Difference between revisions of "British Army Hierarchies"

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==Units, Formations and Regiments==
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See also [[Constitution of the Military Forces of the British Crown]], which gives the contemporary legal definition of the British Army and lists the main administrative units.
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== Units, formations and regiments ==
  
 
The British Army had two hierarchies:
 
The British Army had two hierarchies:
  
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*Administrative
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* Administrative
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*Tactical
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* Tactical
  
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These were separate at higher levels but overlapped at lower levels.
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These were separate at higher levels but overlapped at lower levels. There was also a separate hierarchy of pay offices that we haven't yet tried to represent on this site.
  
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*Regiments/Corps were administrative. Their member units served in many different formations at the same time.
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*Regiments/corps were administrative. Their member units served in many different formations at the same time. We class these as either [[infantry regiment (administrative)]] or [[corps (administrative)]].
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*Formations were tactical. Their member units could be from different regiments, of different types, and even of different nationalities.
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*Formations were tactical. Their member units could be from different regiments, of different types, and even of different nationalities. There were several different types of formation, such as [[infantry brigade]], [[infantry division]] and [[corps (tactical)]],
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*Units were tactical and administrative at the same time.
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*Units, such as [[infantry battalion]]s, were tactical and administrative at the same time.
  
  
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===Administrative Hierarchy===
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=== Administrative hierarchy ===
  
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*Arm (infantry, cavalry or artillery; see also [http://www.1914-1918.net/hm_forces.html The Long Long Trail: Constitution of Military Forces])
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* [[Arm]] (infantry, cavalry or artillery; this level doesn't have its own page for other types of unit)
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*Record Office
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* [[Record office]]
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*Regiment/Corps
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* Regiment/corps (either [[infantry regiment (administrative)]] or [[corps (administrative)]])
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*(some odd ones between regiment and unit that only apply in some cases)
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* [[Identity]] (an intermediate level between regiment and unit that only applies in some cases)
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**Horse and Field Artillery were administratively part of the same Regiment/Corps but had distinct regimental identities within it
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* Units (see below)
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**Motor Machine Gun Service had its own identity and cap badge. Originally part of Royal Artillery but later moved to Machine Gun Corps
 
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**Yeomanry regiments could be duplicated into 3 lines.
 
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**Army Service Corps was divided into horse transport, motor transport, remounts etc.
 
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**Territorial region (significant admin level for Territorial Royal Engineers but not for infantry; other arms may vary)
 
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**Royal Engineers (Transport) was a big organisation within the Royal Engineers. Signal Service was also a sub-group of Royal Engineers
 
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**Honourable Artillery Company was divided into infantry and artillery. The infantry part shared a record office with the London Regiment
 
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*Units (see below)
 
  
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===Formation Hierarchy===
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=== Formation hierarchy ===
  
 
This is a typical hierarchy based on the Western Front, but there were all sorts of non-standard formations in other theatres, especially in Africa and Asia.
 
This is a typical hierarchy based on the Western Front, but there were all sorts of non-standard formations in other theatres, especially in Africa and Asia.
  
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*General Headquarters (usually one per theatre; sometimes synonymous with Expeditionary Force, sometimes not)
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* General Headquarters (usually one per theatre; sometimes synonymous with Expeditionary Force, sometimes not)
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**Lines of Communication (under GHQ in each theatre)
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** Lines of Communication (under GHQ in each theatre)
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*Army (not used in every theatre)
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* [[Army]] (not used in every theatre)
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*Corps
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* [[Corps (tactical)|Corps]] (not used in every theatre)
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*Division
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* Division (can be [[infantry division]] or [[mounted division]])
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*Brigade (infantry, cavalry or tank, but not artillery)
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* Brigade (can be [[infantry brigade]], [[mounted brigade]] or [[tank brigade]], but artillery brigades are classed as units)
  
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Units could be direct members of any level of formation. Above Brigade level this was in groups known as Divisional Troops, Corps Troops, Army Troops, or GHQ Troops .
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Units could be direct members of any level of formation. Above brigade level this was in groups known as Divisional Troops, Corps Troops, Army Troops, or GHQ Troops .
  
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===Unit Hierarchy===
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=== Units and sub-units ===
  
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*Infantry Battalion; Cavalry Regiment; Field Artillery Brigade
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There are many different types of units. This section shows the main ones for infantry, cavalry and field artillery. Each unit was divided into smaller units, sometimes known as sub-units. These sub-units are generally not represented by separate pages on this site unless they sometimes operated independently of their parent units, but they are shown here for information.
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*Infantry Company; Cavalry Squadron; Field Artillery Battery
 
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*Infantry Platoon; Cavalry Troop; Field Artillery Section
 
  
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A Royal Engineers Company was a similar size to an Infantry Company but for many types of engineers was the largest unit, attached directly to a formation.
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{| class="wikitable"
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|-
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!
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!Infantry
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!Cavalry
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!Field artillery
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|-
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!Unit
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|[[Infantry battalion]]
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|[[Cavalry regiment]]
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|[[Field artillery brigade]]
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|-
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!Sub-unit
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|Infantry company
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|[[Cavalry squadron]]
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|[[Field artillery battery]]
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|-
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!Sub-unit
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|Infantry platoon
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|Cavalry troop
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|Field artillery section
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|}
  
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Cavalry or Yeomanry Squadrons could be attached directly to an infantry division, separately from their parent regiments.
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Infantry platoons were further divided into sections of about 12 men.
  
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A Royal Engineers company was a similar size to an infantry company but for many types of engineers was the largest unit, attached directly to a formation.
  
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==Regulars and Territorials==
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[[Cavalry squadron]]s could be attached directly to an infantry division, separately from their parent regiments.
  
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Every unit of the British Army could be classed as one of:
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== Regulars and Territorials ==
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Each unit of the British Army belonged to one of these branches:
  
 
*Regular Army
 
*Regular Army
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*Territorial Force (including Yeomanry)
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*Territorial Force (including the Yeomanry, which was the Territorial cavalry)
 
*Special Reserve
 
*Special Reserve
 
*New Army
 
*New Army
  
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These classifications apply at unit level and don't follow the admin hierarchy: most infantry regiments contained battalions of all types.
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These classifications apply at unit level and don't follow the administrative hierarchy: most infantry regiments contained battalions of all types.
  
 
Except for Special Reserve, they can also apply to formations at Brigade and Division level, but are usually meaningless at higher levels.
 
Except for Special Reserve, they can also apply to formations at Brigade and Division level, but are usually meaningless at higher levels.
  
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==Examples==
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There was also the Volunteer Training Corps, which was originally a separate unofficial service but became a branch of the British Army later in the war.
  
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===Infantry Battalion===
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== Examples ==
  
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Administrative hierarchy:
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=== Infantry battalion ===
  
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*Arm: Infantry
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Example hierarchies for [[1/5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment, British Army|1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment]], which was a battalion of the Territorial Force.
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*Record Office: [[Lichfield Infantry Record Office|Lichfield]]
 
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*Regiment/Corps: [[Lincolnshire Regiment]]
 
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*Unit: [[1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment]]
 
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*Unit: B Company
 
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*Unit: 5 Platoon
 
  
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Same battalion's tactical hierarchy, 1 July 1916 (sources: [http://www.gommecourt.co.uk/men.htm gommecourt.co.uk]; WO 95/2691):
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==== Infantry administrative hierarchy ====
  
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*Formation: General Headquarters, British Expeditionary Force (ie Western Front)
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* Arm: [[Infantry, British Army]]
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*Formation: Third Army
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* Record office: [[Lichfield Infantry Record Office, British Army|Lichfield Infantry Record Office]]
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*Formation: VII Corps
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* Regiment/corps: [[Lincolnshire Regiment, British Army|Lincolnshire Regiment]]
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*Formation: [[46th Division]]
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* Unit: [[1/5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment, British Army|1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment]]
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*Formation: [[138th Infantry Brigade]]
 
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*Unit: [[1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment]]
 
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*Unit: B Company
 
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*Unit: 5 Platoon
 
  
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===Regular Cavalry===
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==== Infantry tactical hierarchy ====
  
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Administrative hierarchy:
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Same battalion's tactical hierarchy, 1 July 1916 (sources: [http://www.gommecourt.co.uk/men.htm gommecourt.co.uk]; WO 95/2691):
  
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*Arm: Cavalry
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* Formation: [[British Expeditionary Force]] (ie Western Front)
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*Record Office: Cavalry Canterbury
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* Formation: [[Third Army, British Army|Third Army]]
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*Regiment/Corps: Corps of Dragoons
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* Formation: [[VII Corps, British Army|VII Corps]]
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*Unit: 7th Dragoon Guards
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* Formation: [[46th Division, British Army|46th Division]]
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*Unit: B Squadron
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* Formation: [[138th Infantry Brigade, British Army|138th Infantry Brigade]]
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* Unit: [[1/5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment, British Army|1/5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment]]
  
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Same regiment's tactical hierarchy, 14 July 1916 (source: David Kenyon's PhD thesis, pp. 50-56):
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=== Regular Cavalry ===
  
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*Formation: General Headquarters, British Expeditionary Force (ie Western Front)
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Example hierarchies for [[7th Dragoon Guards, British Army|7th Dragoon Guards]].
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*Formation: Fourth Army
 
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*Formation: XIII Corps
 
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*Formation: 2nd Indian Cavalry Division
 
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*Formation: Secunderabad Cavalry Brigade
 
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*Unit: 7th Dragoon Guards
 
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*Unit: B Squadron
 
  
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The cavalry divisions on the Western Front were sometimes part of a tactical formation called Cavalry Corps, which should not be confused with the administrative corps of Dragoons, Hussars and Lancers.
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==== Cavalry administrative hierarchy ====
  
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==Sources==
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* Arm: [[Cavalry, British Army]]
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* Record office: [[Canterbury Cavalry Record Office, British Army|Canterbury Cavalry Record Office]]
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* Regiment/corps: [[Corps of Dragoons, British Army|Corps of Dragoons]]
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* Unit: [[7th Dragoon Guards, British Army|7th Dragoon Guards]]
  
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These are some of the main sources for British Army structure and naming.
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==== Cavalry tactical hierarchy ====
  
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There is no complete published list of which divisions were in which corps and when. This data will need to be added manually from a variety of sources.
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Same regiment's tactical hierarchy, 14 July 1916 (source: David Kenyon's PhD thesis, pp. 50-56):
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===Primary===
 
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*[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices London Gazette]: supposed to publish Royal Warrants for creation of new regiments, but they're hard to find.
 
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*[https://archive.org/search.php?query=britain%20army%20list%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts The Army List]: mostly a catalogue of officers. Supposed to contain lists of regiment names as used at the time, but they're hard to find.
 
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*Army Orders: official orders for creating, renaming and disbanding units (among many other things). Published by HMSO. Sets in BL and TNA, WO 123. Has internal index but there does not appear to be any easily available index published separately.
 
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*Army Council Instructions: official orders for creating, renaming and disbanding units (among many other things). Published by HMSO. Set in TNA.
 
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*WO 95:
 
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**original orders of battle: snapshots of whole tactical hierarchy in each theatre at regular intervals.
 
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**original war diaries
 
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**catalogue data: includes regiment and unit names but not consistent enough to be an authority in itself.
 
  
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===Secondary===
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* Formation: [[British Expeditionary Force]] (ie Western Front)
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* Formation: [[Fourth Army, British Army|Fourth Army]]
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* Formation: [[XIII Corps, British Army|XIII Corps]]
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* Formation: [[2nd Indian Cavalry Division]]
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* Formation: [[9th Indian Cavalry Brigade]] (also known as Secunderabad Cavalry Brigade)
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*Unit: [[7th Dragoon Guards, British Army|7th Dragoon Guards]]
  
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*William Spencer, ''First World War Army Service Records: a guide for family historians''. Detailed guide to official documents of British Army, not just personnel files. Includes list of regiments and record offices, but this is incomplete and contains some errors.
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The cavalry divisions on the Western Front were sometimes part of a tactical formation called [[Cavalry Corps, British Army|Cavalry Corps]], which should not be confused with the administrative corps of [[Corps of Dragoons, British Army|Dragoons]], [[Corps of Hussars, British Army|Hussars]] and [[Corps of Lancers, British Army|Lancers]].
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*A.F. Becke, ''Order of Battle of Divisions'' (6 vols). Commonly known as 'Orders of Battle'. Mostly compiled from a sample of original orders of battle from WO 95, with notes on changes in between. Only covers British formations. Doesn't cite original documents for specific facts.
 
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*E.A. James, ''British Regiments 1914-1918''. Gives brief details of every British infantry battalion and cavalry regiment. Useful bibliography but doesn't cite sources for specific facts. Mostly superseded by The Long Long Trail, but includes what appears to be a definitive list of full names of British regiments.
 
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*[http://www.1914-1918.net/ The Long Long Trail]: Chris Baker's website. Includes pages for each British regiment and division. Brief history of battalions but doesn't have a detailed page for each battalion. Generally doesn't cite sources but regiment and division pages seem to be mostly derived from Becke and James. Mentions having corrected some errors in James so should be preferred where they disagree.
 
  
 
[[Category:British Army]]
 
[[Category:British Army]]
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[[Category:Sources]]
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[[Category:Help]]

Latest revision as of 11:29, 12 November 2017

See also Constitution of the Military Forces of the British Crown, which gives the contemporary legal definition of the British Army and lists the main administrative units.

Units, formations and regiments

The British Army had two hierarchies:

  • Administrative
  • Tactical

These were separate at higher levels but overlapped at lower levels. There was also a separate hierarchy of pay offices that we haven't yet tried to represent on this site.


Administrative hierarchy

Formation hierarchy

This is a typical hierarchy based on the Western Front, but there were all sorts of non-standard formations in other theatres, especially in Africa and Asia.

Units could be direct members of any level of formation. Above brigade level this was in groups known as Divisional Troops, Corps Troops, Army Troops, or GHQ Troops .

Units and sub-units

There are many different types of units. This section shows the main ones for infantry, cavalry and field artillery. Each unit was divided into smaller units, sometimes known as sub-units. These sub-units are generally not represented by separate pages on this site unless they sometimes operated independently of their parent units, but they are shown here for information.

Infantry Cavalry Field artillery
Unit Infantry battalion Cavalry regiment Field artillery brigade
Sub-unit Infantry company Cavalry squadron Field artillery battery
Sub-unit Infantry platoon Cavalry troop Field artillery section

Infantry platoons were further divided into sections of about 12 men.

A Royal Engineers company was a similar size to an infantry company but for many types of engineers was the largest unit, attached directly to a formation.

Cavalry squadrons could be attached directly to an infantry division, separately from their parent regiments.


Regulars and Territorials

Each unit of the British Army belonged to one of these branches:

  • Regular Army
  • Territorial Force (including the Yeomanry, which was the Territorial cavalry)
  • Special Reserve
  • New Army

These classifications apply at unit level and don't follow the administrative hierarchy: most infantry regiments contained battalions of all types.

Except for Special Reserve, they can also apply to formations at Brigade and Division level, but are usually meaningless at higher levels.

There was also the Volunteer Training Corps, which was originally a separate unofficial service but became a branch of the British Army later in the war.

Examples

Infantry battalion

Example hierarchies for 1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, which was a battalion of the Territorial Force.

Infantry administrative hierarchy

Infantry tactical hierarchy

Same battalion's tactical hierarchy, 1 July 1916 (sources: gommecourt.co.uk; WO 95/2691):

Regular Cavalry

Example hierarchies for 7th Dragoon Guards.

Cavalry administrative hierarchy

Cavalry tactical hierarchy

Same regiment's tactical hierarchy, 14 July 1916 (source: David Kenyon's PhD thesis, pp. 50-56):

The cavalry divisions on the Western Front were sometimes part of a tactical formation called Cavalry Corps, which should not be confused with the administrative corps of Dragoons, Hussars and Lancers.

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