Hill 60 Ypres Belgium 14th (Light) Division Memorial

The 14th (Light) Division was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and m ...

division of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

, one of the

Kitchener's Army The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, as Kitchener's Mob, was an (initially) all-volunteer portion of the British Army formed in the United Kingdom from 1914 onwards following the outbreak of hostilities in the Fi ...

divisions raised from volunteers by

Lord Kitchener Lord Kitchener may refer to: * Earl Kitchener, for the title * Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, (; 24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was a senior British Army officer and colonial administrator. ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

. All of its infantry regiments were originally of the fast marching rifle or

light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

regiments, hence the title "Light". It fought on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

for the duration of the First World War.
The division was disbanded by March 1919, and was not reformed in the Second World War.

Order of battle

The division comprised the following

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. ...

s, which underwent major changes between February 1918 (the Army's brigade reorganisation from 4 to 3 infantry battalions) and June 1918 (rebuilt after the losses of the German spring offensive). ; 41st Brigade: *Before June 1918 **7th Battalion, The

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United S ...

(''left February 1918'') **8th Battalion, The King's Royal Rifle Corps **7th Battalion, The

Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifl ...

**8th Battalion, The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) **41st Machine Gun Company (''joined February 1916, left to move into 14th MG Battalion March 1918'') **41st Trench Mortar Battery (''joined May 1916'') *After June 1918 **18th Battalion, The

York and Lancaster Regiment The York and Lancaster Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was created in the Childers Reforms of 1881 by the amalgamation of the 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment o ...

** 29th Battalion, The

Durham Light Infantry The Durham Light Infantry (DLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1968. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) and ...

**33rd Battalion, The

London Regiment London Regiment may refer to two infantry regiments in the British Army: * London Regiment (1908–1938) The London Regiment was an infantry regiment in the British Army, part of the Territorial Force (renamed the Territorial Army in 1921). The ...

(Rifle Brigade) **41st Trench Mortar Battery ; 42nd Brigade : *Before June 1918 **5th Battalion, The Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry **5th Battalion, The King's (Shropshire Light Infantry) (''disbanded February 1918'') **9th Battalion, The King's Royal Rifle Corps **9th Battalion, The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) **42nd Machine Gun Company (''joined February 1916, left to move into 14th MG Battalion March 1918'') **42nd Trench Mortar Battery (''joined April 1916'') *After June 1918 **6th (Royal Wiltshire

Yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army Reserve, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of different military roles. History Origins In the 1790s, ...

) Battalion, the

Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) was a Light infantry, light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1959. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, by the merger of the 32nd ( ...

**16th Battalion, The

Manchester Regiment The Manchester Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1958. The regiment was created during the 1881 Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot and the 96t ...

(1st City) **14th Battalion, Princess Louise's (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) **42nd Trench Mortar Battery ; 43rd Brigade : *Before June 1918 **6th Battalion, The

Somerset Light Infantry The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, which served under various titles from 1685 to 1959. In 1959, the regiment was amalgamated with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry to form the So ...

(Prince Albert's) **6th Battalion, The

(''disbanded February 1918'') **6th Battalion, The

King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army. It officially existed from 1881 to 1968, but its predecessors go back to 1755. In 1968, the regiment was amalgamated with the Somerset and Cornwall ...

(''disbanded February 1918'') **10th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry (''disbanded February 1918'') **9th Battalion, The

Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) was a rifle regiment of the British Army, the only regiment of rifles amongst the Scottish regiments of infantry. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 26th Cameronian Regi ...

(''joined February 1918, left April'') **7th Battalion, The King's Royal Rifle Corps (''joined February 1918'') **43rd Machine Gun Company (''joined February 1916, left to move into 16th MG Battalion March 1918'') **43rd Trench Mortar Battery (''joined April 1916'') *After June 1918 **12th Battalion, The

Suffolk Regiment The Suffolk Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army with a history dating back to 1685. It saw service for three centuries, participating in many wars and conflicts, including the First and Second World Wars, before bein ...

(East Anglia) **20th Battalion, The Duke of Cambridge's Own (

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Ref ...

) **10th Battalion, The

Highland Light Infantry The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. It took part in the First and Second World Wars, until it was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 to form the Royal Highland Fu ...

**43rd Trench Mortar Battery ; Divisional Troops : *11th Battalion The

King's Regiment (Liverpool) The King's Regiment (Liverpool) was one of the oldest line infantry regiments of the British Army, having been formed in 1685 and numbered as the 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot in 1751. Unlike most British Army infantry regiments, which were ...

(pioneers) (''left June 1918'') *15th Battalion The

Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) (until 1921 known as the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1970. In 1970, the regiment was amalgamated with the Lancashire Reg ...

(pioneers) (''joined June 1918'') *249th Machine Gun Company (''joined July 1917, left October 1917'') *224th Machine Gun Company (''joined November 1917, left to move into 14th MG Battalion March 1918) *14th Battalion

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in the First World War. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use ...

(''formed March 1918'') *14th Divisional Train ASC (100, 101, 102 and 103 Companies) *26th Mobile Veterinary Section AVC *215th Divisional Employment Company, Labour Corps (''joined June 1917'') Artillery *XLVI Brigade RFA *XLVII Brigade RFA *XLVIII Brigade RFA (''left January 1917'') *XLIX (Howitzer) Brigade, RFA (''broken up October 1916'') *V.14 Heavy Trench Mortar Battery RFA (''joined July 1916, left January 1918'') *X.14, Y.14 and Z.14 Medium Mortar Batteries RFA (''formed March 1916; Z broken up February 1918, redistributed to X and Y'') *

14th Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery The 14th Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery, was one of the first British Army units recruited for 'Kitchener's Army' in World War I. It served on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front from 1915 to 1918, supporting different formati ...

(''left 8 June 1915'')

Engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

*61st, 62nd and 89th Field Companies *14th Divisional Signals Company

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps ...

*42nd, 43rd and 44th Field Ambulances *25th Sanitary Section (''left April 1917'')

Battles

Second Battle of Ypres During the First World War, the Second Battle of Ypres was fought from for control of the tactically important high ground to the east and south of the Flemish town of Ypres in western Belgium. The First Battle of Ypres had been fought the pr ...

*Hooge (German Liquid Fire Attack) - 30 and 31 July 1915 *Second Attack on Bellewaarde - 25 September 1915

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

* Battle of Delville Wood - August - September 1916 *

Battle of Flers-Courcelette A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

- September 1916

Battle of Arras (1917) The Battle of Arras (also known as the Second Battle of Arras) was a British offensive on the Western Front during the First World War. From 9 April to 16 May 1917, British troops attacked German defences near the French city of Arras on the ...

*The First Battle of the Scarpe - 9–14 April 1917 *The Third Battle of the Scarpe - 3–4 May 1917

Third Battle of Ypres The Third Battle of Ypres (german: link=no, Dritte Flandernschlacht; french: link=no, Troisième Bataille des Flandres; nl, Derde Slag om Ieper), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele (), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by t ...

*The Battle of Langemark - 22–27 August 1917 *The First Battle of Passchendaele October 1917 *The Second Battle of Passchendaele November 1917 First Battles of the Somme 1918 *The Battle of St Quentin - 23–25 March 1918 *The Battle of the Avre - 4 April 1918

Hundred Days Offensive The Hundred Days Offensive (8 August to 11 November 1918) was a series of massive Allied offensives that ended the First World War. Beginning with the Battle of Amiens (8–12 August) on the Western Front, the Allies pushed the Central Powers ...

*The Battle of Ypres 1918 *The advance in Flanders

Commander

* Major-General Thomas Morland (7 September – 17 October 1914) * Brigadier-General Francis Alexander Fortescue (17 October – 22 October 1914) ''acting'' * Major-General General Victor Arthur Couper (22 October – 30 December 1914) * Brigadier-General Francis Alexander Fortescue (30 December 1914 – 3 January 1915) ''acting'' * Major-General Victor Arthur Couper (3 January 1915 – 22 March 1918) * Major-General Walter Howarth Greenly (22 March – 27 March 1918) * Major-General Sir Victor Arthur Couper (27 March – 31 March 1918) * Major-General Percy Cyriac Burrell Skinner (31 March 1918)

References

External links

The British Army in the Great War: The 14th (Light) Division
{{DEFAULTSORT:14 Infantry Division Infantry divisions of the British Army in World War I Kitchener's Army divisions Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919 1914 establishments in the United Kingdom

Order of battle

Battles

Commander

See also

References

External links