The 33rd 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 ...

that was raised in 1914, 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 fightin ...

. The division was raised from volunteers 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 ...

, that was originally made up of infantry

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

s raised by public subscription or private patronage. The division was taken over by the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

in September 1915. It served in France and Belgium in the

trenches A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from erosi ...

of the Western Front for the duration of the war. The division's insignia was the "double-three" from a set of

dominoes Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also ca ...

Formation history

The Division was one of the six created for the Fourth New Army on 10 December 1914. It landed in France in November 1915. Major-General

Herman Landon Major-General Herman James Shelley Landon, , (23 August 185916 October 1948), was a British Army officer. During the Boer War he commanded a battalion, and was promoted in the interwar period to take command of a brigade in the British Expedit ...

took command of the division on its arrival. It saw action at the

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 ...

in autumn 1916 and, after Major General

Reginald Pinney Major-General Sir Reginald John Pinney (2 August 1863 – 18 February 1943) was a British Army officer who served as a divisional commander during the First World War. While commanding a division at the Battle of Arras in 1917, he was imm ...

had taken command, it also saw action at the Battle of Arras in April / May 1917 and the

Battle of Passchendaele 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 ...

in autumn 1917. It was disbanded in June 1919.

Order of battle

The following units served with the Division: ; 19th Brigade : (''The brigade joined from the 2nd Division in November 1915, swapping with the 99th Brigade.'') * 1st Battalion

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 Re ...

(''transferred to 98th Brigade 27 November 1915'') * 2nd Battalion,

Argyll and 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 ...

(''transferred to 98th Brigade 27 November 1915'') * 2nd 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 ...

(''left February 1918'') * 1st 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 ...

* 1/5th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) (

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

(TF)) (''merged with 1/6th Battalion in May 1916 becoming 5th/6th Battalion'') *

18th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (1st Public Schools) 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. In mathematics * Eighteen is a composite number, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. Three of these divisors (3, 6 and 9) add up to 18, hence 18 is a semiperfect number. ...

(''transferred from 98th Brigade 27 November 1915 left 26 February 1916'') * 20th (Service) Battalion, (3rd Public Schools), Royal Fusiliers (''transferred from 98th Brigade 27 November 1915 disbanded February 1918'') * 1st Battalion,

Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) was a line infantry regiment of the English and later the British Army from 1661 to 1959. It was the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, behind only the Royal Scots in the British Arm ...

(''transferred from 100th Brigade 14 February 1918'') * 19th Machine Gun Company (''formed 24 February 1916, moved to 33rd 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 tank ...

(M.G.C.) 19 February 1918'') * 19th Trench Mortar Battery (''formed by 24 June 1916'') ; 98th Brigade : *

(''transferred to 19th Brigade 27 November 1915'') * 19th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (2nd Public Schools) (''left 28 February 1916'') * 20th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (3rd Public Schools) (''to 19th Brigade 27 November 1915'') * 21st (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (4th Public Schools) (''left 28 February 1916'') * 1st Battalion,

(''transferred from 19th Brigade 27 November 1915'') * 2nd Battalion,

(''transferred from 19th Brigade 27 November 1915'') * 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment) (

Special Reserve The Special Reserve was established on 1 April 1908 with the function of maintaining a reservoir of manpower for the British Army and training replacement drafts in times of war. Its formation was part of the Haldane Reforms, military reforms im ...

(SR)) (''joined February 1916'') * 1/4th Battalion,

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 ...

(TF) (''joined 28 February 1916 left February 1918'') * 98th Machine Gun Company (''joined 28 April 1916, moved to 33rd Battalion M.G.C. 19 February 1918'') * 98th Trench Mortar Battery(''formed by 30 June 1916'') ; 99th Brigade : (''The brigade transferred to the 2nd Division in November 1915, swapping with the 19th Brigade.'') * 17th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (Empire) * 22nd (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (Kensington) * 23rd (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (1st Sportsman's) * 24th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (2nd Sportsman's) ; 100th Brigade : * 13th (Service) Battalion,

Essex Regiment The Essex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment served in many conflicts such as the Second Boer War and both World War I and World War II, serving with distinction in all three. ...

(West Ham) (''left 22 December 1915'') * 16th (Service) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (Public Schools) (''left 25 February 1916'') * 17th (Service) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (1st Football) (''Left 8 December 1915'') * 16th (Service) Battalion,

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 St ...

(

Church Lads' Brigade The Church Lads' and Church Girls' Brigade is an Anglican youth organisation with branches in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Bermuda, Kenya, South Africa, Barbados, Newfoundland and St Helena. Its origins lie in the formation in 1891 of the Chur ...

), * 1st Battalion, Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) (''joined 15 December 1915 transferred to 19th Brigade 14 February 1918'') * 2nd 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 ...

(''joined 20 December 1915'') * 1/6th Battalion Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) (TF) (''joined and left February 1918'') * 1/9th Battalion (

Glasgow Highlanders The Glasgow Highlanders was a former infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Territorial Force, later renamed the Territorial Army. The regiment eventually became a Volunteer Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow ...

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 Fusi ...

(TF) (''joined 29 May 1916'') * 100th Machine Gun Company (''joined 28 April 1916, moved to 33rd Battalion M.G.C. 19 February 1918'') * 100th Trench Mortar Battery (''formed by 13 June 1916'') Divisional Troops * 18th (Service) Battalion, (1st Public Works Pioneers), Middlesex Regiment (''joined as Divisional Pioneer Battalion July 1915'') * 19th Motor Machine Gun Battery (''joined November 1915 but left 6 February 1916'') * 248th Machine Gun Company (''joined 21 July 1917, moved to 33rd Battalion M.G.C. 19 Feb 1918'') * 33rd Battalion M.G.C. (''formed 19 February 1918 absorbing the brigade MG companies'') * Divisional Mounted Troops ** F Squadron,

North Irish Horse The North Irish Horse was a yeomanry unit of the British Territorial Army raised in the northern counties of Ireland in the aftermath of the Second Boer War. Raised and patronised by the nobility from its inception to the present day, it was on ...

(''joined January 1915, redesignated B Sqn on 25 May 1916, left 19 April 1916'') ** 33rd 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 ...

(''left 19 April 1916'') * 33rd Divisional Train Army Service Corps ** 225th, 226th, 227th and 228th Companies (''transferred to 29th Division in March 1916'') ** 170th, 171st, 172nd and 173rd Companies, (''transferred from 28th Divisional Train on 13 November 1915. 172nd Company swapped with the 8th Company from 2nd Divisional Train in late November 1915'') * 43rd 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 ...

* 230th Divisional Employment Company (''joined 1 June 1917'') 33rd (Camberwell) Divisional Artillery * CLVI (Camberwell) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (R.F.A.) * CLXII (Camberwell) Brigade, R.F.A. * CLXVI (Camberwell) Brigade, R.F.A. (''broken up 12 September 1916'') * CLXVII (Camberwell) (Howitzer) Brigade, R.F.A. (''broken up 12 September 1916'') * 126th (Camberwell) Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery (R.G.A.) (''left for XXII Heavy Artillery Group on 2 May 1916'') * 33rd Divisional Ammunition Column R.F.A. * 33rd Divisional Trench Mortar Brigade ** V.33 Heavy Trench Mortar Battery, R.F.A. (''formed by 29 May 1916; broken up February 1918'') ** X.33, Y.33 and Z.33 Medium Mortar Batteries, R.F.A. (formed by 4 May 1916, February 1918, Z broken up redistributed to Z and Y batteries'') 33rd Divisional Engineers * 212th (Tottenham) Field Company, Royal Engineers * 222nd (Tottenham) Field Company, Royal Engineers * 226th (Tottenham) Field Company, Royal Engineers (''left for 2nd Division 2 December 1915'') * 33rd (Tottenham) Divisional Signals Company, Royal Engineers * 11th Field Company (''joined from 2nd Division 2 December 1915'')

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 ...

* 99th Field Ambulance * 100th Field Ambulance (''left for 2nd Division late November 1915'') * 101st Field Ambulance * 73rd Sanitary Section (''left 31 March 1917'') * 19th Field Ambulance (''joined from 2nd Division late November 1915'')

Commanders

* Major-General P. R. Wood * Major-General

November 1915 – September 1916 * Major-General

Reginald John Pinney Major General (United Kingdom), Major-General Sir Reginald John Pinney (2 August 1863 – 18 February 1943) was a British Army officer who served as a divisional commander during the First World War. While commanding a division at the Batt ...

September 1916 – February 1919 (disbandment)

References

Bibliography

External links