The 19th (Western) 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 marine i ...

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

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 Gurk ...

, part of

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 ...

, formed in the

Great 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 fightin ...

Formation history

A new army battalion on the march in France near Merville (Photo 24-254)

The 19th (Western) Division was created under Western Command in September 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the

, from men volunteering for Lord Kitchener's

New Armies The New Armies (Traditional Chinese: 新軍, Simplified Chinese: 新军; Pinyin: Xīnjūn, Manchu: ''Ice cooha''), more fully called the Newly Created Army ( ''Xinjian Lujun''Also translated as "Newly Established Army" ()), was the modernised a ...

. The division, whose first commander was

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Charles Fasken, a 59-year old

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

officer brought out of retirement, was formed as part of Kitchener's Second New Army (K2) and, in common with most other newly-raised Kitchener units, there was a severe shortage of trained officers and NCO's to train the men, alongside a lack of modern equipment, training facilities and billets. However, by June 1915, training had progressed well and the division was sent to the Western Front, where it remained for the rest of the war.

Order of battle

The 19th (Western) Division was constituted as follows during the war: ; 56th Brigade : * 7th (Service) Battalion,

King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) The King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army. It served under various titles and fought in many wars and conflicts, including both the First and the Second World Wars, from 1680 to 1959. In 1959, the ...

(''disbanded February 1918'') * 7th (Service) Battalion,

East Lancashire Regiment The East Lancashire Regiment was, from 1881 to 1958, a line infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot and 59th (2nd Nott ...

(''disbanded February 1918'') * 7th (Service) Battalion,

South Lancashire Regiment The South Lancashire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment, which recruited, as its title suggests, primarily from the South Lancashire area, was created as part of the Childers Ref ...

(''disbanded February 1918'') * 7th (Service) Battalion,

Loyal North Lancashire Regiment 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 ...

(''disbanded February 1918'') * 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment) (''joined 3 December 1915, left 15 December 1915'') * 56th Machine Gun Company,

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 tank ...

(''joined 14 February 1916, moved to 19th Machine Gun Battalion 14 February 1918'') * 56th Trench Mortar Battery (''joined 17 June 1916, broken up 5 February 1918, reformed 6 March 1918'') * 9th (Service) Battalion,

Cheshire Regiment The Cheshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The 22nd Regiment of Foot was raised by the Duke of Norfolk in 1689 and was able to boast an independent existence of over 300 years. T ...

(''joined February 1918'') * 1/4th Battalion,

King's (Shropshire Light Infantry) The King's Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in the Childers Reforms of 1881, but with antecedents dating back to 1755. It served in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. In 196 ...

(''joined February 1918'') * 8th (Service) Battalion,

Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire Regiment) The North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was in existence between 1881 and 1959. The 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot was created on 21 April 1758 from the 2nd Battal ...

(''joined February 1918'') ; 57th Brigade : * 10th (Service) Battalion,

Royal Warwickshire Regiment The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, previously titled the 6th Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. The regiment saw service in many conflicts and wars, including the Second Boer War ...

* 8th (Service) Battalion,

Gloucestershire Regiment The Gloucestershire Regiment, commonly referred to as the Glosters, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 until 1994. It traced its origins to Colonel Gibson's Regiment of Foot, which was raised in 1694 and later became the ...

* 10th (Service) Battalion,

Worcestershire Regiment The Worcestershire Regiment was a line infantry regiment in the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot and the 36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot. The regimen ...

(''until June 1918'') * 8th (Service) Battalion, Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire Regiment) (''until February 1918'') * 57th Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps (''joined 14 February 1916, moved to 19th Machine Gun Battalion 14 February 1918'') * 57th Trench Mortar Battery (''joined 15 June 1916'') * 3rd Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment (''joined June 1918'') ; 58th Brigade * 9th (Service) Battalion, Cheshire Regiment (''left February 1918'') * 9th (Service) Battalion,

Royal Welsh Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers ( cy, Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales' Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated ...

* 5th (Service) Battalion,

South Wales Borderers The South Wales Borderers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for 280 years. It came into existence in England in 1689, as Sir Edward Dering's Regiment of Foot, and afterwards had a variety of names and headquarters. In ...

(''left December 1914'') * 9th (Service) Battalion,

Welsh Regiment The Welch Regiment (or "The Welch", an archaic spelling of "Welsh") was an infantry regiment of the line of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1969. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of ...

* 6th (Service) Battalion, Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire Regiment) (''from December 1915 until June 1918'') * 58th Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps (''joined 14 February 1916, moved to 19th Machine Gun Battalion 14 February 1918'') * 58th Trench Mortar Battery (''joined 15 June 1916'') * 2nd Battalion, Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire Regiment) (''joined May 1918'') ; Divisional Troops : * 6th (Service) Battalion, Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire Regiment) (''left December 1914'') * 5th (Service) Battalion, South Wales Borderers (''joined as provisional Pioneer battalion December 1914, conversion completed February 1915'') * 13th Motor Machine Gun Battery (''joined 14 July 1915, left 7 March 1916'') * 246th Machine Gun Company,

(''joined 19 July 1917, moved into 19 Machine Gun Battalion 14 February 1918'') * 19th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps (''formed 14 February 1918'') ; Divisional Mounted Troops : * C Squadron,

Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons The Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1794 to 1956. It was formed as a volunteer cavalry force in 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars. Its volunteer companies played an active role ...

(''joined 26 June 1915, left 21 April 1916'') * 19th Divisional Cyclist Company,

Army Cyclist Corps The Army Cyclist Corps was a corps of the British Army active during the First World War, and controlling the Army's bicycle infantry. History Formation Volunteer cyclist units had been formed as early as the 1880s, with the first complete bicy ...

(''formed 19 November 1914, left 21 April 1916'') ; Divisional Artillery : * LXXXVI Brigade,

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

(''left 23 January 1917'') * LXXXVII Brigade, Royal Field Artillery * LXXXVIII Brigade, Royal Field Artillery * LXXXIX (Howitzer) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (''broken up 8–9 September 1916'') * 19th Divisional Ammunition Column Royal Field Artillery * 19th Heavy Battery,

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...

(''raised with the division but moved independently to France on 15 July 1915 and joined XXI Brigade, Royal Garrison Artillery'') * W.19 Heavy Trench Mortar Battery, Royal Field Artillery (''joined May 1916, disbanded 19 February 1918'') * X.19, Y.19 and Z.19 Medium Mortar Batteries, Royal Field Artillery (''formed by May 1916; on 18 February 1918, Z broken up and batteries reorganised to have 6 x 6-inch weapons each'') ; Royal Engineers : * 81st Field Company,

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

* 82nd Field Company, Royal Engineers * 94th Field Company, Royal Engineers * 19th Divisional Signals Company, Royal Engineers ; Royal Army Medical Corps : * 57th Field Ambulance,

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 a ...

* 58th Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps * 59th Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps * 36th Sanitary Section, Royal Army Medical Corps (''left 9 July 1917'') ; Other Divisional Troops : * 19th Divisional Train Army Service Corps (''154, 155, 156 and 157 Companies'') * 31st Mobile Veterinary Section

Army Veterinary Corps The Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RAVC), known as the Army Veterinary Corps (AVC) until it gained the royal prefix on 27 November 1918, is an administrative and operational branch of the British Army responsible for the provision, training and ca ...

* 220th Divisional Employment Company (''joined 19 July 1917'') * 19th Divisional Motor Ambulance Workshop (''absorbed into divisional train 6 April 1916'')

Commanders

* Major General Charles Fasken September 1914 — December 1915 * Major General

Tom Bridges Lieutenant General Sir George Tom Molesworth Bridges (20 August 1871 – 26 November 1939) known as Sir Tom Bridges, was a British Army officer and the 19th Governor of South Australia. Bridges had a distinguished military career, seeing servic ...

December 1915 — September 1917 * Major General George Geoffreys September 1917 — February 1919

Victoria Cross recipients

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

Hugh Colvin, 9th (Service) Battalion,

* Temporary

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Adrian Carton de Wiart Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart, (; 5 May 1880 – 5 June 1963) was a British Army officer born of Belgian and Irish parents. He was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration awarded for valour "i ...

, commanding the 8th (Service) Battalion,

* Acting

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Eric Dougall, LXXXVIII Brigade,

* Temporary

Julian Gribble, 10th (Service) Battalion,

* Captain Manley James, 8th (Service) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment *

Private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

James Miller, 7th (Service) Battalion,

* Private Thomas Turrall, 10th (Service) Battalion,

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

Thomas Wilkinson, 7th (Service) Battalion,

References

External links

The British Army in the Great War: The 19th (Western) Division
{{DEFAULTSORT:19 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

Formation history

Order of battle

Commanders

Victoria Cross recipients

See also

References

External links