ActiveAugust 1914 – January 1919 CountryUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The 10th (Irish) Division, was one of the first of Kitchener's New Army K1 Army Group divisions (formed from Kitchener's 'first hundred thousand' new volunteers), authorized on 21 August 1914, after the outbreak of the Great War. It included battalions from the various provinces of Ireland. It was led by Irish General Bryan Mahon and fought at Gallipoli, Salonika and Palestine. It was the first of the Irish Divisions to take to the field and was the most travelled of the Irish formations. The division served as a formation of the United Kingdom's British Army during World War I.
Formed in Ireland on 21 August 1914, the 10th Division was sent to Gallipoli where, as part of General Sir Frederick Stopford's IX Corps, at Suvla Bay on 7 August it participated in the Landing at Suvla Bay and the August offensive. Some battalions of the division were landed at Anzac and fought at Chunuk Bair.
In September 1915, when the Suvla front became a stalemate, the division was moved to Salonika where it remained for two years and fought the Battle of Kosturino.
The division moved to Egypt in September 1917 where it joined General Chetwode's XX Corps. It fought in the Third Battle of Gaza which succeeded in breaking the resistance of the Turkish defenders in southern Palestine.
Heavy losses on the Western Front following Operation Michael, the great German Spring Offensive in 1918, resulted in the transfer of ten of the division's battalions from Palestine to France, their place being taken by Indian Army units. This left only one British battalion per brigade. The remainder of the division remained in Palestine until the end of the war with Turkey on 31 October 1918.
On 12 November 1918 the Division concentrated at Sarafand, ready for moving back to Egypt. By 1 December it had returned to Cairo.
Order of battle
The division comprised the following brigades:
29th Brigade
5th Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment (August 1914 – June 1915, then became the divisional pioneer battalion)
6th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles (August 1914 – May 1918, then disbanded)
5th Battalion, Connaught Rangers (September 1914 – April 1918, transferred to 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division)
6th Battalion, Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) (August 1914 – April 1918, transferred to 14th (Light) Division)