Country United Kingdom Type Infantry Garrison/HQ York | Branch British Army Part of Land Forces | |
 | ||
Active 1812
1914–1919
1939–1940
1941
1941–1943 (as 70th Infantry Division)
2008–2011 | ||
The 6th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that 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 Tuesday 5 August 2008 and then closed in April 2011.
Contents
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.
Formation during the Peninsular War
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.
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.
At the end of July 1916 the division was withdrawn, having suffered 11,000 casualties, and in September it was attached to XIV Corps where it joined in the Battle of the Somme by attacking the German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 They then participated in the attacks on Morval and Le Transloy before being withdrawn on 20 October and moved into Corps Reserve.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.
It was withdrawn on 25 July, shortly before the final assault on the hill.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 Four days after the battle ended, the division was withdrawn to rest at Basseux.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.
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.
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.
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 W. L. H. Paget commanded the Royal Artillery, and Lieutenant-Colonel G. C. Kemp commanded the Royal Engineers.
Later in the War
The brigade transferred to the 24th Division in October 1915, swapping with the 71st Brigade.
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.
The brigade joined from the 24th Division in October 1915, swapping with the 17th Brigade.
Second World War
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. 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.
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 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.
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.
Order of battle Second World War
Artillery
Engineers
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
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. 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.' Major General J D Page OBE took command of the new HQ with effect from 1 February 2008.
The new divisional headquarters, Headquarters 6th (United Kingdom) Division, marked its formation with a parade and flag presentation in York 5 August 2008. 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. The division headquarters closed in April 2011.
Afghanistan War Formation
(November 2009)Regional Command South – Kandahar Airfield
Task Force Helmand – British 11th Light Brigade
Task Force Kandahar – Canadian 1st Mechanized Brigade Group
Task Force Leatherneck – US 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade
Task Force Uruzgan – Dutch 11th Airmobile Brigade
Task Force Zabul – Romanian 2nd Mountain Brigade
US 5th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division
General Officers Commanding
Commanders have included: