The 4th Division in 1914-1918
The history of 4th Division
This Division, initially planned to be part of the original British Expeditionary Force, was at the last minute held back in England to counter any German landing. A decision was soon taken to despatch it to France and it arrived just in time to play a valuble part at Le Cateau. The 4th Division
then remained
on the Western Front throughout the war.
It took part in most
of the major actions, including:
1914
The Battle of Le Cateau
(The
Division fought in this action without its Mounted Troops, Heavy
Battery, Divisional Ammunition Column, Field Companies RE, Signals
Company RE, Field Ambulances RAMC and Divisional Train, which
were all still en route from England)
The
Battle of the Marne
The
Battle of the Aisne
The Battle of Messines 1914
1915
The Second Battle of Ypres
1916
The Battle of Albert*
The Battle of Le Transloy*
The battles marked * are phases of the Battles of the Somme 1916
1917
The First Battle of the Scarpe**
The Third Battle of the Scarpe**
The battles marked ** are phases of the Battles of Arras 1917
The Battle of Polygon Wood***
The Battle of Broodseinde***
The Battle of Poelcapelle***
The First Battle of Passchendaele***
The battles marked *** are phases of the Third Battle of Ypres
1918
The First Battle of Arras 1918****
The battle marked **** is a phase of the First Battles of the Somme 1918
The Battle of Hazebrouck+ in which the battalion fought in the Defence of Hinges Ridge
The Battle of Bethune+
The battles marked + are phases of the Battles of the Lys
The Advance in Flanders
The Battle of the Scarpe+
The Battle of Drocourt-Queant+
The battles marked + are phases of the Second Battles of Arras 1918
The Battle of the Canal du Nord^
The battle marked ^ is a phase of the Battles of the Hindenburg Line
The Battle of the Selle++
The Battle of Valenciennes++
The battles marked ++ are phases of the Final Advance in Picardy
The
Division was demobilised in Belgium in early 1919.
The order of battle of the 4th Division
| 10th Brigade | |
| 1st Bn, the Royal Warwickshire Regt | |
| 2nd Bn, the Seaforth Highlanders | |
| 1st Bn, the Royal Irish Fusiliers | left August 1917 |
| 2nd Bn, the Royal Dublin Fusiliers | left November 1916 |
| 1/7th Bn, the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders | joined January 1915, left March 1916 |
| 1/9th Bn, the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders | joined May 1915, left July 1915 |
| The Household Battalion | joined November 1916, disbanded February 1918 |
| 3/10th Bn, the Middlesex Regt | joined August 1917, disbanded February 1918 |
| 2nd Bn, the Duke of Wellington's | joined February 1918 |
| 10th Machine Gun Company | formed on 22 December 1915 left to move into 4th MG Battalion 26 February 1918 |
| 10th Trench Mortar Battery | formed June 1916 |
| 11th Brigade | |
| 1st Bn, the Somerset Light Infantry | |
| 1st Bn, the East Lancashire Regt | left February 1918 |
| 1st Bn, the Hampshire Regt | |
| 1st Bn, the Rifle Brigade | |
| 1/5th Bn, the London Regt (LRB) | joined November 1914, left May 1915 |
| 2nd Bn, the Royal Irish Regt | joined July 1915, left May 1916 |
| 11th Machine Gun Company | formed on 23 December 1915 left to move into 4th MG Battalion 26 February 1918 |
| 11th Trench Mortar Battery | formed in June 1916 |
| 12th Brigade | |
| This Brigade was attached to 36th (Ulster) Division between 4 November 1915 and 3 February 1916 in exchange for 107th Brigade | |
| 1st Bn, the King's Own (Lancaster) | |
| 2nd Bn, the Lancashire Fusiliers | |
| 2nd Bn, the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers | left December 1914 |
| 2nd Bn, the Essex Regt | |
| 1/2nd Bn, the Monmouthshire Regt | joined November 1914, left January 1916 but absent May to July 1915 |
| 1/5th Bn, the South Lancashire Regt | joined February 1915, left January 1916 |
| 2nd Bn, the Royal Irish Regt | joined March 1915, left July 1915 |
| 2nd Bn, the Duke of Wellington's | joined January 1916, left February 1918 |
| 12th Brigade Machine Gun Company | formed on 24 January 1916 left to move into 4th MG Battalion 26 February 1918 |
| 12th Trench Mortar Battery | formed 11 June 1916 |
| 107th Brigade | |
| This Brigade joined from 36th (Ulster) Division in temporary exchange for 12th Brigade (see above) | |
| Divisional Troops | |
| 21st Bn, the West Yorkshire Regt | joined as Divisional Pioneer Battalionin June 1916 |
| 234th Company, the Machine Gun Corps | joined 16 July 1917 left to move into 4th MG Battalion 26 February 1918 |
| 11 Entrenching Battalion | formed 20 February 1918 from troops from disbanded 3/10th Middlesex Regt |
| No 4 Battalion, the Machine Gun Corps | formed 26 February 1918 |
| Divisional Mounted Troops | |
| B Squadron, the 19th Hussars | left April 1915 |
| A Sqn, the 1/st Northamptonshire Yeomanry | joined 13 April 1915, left 11 May 1916 |
| 4th Company, Army Cyclist Corps | left June 1916 |
| Divisional Artillery | |
| XIV Brigade, RFA | left January 1917 |
| XXIX Brigade, RFA | |
| XXXII Brigade, RFA | |
| XXXVII (Howitzer) Brigade, RFA | left February 1915 |
| CXXVII (Howitzer) Brigade | left May 1916 |
| 4th Divisional Ammunition Column RFA | |
| 31st Heavy Battery RGA | left April 1915 |
| No 4 Pom-Pom Section RGA | attached 20 September 1914 to January 1915 |
| No 2 Mountain Battery RGA | attached 14 December 1914 to 21 April 1915 |
| V.4 Heavy Trench Mortar Battery RFA | formed by July 1916, left 8 February 1918 |
| X.4, Y.4 and Z.4 Medium Mortar Batteries RFA | joined in February 1916; on 8 February 1918, Z broken up and batteries reorganised to have 6 x 6-inch weapons each |
| Royal Engineers | |
| 7th Field Company | left April 1915 |
| 9th Field Company | |
| 1st (West Lancashire) Field Company | joined February 1915, left February 1916 |
| 1st (Durham) Field Company | joined September 1915, later renamed 526th Field Company RE |
| 1st (Renfrew) Field Company | joined May 1916, renamed 406th Field Company RE |
| 4th Divisional Signals Company | |
| Royal Army Medical Corps | |
| 10th Field Ambulance | |
| 11th Field Ambulance | |
| 12th Field Ambulance | |
| 4th Sanitary Section | joined as 3A Section 20 February 1915, renamed in April 1916, left 29 March 1917 |
| Other Divisional Troops | |
| 4th Divisional Train ASC | 18, 25, 32, 38 Companies |
| 4th Mobile Veterinary Section AVC | |
| 207th Divisional Employment Company | joined 17 May 1917 at which time it was 4th Divisional Employment Company; renamed in June 1917 |
| 4th Divisional Motor Ambulance Workshop | joined by 18 April 1915, transferred to Divisional Train 9 April 1916 |