The 26th 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 during World War I The British Army during the First World War fought the largest and most costly war in its long history. Unlike the French and German Armies, the British Army was made up exclusively of volunteers—as opposed to conscripts—at the beginnin ...

. The division was created in September 1914 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 ...

and was the last division to be raised under the K3 enlistment scheme. Although the 26th Division began to assemble in September 1914, it was not fully deployed on the Western Front until the following year. In November 1915, the division was redeployed to the

Macedonian Front The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front (after Thessaloniki), was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of German ...

, where it remained until the end of the war.

Unit history

The Division was one of the six created for the Third New Army on 13 September 1914. It moved to France in September 1915 and then transferred to

Salonika Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

in November 1915. It saw action at the

Battle of Horseshoe Hill In the beginning of August 1916 three France, French and one United Kingdom, British divisions with 45,000 men and 400 guns launched an offensive against the Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgarian positions at Lake Dojran, defended by the 2nd Thracian ...

in August 1916, the Battles of Doiran in April / May 1917, and the Third Battle of Doiran as well as the Pursuit to the Strumica Valley in September 1918. Demobilization began in February 1919, and the division was formally disbanded on 10 May 1919.

General officers commanding

Order of Battle

The order of battle was as follows: 77th Brigade *8th (Service) Battalion,

Royal Scots Fusiliers The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Mar ...

*11th (Service) Battalion,

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 Reg ...

*10th (Service) Battalion,

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

(''left 30 June 1918'') *12th (Service) Battalion,

Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

*77th Machine Gun Company (''joined 24 July 1916'') *77th Trench Mortar Battery (''joined 3 November 1916'') 78th Brigade *9th (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 ...

(''left 4 July 1918'') *11th (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 ...

*7th (Service) Battalion, Ox & Bucks. Light Infantry *7th (Service) Battalion,

Royal Berkshire Regiment The Royal Berkshire Regiment (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was created in 1881, as the Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment), by ...

*78th Machine Gun Company (''joined 22 July 1916'') *78th Trench Mortar Battery (''joined 12 November 1916'') 79th Brigade * 10th (Service) Battalion, Devonshire Regiment *8th (Service) Battalion,

Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) was a 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 (Cornwall Light ...

*12th (Service) Battalion,

Hampshire Regiment The Hampshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot and the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot. The regi ...

*7th (Service) Battalion,

Wiltshire Regiment 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 r ...

(''left 16 June 1918'') *79th Machine Gun Company (''joined 15 July 1916'') *79th Trench Mortar Battery (''joined 3 November 1916'') Divisional Troops *10th (Service) Battalion, the Gloucestershire Regiment (''left August 1915'') *8th (Service) Battalion, the Ox & Bucks. Light Infantry (''became Divisional Pioneer Battalion in February 1915'') *8th (Service) Battalion, the Royal Berkshire Regiment (''left August 1915'') *Divisional Mounted Troops **A Sqn, the

Lothians and Border Horse The Lothians and Border Horse was a Yeomanry regiment, part of the British Territorial Army. It was ranked 36th in the Yeomanry order of precedence and was based in the Scottish Lowland area, recruiting in the Lothians – East Lothian (Had ...

Yeomanry (''joined 30 July 1915, left 29 November 1916'') **26th 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 4 January 1915, left 16 December 1916'') *26th Divisional Train

ASC ASC may refer to: Educational institutions * Anglican Schools Commission, Australia * Andres Soriano Colleges of Bislig, located in Surigao del Sur, Philippines * Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia Organizations Australia * Australian Singing ...

**202nd, 203rd, 204th and 205th Companies ASC (''transferred to 32nd Division November 1915'') **112th, 113th, 114th and 115th Coys ASC (''joined from

11th (Northern) Division The 11th (Northern) Division, was an infantry division of the British Army during the First World War, raised from men who had volunteered for Lord Kitchener's New Armies. The division fought in the Gallipoli Campaign and on the Western Fron ...

'')) *38th Mobile Veterinary Section AVC *817th Divisional Employment Company (''formed October 1917'') Divisional Artillery *CXIV Brigade, RFA *CXV Brigade, RFA *CXVI Brigade, RFA *CXVII Brigade, RFA (''left 9 August 1917 for

74th (Yeomanry) Division The 74th (Yeomanry) Division was a Territorial Force infantry division formed in Palestine in early 1917 from three dismounted yeomanry brigades. It served in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War, mostly as part of XX Corps. ...

'') *26th Divisional Ammunition Column RFA (''transferred to

XII Corps 12th Corps, Twelfth Corps, or XII Corps may refer to: * 12th Army Corps (France) * XII Corps (Grande Armée), a corps of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XII (1st Royal Saxon) Corps, a unit of the Imperial German Army * XII ...

Ammunition Column, 22 January 1917'') *131st Heavy Battery, RGA (''raised with the Division, joined XXIII Heavy Artillery Brigade on 12 March 1916'') *LVII Brigade, RFA (''joined September 1917'') *XXXI Brigade, RFA (''attached 17 June to 24 August 1917'') * IV Highland (Mountain) Brigade, RGA (''attached in August 1918'')

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 ...

*95th Field Company (''left 29 January 1915 for

16th (Irish) Division The 16th (Irish) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised for service during World War I. The division was a voluntary 'Service' formation of Lord Kitchener's New Armies, created in Ireland from the 'National Volunteers', i ...

'') *96th Field Company (''left 1 February 1915 for

20th (Light) Division The 20th (Light) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, part of Kitchener's Army, raised in the First World War. The division was formed in September 1914 as part of the K2 Army Group. The division landed in France July 1915 and s ...

'') *107th Field Company (''joined 30 January 1915 from 35th Division'') *108th Field Company (''joined 30 January 1915 from 35th Division'') *131st Field Company (''joined 25 April 1915'') *26th 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 a ...

*78th Field Ambulance (''joined 25 August 1915'') *79th Field Ambulance (''joined 25 August 1915'') *80th Field Ambulance (''joined 25 August 1915'') *43rd Sanitary Section

Notes

Bibliography

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External links