The British 30th Division was a

New Army 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 ar ...

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 ...

that was originally made up of battalions raised by public subscription or private patronage. The division was taken over by the British

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 August 1915 and moved to France in December. It served 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 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 ...

Unit history

The Division was the first of the six created for the Fourth New Army on 10 December 1914. It landed in France in December 1915. 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 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 on 1 September 1919.

Order of Battle

The following units served with the division: ; 21st Brigade The brigade joined from the 7th Division in December 1915, swapping with the 91st Brigade. *2nd Battalion,

Bedfordshire Regiment The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment was the final title of a Line infantry, line infantry regiment of the British Army that was originally formed in 1688. After centuries of service in many conflicts and wars, including both the World War ...

(''transferred to 89th Brigade 20 December 1915'') *2nd Battalion,

Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment) The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment), frequently known as the Yorkshire Regiment until the 1920s, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, in the King's Division. Raised in 1688, it served under variou ...

(''left May 1918'') *2nd 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 ...

(''transferred to 90th Brigade 20 December 1915'') *2nd Battalion,

The Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire Regiment) The Wiltshire Regiment was a Line infantry, 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 (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot, 99th Duke o ...

(''left May 1918'') *18th (Service) Battalion,

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 we ...

(''joined from 89th Brigade 20 December 1915, rejoined 89th Brigade February 1918'') *

19th (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (4th City) 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full re ...

(''joined from 90th Brigade 20 December 1915 disbanded February 1918'') *

17th (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (2nd City) 17 (seventeen) is the natural number following 16 and preceding 18. It is a prime number. Seventeen is the sum of the first four prime numbers. In mathematics 17 is the seventh prime number, which makes seventeen the fourth super-prime, as s ...

(''joined February 1918, left as cadre June 1918'') *2/5th (Service) Battalion,

Lincolnshire Regiment The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. In 1751, it was numbered like most other Army regiments ...

(''joined May 1918, left June 1918'') *21st Machine Gun Company (''joined 8 March 1916, moved to 30th 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.) 1 March 1918 *21st Trench Mortar Battery formed by 5 July 1916 On reorganisation in July 1918: *7th (South Irish Horse) Battalion, The Royal Irish Regiment * 1/6th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment * 2/23rd (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment *21st Trench Mortar Battery ; 89th Brigade : *17th (Service) Battalion, King's Regiment (Liverpool) (''left June 1918'') *18th (Service) Battalion, King's Regiment (Liverpool) (''transferred to 21st Brigade December 1915, returned from 21st Brigade February 1918, left June 1918'') *19th (Service) Battalion, King's Regiment (Liverpool) ((''reduced to cadre left 19 June 1918'') *20th (Service) Battalion, King's Regiment (Liverpool) (''disbanded February 1918'') *2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment (''joined from 21st Brigade 20 December 1915, transferred to 90th Brigade February 1918'') *89th Machine Gun Company (''joined 13 March 1916, moved to 30th Battalion M.G.C. 1 March 1918'') *89th Trench Mortar Battery (''joined by 16 June 1916'') On reorganisation in July 1918: *2nd 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 ...

*7/8th (Service) Battalion,

Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot and the 108th Regiment o ...

* 2/17th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment *89th Trench Mortar Battery ; 90th Brigade : *

16th (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (1st City) 16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being , , and . In English speech, ...

(''left June 1918'') *

(''left February 1918'') *

18th (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (3rd City) 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. ...

(''disbanded February 1918'') *

(''left December 1915'') *2nd Battalion,

(''joined December 1915 left April 1918'') *2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment (''joined from 89th Brigade February 1918 left May 1918'') *14th (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 ...

(''joined April 1918, left June 1918'') *90th Machine Gun Company (''joined 13 March 1916, moved to 30th Battalion M.G.C. 1 March 1918'') *90th Trench Mortar Battery (''formed by 16 June 1916'') On reorganisation in July 1918: * 2/14th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment * 2/15th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment * 2/16th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment *90th Trench Mortar Battery ; 91st Brigade : The brigade formed in April 1915 and moved to the 7th Division in December of that year, swapping with the 21st Brigade. * 20th (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (5th City) * 21st (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (6th City) * 22nd (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (7th City) *24th (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (Oldham) Divisional Troops *11th (Service) Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment (''joined as Divisional Pioneer Battalion May 1915, left as cadre June 1918'') *6th (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 ...

(''joined as Divisional Pioneer Battalion July 1918'') *226th Machine Gun Company (''joined 19 July 1917, moved to 30th Battalion M.G.C. 1 March 1918'') *19th Motor Machine Gun Battery (''joined 10 February 1916, left 6 June 1916'') *30th Battalion M.G.C. (''formed 1 March 1918, reduced to cadre 13 May 1918 replaced on 29 June 1918 by a redesignated “A” Bn, MGC'') *Divisional Mounted Troops **D Sqn,

Lancashire Hussars The Lancashire Hussars was a British Army unit originally formed in 1798. It saw action in the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. In 1969, the regiment reduced to a cadre and the Yeomanry lineage discontinued. Histor ...

(''left 10 May 1916'') **30th 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 21 May 1916'') *30th Divisional Train Army Service Corps **186th, 187th, 188th and 189th Companies (''joined from 22nd Division in France in November 1915'') *40th 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 ...

*227th Divisional Employment Company (''joined 24 May 1917'')

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

*CXLVIII 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 ...

(R.F.A.) *CXLIX Brigade, R.F.A. *CL Brigade, R.F.A. (''left 2 January 1917'') *CLI (Howitzer) Brigade, R.F.A. (''broken up 26 August 1916'') * 11th (Hull) 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) ...

(R.G.A.) (''joined June 1915, left March 1916'') *125th Heavy Battery, R.G.A. (''raised with the Division but moved independently to France on 29 April 1916'') *30th Divisional Ammunition Column R.F.A. *V.30 Heavy Trench Mortar Battery, R.F.A. (''joined by 7 October 1916, left by 11 February 1918'') *X.30, Y.30 and Z.30 Medium Mortar Batteries, R.F.A.(''joined April 1916, 11 February 1918, Z broken up and batteries distributed among X and Y batteries'')

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 ...

*200th (County Palatine) Field Company *201st (County Palatine) Field Company *202nd (County Palatine) Field Company *30th 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 ...

*111th Field Ambulance (''left September 1915'') *112th Field Ambulance (''left September 1915'') *113th Field Ambulance (''left September 1915'') *70th Sanitary Section (''left 2 April 1917'') *96th Field Ambulance(''joined November 1915'') *97th Field Ambulance (''joined November 1915'') *98th Field Ambulance (''joined November 1915'')

General officer commanding

* Major-General Sir John Stuart Mackenzie Shea 1916 * Major-General W. I. Williams 1917–1918 * Major-General

Neill Malcolm Major-General Sir Neill Malcolm, KCB, DSO (8 October 1869 – 21 December 1953) was a British Army officer who served as Chief of Staff to Fifth Army in the First World War and later commanded the Troops in the Straits Settlements. Military ...

Unit history

Order of Battle

General officer commanding

See also

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Further reading