This is the order of battle for the Battle of the Somme. The Battle of the Somme was an offensive fought on the Western Front during

World War I 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 ...

from 1 July to 18 November 1916 as one of the greatest engagements of the war. It was fought between French,

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

Dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 192 ...

forces and the German Empire in the

Somme River The Somme ( , , ) is a river in Picardy, northern France. The river is in length, from its source in the high ground of the former at Fonsomme near Saint-Quentin, to the Bay of the Somme, in the English Channel. It lies in the geolog ...

valley and vicinity in northern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Background

British and Dominion forces

In typical British county regiments, the 1st and 2nd Battalions were regular army, the 3rd was the special reserve battalion which did not normally serve overseas but remained at home as the regimental depot and training unit, from which replacements were sent to the regular battalions. The 4th, 5th and 6th Battalions were normally

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 ...

battalions. Amongst the terms of service in the Territorial Force, service outside the United Kingdom was voluntary. Territorial battalions raised second line battalions which would be numbered 2/4th, 2/5th and 2/6th, initially from men who declined to volunteer for overseas service. The number of battalions depended on the recruitment potential of the area from which the battalions were raised (the Dorsetshire Regiment raised eleven battalions, whilst the London Regiment managed to raise eighty-eight battalions). Regular army divisions were numbered 1st to 8th. "New Army" divisions of Kitchener's Army raised after the outbreak of war were numbered 9th to 26th. The 27th to 29th Divisions were Regular army divisions made up from units recalled from garrisons around the empire. The 30th to 41st were New Army and the 42nd to 74th were Territorial. The 63rd Division (

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 ...

) was made up from Naval Reserves and did not follow this numbering pattern.

Army and Corps organisation

Army

* British Expeditionary Force: Commander: General Sir Douglas Haig (since 10 December 1915) ** Third Army: Army Commander: General Sir

Edmund Allenby Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, (23 April 1861 – 14 May 1936) was a senior British Army officer and Imperial Governor. He fought in the Second Boer War and also in the First World War, in which he led th ...

** Fourth Army: The Fourth Army was formed on 5 February 1916. Army Commander: General Sir Henry Rawlinson.Western Front Association website ** Reserve Army: The Reserve Army was formed on 23 May 1916 and took over VIII and X Corps from the Fourth Army on 4 July 1916, during the Battle of Albert.Liddle p.174 Army Commander: General Sir

Hubert Gough General Sir Hubert de la Poer Gough ( ; 12 August 1870 – 18 March 1963) was a senior officer in the British Army in the First World War. A favourite of the British Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, he experienced a meteori ...

** Fifth Army: The Reserve Army was renamed the Fifth Army on 30 October 1916

Corps

* II Corps. Corps Commander: Lieutenant-General

Claud Jacob Field Marshal Sir Claud William Jacob, (21 November 1863 – 2 June 1948) was a British Indian Army officer. He served in the First World War as commander of the Dehra Dun Brigade, as General Officer Commanding 21st Division and as General Offi ...

* III Corps. Corps Commander: Major-General Henry Hudson later replaced by Lieutenant-General Sir William Pulteney *

V Corps 5th Corps, Fifth Corps, or V Corps may refer to: France * 5th Army Corps (France) * V Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * V Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Ar ...

. Corps Commander: Lieutenant-General

Edward Fanshawe Admiral Sir Edward Gennys Fanshawe, (27 November 1814 – 21 October 1906) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth. He was a gifted amateur artist, with much of his work in the National Maritime Museum, London. ...

VII Corps 7th Corps, Seventh Corps, or VII Corps may refer to: * VII Corps (Grande Armée), a corps of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World War I * VII ...

. Corps Commander: Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas d'Oyly Snow *

VIII Corps 8th Corps, Eighth Corps, or VIII Corps may refer to: * VIII Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VIII Army Corps (German Confederation) * VIII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Ar ...

. Corps Commander: Lieutenant-General

Aylmer Hunter-Weston Lieutenant General Sir Aylmer Gould Hunter-Weston (23 September 1864 – 18 March 1940) was a British Army officer who served in World War I at Gallipoli in 1915 and in the very early stages of the Somme Offensive in 1916. He was also a Scottis ...

X Corps 10th Corps, Tenth Corps, or X Corps may refer to: France * 10th Army Corps (France) * X Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars Germany * X Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army * ...

. Corps Commander: Lieutenant-General Sir

Thomas Morland General Sir Thomas Lethbridge Napier Morland, (9 August 1865 – 21 May 1925) was a senior British Army officer during the First World War. Early life Born in Montreal, Canada East, Morland was the son of Thomas Morland and Helen Servante. Ed ...

* XIII Corps. Corps Commander: Lieutenant-General

Walter Congreve General Sir Walter Norris Congreve, (20 November 1862 – 28 February 1927), was a British Army officer in the Second Boer War and the First World War, and Governor of Malta from 1924 to 1927. He received the Victoria Cross, the highest award f ...

VC *

XIV Corps 14 Corps, 14th Corps, Fourteenth Corps, or XIV Corps may refer to: * XIV Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XIV Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World ...

. Corps Commander: Lieutenant-General

Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan Field Marshal Frederick Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan, (16 October 1865 – 28 August 1946), known as Viscount Kilcoursie from 1887 until 1900, was a British Army officer and Chief of the Imperial General Staff. He served in the Seco ...

XV Corps 15th Corps, Fifteenth Corps, or XV Corps may refer to: *XV Corps (British India) * XV Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World War I * 15th Army Corps (Russian Empire), a unit in World War I *XV Royal Bav ...

. Corps Commander: Lieutenant General D.M.G. Campbell, then Lt–Gen Henry Horne then Lt–General John du Cane * Canadian Corps. Corps Commander: Lieutenant-General the Honourable Sir

Julian Byng Field Marshal Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, (11 September 1862 – 6 June 1935) was a British Army officer who served as Governor General of Canada, the 12th since the Canadian Confederation. Known to friends as "Bun ...

* ANZAC Corps. Corps Commander: Lieutenant-General Sir

William Birdwood Field Marshal William Riddell Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, (13 September 1865 – 17 May 1951) was a British Army officer. He saw active service in the Second Boer War on the staff of Lord Kitchener. He saw action again in the First World War ...

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 tanks ...

French Sixth Army, which contained British or Dominion forces: * 20th Army Corps.Doughty p. 291 The 11th and 39th Divisions were attached to the French XX Corps ( Sixth Army) for the opening days of the battle. * 35th Army Corps. The British 2nd Division was detached to XXXV Corps, Sixth Army.

Formations per battle

Refer following section titled "Divisions" for brigades, regiments and battalions associated with each division participating in the listed battles. Battle nomenclature and participating units information taken from source British Army Council Command Notice 1138 unless stated.

Battle of Albert: 1–13 July

* Capture of Montauban * Capture of Mametz *

Capture of Fricourt Fricourt is a village that was fought over in July 1916, during the Battle of the Somme, which took place in France during the First World War. Fricourt is from Albert, Somme, Albert, north of Bray-sur-Somme, Bray and west of Mametz, Somme, Mam ...

* Capture of Contalmaison *

Capture of La Boisselle The Capture of La Boisselle (1–6 July 1916) was a tactical incident during the Battle of Albert, the name given by the British to the first two weeks of the Battle of the Somme. The village of La Boisselle forms part of the small commune of ...

Britsh 4th Army Battle of the Somme 1 JUL 1916

=Subsidiary
Attack on the Gommecourt Salient The Attack on the Gommecourt Salient was a British operation against the northern flank of the German 2nd Army. The attack took place on 1 July 1916, on the Western Front in France, during the First World War. The attack was conducted by the Br ...
: 1 July

Battle of Bazentin Ridge The Battle of Bazentin Ridge was part of the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front in France, during the First World War. On 14 July, the British Fourth Army (General Henry Rawlinson) made a dawn attack against the German 2nd Army (Gener ...
: 14–17 July

* Capture of Longueval * Capture of Trônes Wood * Capture of Ovillers

=Subsidiary Attack at Fromelles: 19 July

=Subsidiary Attacks on High Wood: 20–25 July

Battle of
Delville Wood The Battle of Delville Wood was a series of engagements in the 1916 Battle of the Somme in the First World War, between the armies of the German Empire and the British Empire. Delville Wood , was a thick tangle of trees, chiefly beech and ...
: 15 July – 3 September

Battle of Pozières: 23 July – 3 September

* Fighting for Mouquet Farm

Battle of Guillemont: 3–6 September

Battle of Ginchy: 9 September

Battle of Flers-Courcelette: 15–22 September

* Capture of Martinpuich Going over the top 01

Battle of Morval: 25–28 September

* Capture of Combles * Capture of Lesbœufs * Capture of Gueudecourt

Battle of Thiepval: 26–28 September

Battle of Le Transloy The Battle of Le Transloy was the last big attack by the Fourth Army of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the 1916 Battle of the Somme in France, during the First World War. The battle was fought in conjunction with attacks by the Frenc ...
: 1–18 October

* Capture of Eaucourt l'Abbaye * Capture of Le Sars * Attacks on the Butte de Warlencourt

Battle of the Ancre Heights: 1–18 October

Capture of Schwaben Redoubt The Capture of Schwaben Redoubt () was a tactical incident in the Battle of the Somme, 1916 during the First World War. The redoubt was a German strong point long and wide, built in stages since 1915, near the village of Thiepval and overlook ...

* Capture of Stuff Redoubt *

Capture of Regina Trench The Capture of Regina Trench () was a tactical incident in 1916 during the Battle of the Somme during the First World War. Regina Trench was the Canadian name for a German trench dug along the north-facing slope of a ridge running from north- ...

Battle of the Ancre The Battle of the Ancre was fought by the British Fifth Army ( Lieutenant-General Hubert Gough), against the German 1st Army (General Fritz von Below). The Reserve Army had been renamed the Fifth Army on 30 October. The battle was the la ...
: 13–16 November

* Capture of Beaumont-Hamel

Divisions

Regular Army and Naval divisions

New Army divisions

Territorial divisions

Dominion divisions

Royal Flying Corps

* No. 1 Squadron RFC * No. 2 Squadron RFC * No. 3 Squadron RFC * No. 4 Squadron RFC * No. 6 Squadron RFC * No. 9 Squadron RFC * No. 10 Squadron RFC * No. 41 Squadron RFC * No. 70 Squadron RFC

French forces

A majority of the French Divisions were

triangular division A triangular division is a designation given to the way military divisions are organized. In a triangular organization, the division's main body is composed of three regimental maneuver elements. These regiments may be controlled by a brigade hea ...

s – comprising three regiments, with each regiment containing three battalions. During the

Battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun (french: Bataille de Verdun ; german: Schlacht um Verdun ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...

, General Pétain had rotated the French Divisions through the battle – resulting in a large number of divisions entering the Battle of the Somme with experience.

Army and corps organisation

List of Army/Corps/Divisions involved taken from .
french: Organigramme des Grandes Batailles. Accessed 2010-07-01.

Army

* Northern Army Group () Commander: General

Ferdinand Foch Ferdinand Foch ( , ; 2 October 1851 – 20 March 1929) was a French general and military theorist who served as the Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. An aggressive, even reckless commander at the First Marne, Flanders and Ar ...

** Sixth Army: Army Commander: General

Marie Émile Fayolle Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tr ...

** Tenth Army: Army Commander: General

Joseph Alfred Micheler Joseph Alfred Micheler (23 September 1861 Phalsbourg, France – 17 March 1931 Nice, France) was a French general in the First World War. Life Born in Phalsbourg, Moselle from a Lorrainian family which preferred to be French than German when the ...

Corps

* I Corps. Corps Commander: General

Adolphe Guillaumat Marie Louis Adolphe Guillaumat (4 January 1863 – 18 May 1940) was a French Army general during World War I. Early years Adolphe Guillaumat was born in Bourgneuf, Charente-Maritime. He graduated first from his class of 1884 at the Saint-Cyr m ...

* II Corps. Corps Commander: General

Denis Auguste Duchêne Denis Auguste Duchene (23 September 1862 - 9 June 1950) was a French World War I general. He was born on 23 September 1862 at Juzennecourt, Haute-Marne and died on 9 June 1950 at Bihorel, Seine-Inférieure. He was promoted General de Brigade (b ...

* V Corps. Corps Commander: General

Antoine Baucheron de Boissoudy Antoine Baucheron de Boissoudy (Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, France, 12 October 1864 – Paris, 17 March 1926) was a French General in the First World War. He was the son of Admiral Philippe Baucheron de Boissoudy and studied at the École spécial ...

* VI Corps. Corps Commander: General Marie Jean Auguste Paulinier * VII Corps. Corps Commander: General Georges de Bazelaire * IX Corps. Corps Commander: General Horace Fernand Achille Pentel * XI Corps. Corps Commander: General

Charles Mangin Charles Emmanuel Marie Mangin (6 July 1866 – 12 May 1925) was a French general during World War I. Early career Charles Mangin was born on 6 July 1866 in Sarrebourg. After initially failing to gain entrance to Saint-Cyr, he joined the 77th ...

* XX Corps. Corps Commander: Generals Georges Prosper Anne Claret de la Touche and Émile Alexis Mazillier * XXI Corps. Corps Commander: General Paul Maistre * XXX Corps. Corps Commander: General Paul Chrétien * XXXII Corps. Corps Commander: Generals

Henri Mathias Berthelot Henri Mathias Berthelot (7 December 1861 – 29 January 1931) was a French general during World War I. He held an important staff position under Joseph Joffre, the French commander-in-chief, at the First Battle of the Marne, before later command ...

and Marie-Eugène Debeney * XXXIII Corps. Corps Commander: General Alphonse Nudant * XXXV Corps. Corps Commander: General Charles Jacquot * I Colonial Corps. Corps Commander: General Pierre Berdoulat * II Colonial Corps. Corps Commander: General Ernest Joseph Blondlat * I Cavalry Corps. Corps Commander: General Louis Conneau * II Cavalry Corps. Corps Commander: General

Antoine de Mitry Antoine de Mitry ( Leménil-Mitry, 20 September 1857 – 18 August 1924) was a French army general during World War I,. He entered the Ecole Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr in 1875, and afterwards joined the cavalry. A colonel in 1910, he comm ...

(Note: A majority of the corps and divisions were transferred from other armies during the battle.)

Infantry divisions

* 1st Infantry Division * 2nd Infantry Division * 3rd Infantry Division * 4th Infantry Division * 10th Infantry Division * 11th Infantry Division * 12th Infantry Division * 13th Infantry Division * 14th Infantry Division * 17th Infantry Division * 18th Infantry Division * 20th Infantry Division * 25th Infantry Division * 26th Infantry Division * 39th Infantry Division * 41st Infantry Division * 42nd Infantry Division * 43rd Infantry Division * 45th Infantry Division * 46th Infantry Division * 47th Infantry Division * 48th Infantry Division * 51st Infantry Division * 53rd Infantry Division * 56th Infantry Division * 61st Infantry Division * 62nd Infantry Division * 66th Infantry Division * 70th Infantry Division * 72nd Infantry Division * 77th Infantry Division * 120th Infantry Division * 121st Infantry Division * 125th Infantry Division * 127th Infantry Division * 132nd Infantry Division * 152nd Infantry Division * 153rd Infantry Division * Moroccan Infantry Division * 2nd Colonial Infantry Division * 3rd Colonial Infantry Division * 10th Colonial Infantry Division * 15th Colonial Infantry Division * 16th Colonial Infantry Division

Cavalry divisions

* 1st Cavalry Division * 2nd Cavalry Division * 3rd Cavalry Division * 4th Cavalry Division

German: 2nd Army

German order of battle derived from ''Hart, Appendix C'' unless stated.
Commander:

Fritz von Below Fritz Theodor Carl von Below (23 September 1853 – 23 November 1918) was a Prussian general in the German Army during the First World War. He commanded troops during the Battle of the Somme, the Second Battle of the Aisne, and the German sprin ...

On 19 July, split into the 1st Army (opposite the British) and the 2nd Army, Commander:

General der Artillerie General der Artillerie ( en: General of the artillery) may mean: 1. A rank of three-star general, comparable to modern armed forces OF-8 grade, in the Imperial German Army and its contingency armies of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Württembe ...

Max von Gallwitz Max Karl Wilhelm von Gallwitz (2 May 1852 – 18 April 1937) was a German general from Breslau (Wrocław), Silesia, who served with distinction during World War I on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. Biography Gallwitz grew up in a Cath ...

(opposite the French) with authority over the 1st Army as , this was not an army group, the term for which was
Chief of the

German General Staff The German General Staff, originally the Prussian General Staff and officially the Great General Staff (german: Großer Generalstab), was a full-time body at the head of the Prussian Army and later, the German Army, responsible for the continuou ...

: Erich Falkenhayn (until 28 August 1916),

Paul von Hindenburg Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fr ...

. German divisions were being converted from

square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...

to triangular, hence some had four infantry regiments, others had three.

Guards divisions

Line divisions

Guards Reserve divisions

Reserve Infantry divisions

''Ersatz'' divisions

Notes

Citations and references

Citations

References

Books * * * * * * * * * * Websites * * * *

External links

Order of Battle of British Infantry Units, 1 July 1916, Imperial War Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of The Somme Battle of the Somme Somme Somme Somme Somme Somme Somme Somme Somme Somme 1916 in France

Background

British and Dominion forces

Army and Corps organisation

Army

Corps

Formations per battle

Battle of Albert: 1–13 July

Battle of Bazentin Ridge The Battle of Bazentin Ridge was part of the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front in France, during the First World War. On 14 July, the British Fourth Army (General Henry Rawlinson) made a dawn attack against the German 2nd Army (Gener ...: 14–17 July

=Subsidiary Attack at Fromelles: 19 July

=Subsidiary Attacks on High Wood: 20–25 July

Battle of Delville Wood The Battle of Delville Wood was a series of engagements in the 1916 Battle of the Somme in the First World War, between the armies of the German Empire and the British Empire. Delville Wood , was a thick tangle of trees, chiefly beech and ...: 15 July – 3 September

Battle of Pozières: 23 July – 3 September

Battle of Guillemont: 3–6 September

Battle of Ginchy: 9 September

Battle of Flers-Courcelette: 15–22 September

Battle of Morval: 25–28 September

Battle of Thiepval: 26–28 September

Battle of Le Transloy The Battle of Le Transloy was the last big attack by the Fourth Army of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the 1916 Battle of the Somme in France, during the First World War. The battle was fought in conjunction with attacks by the Frenc ...: 1–18 October

Battle of the Ancre Heights: 1–18 October

Battle of the Ancre The Battle of the Ancre was fought by the British Fifth Army ( Lieutenant-General Hubert Gough), against the German 1st Army (General Fritz von Below). The Reserve Army had been renamed the Fifth Army on 30 October. The battle was the la ...: 13–16 November

Divisions

Regular Army and Naval divisions

New Army divisions

Territorial divisions

Dominion divisions

Royal Flying Corps

French forces

Army and corps organisation

Army

Corps

Infantry divisions

Cavalry divisions

German: 2nd Army

Guards divisions

Line divisions

Guards Reserve divisions

Reserve Infantry divisions

''Ersatz'' divisions

Notes

Citations and references

Citations

References

Further reading

External links

Battle of Bazentin Ridge The Battle of Bazentin Ridge was part of the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front in France, during the First World War. On 14 July, the British Fourth Army (General Henry Rawlinson) made a dawn attack against the German 2nd Army (Gener ...
: 14–17 July

Battle of
Delville Wood The Battle of Delville Wood was a series of engagements in the 1916 Battle of the Somme in the First World War, between the armies of the German Empire and the British Empire. Delville Wood , was a thick tangle of trees, chiefly beech and ...
: 15 July – 3 September

Battle of Le Transloy The Battle of Le Transloy was the last big attack by the Fourth Army of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the 1916 Battle of the Somme in France, during the First World War. The battle was fought in conjunction with attacks by the Frenc ...
: 1–18 October

Battle of the Ancre The Battle of the Ancre was fought by the British Fifth Army ( Lieutenant-General Hubert Gough), against the German 1st Army (General Fritz von Below). The Reserve Army had been renamed the Fifth Army on 30 October. The battle was the la ...
: 13–16 November