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Home > Army Organisation > 4th Division A Regular Army Division   Summary history of the Division One of the first Divisions to move to France, arriving just in time to join the hard-pressed Divisions of II Corps at The Battle of Le Cateau. The 4th Division remained on the Western Front throughout the war. It took part in many of the major actions, as will be appreciated from the list of engagements in which it took part:. 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 enroute from England.  The Battle of the Marne The Battle of the Aisne The Battle of Messines 1914 Units of 4th Division took part in the famous Christmas Truce while they were still in this area, in trenches near Ploegsteert Wood.   1915 The Second Battle of Ypres 1916 The Battle of Albert (first phase of the Battle of the Somme 1916) The Battle of Le Transloy (eighth phase) 1917 The First Battle of the Scarpe (first phase of the Arras Offensive) The Third Battle of the Scarpe (fourth phase) The Battle of the Polygon Wood (fourth phase of the Third Battle of Ypres) The Battle of Broodseinde (fifth phase) The Battle of Poelcapelle (sixth phase) The First Battle of Passchendaele (seventh phase) 1918 The First Battle of Arras, 1918 (fourth phase of the First Battles of the Somme 1918) The Battle of Hazebrouck (third phase of the Battles of the Lys) In this action, the Division played a part in the Defence of Hinges Ridge. The Battle of Bethune (sixth phase) The Advance in Flanders The Battle of the Scarpe (first phase of the Second Battles of Arras 1918) The Battle of Drocourt-Queant (second phase) The Battle of the Canal du Nord (third phase of the Battles of the Hindenburg Line) The Battle of the Selle The Battle of Valenciennes The Division was demobilised in Belgium in early 1919.   Order of Battle  10th Brigade   1st Bn, the Royal Warwicks   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 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, moved into 4 MG Bn 26 February 1918 10th Trench Mortar Battery formed June 1916     11th Brigade   1st Bn, the Somerset Light Infantry   1st Bn, the East Lancashire left February 1918 1st Bn, the Hampshire   1st Bn, the Rifle Brigade   1/5th (City of London) Bn, the London Regiment joined November 1914, left May 1915 2nd Bn, the Royal Irish joined July 1915, left May 1916 11th Machine Gun Company formed on 23 December 1915, moved into 4 MG Bn 26 February 1918 11th Trench Mortar Battery formed June 1916     12th Brigade   Between 4 November 1915 and 3 February 1916, the Brigade was attached to the 36th Division 1st Bn, the King's Own   2nd Bn, the Lancashire Fusiliers   2nd Bn, the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers left December 1914 2nd Bn, the Essex   1/2nd Bn, the Monmouthshire joined November 1914, left January 1916. Absent from May to July 1915. 2nd Bn, the Royal Irish joined March 1915, left July 1915 2nd Bn, the Duke of Wellington's joined January 1916, left February 1918 1/5th Bn, the South Lancashire joined February 1915, left January 1916 12th Machine Gun Company formed on 24 January 1916, moved into 4 MG Bn 26 February 1918 12th Trench Mortar Battery formed 11 June 1916     107th Brigade   From 5 November 1915 to 3 February 1916, this Brigade of the 36th (Ulster) Division was attached to this Division.     Divisional Troops   21st (Service) Bn (Wool Textile Pioneers), the West Yorkshires joined as Divisional pioneer battalion in June 1916 234th Machine Gun Company formed on 16 July 1917, joined Divisional MG Battalion 26 February 1918 11th Entrenching Battalion formed 20 February 1918 from troops from the disbanded 3/10th Middlesex No 4 Machine Gun Battalion created 26 February 1918     Divisional Mounted Troops   B Squadron, 19th (Queen Alexandra's Own Royal) Hussars left April 1915 A Squadron, 1/1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry joined 13 April 1915, left 11 May 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, RFA left May 1916 31 Heavy Battery, RFA left April 1915 No 4 Pom-Pom Section (Anti-Aircraft), RFA attached between 20 September 1914 and January 1915 2nd Mountain Battery, RFA attached between 14 December 1914 and 21 April 1915 4th Divisional Ammunition Column   V.4 Heavy Trench Mortar Battery RFA joined by July 1916, moved to XVII Corps on 8 February 1918 X.4, Y.4 and Z.4 Medium Mortar Batteries RFA joined in February 1916; by 8 February 1918, Z broken up and batteries reorganised to have 6 x 6-inch weapons each     Royal Engineers   7th Field Company left Apr 15 9th Field Company   1st (West Lancs) Field Company joined Feb 15, left Feb 16 1st (Renfrew) Field Company joined May 1916, renamed 406th Field Coy 1st (Durham) Field Company joined Sep 1915, renamed 526th Field Coy 4th Divisional Signals Company       Royal Army Medical Corps units   10th Field Ambulance   11th Field Ambulance   12th Field Ambulance   3A Sanitary Section joined 20 February 1915, transferred to XIX Corps 29 March 1917     Other Divisional Troops   4th Divisional Train ASC comprising 18, 25, 32 and 38 Companies 4th Mobile Veterinary Section AVC   4th Divisional Motor Ambulance Workshop joined by 11 April 1915, absorbed by Divisional Train on 9 April 1916 207th Divisional Employment Company joined on 17 May 1917 as 4th Divisional Employment Company; redesignated in June 1917   Divisional commanders     Maj-Gen. T. Snow (5/8/1914) Incapacitated   Br-Gen. H. Wilson (Acting, 9/9/1914)     Maj-Gen.Sir H. Rawlinson (23/9/1914)     Maj-Gen. H. Wilson (4/10/1914)     Maj-Gen. Hon W. Lambton (28/9/1915) Incapacitated   Br-Gen. R. Berners (Acting, 12/9/1917)     Maj-Gen. T. Matheson (21/9/1917)     Maj-Gen. Louis Lipsett (14/9/1918) Killed in action   Maj-Gen. C. Lucas (15/10/1918)

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