6th (United Kingdom) Division

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.[1]

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.[3]

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.[4]

At the end of July 1916 the division was withdrawn, having suffered 11,000 casualties, and in September it was attached to XIV Corps where it joined in the Battle of the Somme by attacking the German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 They then participated in the attacks on Morval and Le Transloy before being withdrawn on 20 October and moved into Corps Reserve.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.[5]

Men of the 11th (Service) Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment, the divisional pioneers, with German prisoners in Ribecourt, France, less than two hours after the village was captured, 20 November 1917.

It was withdrawn on 25 July, shortly before the final assault on the hill.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 Four days after the battle ended, the division was withdrawn to rest at Basseux.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 On 25 March the division was withdrawn to the Ypres Salient again as part of the Second Army.[6]

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.[7]

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.[7]

Insignia of the 6th Infantry Division during the Second World War. A red four pointed star on white background.

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.[9] 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.[10]

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[11] 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.[12]

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.[10]

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.[13] 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.'[14] Major General J D Page OBE took command of the new HQ with effect from 1 February 2008.[15]

The new divisional headquarters, Headquarters 6th (United Kingdom) Division, marked its formation with a parade and flag presentation in York 5 August 2008.[16] 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.[17] The division headquarters closed in April 2011.[18]

Force Troops Command was renamed as 6th (United Kingdom) Division on 1 August 2019, and formed up with sub-units consisting of 1st Signal Brigade, 11th Signal Brigade, 1st Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade, 77th Brigade and the Specialised Infantry Group.[21][22] As of 16 October 2020, 11th Signal Brigade has reassigned from 6th Division to 3rd Division as of 16 October 2020.[23][24] It will sit alongside restructured 1st UK Division and 3rd UK Division under the Field Army.[25][26]

Structure as of October 2020

Commanders have included:[15]

• 1905–1906 Major-General Arthur Wynne
• 1906–1907 Major-General Theodore Stephenson
• 1907–1909 Major-General Lawrence Parsons
• 1909–1910 Major-General Charles Metcalfe
• 1910–1914 Major-General William Pulteney
• 1914–1915 Major-General John Keir
• May 1915 – Nov 1915 Major-General Walter Congreve
• 1915–1917 Major-General Charles Ross
• 1917–1919 Major-General Thomas Marden
• 1919–1922 Major-General Sir Peter Strickland
• 1939–1940 Major-General Richard O'Connor
• Jan 1941 – Sep 1941 John Evetts
• 2008–2009 Major-General Jacko Page
• 2009–2011 Major-General Nick Carter[27]
• 2019–Present Major-General James Bowder[28]

• List of British divisions in World War I
• List of British divisions in World War II