The 4th Division was originally formed in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, for service in the Peninsular War. It fought in the Battle of Talavera and the Battle of Salamanca, Battle of Badajoz and the Battle of Roncesvalles, Battle of Vitoria, Battle of the Pyrenees, Battle of Orthez, Battle of Toulouse.
(from January 1812)
Major General Sir Charles Colville (to April 1812) Major General Lowry Cole (from June 1812)
1st Brigade: Major General Kemmis
3/27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot
1/40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot
1/48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot (from October 1812)
2nd Provisional Battalion (2nd & 1/53rd Regiments of Foot) (from December 1812)
1 Coy., 5/60th (Royal American) Regiment of Foot
2nd Brigade: Major General Sir Edward Pakenham
1/7th Regiment of Foot (Royal Fusiliers)
2/7th Regiment of Foot (Royal Fusiliers) (November 1810 to May 1811)
20th (East Devonshire) Regiment of Foot (from November 1812)
1/23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fusiliers)
1/48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot (to October 1812)
1/82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunteers) (October to November 1812)
1 Coy., Brunswick-Oels Jaegers
3rd Brigade: Major General Skerrett (October to December 1812)
3/1st Foot Guards
2/47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot
2/87th (Prince of Wales's Irish) Regiment of Foot
2 Cos., 2/95th Regiment of Foot (Rifles)
Portuguese Brigade: Major General Collins
1/11th Line Infantry of the Portuguese Army
2/11th Line Infantry of the Portuguese Army
1/23rd Line Infantry of the Portuguese Army
2/23rd Line Infantry of the Portuguese Army
7th Caçadores of the Portuguese Army
At the Battle of Waterloo it was tasked with holding Wellington's right flank and, with the exception of its 4th brigade, took no active part in the fighting, but did capture the town of Cambrai afterwards.
The commanding general at this time was Charles Colville. In his novel Les Misérables Victor Hugo credits Colville with asking for the surrender of the Imperial Guard at Waterloo and receiving General Cambronne's reply of "Merde".
Commanding General Major-General Sir Charles Colville
4th Brigade – Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Henry Mitchell
3/14th (Buckinghamshire) Regiment of Foot
1/23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welch Fusiliers)
51st (2nd Yorkshire West Riding) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry)
6th Brigade – Major-General George Johnstone
2/35th (Sussex) Regiment of Foot
54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot
59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot
1/91st (Argyllshire) Regiment of Foot
6th Hanoverian Brigade – Major-General Sir James Lyon
Field Battalion Calenberg
Field Battalion Lauenburg
Landwehr Battalion Bentheim
Landwehr Battalion Hoya
Landwehr Battalion Nienburg
The Division was also called for service during the Crimean War fought between the allied forces of the United Kingdom, French Empire and the Ottoman Empire on one side and Russia on the other. It saw action in the Battle of Alma the Battle of Inkerman and the Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 (famous for the Charge of the Light Brigade and the Thin Red Line).
Commanding General: Major General Sir George Cathcart
7th Brigade: Brigadier General Torrens
20th (East Devonshire) Regiment of Foot
21st Royal Scots Fusiliers
68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry)
8th Brigade
46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot
57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot
one field battery royal Artillery
As a permanently established Regular Army division it was amongst the first to be sent to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force at the outbreak of the First World War. It served on the Western Front for the duration of the war and was present during all the major offensives including the Battle of the Marne, Battle of Ypres, Battle of the Somme and the Battle of Passchendaele.
The order of battle of 4th Division during the First World War was as follows:
10th Brigade
1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment
2nd Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders
1st Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers (left August 1917)
2nd Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers (left November 1916)
10th Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps (formed 22 December 1915, moved to 4th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps 26 February 1918)
10th Trench Mortar Battery (formed June 1916)
1/7th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (from January 1915 until March 1916)
1/9th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (from May to July 1915)
Household Battalion (from November 1916 until February 1918)
3/10th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (from August 1917 until February 1918)
2nd Battalion, Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) (from February 1918)
11th Brigade
1st Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry
1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment (left February 1918)
1st Battalion, Hampshire Regiment
1st Battalion, Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)
1/5th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (London Rifle Brigade) (from November 1914 until May 1915)
2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment (from July 1915 until May 1916)
11th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps (formed 23 December 1915, moved to 4th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps 26 February 1918)
11th Trench Mortar Battery (formed June 1916)
12th Brigade
1st Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster)
2nd Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers
2nd Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (left December 1914)
2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment
1/2nd Battalion, Monmouthshire Regiment (until January 1916)
1/5th Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment (from February 1915 until January 1916)
12th Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps (formed 24 January 1916, moved to 4th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps 26 February 1918)
12th Trench Mortar Battery (formed 11 June 1916)
2nd Battalion, Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) (from January 1916 to 10th Bde. February 1918)
2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment (from March until July 1915)
From early November 1915 until February 1916 the 12th Brigade was swapped with the 107th Brigade of the 36th (Ulster) Division.
Artillery
XIV Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (until 14 January 1917)
XXIX Brigade, Royal Field Artillery
XXXII Brigade, Royal Field Artillery
XXXVII (Howitzer) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (until 17 February 1915)
CXXVII (Howitzer) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (from 6 August 1915 until 21 May 1916)
31st Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery (until 29 April 1915)
Engineers
7th Field Company, Royal Engineers (until 29 April 1915)
9th Field Company, Royal Engineers
1st West Lancashire Field Company, Royal Engineers (from 14 February 1915 until 28 February 1916)
1st Renfrew Field Company, Royal Engineers (joined 2 May 1916; became 406th (Renfrew) Field Company 3 February 1917)
1st Durham Field Company, Royal Engineers (joined 20 September 1916; became 526th (Durham) Field Company 3 February 1917)
Pioneers
21st (Service) Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment (from 21 June 1916)
France and Belgium
Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 the 4th Division, under Major-General Dudley Johnson, was sent to the border between France and Belgium as part of Lieutenant-General Alan Brooke's II Corps of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). After the disastrous Battle of France in May–June 1940, where the division sustained heavy losses, and the evacuation at Dunkirk, it spent the next two years in the United Kingdom on anti-invasion duties and training for its next deployment.
In June 1942 the division, now under Major-General John Hawkesworth, was selected to be converted into a 'mixed' division, consisting of two infantry brigades and one tank brigade. As a result of this change the divisions' 11th Infantry Brigade left the division and was replaced by the 21st Army Tank Brigade.
The division departed for North Africa in early 1943, arriving in Tunisia in March, coming under Lieutenant-General John Crocker's IX Corps, part of the British First Army. During the Tunisian Campaign it was involved in Operation Vulcan, the final ground attack against Axis forces in North Africa which effectively ended the North African Campaign, with the surrender of nearly 250,000 German and Italian soldiers. However, during the assault the division suffered heavy losses, with four battalions sustaining over 300 casualties.
After the Axis defeat in North Africa, in May 1943, the division was to remain there for the next 9 months, during which time it was converted back into a standard infantry division, with the 28th Infantry Brigade, consisting mainly of Regular Army battalions who had served on garrison duties in Gibraltar, arriving to replace the 21st Tank Brigade.
The division arrived on the Italian Front in late February 1944, relieving the British 46th Infantry Division, initially coming under command of Lieutenant-General Richard McCreery's British X Corps, then serving under the U.S. Fifth Army. In March the division transferred to Lieutenant-General Sidney Kirkman's British XIII Corps, part of the British Eighth Army. The division, now under the command of Major-General Alfred Dudley Ward, fought with distinction at the fourth and final Battle of Monte Cassino in May 1944, and later in severe fighting in the battles for the Gothic Line. During the battle of Cassino Captain Richard Wakeford of the 2/4th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment was awarded the Victoria Cross.
However, in November 1944 it was dispatched, with the rest of III Corps, to Greece to provide assistance during the Greek Civil War, and was to remain there until the end of the war in Europe in May 1945.
The 4th Infantry Division was constituted as follows during the war:
10th Infantry Brigade
2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment
2nd Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
1st Battalion, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment (left 3 May 1940)
10th Infantry Brigade Anti-Tank Company (disbanded 1 January 1941)
1/6th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment (from 4 May 1940)
11th Infantry Brigade (left 5 June 1942)
2nd Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers
1st Battalion, East Surrey Regiment
1st Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (left 29 January 1940)
11th Infantry Brigade Anti-Tank Company (disbanded 31 December 1940)
5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment (from 29 January 1940)
12th Infantry Brigade
2nd Battalion, Royal Fusiliers
1st Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment (left 13 June 1940)
1st Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) (left 4 March 1940)
12th Infantry Brigade Anti-Tank Company (disbanded 3 January 1941)
6th Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) (from 4 March 1940)
1st Battalion, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment (from 5 September 1940)
21st Army Tank Brigade (from 6 June 1942, left 12 December 1943)
12th Royal Tank Regiment
48th Royal Tank Regiment
145th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps
28th Infantry Brigade (from 24 December 1943)
2nd Battalion, King's Regiment (Liverpool)
2nd Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry
1st Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (from 5 January, left 2 February 1944)
2/4th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment (from 24 March 1943)
Divisional Troops
5th Dragoon Guards (Reconnaissance Battalion, left 31 March 1940)
4th Battalion, Reconnaissance Corps (from 1 January 1941, redesignated 4th Regiment 6 June 1942, became 4th Reconnaissance Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps 1 January 1944)
2nd Battalion, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers (joined as Machine Gun Battalion from 11 November 1941, left 20 May 1942, rejoined as Support Battalion 10 March 1944, became MG Battalion from 7 June 1944)
17th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (left 19 February 1940)
22nd Field Regiment, Royal Artillery
30th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery
77th (Highland) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (from 19 February 1940)
14th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery
91st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (from 26 January 1942, disbanded 6 November 1944)
7th Field Company, Royal Engineers
9th Field Company, Royal Engineers (left 16 February 1940)
59th Field Company, Royal Engineers
225th Field Company, Royal Engineers (from 16 February 1940)
18th Field Park Company, Royal Engineers
3rd Bridging Platoon, Royal Engineers (from 18 October 1943)
4th Divisional Signals Regiment, Royal Corps of Signals
The Division was reformed from 11th Armoured Division on 1 April 1956, and took on 20th Armoured Brigade Group from the disbanding 6th Armoured Division in May 1958. At the time the Division also incorporated the (Canadian) 4th Infantry Brigade and the 4th Guards Brigade.
During the 1970s, the division consisted of two "square" brigades, the 11th Armoured Brigade and the 20th Armoured Brigade. It was renamed 4th Armoured Division and served with I (BR) Corps being based at Hammersmith Barracks in Herford from 1978. After being briefly reorganised into two "task forces" ("Golf" and "Hotel") in the late 1970s, the division consisted of the 11th Armoured Brigade, the 20th Brigade Division and the 33rd Armoured Brigade in the 1980s.
The division ceased its role as a front line Armoured Division on 1 July 1993.
The Division was reformed again in 1995 as a regenerative division – a military district in all but name – that served as the parent formation for units in Southern England. The Division's last insignia was a tiger. It was commanded from HQ at Steeles Road, Aldershot and reported to Army Headquarters at Andover. The Division was responsible for the administration of Aldershot Garrison and three Regional Brigades:
2nd (South East) Brigade
43rd (Wessex) Brigade
145th (South) Brigade
For administrative purposes, the following formations were also under the administrative control of 4th Division:
British Gurkhas Nepal
British Garrison Brunei
The new HQ Support Command in Aldershot began operation in January 2012 when HQ 4th Division in Aldershot disbanded. HQ 2nd division in Edinburgh and HQ 5th division in Shrewsbury were both disbanded in April 2012.
Recent Commanders
Recent Commanders have been:
GOC 4th Division
1902–1906 Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Knox
1906–1907 Major-General William Franklyn
1907–1911 Major-General Herbert Belfield
1911–1914 Major-General Thomas Snow
Sep 1914-Oct 1914 Major-General Sir Henry Rawlinson
1914–1915 Major-General Henry Wilson
1915–1917 Major-General William Lambton
1917–1918 Major-General Torquhil Matheson
Sep 1918-Oct 1918 Major-General Louis Lipsett
1918–1919 Major-General Cuthbert Lucas
1919–1923 Major-General Sir Cameron Shute
1923–1926 Major-General Sir Reginald Stephens
1926–1927 Major-General Sir Percy Radcliffe
1927–1931 Major-General Archibald Cameron
1931–1933 Major-General Charles Bonham-Carter
1933–1935 Major-General Sir John Brind
Jun 1935-Nov 1935 Major-General James Dick-Cunyngham
1935–1937 Major-General Clive Liddell
1938–1940 Major-General Dudley Johnson
Jun 1940-Oct 1940 Major-General Ralph Eastwood
1940–1942 Major-General John Swayne
1942–1943 Major-General John Hawkesworth
1943–1944 Major-General Hayman Hayman-Joyce
1944–1945 Major-General Alfred Dudley Ward
1945–1946 Major-General Colin Callander
1946–1947 Major-General Ernest Down
Note: The Division was disbanded after the War and reformed in 1956
1956–1957 Major-General Reginald Hewetson
1957–1959 Major-General Gerald Hopkinson
1959–1961 Major-General Desmond Gordon
1961–1963 Major-General Jean Allard
1963–1965 Major-General Basil Eugster
1965–1967 Major-General Michael Forrester
1967–1969 Major-General Vernon Erskine-Crum
1969–1971 Major-General David Fraser
1971–1973 Major-General Anthony Farrar-Hockley
1973–1975 Major-General Michael Gow
1975–1977 Major-General Nigel Bagnall
GOC 4th Armoured Division
1977–1979 Major-General Richard Vickers
1979–1981 Major-General John Akehurst
1981–1983 Major-General Jeremy Reilly
1983–1985 Major-General John Waters
1985–1987 Major-General Michael Hobbs
1987–1989 Major-General William Rous
1989–1991 Major-General Jeremy Mackenzie
1991–1993 Major-General Anthony Denison-Smith
GOC 4th Division
1996–1998 Major General Nigel Richards
1998–2001 Major General Timothy Sulivan
2001–2002 Major General John Holmes
2002–2003 Major General Andrew Ritchie
2003–2004 Major General David Judd
2004–2006 Major General Seumas Kerr
2006–2008 Major General Peter Everson
2008–2011 Major General Lamont Kirkland
