| Home > Army Organisation > 5th Division | |
| A Regular Army Division | |
 The
Divisional symbol |
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| Summary history of the division | |
| When war was declared in August 1914, this regular army Division was in barracks in Ireland. It moved immediately to France, following pre-war planning. The men of the original units were amongst the first to see action, at Mons on 23 August 1914. | |
| The Battle of Mons | and The Action of Elouges |
| The Battle of Le Cateau | and the Affair of Crepy en Valois |
| The Battle of the Marne | |
| The Battle of the Aisne | |
| The Battle of La Bassee | |
| The Battle of Messines 1914 | |
| First Battle of Ypres | |
| Capture of Hill 60 | |
| The Second Battle of Ypres (13th Brigade) | |
| In
late 1915, many units were switched for those of 32nd Division, a
newly arrived volunteer formation. The idea was to strengthen –
“stiffen” in the jargon of the time – the inexperienced
Division buy mixing in some regular army troops – even though
by now many of the pre-war regulars had gone and the “regular”
battalions themselves were often largely composed of new recruits.
March
1916 saw a move, with 5th Division taking over a section of front
line between St Laurent Blangy and the southern edge of Vimy Ridge,
in front of Arras. This was a lively time, with many trench raids,
sniping and mining activities in the front lines.
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| The Attacks on High Wood (second phase of the Battle of the Somme) | |
| The Battle of Guillemont (fourth phase) | |
| The Battle of Flers-Courcelette (sixth phase) | |
| The Battle of Morval (seventh phase) | |
| The Battle of Le Transloy (eighth) | |
| By 5 October, 5th Division had left the Somme and was now holding a quieter line near Festubert. There was a constant threat from enemy artillery and sniper fire, but in comparison with the Somme it was a relatively tranquil period that lasted until March 1917. | |
| The Battle of Vimy (first phase of the Arras Offensive) | |
| The Attack on La Coulotte (second phase) | |
| The Third Battle of the Scarpe (fourth phase) | This action included the capture by the Division of Oppy Wood. |
| On 7 September 1917, the Division was relieved and moved out of the line for a period, being sent next to join the great offensive in Flanders, which is officially called the Third Battle of Ypres but is perhaps better known as Passchendaele. | |
| 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 Second Battle of Passchendaele (eighth phase) | |
| A major change now occurred with 5th Division being one of five British formations selected to be moved to Italy. This was a strategic and political move agreed by the British Government at the request of the Allied Supreme war Council, and as an effort to stiffen Italian resistance to enemy attack after a recent disaster at Caporetto. Many diaries at this time, by men who had witnessed slaughter in the floods of Passchendaele, talk of the move and Italy as being “like another world”. Much work was done preparing to move into the mountainous area of the Brenta, but eventually the Division was instead moved to the line along the River Piave, taking up positions in late January 1918. Unfortunately this pleasant period was not to last, for the Division was recalled hurriedly to France, once the enemy had made an attack in overwhelming strength on 21 March. | |
| The Battle of Hazebrouck (third phase of the Battles of the Lys) | In this action, the Division played a part in the Defence of Nieppe Forest. |
| On 14 August, 5th Division was withdrawn for rest and placed in GHQ Reserve. Two weeks later it entered into what became a series of complex, endless, overlapping Allied attacks that forced the German Army into retreat. Fighting through Albert (back on the old and devastated Somme ground of 1916), to Irles, Beugny, Havrincourt, Gonnelieu and the River Selle, and finally into Valenciennes and the River Sambre, the Division was in more or less continuous action until late October 1918. | |
| The Battle of Albert (first phase of the Second Battles of the Somme 1918) | |
| The Battle of Bapaume (second phase) | |
| The Battle of Epehy (second phase of the Battles of the Hindenburg Line) | |
| The Battle of the Canal du Nord (third phase) | |
| The Pursuit to the Selle | |
| The Battle of the Selle | |
| The Division remained in the area of Le Quesnoy until mid-December, as demobilisation commenced. On 13 December, the Division began a march into Belgium, eventually to the area between Namur and Wavre. The first men were demobilised on 22 December, and more followed at regular intervals through early 1919. | |
| Order of Battle | |
| 13th Brigade | |
| This Brigade was temporarily under the command of 28th Division between 23 February and 7 April 1915, when it was replaced by 84th Brigade from that Division. | |
| 2nd Bn, the King's Own Scottish Borderers | |
| 2nd Bn, the Duke of Wellington's | left January 1916 |
| 1st Bn, the Royal West Kents | |
| 2nd Bn, the KOYLI | left December 1915 |
| 1/9th (City of London) Bn, the London Regiment | joined November 1914, left February 1915 |
| 14th (Service) Bn, the Royal Warwicks | joined December 1915, became Divisional Pioneers October 1918 |
| 15th (Service) Bn, the Royal Warwicks | joined January 1916, disbanded October 1918 |
| 16th (Service) Bn, the Royal Warwicks | joined October 1918 |
| 13th Brigade Machine Gun Company | formed on 24 December 1915, moved into 5 MG Bn 26 April 1918 |
| 13th Trench Mortar Battery | formed April 1916 |
| 14th Brigade | |
| Brigade transferred to 32nd Division on 30 December 1915 | |
| 1st Bn, the Devons | |
| 2nd Bn, the Suffolks | left September 1914 |
| 1st Bn, the East Surreys | |
| 1st Bn, the DCLI | |
| 2nd Bn, the Manchesters | |
| 1/5th Bn, the Cheshires | joined February 1915, left November 1915 |
| 1/9th (Highlanders) Bn, the Royal Scots | joined November 1915 |
| 2nd Bn, the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers | joined November 1915 |
| 15th Brigade | |
| This Brigade was temporarily under the command of 28th Division between 3 March and 7 April 1915, when it was replaced by 83rd Brigade from that Division. | |
| 1st Bn, the Norfolks | |
| 1st Bn, the Bedfords | |
| 1st Bn, the Cheshires | |
| 1st Bn, the Dorsets | left December 1915 |
| 1/6th Bn, the Cheshires | joined December 1914, left March 1915 |
| 1/6th Bn, the King's (Liverpool) | joined February 1915, left November 1915 |
| 16th (Service) Bn, the Royal Warwicks | joined December 1915, left October 1918 |
| 15th Brigade Machine Gun Company | formed on 27 December 1915, moved into 5 MG Bn 26 April 1918 |
| 15th Trench Mortar Battery | formed April 1916 |
| 95th Brigade | |
| Brigade transferred from 32nd Division on 26 December 1915 | |
| 12th (Service) Bn (Bristol), the Gloucesters | joined December 1915, disbanded October 1918 |
| 1st Bn, the Devons | joined January 1916 |
| 1st Bn, the East Surreys | joined January 1916 |
| 1st Bn, the DCLI | joined January 1916 |
| 95th Brigade Machine Gun Company | formed on 20 December 1915 as 14th and redesignated 12 January 1916, moved into 5 MG Bn 26 April 1918 |
| 95th Trench Mortar Battery | formed April 1916 |
| Divisional Troops | |
| 1/6th (Renfrewshire) Bn, the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders | joined as Pioneer Bn June 1915, left October 1918 |
| 1/5th Bn, the Cheshires | joined as Pioneers November 1915, left February 1916 |
| 14th (Service) Bn, the Royal Warwicks | became Divisional Pioneers October 1918 |
| 205th Machine Gun Company | formed on 19 March 1917, joined Divisional MG Battalion 26 February 1918 |
| No 5 Machine Gun Battalion | created 26 April 1918 |
| Divisional Mounted Troops | |
| A Squadron, 19th (Queen Alexandra's Own Royal) Hussars | left April 1915 |
| C Squadron, 1/1st Northants Yeomanry | joined and left April 1915 |
| Divisional Artillery | |
| VIII (Howitzer) Brigade, RFA | left May 1916. Was temporarily attached to 28th Division between 21 February and 23 June 1915 |
| XV Brigade, RFA | |
| XXVII Brigade, RFA | |
| XXVIII Brigade, RFA | left January 1917 |
| 108 Heavy Battery, RFA | left April 1915 |
| No 6 Pom-Pom Section (Anti-Aircraft), RFA | attached between 12 September 1914 and December 1914 |
| 5th Divisional Ammunition Column | |
| V.5 Heavy Trench Mortar Battery RFA | formed 18 October 1916, left November 1917 |
| X.5, Y.5 and Z.5 Medium Mortar Batteries RFA | joined in April 1916; by 15 March 1918, Z broken up and batteries reorganised to have 6 x 6-inch weapons each |
| Royal Engineers | |
| 17th Field Company | left Sep 15 after several short-term attachments to other Divisions |
| 59th Field Company | |
| 2nd (Home Counties) Field Company TF | joined Feb 15, renamed 491st Field Coy |
| 1st (South Midland) Field Company TF | Mar to Apr 1915 |
| 2nd (Durham) Field Company | joined Sep 1915, renamed 527th Field Coy |
| 5th Divisional Signals Company | |
| Field Ambulances RAMC | |
| 13th | |
| 14th | |
| 15th | |
| Other Divisional Troops | |
| 5th Divisional Train ASC (4, 6, 33, 37 Companies) | |
| 5th Mobile Veterinary Section | |
| No 6 Sanitary Section RAMC | joined 9 January 1915, transferred to XI Corps 2 April 1917 |
| 5th Divisional Motor Ambulance Workshop | joined by 13 June 1915, absorbed by Divisional Train on 16 April 1916 |
| 208th Divisional Employment Company | joined 22 May 1917 as 10th Divisional Employment Company; redesignated in June 1917 |
| Divisional commanders | |
| Maj-Gen. Sir Charles Fergusson (from 4 August 1914) | |
| Maj-Gen.T. Morland (18 October 1914) | |
| Maj-Gen. C. Kavanagh (15 July 1915) |  |
| Maj-Gen. R. Stephens (1 April 1916) | |
| Maj-Gen. John Ponsonby (4 July 1918) | |