of	K2 Army Group
Engagements	World War I Battle of the Somme Third Battle of Ypres Battle of Epehy

The 18th (Eastern) Division was an infantry division of the British Army formed in September 1914 during the Great War as part of the K2 Army Group, part of Kitchener's New Armies. The division landed in France on 25 May 1915 and spent the duration of the First World War in action on the Western Front, becoming one of the elite divisions of the British Army. During the Battle of the Somme in 1916, the 18th Division was commanded by Major General Ivor Maxse.

Formation

53rd Brigade 

• 10th (Service) Battalion, Essex Regiment
• 8th (Service) Battalion, Norfolk Regiment (until February 1918)
• 8th (Service) Battalion, Suffolk Regiment (until February 1918)
• 6th (Service) Battalion, Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment) (until February 1918)
• 8th (Service) Battalion, Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment) (from February 1918)
• 7th (Service) Battalion, Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) (from 55th Bde February 1918)

54th Brigade 

• 11th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers
• 6th (Service) Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment
• 12th (Service) Battalion, Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment) (until February 1918)
• 8th (Service) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment (to pioneers February 1915)
• 7th (Service) Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment (from February 1915 until May 1918)
• 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment (from May 1918)

55th Brigade 

• 7th (Service) Battalion, Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
• 7th (Service) Battalion, Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
• 8th (Service) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment
• 7th (Service) Battalion, Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) (to 53rd Bde February 1918)

Pioneers 

• 8th (Service) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment (from 54th Bde February 1915)

Battles

• Battle of the Somme (1916)
  • Capture of Trônes Wood: 14–15 July 1916.
  • Battle of Delville Wood
• Third Battle of Ypres
• Battle of Epehy

See also

• List of British divisions in World War I

External links

• The British Army in the Great War: The 18th (Eastern) Division

Further reading

• Maxse, Ivor (1917). The 18th Division in the Battle of the Ancre, 1916. 

• Nicholls, G.H.F. (1922). The 18th Division in the Great War. Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons.