An order of battle is a list of the various elements of a military formation organised within a hierarchical command structure. It can also provide information on the strength of that formation and the equipment used.[1] An order of battle is not necessarily a set structure, and it can change depending on tactical or strategic developments, or the evolution of military doctrine. For example, a division could be altered radically from one campaign to another through the adding or removing of subunits, but retain its identity and prior history. The size of a division can vary dramatically as a result of what forces are assigned and the doctrine employed at that time.
The 2nd Division was an infantrydivision of the British Army, which was formed numerous times over a 203-year period. Several formations bore the name, the "2nd Division", from 1809 through to the end of the 19th century. The historian Everard Wyrall, the compiler of the division's First World Warofficial history, only included those formations that fought in the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, and the Second Boer War as being linked with the division that was created in the 20th century and fought in the First World War.[2] That modern formation was created in 1902 and would go to further serve in the Second World War.[3][4] The first 2nd Division that was formed was a mere 3,900 men strong and did not include supporting weapons such as artillery.[5] In comparison, the 2nd Infantry Division, from the Second World War period, was over 18,000 men strong and supported by 72 artillery pieces and numerous other support weapons.[6] Each war that the division fought in has a corresponding order of battle section.
During the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815), the British Army grew in size. On 18 June 1809, Lieutenant-GeneralArthur Wellesley, commander of the British forces in Spain and Portugal, ordered the creation of four divisions, including the 2nd Division.[7] During the division's first action of the Peninsular War (the name given to Napoleonic Wars fought in Spain and Portugal), the Battle of Talavera (1809), it was 3,905 men strong.[5] By the next year, it had grown to a strength of 10,677 men.[8] It roughly maintained this strength for the rest of the Peninsular War, and was disbanded when the fighting ended in 1814.[9][10] It was reformed on 11 April 1815, in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium), on the resumption of hostilities. It fought at the Battle of Waterloo, where it had a strength of 6,833 men. It then marched into France. Shortly after, the Napoleonic Wars came to a conclusion. The division remained within the restored French kingdom, as part of the British Army of Occupation. In December 1818, the Army of Occupation and the division were disbanded and the troops returned to Britain.[11][12]
In June 1854, a new 2nd Division was formed following the reorganisation of a British expeditionary force that had been dispatched to Ottoman Bulgaria, to support the Ottoman Empire during the early stages of the Crimean War against the Russian Empire.[20] The division proceeded to the Crimea, where it landed on 14 September, and fought throughout the Siege of Sevastopol.[21] During this period, the division numbered around 3,500 men.[22] The division remained in the Crimea until 1856, and demobilised following the conclusion of hostilities.[23]
Crimean War (1854–1855)
Each division within the expeditionary force to the Crimea had a 1st and a 2nd Brigade.
At the Battle of Colenso, the initial attempt to relieve Ladysmith, the division commanded the majority of British forces in Natal Colony. This force was 16,000 men strong, supported by 44 artillery pieces and 16 machine guns.[32][33] When it next took the field, on the march towards the Battle of Spion Kop, it was much reduced. The entire force that marched numbered 20,000 men, but this included two divisions, an independent brigade, several batteries of artillery, and various other regiments, squadrons, and companies of cavalry and mounted infantry.[34]
The war establishment, the on-paper strength, of an infantry division in 1914 was 18,179 men, 5,594 horses, 18 motor vehicles, 76 pieces of artillery, and 24 machine guns. While there was a small change to the number of men and horses in a division in 1915, the main change was the decrease in artillery pieces to 48 and an increase in motor vehicles to 54. The establishment in 1916 increased the division size to 19,372 men, 5,145 horses, 61 motor vehicles, 64 artillery pieces, 40 trench mortars, and 200 machine guns. The 1917 changes saw a decrease to 18,825 men, 4,342 horses, 57 motor vehicles, and 48 artillery pieces, although the number of trench mortars remained the same, and the number of machine guns increased to 264.[43] By 1918, the number of front line infantry within the British Army in France had decreased because of casualties and a lack of eligible replacements, and this had led to a manpower crisis. To consolidate manpower and to increase the ratio of machine guns and artillery support available to the infantry, the number of battalions in a division was reduced from twelve to nine.[44][45] This resulted in the 1918 establishment of 16,035 men, 3,838 horses, 79 motor vehicles, 48 artillery pieces, 36 trench mortars, and 400 machine guns.[43]
The war establishment of an infantry division in 1939 was 13,863 men, 2,993 vehicles, 72 artillery pieces, 48 anti-tank guns, 361 anti-tank rifles, 126 mortars, and 700 machine guns. In 1941, the war establishment was changed to 17,298 men, 4,166 vehicles, 72 artillery pieces, 48 anti-tanks guns, 444 anti-tank rifles, 48 anti-aircraft guns, 218 mortars, and 867 machine guns. From 1944, the establishment was updated to 18,347 men, 4,330 vehicles, 72 artillery pieces, 110 anti-tank guns, 436 other anti-tank weapons, 359 mortars, and 1,302 machine guns.[6]
Second World War (1939–1945)
2nd Infantry Division
4th Infantry Brigade (detached between 26 July 1944 and 19 September 1944):[54]
1st Battalion, Royal Scots (until 3 November 1943, and then from 3 July 1943)
100th (8th Gordon Highlanders) Anti-Tank Regiment (from 18 March 1943; between 1 December 1943 and 30 September 1944 this was a mixed Light Anti-Aircraft/Anti-Tank Regiment)
89th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment (from 24 January 1942, until 24 March 1942)
60th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment (from 18 April 1943, until 15 July 1943)
The 9th (Scottish) Division, was an infantry division of the British Army during the First World War, one of the Kitchener's Army divisions raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener to serve on the Western Front during the First World War.
The 42nd Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division was raised in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force (TF), originally as the East Lancashire Division, and was redesignated as the 42nd Division on 25 May 1915. It was the first TF division to be sent overseas during the First World War. The division fought at Gallipoli, in the Sinai desert and on the Western Front in France and Belgium. Disbanded after the war, it was reformed in the Territorial Army (TA), in the Second World War it served as the 42nd Infantry Division with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and fought in Belgium and France before being evacuated at Dunkirk. The division was later reformed in the United Kingdom and, in November 1941, was converted into the 42nd Armoured Division, which was disbanded in October 1943 without serving overseas. A 2nd Line duplicate formation, the 66th Infantry Division, was created when the Territorials were doubled in both world wars.
The 54th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division was raised in 1908 following the creation of the Territorial Force (TF) as the East Anglian Division. During the First World War the division fought at Gallipoli and in the Middle East. The division was disbanded after the war but reformed in the Territorial Army in 1920. During the Second World War it was a home service division and did not see any combat service abroad and was disbanded in late 1943 but many of its component units went to see service in the Normandy Campaign and North-western Europe from June 1944 to May 1945.
The 27th Division was an infantry division of the British Army raised during the Great War, formed in late 1914 by combining various Regular Army units that had been acting as garrisons about the British Empire. The division spent most of 1915 on the Western Front in France before moving to Salonika where it remained with the British Salonika Army for the duration of the war. In 1916 its commander Hurdis Ravenshaw was captured by an Austrian submarine whilst sailing to England. In 1918 in Salonika the division took part in the Battle of Doiran. It carried out occupation duties in the Caucasus in the post-war before being withdrawn from the region in 1919.
The 4th Infantry Division was a regular infantry division of the British Army with a very long history, seeing active service in the Peninsular War and Waterloo Campaign, the Crimean and Boer Wars and both World Wars. It was disbanded after the Second World War and reformed in the 1950s as an armoured formation before being disbanded and reformed again and finally disbanded on 1 January 2012.
The 5th Infantry Division was a regular army infantry division of the British Army. It was established by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington for service in the Peninsular War, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, and was active for most of the period since, including the First World War and the Second World War and was disbanded soon after. The division was reformed in 1995 as an administrative division covering Wales and the English regions of West Midlands, East Midlands and East. Its headquarters were in Shrewsbury. It was disbanded on 1 April 2012.
The 7th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army, first established by The Duke of Wellington as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army for service in the Peninsular War, and was active also during the First World War from 1914 to 1919, and briefly in the Second World War in 1939.
The 34th Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was raised in 1914, during the First World War. The division was raised from volunteers for Lord Kitchener's New Armies, originally made up of infantry battalions raised by public subscription or private patronage. The division was taken over by the War Office in September 1915. It served in France and Belgium in the trenches of the Western Front for the duration of the war.
The 46th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, part of the Territorial Force, that saw service in the First World War. At the outbreak of the war, the 46th Division was commanded by Major-General Hon. E.J. Montagu-Stuart-Wortley. Originally called the North Midland Division, it was redesignated as the 46th Division in May 1915.
The 32nd Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was raised in 1914, during the First World War. The division was raised from volunteers for Lord Kitchener's New Armies, made up of infantry 'Pals battalions' and artillery brigades raised by public subscription or private patronage. The division was taken over by the War Office in September 1915. It served in France and Belgium in the trenches of the Western Front for the duration of the war. It saw action at the Battle of the Somme, the Pursuit to the Hindenburg Line, the Defence of Nieuport, the German spring offensive, and the Allied Hundred Days Offensive beginning at the Battle of Amiens. After the Armistice it marched into Germany as part of the Army of Occupation.
The 47th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force.
The 33rd Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was raised in 1914, during the First World War. The division was raised from volunteers for Lord Kitchener's New Armies, that was originally made up of infantry battalions raised by public subscription or private patronage. The division was taken over by the War Office in September 1915. It served in France and Belgium in the trenches of the Western Front for the duration of the war. The division's insignia was the "double-three" from a set of dominoes.
The Northumbrian Division was an infantry division of the British Army, formed in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force with units drawn from the north-east of England, notably Northumberland, Durham and the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire. The division was numbered as 50th (Northumbrian) Division in 1915 and served on the Western Front throughout the First World War. Due to losses suffered in the Ludendorf Offensive in March 1918 it had to be comprehensively reorganized. It was once again reformed in the Territorial Army as the Northumbrian Division in 1920.
The 29th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade unit of the British Army. It was originally raised in 1914 and saw service during the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War.
The 28th Division was an infantry division of the British Army raised for service in World War I.
The 3rd (Lahore) Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army and before 1895, the Bengal Army, first organised in 1852. It saw service during World War I as part of the Indian Corps in France before being moved to the Middle East where it fought against troops of the Ottoman Empire.
The German attack on Vimy Ridge was a local German attack on Vimy Ridge. The attack took place on 21 May 1916 on the Western Front during the First World War. At the Third Battle of Artois the French Tenth Army captured positions on the western slope of Vimy Ridge and the German 6th Army was forced back to positions on the steeper eastern slope. Both sides resorted to a continuous underground offensive. The Tenth Army was transferred south in March 1916, during the Battle of Verdun and the British First Army and Third Army on either flank extended their lines to take over Vimy Ridge.
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"War Office, Monthly Army List, December 1920". War Office. 1920. p.30. Retrieved 3 January 2021. The 1920 Army List, which provides an order of battle for the division during that year and an example of it during the early 1920s.
"War Office, Monthly Army List, January 1937". National Library of Scotland. p.20. The 1937 Army List, which provides an example of the division's order of battle in the late 1930s.
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