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 mar ...

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 Gurkha ...

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 from the

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

. The division 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 maj ...

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 opposi ...

which was formed on 12 June 1945 from the Guards Armoured Division 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 List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

(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 his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother ...

approved the formation of a Guards Division and in August 1915 the division was formed at Lumbres, near St Omer, France. The

4th (Guards) Brigade The 4th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that served in both First and Second World Wars. During both world wars, it was part of the 2nd Infantry Division. History As the Second Boer War ended in 1902 the army was r ...

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 ...

and two more transferred from

1st (Guards) Brigade First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

, 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 ...

(M.G.)

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared ...

of 16 machine guns, and between March and May 1916 each brigade was also provided with a Trench Mortar (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 Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

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 s ...

. 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 column ...

, 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 head ...

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 (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 be ...

, 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 on the villages of Morval, Gueudecourt and Lesbœufs held by the German 1st Army, which had been the final objectives of ...

(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 (31 August2 July), the

Battle of Poelcappelle The Battle of Poelcappelle was fought in Flanders, Belgium, on 9 October 1917 by the British Second Army and Fifth Army against the German 4th Army, during the First World War. The battle marked the end of the string of highly successful Briti ...

(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

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 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 (26 August3 September), the Battles of the Hindenburg Line (12 September12 October), and in the Final Advance in Picardy 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 Ais ...

. 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 bord ...

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.

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 state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

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 Guards Armoured Division. The division retained all of its original units, but with some changes: *

5th Guards Armoured Brigade The 5th Guards Armoured Brigade was an armoured brigade of the British Army, a component unit of the Guards Armoured Division, that served in the Second World War in North-west Europe from June 1944 until May 1945. History This brigade was co ...

(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 and joined the division on 19 June * 92nd (5th London) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery 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 Guards Armoured Division, 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 * 92nd (5th London) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery * 153rd (Leicestershire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery * 75th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery * 94th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery 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 Tr ...

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 ...

Reconnaissance * 2nd Household Cavalry Regiment Infantry * 1st Independent MG Company 6th Guards Brigade * 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

Jack Kipling John Kipling (17 August 1897 – 27 September 1915) was the only son of British author Rudyard Kipling. In the First World War, his father used his influence to get him a commission in the British Army despite being decisively rejected for poo ...

, 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