The Guards 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 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 ...

in France in 1915 from battalions of the

Guards regiments Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison g ...

from the

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregulars, irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenary, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the ...

. The division served on the Western Front for the duration of the First World War. The division's insignia was the "All Seeing Eye". There was also a Guards Division in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

which was formed on 12 June 1945 from the

Guards Armoured Division The Guards Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army during the Second World War. The division was created in the United Kingdom on 17 June 1941 during the Second World War from elements of the Guards units, the Grenadier ...

which had undergone reorganisation.

History

First World War

Formation

In July 1915, 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 ...

(1914–1918),

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 Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

approved the formation of a Guards Division and in August 1915 the division was formed at

Lumbres Lumbres (; ) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography Lumbres is an industrial town built on former marshes at the crossroads of the valleys of the rivers Aa and Bléquin, some 6 miles (1 ...

, near St Omer, France. The 4th (Guards) Brigade was transferred complete from the 2nd Division and redesignated as the 1st Guards Brigade; the 2nd Guards Brigade was formed with two battalions from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and two more transferred from 1st (Guards) Brigade, 1st Division; and the 3rd Guards Brigade likewise with two more battalions from England and two transferred from 20th Brigade, of the 7th Division. Soon after formation, each brigade formed a

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

(M.G.)

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

of 16 machine guns, and between March and May 1916 each brigade was also provided with a

Trench Mortar ''Minenwerfer'' ("mine launcher" or "mine thrower") is the German name for a class of short range mine shell launching mortars used extensively during the First World War by the Imperial German Army. The weapons were intended to be used by engin ...

(T.M.) Battery of eight 3" Stokes Mortars. The division was provided with three artillery brigadesLXXIV, LXXV and LXXVI Brigades, RFA each of four batteries of four 18 pounder gunsfrom the 16th (Irish) Division and a howitzer brigadeLXI (

Howitzer A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...

) Brigade, RFA of four batteries of four 4.5" howitzersfrom the 11th (Northern) Division which remained in England when the division was posted to

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

. 16th (Irish) Division also provided the Divisional

Ammunition Column An Ammunition Column was a support echelon of a British or Dominion brigade or division during the First World War and consisted of dedicated military vehicles carrying artillery and small arms ammunition for the combatant unit to which the col ...

, two field companies of

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 ...

and the signal company ( Royal Engineer Signals Service). The third field company joined from 7th Division. The pioneers were the 4th Battalion,

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

which joined from England on 18 August.

War service

In 1915, the Guards Division took part in the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. Th ...

(26 September8 October) and

Hohenzollern Redoubt The Hohenzollern Redoubt () was a strongpoint of the German 6th Army on the Western Front during the First World War, at Auchy-les-Mines near Loos-en-Gohelle in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France. Named after the House of Hohenzollern, ...

(1819 October). In 1916, it fought in the later stages of 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 particular the

Battle of Flers–Courcelette The Battle of Flers–Courcelette (, 15 to 22 September 1916) was fought during the Battle of the Somme in France, by the French Sixth Army and the British Fourth Army and Reserve Army, against the German 1st Army, during the First World War. ...

(1516 and 2022 September), the

Battle of Morval The Battle of Morval, 25–28 September 1916, was an attack during the Battle of the Somme by the British Fourth Army (United Kingdom), Fourth Army on the villages of Morval, Pas-de-Calais, Morval, Gueudecourt and Lesboeufs, Lesbœufs held by th ...

(2528 September), and the Capture of Lesboeufs (25 September). In 1917, it saw action in 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 ...

(or the Third Battle of Ypres) including the

Battle of Pilckem Ridge The Battle of Pilckem Ridge (31 July – 2 August 1917) was the opening attack of the Third Battle of Ypres in the First World War. The British Fifth Army, supported by the Second Army on the southern flank and the French (First Army) on the n ...

(31 August2 July), the Battle of Poelcappelle (9 October), and the

First Battle of Passchendaele The First Battle of Passchendaele took place on 12 October 1917 during the First World War, in the Ypres Salient in Belgium on the Western Front. The attack was part of the Third Battle of Ypres and was fought west of Passchendaele village. Th ...

(12 October). It then took part in the Battle of Cambrai (24 November3 December). 4thColdstreamGuardsHouthulstForestBattleOfPeolcappelle

In February 1918, British divisions on the Western Front were reduced from a 12-battalion to a 9-battalion basis (brigades from four to three battalions). As a result, the 4th Guards Brigade was formed on 8 February 1918 by taking a battalion from each of the brigades: * 3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards from 1st Guards Brigade * 2nd Battalion,

Irish Guards ("Who Shall Separate s") , colors = , identification_symbol_2 Saffron (pipes), identification_symbol_2_label = Tartan , identification_symbol = , identification_symbol_label = Tactical Recognition F ...

from the 2nd Guards Brigade and * 4th Battalion,

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

from the 3rd Guards Brigade. The 4th Guards Brigade was transferred to the 31st Division at noon on the same day. On 25 February, the

pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and de ...

battalion4th Battalion, Coldstream Guards was reorganized from a four-company to a three-company basis. The Hundred Days Offensive, August-november 1918 Q7446

The Hundred Days Offensive, August-november 1918 Q7446

1918 saw the return of the war of movement. It had to withstand the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

's Spring Offensive in the First Battles of the Somme (125 March) then switched over to counter-attack in the Second Battles of the Somme (2123 August), the

Second Battle of Arras The Battle of Arras (also known as the Second Battle of Arras) was a British Empire, British offensive on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the First World War. From 9 April to 16 May 1917, British troops attacked German Empi ...

(26 August3 September), the

Battles of the Hindenburg Line The Hindenburg Line (German: , Siegfried Position) was a German Defense line, defensive position built during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the First World War. The line ran from Arras to La ...

(12 September12 October), and in the

Final Advance in Picardy Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

including the battles of the Selle and of the

Sambre The Sambre (; nl, Samber, ) is a river in northern France and in Wallonia, Belgium. It is a left-bank tributary of the Meuse, which it joins in the Wallonian capital Namur. The source of the Sambre is near Le Nouvion-en-Thiérache, in the Aisne ...

. Its final action was the Capture of

Maubeuge Maubeuge (; historical nl, Mabuse or nl, Malbode; pcd, Maubeuche) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is situated on both banks of the Sambre (here canalized), east of Valenciennes and about from the Belgian border ...

on 9 November. It ended the war with

VI Corps 6 Corps, 6th Corps, Sixth Corps, or VI Corps may refer to: France * VI Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry formation of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VI Corps (Grande Armée), a formation of the Imperial French army du ...

in the

British Third Army The Third Army was a field army of the British Army during World War I that saw active service on the Western Front throughout the war. First World War The Third Army was part of the British Army during World War I and was formed in France on 13 ...

Post-war

At the

Armistice of 11 November 1918 The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...

, the division was in and around Maubeuge, and on 17 November it regained 4th Guards Brigade which was broken up and the battalions returned to their original brigades. The next day it began the march on Germany and crossed the frontier on 11 December. By 19 December it had reached the

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

area. Units started returning to England on 20 February 1919 and the last had completed the move by 29 April.

Second World War

The Guards Division was reformed during the

on 12 June 1945 by the reorganization and redesignation of the

. The division retained all of its original units, but with some changes: * 5th Guards Armoured Brigade (three armoured battalions and one motorized infantry battalion) was converted to infantry as 5th Guards Brigade * 32nd Guards Infantry Brigade remained unchanged except that 2nd Battalion,

Welsh Guards The Welsh Guards (WG; cy, Gwarchodlu Cymreig), part of the Guards Division, is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the First World War, by Royal Warrant of George V. ...

(originally the reconnaissance unit of the Guards Armoured Division) was converted to infantry and joined the brigade * 2nd Household Cavalry Regiment was transferred from XXX Corps on 12 June 1945 as the new reconnaissance unit * 6th Guards Tank Brigade (three tank battalions) was converted to infantry as

6th Guards Brigade 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

and joined the division on 19 June *

92nd (5th London) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery The Metropolitan Artillery Volunteers (popularly known as 'Truro's Tigers') was a part-time unit of the British Volunteer Force formed in the London area in 1861. It was designated the 3rd Middlesex Artillery Volunteers and went on to become the 5 ...

joined the division on 12 June from 5th Infantry Division as the third field artillery regiment to match three infantry brigades

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 ...

Sir Allan Adair remained in command of the reorganized division. The division was broken up in December 1946.

Orders of battle

1945

Order of battle when reformed from the

, June 1945 5th Guards Brigade * 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards * 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards * 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards * 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards Royal Artillery * 55th (Wessex) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery *

* 153rd (Leicestershire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery * 75th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery *

94th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery The 94th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, (94th LAA Rgt) was an air defence unit of the British Army during World War II. Initially raised as an infantry battalion of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry in 1940, it transferred ...

Royal Engineers * 14th Field Company * 615th Field Company * 148th Field Park Company * 11th Bridging

Troop A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troop Ro ...

Signals * Guard Division Signals,

RCS RCS may refer to: Organisations *Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace * Radio Corporation of Singapore *Radcliffe Choral Society * Rawmarsh Community School *Red Crescent Society *Red Cross Society * Representation of Czechs and Slovaks, a football t ...

Reconnaissance * 2nd Household Cavalry Regiment Infantry * 1st Independent MG Company

* 4th Battalion, Grenadier Guards * 4th Battalion, Coldstream Guards * 3rd Battalion, Scots Guards 32nd Guards Infantry Brigade * 5th Battalion, Coldstream Guards * 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards * 3rd Battalion, Irish Guards * 2nd Battalion, Welsh Guards

Notable members

2nd 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 ...

Jack Kipling, son of the famous author

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

, served with the Guards Division in France as a platoon commander in the 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards. He was aged just 18, his birthday being only a month before, and was killed in the 1915

, yet exactly how he died still remains a mystery even nearly 100 years later.

Commanders

The division had the following General Officers Commanding (GOCs):

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guards Division Infantry divisions of the British Army in World War I Infantry divisions of the British Army in World War II Military units and formations established in 1915 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919 Military units and formations established in 1945 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946 1915 establishments in the United Kingdom