The 2nd Infantry Division was a Regular Army infantry division of the British Army, with a long history. Its existence as a permanently embodied formation dated from 1809, when it was established by Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Wellesley, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, for service in the Peninsular War..
The 18th (Eastern) Division was an infantry division of the British Army formed in September 1914 during the First World War as part of the K2 Army Group, part of Lord Kitchener's New Armies. From its creation the division trained in England until 25 May 1915 when it landed in France 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 the latter half of 1916, the 18th Division was commanded by Major General Ivor Maxse.
The Home Counties Division was an infantry division of the Territorial Force, part of the British Army, that was raised in 1908. As the name suggests, the division recruited in the Home Counties, particularly Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex.
The 2nd Infantry Brigade was a regional brigade of the British Army, active since before the First World War. It was the regional formation of the Army in the South East of England–the Brigade commanded and administered soldiers throughout Kent, Surrey and Sussex–but also Brunei. In December 2014 the Brigade merged with 145 (South) Brigade to form Headquarters 11th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters South East.
The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th Regiment of Foot and the 107th Regiment of Foot. The regiment saw service in the Second Boer War, and both World War I and World War II.
The Wiltshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 62nd (Wiltshire) Regiment of Foot and the 99th Duke of Edinburgh's (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot.
The 25th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised as part of Lord Kitchener's Third New Army (K3) in September 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the Great War. It served on the Western Front for most of the war.
The Hertfordshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the Territorial Army, part of the British Army. Originating in units of Rifle Volunteers formed in 1859, the regiment served in the Second Anglo-Boer War and the First and Second World Wars before losing its separate identity in 1961. Its lineage is continued today by the Royal Anglian Regiment.
The 39th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised during the First World War. The division was part of Kitchener's New Armies and saw service on the Western Front and in Italy from 1916 onwards.
The Battle of the Boar's Head was an attack on 30 June 1916 at Richebourg-l'Avoué in France, during the First World War. Troops of the 39th Division, XI Corps in the First Army of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), advanced to capture the Boar's Head, a salient held by the German 6th Army. Two battalions of the 116th Brigade, with one battalion forming carrying parties, attacked the German front position before dawn on 30 June. The British took and held the German front line trench and the second trench for several hours, before retiring to their lines having lost 850–1,366 casualties.
The Sussex Yeomanry is a yeomanry regiment of the British Army dating from 1794. It was initially formed when there was a threat of French invasion during the Napoleonic Wars. After being reformed in the Second Boer War, it served in the First World War and the Second World War, when it served in the East African Campaign and the Siege of Tobruk. The lineage is maintained by 1 Field Troop, 579 Field Squadron (EOD), part of 101 (London) Engineer Regiment (Volunteers).
The 22nd Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the British Army.
The 75th Brigade was a formation of the British Army raised as part of the New Army also known as Kitchener's Army and served on the Western Front during the First World War.
The 37th Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that served in both World War I and World War II.
The 214th Brigade was an infantry formation of the British Army during World War I. It was raised as a second line brigade of the Territorial Force and initially assigned to the 71st Division for coast defence. Later it was reorganised as an all-arms brigade group for service in North Russia, but this was cancelled and it was reassigned to the 67th Division, a training and home defence formation, until the end of the war.
The 101st Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the British Army during the First World War. It was raised as part of the new army, also known as Kitchener's Army, and assigned to the 34th Division. The brigade served on the Western Front and was decimated on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
The 213th Brigade was a Home Defence and training formation of the British Army during both the First and Second World Wars.
The British yeomanry during the First World War were part of the British Army reserve Territorial Force. Initially, in 1914, there were fifty-seven regiments and fourteen mounted brigades. Soon after the declaration of war, second and third line regiments were formed. However, the third line regiments were soon absorbed into the Cavalry Reserve Regiments, to supply replacements for the cavalry and yeomanry. Other horsed regiments in the British Army, during the war, were the regular cavalry regiments and the three regiments belonging to the special reserve: the North Irish Horse, the South Irish Horse and the King Edward's Horse. The senior yeomanry regiments could trace their origins back over 100 years; the oldest regiment, the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry, had been formed in 1794. The most junior regiment, the Welsh Horse, had only been formed on 18 August 1914, after the start of the war.
The 1st South Western Mounted Brigade was a formation of the Territorial Force of the British Army, organised in 1908. By 1915 its regiments had been posted away so it was broken up; it never saw active service as a brigade. The Headquarters may have formed the HQ for 2/1st Southern Mounted Brigade.
