6th (United Kingdom) Division

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6th Division
6th Infantry Division
6th (United Kingdom) Division
6th (UK) Division badge (2019).svg
Most recent insignia of the 6th Division. A white circle on black ground
Active1812
1914–1919
1939–1940
1941
2008–2011
2019–
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
Part ofField Army
Garrison/HQTrenchard Lines, Upavon
EngagementsPeninsular War
Battle of Fuentes de Onoro
Battle of Salamanca
Battle of the Pyrenees
Battle of Orthez
First World War
First Battle of Ypres
Battle of the Somme (1916)
Battle of Cambrai (1917)
Battle of Épehy
Commanders
Current
commander		Major General Gerald M. Strickland
Notable
commanders		Richard O'Connor
WN Congreve VC, May – Nov 1915

The 6th (United Kingdom) Division is an infantry division of the British Army. It was first established by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington for service in the Peninsular War as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army and was active for most of the period since, including the First World War and the Second World War. The modern division was reformed on 1 February 2008, as a deployable two star Headquarters for service in Afghanistan during Operation Herrick. The division was officially reformed with a parade and flag presentation at York on 5 August 2008 and then disbanded in April 2011.

It was reformed as 6th (United Kingdom) Division from Force Troops Command in August 2019.

Peninsular War[]

The 6th Division was formed for service in the Peninsular War by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, it was present at the Battles of Fuentes de Onoro, Salamanca, Pyrenees and the Battle of Orthez.[1]

Formation during the Peninsular War[]

The order of battle in summer 1813 was:[2]

  • Commanding General Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton
  • 1st Brigade: Major General Hulse (to November 1812)
  • 1st Brigade: Major General Pack (from November 1812)
  • 2nd Brigade: Colonel Hinde (to November 1812)
  • 2nd Brigade: Major General Lambert (from November 1812)
    • 1/11th Foot
    • 1/32nd Foot
    • 1/36th Foot
    • 1/61st Foot
    • 1 coy., 5/60th Foot
  • Portuguese Brigade: Brigadier General de Rezende
    • 1/8th Portuguese Line
    • 2/8th Portuguese Line
    • 1/12th Portuguese Line
    • 2/12th Portuguese Line
    • 9th Caçadores

First World War[]

The 6th Division was a Regular Army division that was sent to France on 9 September 1914. It served on the Western Front for the duration of the First World War, first seeing action in the First Battle of Ypres as part of III Corps.[3]

In 1915 the division moved into the Ypres Salient to relieve troops that had fought in the Second Battle of Ypres. The Salient was relatively quiet for the rest of the year, except for an attack on the chateau at Hooge on 9 August.[4]

At the end of July 1916 the division was withdrawn, having suffered 11,000 casualties, and in September it was attached to XIV Corps where it joined in the Battle of the Somme by attacking the German fortification known as the Quadrilateral. It captured this area on 18 September. They then participated in the attacks on Morval and Le Transloy before being withdrawn on 20 October and moved into Corps Reserve. Total casualties on the Somme were 277 officers and 6,640 other ranks. In November the division moved to the relatively quiet La Bassée sector, and in March 1917 it went to the Loos sector where it conducted operations and trench raids around Hill 70.[5]

Men of the 11th (Service) Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment, the divisional pioneers, with German prisoners in Ribecourt, France, less than two hours after the village was captured, 20 November 1917.

It was withdrawn on 25 July, shortly before the final assault on the hill. From reserve, it then went to take part in the Battle of Cambrai as part of III Corps. Four days after the battle ended, the division was withdrawn to rest at Basseux. By February 1918 the division was manning the Lagnicourt Sector and was there on 22 March when the Germans launched their Spring Offensive which drove the division back and caused 3,900 casualties out of its 5,000 infantry. On 25 March the division was withdrawn to the Ypres Salient again as part of the Second Army.[6]

By September the division was part of IX Corps and took part in the Battle of Épehy, participating in the general attack on St Quentin and The Quadrilateral (not the same as the position of the same name attacked at the Somme (see above)) that began on 18 September and ended with the Quadrilateral's capture on the 25th.[7]

The division's last two major assaults of the war were in October. On the 8th they captured Bohain and on the 18th they took the high ground overlooking the Sambre–Oise Canal that prepared the way for the Battle of the Sambre.[7]

First World War formation[]

9 September 1914[]

The 6th Division embarked for France on 8 and 9 September. It was commanded by Major-General J. L. Keir, with Colonel W. T. Furse as GSO 1. Brigadier-General commanded the Royal Artillery, and Lieutenant-Colonel commanded the Royal Engineers.[8]

Later in the War[]

16th Infantry Brigade
17th Infantry Brigade (until 14 October 1915)

The brigade transferred to the 24th Division in October 1915, swapping with the 71st Brigade.

18th Infantry Brigade
  • 1st Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment
  • 1st Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment (until November 1915)
  • 2nd Battalion, Durham Light Infantry
  • 11th (Service) Battalion, Essex Regiment (from 71st Bde. October 1915)
  • 2nd Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (to 71st Bde. October 1915)
  • 14th (Service) Battalion, Durham Light Infantry (from November 1915, disbanded February 1918)
  • 1/16th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (until February 1916)
19th Infantry Brigade (until 31 May 1915)

Originally an independent brigade before being attached to the division, the 19th Brigade moved to the 27th Division in May, 1915 and was not replaced, reducing the division to the standard three infantry brigades.

71st Infantry Brigade (from 11 October 1915)
  • 9th (Service) Battalion, Norfolk Regiment
  • 9th (Service) Battalion, Suffolk Regiment (disbanded February 1918)
  • 8th (Service) Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment (to 16th Bde. November 1915)
  • 11th (Service) Battalion, Essex Regiment (to 18th Bde. October 1915)
  • 1st Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment (from 16th Bde. November 1915)
  • 2nd Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (from 18th Bde. October 1915)

The brigade joined from the 24th Division in October 1915, swapping with the 17th Brigade.

Royal Field Artillery
Royal Engineers

Second World War[]

Insignia of the 6th Infantry Division during the Second World War. A red four pointed star on white background.

During the Second World War the division did not fight as a complete formation. On 3 November 1939 it was formed in Egypt by the redesignation of the British 7th Infantry Division, under the command of Major-General R.N.O'Connor. On 17 June 1940 Divisional H.Q. became H.Q. Western Desert Force.[9] The Division effectively ceased to exist. The Division reformed in Egypt on 17 February 1941, under the command of Major-General John Evetts. From 7 to 19 April it was temporarily under command of Brigadier C.E.N. Lomax.[10]

On 18 June, when command of the allied forces fighting in the Syria-Lebanon Campaign on the southern front were reorganised, the divisional HQ was placed under Australian I Corps to command the remnants of Gentforce (5th Indian Infantry Brigade and 1st Free French Light Division). Two days later the division was joined from Egypt by 16th Infantry Brigade and on 29 June by 23rd Infantry Brigade. Gentforce force captured Damascus on 21 June. For the rest of the campaign, which ended with the Vichy French surrender on 11 July, the division was engaged with the support of Australian units[11] in attempts to force the Damascus to Beirut road through the Anti-Lebanon mountains the entrance to which was dominated by the 5,000 feet (1,500 m) high Jebel Mazar. Despite intense efforts Vichy forces maintained control of the position and the main allied effort was switched to the advance on the coast.[12]

On 29 September 1941 Major-General Evetts left and Brigadier G.N.C. Martin took acting command. Eleven days later on 10 October that year it was redesignated the 70th Infantry Division, and Major-General Ronald Scobie assumed command.[10]

Order of battle Second World War[]

  • Royal Scots Greys (2nd Dragoons) 25 Mar – 30 May 40

Artillery

Engineers

  • 2nd Field Company, Royal Engineers 19 Feb – 30 Apr 41 & 29 Jun – 9 Oct 41
  • 12th Field Company, Royal Engineers 20 May – 7 Jun 40, 5 Mar – 6 Apr 41 & 15 Jun – 9 Oct 41
  • 54th Field Company, Royal Engineers 6 Mar – 7 Apr 41 & 11 Aug – 9 Oct 41
  • 219th Field Park Company, Royal Engineers 29 Jul – 9 Oct 41
  • 6th Divisional Signals Regiment, Royal Corps of Signals 3 Nov 39 – 7 Jun 40 & 1 Mar 41 – 9 Oct 41

22nd Infantry Brigade

6 Division 3 Nov 39 – 11 Mar 40 & 10 – 17 Jun 40

22nd Guards Brigade

6 Division 17 Feb – 6 Apr 41

14th Infantry Brigade

6 Division 29 Mar – 30 May 40 & 10 Jul – 9 Oct 41

  • 2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment
  • 2nd Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment)
  • 2nd Battalion, Kings Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster)
  • 1st Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment
  • 14th Infantry Brigade Anti Tank Company

16th Infantry Brigade

6 Division 23 Mar – 7 Jun 40

23rd Infantry Brigade

6 Division 29 Jun – 9 Oct 41

Twenty-First Century[]

On 26 July 2007 the Secretary of State for Defence announced that a new 'HQ 6 Division' would reform to direct the International Security Assistance Force's Regional Command South in Afghanistan.[13] Des Browne said 'In order to meet these temporary demands we have decided to augment the forces’ command structure, and will temporarily establish an additional 2-Star deployable HQ. It will be based in York and will be known as HQ 6 Division, with a core of 55 Service personnel, drawn from existing structures. We will keep our planning assumption under review but currently we assess this HQ will be established until 2011.'[14] Major General J D Page OBE took command of the new HQ with effect from 1 February 2008.[15]

The new divisional headquarters, Headquarters 6th (United Kingdom) Division, marked its formation with a parade and flag presentation in York 5 August 2008.[16] It had a clear focus on preparing brigades for Afghanistan and was based at Imphal Barracks, Fulford, York.During summer 2009, the divisional headquarters was significantly reinforced and transformed into Combined Joint Task Force 6 before deploying to Afghanistan as Regional Command South in November 2009.[17] The division headquarters closed in April 2011.[18]

Afghanistan War Formation[]

(November 2009)

Regional Command South[19] – Kandahar Airfield

  • 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland – regional reserve

Task Force Helmand – British 11th Light Brigade

  • The Light Dragoons
  • 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards
  • 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards
  • 2nd Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment
  • 3rd Battalion, The Rifles
  • Danish Battle Group 8

Task Force Kandahar – Canadian 1st Mechanized Brigade Group

Task Force Leatherneck – US 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade

Task Force Uruzgan – Dutch 11th Airmobile Brigade

– Romanian 2nd Mountain Brigade

  • 280th Infantry Battalion

Task Force Stryker - US 5th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division[20]

Re-formed in 2019[]

Force Troops Command was renamed as 6th (United Kingdom) Division on 1 August 2019, and formed up with sub-units consisting of 1st Signal Brigade, 11th Signal Brigade, 1st Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade, 77th Brigade and the Specialised Infantry Group.[21][22] As of 16 October 2020, 11th Signal Brigade has reassigned from 6th Division to 3rd Division as of 16 October 2020.[23][24] It will sit alongside restructured 1st UK Division and 3rd UK Division under the Field Army.[25][26]

In later August 2021, the Specialised Infantry Group was redesignated as the Army Special Operations Brigade.[27][28]

Structure as of October 2020

General Officers Commanding[]

Commanders have included:[15]

  • 1905–1906 Major-General Arthur Wynne
  • 1906–1907 Major-General Theodore Stephenson
  • 1907–1909 Major-General Lawrence Parsons
  • 1909–1910 Major-General Charles Metcalfe
  • 1910–1914 Major-General William Pulteney
  • 1914–1915 Major-General John Keir
  • May 1915 – Nov 1915 Major-General Walter Congreve
  • 1915–1917 Major-General Charles Ross
  • 1917–1919 Major-General Thomas Marden
  • 1919–1922 Major-General Sir Peter Strickland
  • 1939–1940 Major-General Richard O'Connor
  • Jan 1941 – Sep 1941 John Evetts
  • 2008–2009 Major-General Jacko Page
  • 2009–2011 Major-General Nick Carter[29]
  • 2019–2021 Major-General James Bowder[30]
  • 2021–present Major-General Gerald Strickland[31]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Smith 1998, pp. 501–504
  2. ^ Lipscombe, Nick (2014). Bayonne and Toulouse 1813–14: Wellington invades France. Osprey. p. 23. ISBN 978-1472802774.
  3. ^ "6th Division". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  4. ^ Marden, Thomas Owen (2006). "A Short History of the 6th Division, Chapter V". Hugh Rees.
  5. ^ Marden, Thomas Owen (2006). "A Short History of the 6th Division, Chapter VII". Hugh Rees.
  6. ^ Marden, Thomas Owen (2006). "A Short History of the 6th Division, Chapter X". Hugh Rees.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Marden, Thomas Owen (2006). "A Short History of the 6th Division, Chapter XI". Hugh Rees.
  8. ^ Appendix 1: Order of battle of the British Expeditionary Force, August 1914. In: History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium 1914, by J. E. Edmonds. Macmillan & Co., London, 1922. – for all details on Expeditionary Force units
  9. ^ Playfair, Vol. I, page 97.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b "6th Infantry Division". Unit Histories. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  11. ^ Long 1953, p. 535.
  12. ^ Cave, Terry (2012). The Battle Honours of the Second World War 1939-1945 and Korea 1950-1953 (British and Colonial Regiments). Andrews UK. p. 55. ISBN 978-1843426943.
  13. ^ Press release from MoD quoting Browne Archived 18 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Westminster, Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons. "House of Commons Hansard Ministerial Statements for 26 July 2007 (pt 0002)". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b "Army Commands" (PDF). 26 July 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016.
  16. ^ "mod.uk". Archived from the original on 31 March 2012.
  17. ^ 6th Division at Ministry of Defence website Archived 15 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ Military headquarters dissolved at Imphal Barracks York Press, 4 April 2011
  19. ^ Institute for the Study of War Archived 2 February 2012 at the Library of Congress Web Archives November 2009 Page
  20. ^ Tunnel, Colonel Harry. "Task Force Stryker Network-Centric Operations in Afghanistan" (PDF).
  21. ^ "Army restructures to confront evolving threats". Ministry of Defence. London. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  22. ^ "Army sixth division focuses on cyber, electronic warfare, intelligence, information operations". The Cyber Security Source. Twickenham. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  23. ^ @3rdUKDivision (16 October 2020). "Today we welcome 11th Signals & West Midlands Bde to @3rdUKDivision.@R_Signals soldiers enable our command & control systems & are now with us at the forefront of national operations. Welcome to the Iron Division!@BritishArmy@3UKDivComdSM @11SigWMBde" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  24. ^ "11th Signal Brigade". army.mod.uk. British Army. 16 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  25. ^ Burgess, Sally (1 August 2019). "British Army to train cyber spies to combat hackers and digital propaganda". Sky News. London. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  26. ^ Nicholls, Dominic (1 August 2019). "British Army to engage in social media warfare as new cyber division unveiled". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  27. ^ "First glimpse of 'Future Soldier'". Soldier Magazine. 1 August 2021. p. 14.
  28. ^ "New British Army brigade: reshaping UK special operations for the better?". IISS. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  29. ^ "ISAF Who's Who".
  30. ^ "No. 62720". The London Gazette. 23 July 2019. p. 13064.
  31. ^ "No. 63464". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 September 2021. p. 15746.

Bibliography[]

  • Long, Gavin (1953). Greece, Crete and Syria. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 – Army, Volume II (1st ed.). Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australian War Memorial. OCLC 3134080.
  • Playfair, Major-General I.S.O.; Molony, Brigadier C.J.C.; with Flynn, Captain F.C. (R.N.) & Gleave, Group Captain T.P. (2009) [1st. pub. HMSO:1954]. Butler, Sir James (ed.). The Mediterranean and Middle East, Volume I: The Early Successes Against Italy, to May 1941. History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series. Uckfield, UK: Naval & Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84574-065-8.
  • Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill. ISBN 1-85367-276-9.
  • 'Orders of Battle Volume I United Kingdom and Colonial Formations and Units in the Second World War 1939–1945', Lieutenant Colonel HF Joslen. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1960.

External links[]

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