The 63rd (2nd Northumbrian) 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 Gurk ...

was a second-line

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 ...

division, formed in 1914, which served on home defence duties 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 formed as a duplicate of the

50th (Northumbrian) Division The Northumbrian Division was an infantry division of the British Army, formed in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force with units drawn from the north-east of England, notably Northumberland, Durham and the North and East Ridings of Yorks ...

in 1914, composed primarily of soldiers recruited in north-eastern England. It remained on home defence and training duties in the north-east and east of England until 1916, when it was disbanded. Several of its constituent units would later serve overseas, deployed for support and garrison duties in almost every theatre of the war.

History

The division was created as the "2nd Northumbrian Division", a second-line formation of the Northumbrian Division at the end of August 1914. At this time, Territorial Force soldiers could not be deployed overseas without their consent and the Territorial units were split into a "first line", with men who had volunteered for overseas service and a "second line", which was intended for home service only. The second line units also served to absorb the large number of new recruits who had joined the Territorial Force following the outbreak of war. The division's units formed through late 1914 and assembled in the Sunderland–Newcastle area, where it was responsible for coastal defence.Chris Baker
The British Army in the Great War: The 63rd (2nd Northumbrian) Division
/ref> As with the original Northumbrian Division, the 2nd Northumbrian was organised into three infantry brigades. These were later numbered as the 188th (2/1st Northumberland) Brigade, composed of the 2/4th, 2/5th, 2/6th, and 2/7th

Northumberland Fusiliers The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution ...

, the 189th (2nd York and Durham) Brigade, composed of the 2/4th

East Yorkshire Regiment The East Yorkshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1685 as Sir William Clifton's Regiment of Foot and later renamed the 15th Regiment of Foot. It saw service for three centuries, before eventually being ...

, the 2/4th and 2/5th

Yorkshire Regiment The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) (abbreviated YORKS) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, created by the amalgamation of three historic regiments in 2006. It lost one battalion as part of the Army 2020 defence ...

(Green Howards) and the 2/5th

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 t ...

and the 190th (2nd Durham Light Infantry) Brigade, composed of the 2/6th, 2/7th, 2/8th and 2/9th Durham Light Infantry. The 188th Brigade recruited from Newcastle and Northumberland, the 189th from the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire and the 190th entirely from County Durham.Chris Baker
The British Army in the Great War: The Northumberland Fusiliers
/ref>Chris Baker

/ref>Chris Baker

/ref>Chris Baker

/ref> The division also raised second-line Territorial artillery, medical signal and engineer units from the same areas. While it did not contain any organic mounted units, it had two cavalry brigades attached at formation, the first-line Scottish Horse Mounted Brigade and the second-line 2/1st Welsh Border Mounted Brigade, as well as the first-line 1/1st East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry. The Officer Commanding was Andrew Becher, who had commanded a brigade of the original Northumbrian Division before the war. Through the next two years, the 2nd Northumbrian, numbered as the 63rd Division in 1915, provided drafts of trained men for the 50th Division as well as carrying out home defence duties. On 20 May 1915, it was paraded at Newcastle to be inspected by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

and Queen Mary. The following day, the East Yorkshire Yeomanry was moved south to join

1st Mounted Division The 1st Mounted Division was a Yeomanry Division of the British Army active during World War I. It was formed in August 1914 for the home defence of the United Kingdom from four existing mounted brigades of the Territorial Force, each of three ...

.Chris Baker
The British Army in the Great War: The East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry
/ref> In July, the strength of its infantry battalions was set at a maximum of 600 men, with any more than this being transferred overseas, in August the Scottish Horse Brigade was shipped to Gallipoli, where it served as dismounted infantry.Chris Baker
The British Army in the Great War: The Scottish Horse Yeomanry
/ref> The division moved south to Nottinghamshire in November, where Major-General George Forestier-Walker, who had returned home after commanding a division on the Western Front, took command in February 1916. The 63rd began to disband in May 1916, and ceased to exist in July, with some units remaining independent for several months before being broken up or transferred to new divisions. Forestier-Walker formally remained in command until 8 September. Four battalions were posted to overseas garrison duties, the 2/7th Northumberland Fusiliers to Egypt, the 2/4th East Yorkshires to Bermuda and the 2/5th and 2/9th Durham Light Infantry to Salonika. The remaining infantry units were transferred to the new 71st Division, 72nd Division and 73rd Divisions, all home-service units. The 2/7th Durham Light Infantry later served with the Allied force in the

North Russia Intervention The North Russia intervention, also known as the Northern Russian expedition, the Archangel campaign, and the Murman deployment, was part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War after the October Revolution. The intervention brought ...

. The artillery was transferred to the

Royal Naval Division The 63rd (Royal Naval) Division was a United Kingdom infantry division of the First World War. It was originally formed as the Royal Naval Division at the outbreak of the war, from Royal Navy and Royal Marine reservists and volunteers, who wer ...

in France, the engineers to the 15th Indian Division in Mesopotamia and the medical units to Salonika. The divisional number was almost immediately reused for the

63rd (Royal Naval) Division The 63rd (Royal Naval) Division was a United Kingdom infantry division of the First World War. It was originally formed as the Royal Naval Division at the outbreak of the war, from Royal Navy and Royal Marine reservists and volunteers, who we ...

, which was formed from the un-numbered

on 19 July 1916 and its brigades were renumbered as the 188th, 189th and 190th Brigades.Chris Baker
The British Army in the Great War: The 63rd (Royal Naval) Division
/ref> Prior to the Second World War, on the doubling of the Territorial Army, the second line duplicate of the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division was numbered as the 23rd Division, after the Kitchener's army predecessor (as were the attached brigade, the 69th and 70th), not the 63rd, that division number and subsidiary brigades were not reused in the War.

Order of battle

The order of battle was as follows (organisation details are taken from ''The British Army in the Great War'' unless otherwise noted):

General officer commanding

* Major General Andrew Becher August 1914 – February 1916 * Major General George Forestier-Walker February 1916 – September 1916

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:63 Infantry Division Infantry divisions of the British Army in World War I Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations disestablished in 1916 Military units and formations in Northumberland Military units and formations in County Durham

History

Order of battle

General officer commanding

See also

References