An order of battle is a list of the various elements of a military formation organised within a hierarchical command structure. It can 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 original 1st Division, formed in 1809, was around 6,000 men strong. This formation did not include supporting weapons such as artillery.[5] In comparison, when the formation fought in the Second World War, it was over 18,000 men strong, supported by 72 artillery pieces, and numerous other support weapons.[6] Each war that the division fought in, from inception up until the end of the Second World War, 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 1st 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 5,964 men strong.[5] It roughly maintained this strength for the rest of the Peninsular War, for example being 4,854 men strong at the Battle of Vittoria in 1813. It was disbanded when the fighting ended in 1814.[8][9] It was reformed on 11 April 1815, in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium), upon the resumption of hostilities. It fought at the Battle of Waterloo, where it had a strength of 4,061 men. It then marched into France. Shortly after, the Napoleonic Wars came to a conclusion. The division remained in 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.[10]
Major Kuhlmann's Horse Battery, King's German Legion
Crimean War
A portrait of Colour Sergeant William McGregor, Scots Fusilier Guards, a member of the division who fought in the Crimean War.
In June 1854, a new 1st Division was formed following the reorganisation of a British expeditionary force that had been dispatched to Ottoman Bulgaria, to support the Ottoman Empire against the Russian Empire during the early stages of the Crimean War.[18] The division proceeded to the Crimea, where it landed on 14 September. It was then engaged in the Siege of Sevastopol, including action at the battles of Alma and the Inkerman.[19] At full strength, the division would have been around 4,800 men strong although at the Battle of Inkerman it contained a mere 1,200 infantry.[20] The division remained in the Crimea until 1856, and demobilised following the conclusion of hostilities.[21]
X Field Battery (temporarily detached from the division during September fighting)
Anglo-Zulu War
The Anglo-Zulu War broke out in January 1879. After three months of back and forth fighting, which saw the battles of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift, reinforcements were dispatched to Natal for a renewed offensive. This saw the creation of No. 1 Division, which was just over 9,000 men strong. The force comprised 6,508 British regulars and colonial irregular troops, supplemented by 2,707 Africans that included 151 mounted troops.[26][27] The division saw little fighting and was largely engaged in engineering work. When the war ended, the division was broken-up in July.[28]
A depiction of a British soldier and a Zulu warrior from this period; National Army Museum, London
A new 1st Division was mobilised in England, following the outbreak of the Second Boer War with the South African Republic and the Orange Free State.[30][31] On mobilisation, the division consisted of 10,075 men, 745 horses, and 26 guns.[32] It was transported to southern Africa, and then fought a series of battles as part of the attempt to lift the Siege of Kimberley, with mixed results and heavy casualties.[33] During the opening months of 1900, the division held a largely defensive role although it did commit raids to destroy farms, crops, and to seize livestock. Between April and early June, it engaged various Boer Commandos as it marched through the Orange Free State and Transvaal.[34] In mid-June, the division was radically changed in an effort to form a more mobile force to counter the Boer guerrilla warfare tactics. By the end of the year, it had been disbanded as the counter-guerrilla strategy was further refined.[35]
At its first engagement, the Battle of Belmont, the formation consisted of 10,012 troops, 2,299 animals, 16 pieces of artillery, and 10 machine guns. A fortnight later, the division was reinforced for the Battle of Magersfontein and mustered 14,964 men supported by 3,723 animals, 33 artillery pieces, and 16 machine guns.[36] In June 1900, when the division was reformed into a flying column, there was a significant reduction in manpower in order to be more mobile. At that time, it consisted of 1,200 mounted troops, 2,400 infantry, 12 field guns, two 5in (130mm) howitzers, and 11 machine guns.[37]
The war establishment (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 alteration to the number of men and horses were supposed to be 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.[44] 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 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.[45][46] 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.[44]
In 1939, following the Germaninvasion of Poland, the United Kingdom declared war in support of the latter and entered the Second World War.[47] The division, now styled as an infantry division, saw combat in France in 1940. After the British Army's defeat, the division returned to—and defended—the UK. Between June and November 1942, it was reorganised as a "mixed division", which saw an infantry brigade removed replaced by a brigade of tanks. Afterwards, it reverted to an infantry division and was deployed to fight in the Tunisian campaign in 1943. It then seized the island of Pantelleria and subsequently fought in the Italian campaign until January 1945. Afterwards, it was withdrawn to Palestine, where it spent the reminder of the war.[4]
The war establishment of the 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, it 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]
↑ Sources outside of the official history provide different orders of battle for this period.
Louis Creswicke, who wrote about the campaign, stated the order of battle for when the division was based out of Kimberley as follows: 9th Brigade: 1st Northumberland Fusiliers, 1st Loyal North Lancashire, 2nd Northamptonshire, 2nd Yorkshire Light Infantry 20th Brigade: Composed of Militia Battalions Imperial Yeomanry brigade: 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 10th Battalions; Cape Police; Diamond Fields Horse; and elements of the Kimberley Light Horse Divisional artillery: 4th, 20th, and 44th Field Batteries and the 37th Howitzer Battery.[40]
Leo Amery, in The Times History of the War in South Africa 1899–1902, provided the following order of battle: 9th Brigade: 1st Northumberland Fusiliers, 1st Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, 3rd South Wales Borderers, 2nd Northamptonshire Regiment 20th Brigade: 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers, 2nd Yorkshire Light Infantry, 4th Scottish Rifles, 4th South Staffordshire Regiment Imperial Yeomanry brigade: 3rd, 5th, 10th, and 15th Battalions, and Warwick's Scouts Divisional artillery: 4th, 20th, and 38th Field Batteries, Royal Field Artillery; 37th Howitzer Battery, Royal Field Artillery; 'H' Section, pom-poms; Diamond Fields Artillery; 23rd Company, Royal Garrison Artillery Divisional troops: 11th Company, Royal Engineers[41]
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 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 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army with a long history including service during both the First and the Second World Wars. It was based at Tidworth Camp. Previously, it has been designated 1st (Guards) Brigade, 1st Infantry Brigade, 1st Mechanised Brigade, and under the initial Army 2020 reforms assumed the title of 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade. Under the Future Soldier programme, the brigade merged with the 1st Artillery Brigade to form the 1st Deep Recce Strike Brigade Combat Team.
The following units of the German First Army and British Expeditionary Force fought in the Battle of Mons in World War I.
The 28th Division was an infantry division of the British Army raised for service in World War I.
This is an order of battle of the French and German Armies at the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870.
The British Expeditionary Force order of battle 1914, as originally despatched to France in August and September 1914, at the beginning of World War I. The British Army prior to World War I traced its origins to the increasing demands of imperial expansion together with inefficiencies highlighted during the Crimean War, which led to the Cardwell and Childers Reforms of the late 19th century. These gave the British Army its modern shape, and defined its regimental system. The Haldane Reforms of 1907 formally created an Expeditionary force and the Territorial Force.
The Guards Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was formed in the Great War in France in 1915 from battalions of the Guards regiments from the Regular Army. The division served on the Western Front for the duration of the First World War. The division's insignia was the "All Seeing Eye".
This is the order of battle for the First Battle of Ypres fought from 19 October to 22 November 1914 as one of the main engagements of the First World War. It was fought between mixed British Expeditionary Force, French eighth army and armies of the German Empire in northern France and Flanders.
The Battle of Monte Cassino order of battle for January 1944, is a listing of the significant formations involved in the fighting on the Winter Line January 1944, during the period generally known as the First Battle of Monte Cassino.
The Natal Field Force (NFF) was a multi-battalion field force originally formed by Major-General Sir George Pomeroy Colley in Natal for the First Boer War. It was later re-established for the Second Boer War (1899–1902) and commanded by Major-General Sir Redvers Buller VC GCB GCMG.
This is an order of battle listing the Allied and Ottoman forces involved in the Gallipoli campaign during 1915.
The 1915 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were published in The London Gazette and in The Times on 3 June 1915.
The 1919 New Year Honours were appointments by lord George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in The London Gazette and The Times in January 1919.
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