| The 31st Division |  |
The roses of Lancashire and Yorkshire | ||||||||||||
| A New Army Division | ||||||||||||||
| History | Units | Commanders | ||||||||||||||
| Summary history of the division | ||||||||||||||
This Division was originally part of the Fifth New Army, and was numbered 38th. However, the Fourth New Army was broken up in April 1915, and the Division was renumbered 31st, part of K4. It was formed of many units that had been raised by public subscription and private projects, and was only taken over by the War Office on 10th August 1915. On 16th December 1914, two Companies of the 18th (Service) Bn (1st County), the Durham Light Infantry became the first troops of the New Armies to come under enemy fire, when they were manning the trenches of the Tyne and Tees defences which were shelled by the German ships Derfflinger, Von Der Tann and Blucher. December 1915 : moved to Egypt, and took part in defence of Suez Canal March 1916 : moved to France and proceeded to the Western Front The Battle of Albert (first phase of the Battle of the Somme 1916) The Division took part in the assault on Serre, and suffered very high casualties. It was withdrawn for several months as a result. The Battle of the Ancre (tenth phase of the Battle of the Somme 1916) The Third Battle of the Scarpe (fourth phase of the Arras Offensive) The latter action included the Division's role in the capture of Oppy Wood. The Battle of St Quentin (first phase of the First Battles of the Somme 1918) The First Battle of Bapaume (second phase of the First Battles of the Somme 1918) The First Battle of Arras, 1918 (fourth phase of the First Battles of the Somme 1918) The Battle of Estaires (first phase of the Battles of the Lys) The Battle of Hazebrouck (third phase of the Battles of the Lys) In the above action, the Division played a part in the Defence of Nieppe Forest The Division also fought in the subsequent Action of Tieghem The Division was demobilised between January and May 1919, having suffered 30,000 casualties during the war. |
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| Order of Battle | ||||||||||||||
92nd Brigade On 16 April 1918 it was decided that, due to the heavy casualties recently sustained, the 92nd and 93rd Brigades would be temporarily amalgamated and called the 92nd Composite Brigade. 10th (Service) Bn (1st Hull), the East Yorkshires (joined June 1915) 11th (Service) Bn (2nd Hull), the East Yorkshires (joined June 1915) 12th (Service) Bn (3rd Hull), the East Yorkshires (joined June 1915, left February 1918) 13th (Service) Bn (4th Hull), the East Yorkshires (joined June 1915, left February 1918) 11th (Service) Bn (Accrington), the East Lancashire (joined February 1918 92nd Brigade Machine Gun Company (joined 20 May 1916, moved into 31 MG Bn 21 February 1918) 92nd Trench Mortar Battery (joined by 11 April 1916) 92nd Composite Brigade On
16 April 1918 it was decided that, due to the heavy casualties
recently sustained, the 92nd and 93rd Brigades would be temporarily
amalgamated and called the 92nd Composite Brigade. It was broken
up two days later, and the 92nd and 93rd Brigades were reconstituted
soon after. 93rd Brigade 15th (Service) Bn (1st Leeds), the West Yorkshires(joined June 1915) 16th (Service) Bn (1st Bradford), the West Yorkshires(joined June 1915, left February 1918) 18th (Service) Bn (2nd Bradford), the West Yorkshires(joined June 1915, left February 1918) 18th (Service) Bn (1st County), the Durham Light Infantry(joined May 1915) 93rd Brigade Machine Gun Company (joined 20 May 1916, moved into 31 MG Bn 21 February 1918) 93rd Trench Mortar Battery (joined by 12 April 1916) 94th Brigade The Brigade was broken up between 11 and 16 February 1918. It was reformed on 30 May 1918, principally from Training Cadre units. It was fully reconstituted on 21 June 1918 by the addition of units from the 74th Division, and redesignated 94th (Yeomanry) Brigade. 12th (Norfolk Yeomanry) TF Bn, the Norfolks (joined June 1918) 12th (Ayr & Lanark Yeomanry) TF Bn, the Royal Scots Fusiliers (joined June 1918) 24th (Denbighshire Yeomanry) TF Bn, the Royal Welsh Fusiliers (joined June 1918) 11th (Service) Bn (Accrington), the East Lancashire (joined February 1915, left February 1918) 2nd Bn, the Loyal North Lancs (joined and left June 1918) 12th (Service) Bn (Sheffield), the York and Lancaster(joined May 1915, disbanded February 1918) 13th (Service) Bn (1st Barnsley), the York and Lancaster(joined May 1915) 14th (Service) Bn (2nd Barnsley), the York and Lancaster(joined May 1915, disbanded February 1918) 2nd Bn, the Royal Munster Fusiliers (joined as cadre May 1918, left June 1918) 94th Brigade Machine Gun Company (joined 21 May 1916, moved into 31 MG Bn 21 February 1918) 94th
Trench Mortar Battery (joined by 11 April 1916) 4th Guards Brigade Attached to 31st Division, February 1918 and transferred into GHQ Reserve, 20 May 1918 4th Bn, the Grenadier Guards 3rd Bn, the Coldstream Guards 2nd Bn, the Irish Guards 4th Guards Trench Mortar Battery Divisional Troops 12th (Service) Bn (Miners) (Pioneers), the KOYLI(joined May 1915) 243rd Machine Gun Company (joined 18 July 1917, moved into 31 MGBn 3 March 1918) No 31 Machine Gun Battalion (created 21 February 1918) Divisional Mounted Troops B Squadron, 1/1st Lancashire Hussars (joined 27 November 1915, left 9 May 1916) 31st Divisional Cyclist Company (formed by August 1915, left 9 May 1916) The original Divisional Artillery joined the 32nd Division between 30 December 1915 and 3 January 1916 CLV Brigade, RFA (joined by 5 August 1915) CLXI Brigade, RFA (joined by 5 August 1915) CLXIV (H) Brigade, RFA (joined by 5 August 1915) CLXVIII Brigade, RFA (joined by 5 August 1915) 31st (Hull) Divisional Ammunition Column (joined August 1915) The original Divisional Artillery of the 32nd Division moved to France to replace them on 8 December 1915 CLXV Brigade, RFA CLXIX Brigade, RFA (broken up 24 January 1917) CLXX Brigade, RFA CLXXI (H) Brigade, RFA (broken up 27 August 1916) 124 (Hull) Heavy Battery, RGA (raised with the Division but moved to France as an independent unit on 29 April 1916) 31st Divisional Ammunition Column V.31 Heavy Trench Mortar Battery RFA (formed by 4 June 1916, broken up 5 February 1918) X.31, Y.31 and Z.31 Medium Mortar Batteries RFA (formed 31 March 1916; on 15 February 1918, Z broken up and batteries reorganised to have 6 x 6-inch weapons each) 210th (Leeds) Field Company (joined Jan 1915) 211th (Leeds) Field Company (joined Jan 1915) 223rd (Leeds) Field Company (joined Jan 1915) 31st Divisional Signal Company (joined Jan 1915) 93rd Field Ambulance (joined November 1915) 94th Field Ambulance (joined November 1915) 95th Field Ambulance (joined November 1915) 31st Divisional Train ASC (joined January 1915, originally 217, 218, 219 and 220 Coys, but this Train remained in Egypt in March 1916, joining 52nd (Lowland) Division. 221, 222 and 223 Companies joined from 32nd Division in France, as did 279 Company) 228th Divisional Employment Company (joined June 1917) 41st Mobile Veterinary Section (joined December 1914) 71st Sanitary Section (joined 10 November 1917, left 11 March 1917) 31st Divisional Motor Ambulance Workshop (joined by November 1915, moved to 52nd Division by 21 April 1916) |
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| Divisional command | ||||||||||||||
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