British 3rd Division (World War I)
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
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The British 3rd Division, known as the Iron Division, was originally formed in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington for service in the Peninsula War. During the First World War it was a permanently established Regular Army division that was amongst the first to be sent to France at the outbreak of the war. It served on the Western Front for the duration.
See British 3rd Infantry Division for World War II history.
The division's I insignia was an St Andrew's Cross over a circle in yellow.
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Unit history
Formation
- 7th Brigade (to October 18 1915)
- 3rd Battalion, The Worcester Regiment
- 2nd Battalion, The South Lancashire Regiment
- 1/4th Battalion, The South Lancashire Regiment
- 1st Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment
- 2nd Battalion, the Royal Irish Rifles
- 1/1st Battalion, the Honourable Artillery Company
The brigade moved to the 25th Division in October 1915 and was replaced by the 76th Brigade.
- 8th Brigade
- 2nd Battalion, the Royal Scots Regiment
- 8th (Service) Battalion, The East Yorkshire Regiment
- 7th (Service) Battalion, the King's Shropshire Light Infantry
- 1st Battalion, the Royal Scots Fusiliers
The following battalions joined the brigade for periods in 1914 and 1915.
- 2nd Battalion, the Royal Irish Regiment (from August 1914 to March 1915)
- 4th Battalion, The Middlesex Regiment (from August 1914 to November 1915)
The following battalions joined the brigade for periods in 1915 and 1916.
- 13th (Service) Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment) (from October 1915 to April 1916)
- 1/5th (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (from October 1915 to February 1916)
The following battalions left the brigade for the 76th Brigade when it joined the division in October 1915:
- 2nd Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment (from October 1914)
- 1st Battalion, the Gordon Highlanders (from August 1914)
- 1/4th Battalion, the Gordon Highlanders (from February 1915)
- 9th Brigade
- 1st Battalion, the Northumberland Fusiliers
- 4th Battalion, the Royal Fusiliers
- 12th (Service) Battalion, The West Yorkshire Regiment (from November 1915)
- 13th (Service) Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment) (from April 1916)
Other battalions to serve with the brigade were:
- 1/10th (Scottish) Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment) (from November 1914 to January 1916)
- 1st Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment (from August 1914 to November 1915)
- 1st Battalion, the Royal Scots Fusiliers (from August 1914 to April 1916)
The brigade moved to the 28th Division for a brief period in early 1915.
- 76th Brigade (from October 15 1915)
- 8th (Service) Battalion, The King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment)
- 13th (Service) Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment)
- 10th (Service) Battalion, the Royal Welch Fusiliers
- 2nd Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment
- 1st Battalion, the Gordon Highlanders
- 1/4th Battalion, the Gordon Highlanders (until February 1916)
The brigade joined the division from the 25th Division in October 1915.
Battles
External links
- The British Army in the Great War: The 3rd Division (http://www.1914-1918.net/3div.htm)
