Difference between revisions of "British units in World War I"

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See '''[[How you can help|how you can help]]''' to find out how you can help collect experiences of those in the First World War in their own words; you can also help by filling in the battalions for each regiment. A good source is the Long, Long Trail's page for [http://www.1914-1918.net/regiments.htm the British infantry of 1914-1918] and on [http://www.1914-1918.net/britdivs.htm The British Divisions of 1914-1918]. Chris Baker, the site's owner, has kindly given permission to use information from the site, so populating this page from those is a high priority task. Please feel free to get stuck in if you spot a gap!
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{{About|units mainly recruited in the United Kingdom from British subjects. For units recruited by the British Crown or colonial governments outside the UK, India and the major dominions, see [[British colonial units in World War I]]. For example, we class the [[Royal Newfoundland Regiment]], [[West India Regiment]] and [[British West Indies Regiment]] as colonial, not British, as this seems to agree with the definition in the [[Constitution of the Military Forces of the British Crown|Manual of Military Law]]. If you're not sure where to look for a specific unit, use the website search. This can also help you find specific units under variant names.}}
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 +
See '''[[How you can help|how you can help]]''' to find out how you can help collect experiences of those in the First World War in their own words; you can also help by filling in the battalions for each regiment. A good source is the Long, Long Trail's page for [http://www.1914-1918.net/regiments.htm the British infantry of 1914-1918] and on [http://www.1914-1918.net/britdivs.htm The British Divisions of 1914-1918]. Chris Baker, the site's owner, has kindly given permission to use information from the site. We now have pages for most infantry battalions, but please feel free to get stuck in if you spot a gap!
  
 
Here's a list of [http://web.archive.org/web/20050404041821/http://regiments.org/regiments/uk/lists/ba1918.htm REGIMENTS and CORPS of the BRITISH ARMY in 1918] (via the Internet Archive as the site appears to have been down for some years).
 
Here's a list of [http://web.archive.org/web/20050404041821/http://regiments.org/regiments/uk/lists/ba1918.htm REGIMENTS and CORPS of the BRITISH ARMY in 1918] (via the Internet Archive as the site appears to have been down for some years).
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Type the name of the unit, add ", UK" to the end if it's a British unit, then make it into a wiki link by putting two square brackets around the name of the regiment or battalion, like this:
 
Type the name of the unit, add ", UK" to the end if it's a British unit, then make it into a wiki link by putting two square brackets around the name of the regiment or battalion, like this:
  
<nowiki>[[Royal Army Medical Corps, UK]]</nowiki>
+
<nowiki>[[1st Battalion Example Regiment, UK]]</nowiki>
 +
 
 +
This makes it into a red link [[1st Battalion Example Regiment, UK]]; you can click on any red-linked page name to create that page. You can also create a page by entering its name in the search box. If it doesn't already exist, you can click on the red link in the search results.
 +
 
 +
See also [[naming conventions for British units]].
 +
 
 +
== British Army ==
 +
 
 +
The British Army consisted of land forces raised in the United Kingdom apart from the Royal Marines and the Royal Naval Division. It had these branches:
 +
 
 +
* Regular Army
 +
* New Army
 +
* Territorial Force
 +
* Special Reserve
 +
* Volunteer Force
 +
 
 +
Most regiments and corps included a mixture of units from each branch.
 +
 
 +
Every British army unit that has a page on this site should be listed in [[:Category:All British Army units]].
 +
 
 +
See also [[British Army Hierarchies]] for more information about the structure of the Army.
  
This makes it into a red link [[Royal Army Medical Corps, UK]]; you can click on any red-linked page name to create that page. You can also create a page by entering its name in the search box. If it doesn't already exist, you can click on the red link in the search results.
+
=== Higher formations ===
  
 +
These are tactical formations above division level:
  
== Infantry ==
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* [[:Category:British corps (tactical)]] has pages for every corps except and Tank Corps headquarters. These were the next level above divisions.
 +
* [[:Category:British armies]] has pages for all the armies on the Western Front and at Salonika and Gallipoli. These were the next level above corps.
 +
* [[:Category:British Empire GHQs]] contains expeditionary forces and other formations that had the general headquarters in a theatre of war. Some pages have been added but several theatres are still missing.
  
=== Regiments ===
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=== Infantry ===
  
We now have a page for every infantry regiment of the British Army. The table below shows links to the pages and the regiments' full names. It can be sorted by names or order of precedence.
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==== Infantry regiments ====
  
(WARNING: some of these pages are very big and might crash before edits have saved.)
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We now have a page for every infantry regiment of the British Army. The table below shows links to the pages and the regiments' full names. It can be sorted by names or order of precedence. The website search can also help you find specific units under variant names.
  
 
{| class="wikitable sortable"
 
{| class="wikitable sortable"
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|Kent Cyclist Battalion
 
|Kent Cyclist Battalion
 
|199 10
 
|199 10
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|-
 +
|[[King's Liverpool Regiment, UK]]
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|King's (Liverpool Regiment)
 +
|008
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, UK]]
 
|[[King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, UK]]
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|Lincolnshire Regiment
 
|Lincolnshire Regiment
 
|010
 
|010
|-
 
|[[King's Liverpool Regiment, UK]]
 
|King's (Liverpool Regiment)
 
|008
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[London Regiment, UK]]
 
|[[London Regiment, UK]]
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|019
 
|019
 
|}
 
|}
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 +
Also administratively part of the infantry:
 +
 +
* [[Army Cyclist Corps, UK]]
 +
* [[Royal Defence Corps, UK]]
  
 
Regiment pages show each regiment's parent record office. Record offices also have their own pages, listed in [[:Category:British Army record offices]].
 
Regiment pages show each regiment's parent record office. Record offices also have their own pages, listed in [[:Category:British Army record offices]].
  
=== Battalions ===
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==== Infantry battalions ====
  
 
'The battalion was the basic tactical unit of the infantry of the British Army in the Great War of 1914-1918. At full establishment it consisted of 1,007 men of whom 30 were officers. It comprised a Battalion Headquarters and four Companies.'[http://www.1914-1918.net/whatbatt.htm]
 
'The battalion was the basic tactical unit of the infantry of the British Army in the Great War of 1914-1918. At full establishment it consisted of 1,007 men of whom 30 were officers. It comprised a Battalion Headquarters and four Companies.'[http://www.1914-1918.net/whatbatt.htm]
  
We now have pages for every British infantry battalion that has an official war diary. The Guards regiments, the London Regiment and the territorial cyclist battalions have pages for every battalion that existed, even if it doesn't have war diaries. Other regiments don't yet have pages for battalions that don't have war diaries. Pages for missing battalions will be imported later.
+
We now have pages for nearly every British infantry battalion known to have existed. There might be some provisional battalions and Royal Defence Corps battalions missing: these
 +
will need to be added manually if any can be identified.
  
There are too many battalions to list on this page (already more than 1,000), but there are several ways you can find them:
+
We don't yet have any information about Royal Defence Corps protection companies.
  
The regiment pages shown in the table above list nearly all battalions known to have been part of a regiment, even if they don't have war diaries or wiki pages. You can use the names given on the regiment pages to create pages for missing battalions.
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See also [[#Volunteer Training Corps]] below.
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 +
There are too many battalions to list on this page (already more than 1,700), but there are several ways you can find them:
 +
 
 +
The regiment pages shown in the table above should list all battalions known to have been part of a regiment.
  
 
The following categories list British infantry battalions:
 
The following categories list British infantry battalions:
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* [[:Category:British infantry battalions]]: all British infantry battalions that have pages, listed alphabetically by regiment, then in order of battalion numbers. Includes Army, Royal Navy and Royal Marines.
 
* [[:Category:British infantry battalions]]: all British infantry battalions that have pages, listed alphabetically by regiment, then in order of battalion numbers. Includes Army, Royal Navy and Royal Marines.
 
** Also has sub-categories listing certain battalions by uniform distinctions and special roles, but these are not yet complete.
 
** Also has sub-categories listing certain battalions by uniform distinctions and special roles, but these are not yet complete.
* [[:Category:British Army infantry battalions by regimental precedence]]: all British Army infantry battalions, listed in order of regimental precedence as shown in the above table, then in order of battalion numbers.
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* [[:Category:British Army infantry battalions by regimental precedence]]: British Army infantry battalions only, listed in order of regimental precedence as shown in the above table, then in order of battalion numbers.
  
You can also use the search box to find battalions that already have pages. You don't have to enter the name exactly as it appears in the page title: alternative names will often show up as redirects or part of the page text.
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You can also use the search box to find battalions that already have pages. You don't always have to enter the name exactly as it appears in the page title: alternative names will often show up as redirects or part of the page text.
  
 +
==== Infantry brigades ====
  
=== Divisions ===
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We now have a page for nearly every British infantry brigade that has war diaries. These pages are listed in [[:Category:British infantry brigades]].
  
We now have pages for every British infantry division. These pages are listed in [[:Category:British divisions]].
+
Please feel free to add any missing brigades.
  
=== Brigades ===
+
==== Infantry divisions ====
  
We now have a page for nearly every British infantry brigade that has war diaries. These pages are listed in [[:Category:British infantry brigades]].
+
We now have pages for every British infantry division, including the divisions of the original Fourth New Army that were broken up in April 1915. These pages are listed in [[:Category:British divisions]].
 +
 
 +
=== Cavalry  ===
  
== Cavalry ==
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We now have pages for more or less every British cavalry and yeomanry unit. You can find them in [[:Category:British mounted units]] and its sub-categories.
  
We do not yet have pages for cavalry or yeomanry.
+
==== Cavalry administrative units ====
  
Administrative hierarchy of the British cavalry:
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These are the administrative corps and record offices of the British cavalry, including regular, yeomanry and Special Reserve regiments:
  
 
*[[Household Cavalry, UK]]
 
*[[Household Cavalry, UK]]
**[[1st Life Guards, UK]]
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** [[Hyde Park 1st Life Guards Record Office, UK]]
**[[2nd Life Guards, UK]]
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** [[Windsor 2nd Life Guards Record Office, UK]]
**[[Royal Horse Guards, UK]]
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** [[Regents Park Royal Horse Guards Record Office, UK]]
 
*[[Canterbury Cavalry Record Office, UK]]
 
*[[Canterbury Cavalry Record Office, UK]]
 
**[[Corps of Dragoons, UK]]
 
**[[Corps of Dragoons, UK]]
***Regular dragoon guards regiments, eg [[1st Dragoon Guards, UK]]
 
***Regular dragoon regiments, eg [[1st Dragoons, UK]]
 
***Yeomanry regiments classed as dragoons
 
 
**[[Corps of Lancers, UK]]
 
**[[Corps of Lancers, UK]]
***Regular lancer regiments, eg [[5th Lancers, UK]]
 
***Yeomanry regiments classed as lancers
 
**[[King Edward's Horse, UK]] (special reserve cavalry; which corps?)
 
 
*[[York Cavalry Record Office, UK]]
 
*[[York Cavalry Record Office, UK]]
 
**[[Corps of Hussars, UK]]
 
**[[Corps of Hussars, UK]]
***Regular hussar regiments, eg [[3rd Hussars, UK]]
 
***Yeomanry regiments classed as hussars
 
***[[North Irish Horse, UK]] (special reserve cavalry)
 
***[[South Irish Horse, UK]] (special reserve cavalry)
 
  
Sources:
+
==== Cavalry divisions and corps ====
 +
 
 +
* [[Cavalry Corps, UK]]
 +
* [[1st Cavalry Division, UK]]
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* [[2nd Cavalry Division, UK]]
 +
* [[3rd Cavalry Division, UK]]
 +
* the numbers 4th and 5th were used by Indian divisions
 +
* [[1st Mounted Division, UK]]
 +
* [[2nd Mounted Division, UK]]
 +
* [[3rd Mounted Division, UK]]
 +
* [[4th Mounted Division, UK]]
 +
* [[Yeomanry Mounted Division, UK]]
 +
 
 +
==== Cavalry brigades ====
 +
 
 +
See [[:Category:British cavalry and mounted brigades]] for regular cavalry and yeomanry mounted brigades.
 +
 
 +
==== Cavalry and yeomanry regiments ====
  
*{{RefTLLT|http://www.1914-1918.net/cavalry.htm|The British cavalry regiments of 1914-1918}} lists British regular and special reserve cavalry regiments, with further reading.
+
Cavalry and yeomanry (ie Territorial cavalry) regiments and independent squadrons are listed in these categories:
*{{RefTLLT|http://www.1914-1918.net/yeomanry.htm|The British Yeomanry of 1914-1918}} lists British yeomanry regiments (these were the Territorial branch of the cavalry).
 
*{{RefTLLT|http://www.1914-1918.net/TF_renumbering_yeomanry|Renumbering of the Territorial Force Yeomanry in 1917}} gives details of how yeomanry soldiers were given new service numbers, and also lists which administrative corps each regiment belonged to.
 
  
== Machine Gun Units ==
+
* [[:Category:British cavalry units]] lists all cavalry regiments and squadrons that have pages alphabetically by regiment name, including regular cavalry, yeomanry, Special Reserve and corps cavalry regiments.
 +
* [[:Category:British cavalry by regimental precedence]] lists regular cavalry and yeomanry regiments by order of precedence.
 +
* [[:Category:British yeomanry by county]] lists yeomanry regiments alphabetically by county, which is not always the same as regiment name.
  
[[Machine Gun Corps, UK]] consisted of Machine Gun Companies attached to infantry brigades, and later Machine Gun Battalions attached to infantry divisions. Many Machine Gun Companies are listed on the pages of their parent brigades. See [[:Category:British infantry brigades]].
 
  
Other machine gun units:
+
==== Sources ====
  
* [[Motor Machine Gun Service, UK]]
+
*{{Cite TLLT|http://www.1914-1918.net/cavalry.htm|The British cavalry regiments of 1914-1918}} lists British regular and special reserve cavalry regiments, with further reading.
 +
*{{Cite TLLT|http://www.1914-1918.net/yeomanry.htm|The British Yeomanry of 1914-1918}} lists British yeomanry regiments (these were the Territorial branch of the cavalry).
 +
*{{Cite TLLT|http://www.1914-1918.net/TF_renumbering_yeomanry.htm|Renumbering of the Territorial Force Yeomanry in 1917}} lists which administrative corps each regiment belonged to.
 +
 
 +
==== Imperial Camel Corps ====
 +
 
 +
* [[Imperial Camel Corps]]
 +
* [[Imperial Camel Brigade]]
 +
* [[2nd Battalion Imperial Camel Corps]]
 +
 
 +
=== Machine Gun Units ===
 +
 
 +
We now have pages for all British machine gun units that have war diaries. Any that don't have war diaries will need to be added manually.
 +
 
 +
Most units belonged to [[Machine Gun Corps, UK]], consisting of:
 +
 
 +
* [[Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), UK]]:
 +
** independent machine gun companies attached to infantry brigades and divisions (1916-18): see [[:Category:British machine gun companies]]
 +
** machine gun battalions attached to divisions (1918): see [[:Category:British machine gun battalions]]
 +
* [[Machine Gun Corps (Cavalry), UK]]
 +
** machine gun squadrons attached to cavalry brigades: see [[:Category:British machine gun squadrons]]
 +
* [[Machine Gun Corps (Motors), UK]], formerly part of [[Royal Field Artillery, UK]] and known as the Motor Machine Gun Service.
 +
** see [[:Category:British motor machine gun batteries]] and [[:Category:British motor machine gun brigades]]
 +
* [[Machine Gun Corps (Heavy), UK]] operated the first tanks and became [[Tank Corps, UK]]
 +
* [[Machine Gun Training Centre, UK]]
 +
 
 +
The Guards had their own machine gun units which were administratively separate from the Machine Gun Corps:
 +
 
 +
* machine gun companies:
 +
** [[1st Guards Machine Gun Company, UK]]
 +
** [[2nd Guards Machine Gun Company, UK]]
 +
** [[3rd Guards Machine Gun Company, UK]]
 
* [[Guards Machine Gun Regiment, UK]] (formerly Machine Gun Guards):
 
* [[Guards Machine Gun Regiment, UK]] (formerly Machine Gun Guards):
 
** [[1st Battalion Guards Machine Gun Regiment, UK]]
 
** [[1st Battalion Guards Machine Gun Regiment, UK]]
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** [[4th Battalion Guards Machine Gun Regiment, UK]]
 
** [[4th Battalion Guards Machine Gun Regiment, UK]]
  
 
+
=== Artillery ===
== Artillery ==
 
  
 
[[Royal Artillery, UK]] was an arm of the British Army, divided into two corps:
 
[[Royal Artillery, UK]] was an arm of the British Army, divided into two corps:
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The basic unit of the Royal Field Artillery was the brigade, which was roughly equivalent to an infantry battalion.
 
The basic unit of the Royal Field Artillery was the brigade, which was roughly equivalent to an infantry battalion.
  
== Other regiments and corps ==
+
We now have pages for every Royal Horse Artillery unit that has war diaries. These are listed in [[:Category:British horse artillery units]].
  
This is a list of other regiments and corps of the British Army.
+
=== Cyclists ===
  
* [[Army Cyclist Corps, UK]] (administratively part of the infantry)
+
See [[:Category:British cyclist battalions]] and [[:Category:British cyclist companies]] for cyclist units.
 +
 
 +
Most of these were administratively under [[Army Cyclist Corps, UK]] but there are some exceptions. The following independent units were also classed as infantry regiments:
 +
 
 +
* [[Highland Cyclist Battalion, UK]]
 +
* [[Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion, UK]]
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* [[Kent Cyclist Battalion, UK]]
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* [[Northern Cyclist Battalion, UK]]
 +
 
 +
The Territorial battalions of some county infantry regiments were equipped as cyclists. All of these battalions have pages and are categorised as cyclist battalions as well as infantry battalions.
 +
 
 +
Some yeomanry cavalry regiments were converted into cyclists. We haven't yet catalogued these changes but all yeomanry regiments have pages.
 +
 
 +
=== Other regiments, corps and departments ===
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 +
This is a list of other regiments, corps and departments of the British Army.
 +
 
 +
* [[Army Chaplains Department, UK]]
 
* [[Army Ordnance Corps, UK]]
 
* [[Army Ordnance Corps, UK]]
 +
* [[Army Ordnance Department, UK]]
 +
* [[Army Pay Corps, UK]]
 +
* [[Army Pay Department, UK]]
 
* [[Army Service Corps, UK]]
 
* [[Army Service Corps, UK]]
 
* [[Army Veterinary Corps, UK]]
 
* [[Army Veterinary Corps, UK]]
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* [[Non-Combatant Corps, UK]]
 
* [[Non-Combatant Corps, UK]]
 
* [[Royal Army Medical Corps, UK]]
 
* [[Royal Army Medical Corps, UK]]
* [[Royal Defence Corps, UK]] (administratively part of the infantry)
+
* [[Royal Army Ordnance Corps, UK]]
 
* [[Royal Engineers, UK]]
 
* [[Royal Engineers, UK]]
 
* [[Tank Corps, UK]]
 
* [[Tank Corps, UK]]
  
=== Officer Cadet Battalions ===
+
==== Women's departments ====
 +
 
 +
* [[Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service]]
 +
* [[Territorial Force Nursing Service]]
 +
* [[Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps]]
 +
 
 +
==== Officer Cadet Battalions ====
  
 
These battalions were set up to train new officers. They all have pages, listed in [[:Category:British officer cadet battalions]].
 
These battalions were set up to train new officers. They all have pages, listed in [[:Category:British officer cadet battalions]].
  
== Colonial units ==
+
== Volunteer Training Corps and Volunteer Force ==
  
These are units which were legally classed as colonial units, not part of the British Army, or whose status is currently uncertain.
+
Home defence units similar to the Home Guard in WW2. Initially known as the Volunteer Training Corps and not officially recognised by the War Office. In June 1916, the British Crown declared that volunteer units could be accepted under the terms of the 1863 Volunteer Act, which had never been repealed but had not been used in practice since the old Volunteer Force was converted into the Territorial Force in 1908. From then on, volunteer units accepted by the Crown were part of the Volunteer Force and their names were listed in the official Army Orders when they were accepted.<ref>Units started to be recognised on 17 June 1916, {{Cite AO|203|1916}}</ref> Later in the war, probably in 1918, Volunteer battalions were integrated into British Army regiments. We're not yet sure how far they were administratively integrated, but at the very least they took the name and badge of the parent regiment.
  
* [[British West Indies Regiment]]: more information needed.
+
For the purposes of data on this site, Volunteer units that were officially accepted by Army Orders will be treated as a branch of the British Army called "Volunteer Force". If we can identify any units that existed in the VTC but were not accepted by the Crown into the VF, they will be classed as a separate service called "Volunteer Training Corps".
* [[Chinese Labour Corps]]
 
* [[Egyptian Labour Corps]]
 
* [[Gold Coast Regiment]]
 
* [[King's African Rifles]]: more information needed.
 
* [[Macedonian Mule Corps]]
 
* [[Maltese Labour Corps]]
 
* [[Nigeria Regiment]]
 
* [[Royal Militia of Jersey]] and [[Royal Guernsey Light Infantry]]: Channel Islands militia usually treated as colonial by the Army Act, but some units taken over by British War Office during First World War.
 
* [[Royal Newfoundland Regiment]]: not part of Canadian Expeditionary Force because Newfoundland not part of Canada until 1940s.
 
* [[West India Regiment]]: stated by 1907 Manual of Military Law to be colonial, not British.
 
* [[Zion Mule Corps]]
 
  
 +
We don't have a definitive list of units, but have started building a list of red links below. Please add any regiments or battalions that you know of. Page names will be based on pre-1918 Volunteer regiment names to disambiguate the units from pre-1908 Volunteer battalions. Ideally the canonical names will be taken from Army Orders listing accepted units.
  
== Women's organisations ==
+
More units are listed in Army Orders 206, 284, 323 and 374 of 1916. Links to these will be added later.
  
More information is needed about the legal and administrative status of these organisations in relation to the British Army.
+
* [[Carnarvonshire Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[1st Battalion Carnarvonshire Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[2nd Battalion Carnarvonshire Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
* [[Cheshire Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[6th Battalion Cheshire Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[Bucklow Mounted Corps, UK]]
 +
* [[Dorsetshire Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
* [[Durham Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[1st Battalion Durham Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[2nd Battalion Durham Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[3rd Battalion Durham Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[4th Battalion Durham Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[5th Battalion Durham Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[6th Battalion Durham Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[7th Battalion Durham Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[8th Battalion Durham Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[9th Battalion Durham Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[10th Battalion Durham Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[11th Battalion Durham Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[12th Battalion Durham Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
* [[Forfarshire Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[1/1st Battalion Forfarshire Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[2/1st Battalion Forfarshire Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
* [[Hampshire Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[1st Battalion Hampshire Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[2nd Battalion Hampshire Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[3rd Battalion Hampshire Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[4th Battalion Hampshire Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
* [[Surrey Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
** [[5th Battalion Surrey Volunteer Regiment, UK]]
 +
 
 +
 
 +
For more information see:
 +
 
 +
* [http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=229702 Great War Forum thread on Volunteer Battalions]
 +
* [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29910/supplement/815 London Gazette 2910/815] list commissions in a few Volunteer regiments in 1917
 +
* [[Wikipedia:Volunteer Training Corps (World War I)]]
 +
 
 +
== Royal Navy ==
 +
 
 +
Branches:
 +
 
 +
* Regular Navy
 +
* Royal Naval Reserve
 +
* Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
 +
 
 +
Also included the [[Royal Naval Air Service, UK|Royal Naval Air Service]], which operated aircraft and armoured cars.
 +
 
 +
=== Royal Navy infantry ===
 +
 
 +
These infantry units and formations were raised by the Royal Navy but fought on land under Army command.
 +
 
 +
* [[63rd (Royal Naval) Division, UK]]
 +
* [[1st Royal Naval Brigade, UK]]
 +
* [[188th Infantry Brigade, UK]]
 +
* [[189th Infantry Brigade, UK]]
 +
* [[Anson Battalion, UK]]
 +
* [[Benbow Battalion, UK]]
 +
* [[Collingwood Battalion, UK]]
 +
* [[Drake Battalion, UK]]
 +
* [[Hawke Battalion, UK]]
 +
* [[Hood Battalion, UK]]
 +
* [[Howe Battalion, UK]]
 +
* [[Nelson Battalion, UK]]
 +
 
 +
== Royal Marines ==
 +
 
 +
* [[Royal Marine Light Infantry, UK]]
 +
** [[Royal Marine Brigade, UK]]
 +
** [[1st Battalion Royal Marines, UK]]
 +
** [[2nd Battalion Royal Marines, UK]]
 +
** [[Chatham Battalion Royal Marines, UK]]
 +
** [[Deal Battalion Royal Marines, UK]]
 +
** [[Plymouth Battalion Royal Marines, UK]]
 +
** [[Portsmouth Battalion Royal Marines, UK]]
 +
* [[Royal Marine Artillery, UK]]
 +
* [[Royal Marine Engineers, UK]]
 +
 
 +
RMLI units that were not part of the Royal Naval Division will need to be added manually if any can be identified.
 +
 
 +
== Royal Air Force ==
 +
 
 +
Formed in April 1918 from the Royal Flying Corps (part of the Army) and Royal Naval Air Service (part of the Royal Navy).
 +
 
 +
== Other organisations ==
 +
 
 +
We need more information about the legal and administrative status of some of these organisations in relation to the British Army.
 +
 
 +
* [[Voluntary Aid Detachments]] included men's and women's units. Officially recognised by the War Office, but what was its relationship with the Army?
 +
* [[British Red Cross]]
 +
* [[Order of St John]]
 +
* [[Friends Ambulance Unit]]: set up by Quakers and operated with the British Red Cross and Order of St John. [http://fau.quaker.org.uk/ More information]. Was this a recognised Voluntary Aid Detachment or something else?
 +
 
 +
 
 +
=== Women's organisations ===
 +
 
 +
See also [[#Women's departments|women's departments of the British Army]] above.
  
* [[Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service]] (QAIMNS)
 
* [[Territorial Force Nursing Service]]
 
 
* [[Women's Hospital Corps]]
 
* [[Women's Hospital Corps]]
* [[Scottish Women's Hospitals]]
+
* [[Scottish Women's Hospitals]]: not officially recognised by the British War Office but served with other allied nations in several theatres.
 
* [[The Women's Volunteer Reserve]]
 
* [[The Women's Volunteer Reserve]]
 
* [[The Women's Legion]]
 
* [[The Women's Legion]]
* [[Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps]] (originally the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps)
 
 
* [[Almeric Paget Military Massage Corps]]
 
* [[Almeric Paget Military Massage Corps]]
* [[First Aid Nursing Yeomanry]] (FANY, now the Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps)
+
* [[First Aid Nursing Yeomanry]] (FANY, now the Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps). Authorised by the British Crown but separate from the Army.
* [[The Voluntary Aid Detachments]]
 
 
* [[Women's Auxiliary Force]]
 
* [[Women's Auxiliary Force]]
 
* [[Women's Auxiliary Agricultural Corps]]
 
* [[Women's Auxiliary Agricultural Corps]]
Line 519: Line 701:
  
  
== Other Organisations ==
 
  
* [[Volunteer Training Corps]], later Volunteer Force. Similar to Home Guard in WW2. Probably unofficial at first but later brought into the British Army.
+
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
* [[British Red Cross]]
+
[[Category:British Army]]
* [[Friends Ambulance Unit]]: set up by Quakers and operated with the British Red Cross and Order of St John. [http://fau.quaker.org.uk/ More information].
+
[[Category:British Empire]]

Revision as of 03:48, 1 May 2017

This page is about units mainly recruited in the United Kingdom from British subjects. For units recruited by the British Crown or colonial governments outside the UK, India and the major dominions, see British colonial units in World War I. For example, we class the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, West India Regiment and British West Indies Regiment as colonial, not British, as this seems to agree with the definition in the Manual of Military Law. If you're not sure where to look for a specific unit, use the website search. This can also help you find specific units under variant names.

See how you can help to find out how you can help collect experiences of those in the First World War in their own words; you can also help by filling in the battalions for each regiment. A good source is the Long, Long Trail's page for the British infantry of 1914-1918 and on The British Divisions of 1914-1918. Chris Baker, the site's owner, has kindly given permission to use information from the site. We now have pages for most infantry battalions, but please feel free to get stuck in if you spot a gap!

Here's a list of REGIMENTS and CORPS of the BRITISH ARMY in 1918 (via the Internet Archive as the site appears to have been down for some years).

If you've got a diary, letters or other personal narratives you want to add now:

  • if the page for the author's unit already exists, you can add it straight to the page. See below for which British units do and don't currently have pages.
  • if the page for the author's unit doesn't yet exist, you can create it.
  • if you don't want to create a page or you don't know which unit the author belonged to, you can add the narrative to Lists of personal diaries, letters, memoirs.

To create a new page:

Type the name of the unit, add ", UK" to the end if it's a British unit, then make it into a wiki link by putting two square brackets around the name of the regiment or battalion, like this:

[[1st Battalion Example Regiment, UK]]

This makes it into a red link 1st Battalion Example Regiment, UK; you can click on any red-linked page name to create that page. You can also create a page by entering its name in the search box. If it doesn't already exist, you can click on the red link in the search results.

See also naming conventions for British units.

British Army

The British Army consisted of land forces raised in the United Kingdom apart from the Royal Marines and the Royal Naval Division. It had these branches:

  • Regular Army
  • New Army
  • Territorial Force
  • Special Reserve
  • Volunteer Force

Most regiments and corps included a mixture of units from each branch.

Every British army unit that has a page on this site should be listed in Category:All British Army units.

See also British Army Hierarchies for more information about the structure of the Army.

Higher formations

These are tactical formations above division level:

  • Category:British corps (tactical) has pages for every corps except and Tank Corps headquarters. These were the next level above divisions.
  • Category:British armies has pages for all the armies on the Western Front and at Salonika and Gallipoli. These were the next level above corps.
  • Category:British Empire GHQs contains expeditionary forces and other formations that had the general headquarters in a theatre of war. Some pages have been added but several theatres are still missing.

Infantry

Infantry regiments

We now have a page for every infantry regiment of the British Army. The table below shows links to the pages and the regiments' full names. It can be sorted by names or order of precedence. The website search can also help you find specific units under variant names.

Page Name Full Name Precedence
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, UK Princess Louise's (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) 091
Bedfordshire Regiment, UK Bedfordshire Regiment 016
Black Watch, UK Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) 042
Border Regiment, UK Border Regiment 034
Cambridgeshire Regiment, UK Cambridgeshire Regiment 199 04
Cameron Highlanders, UK Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders 079
Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), UK Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) 026
Cheshire Regiment, UK Cheshire Regiment 022
Coldstream Guards, UK Coldstream Guards 000 02
Connaught Rangers, UK Connaught Rangers 088
Devonshire Regiment, UK Devonshire Regiment 011
Dorsetshire Regiment, UK Dorsetshire Regiment 039
Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, UK Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry 032
Durham Light Infantry, UK Durham Light Infantry 068
East Kent Regiment, UK Buffs (East Kent Regiment) 003
East Lancashire Regiment, UK East Lancashire Regiment 030
East Surrey Regiment, UK East Surrey Regiment 031
East Yorkshire Regiment, UK East Yorkshire Regiment 015
Essex Regiment, UK Essex Regiment 044
Gloucestershire Regiment, UK Gloucestershire Regiment 028
Gordon Highlanders, UK Gordon Highlanders 075
Grenadier Guards, UK Grenadier Guards 000 01
Hampshire Regiment, UK Hampshire Regiment 037
Herefordshire Regiment, UK Herefordshire Regiment 199 07
Hertfordshire Regiment, UK Hertfordshire Regiment 199 06
Highland Cyclist Battalion, UK Highland Cyclist Battalion 199 09
Highland Light Infantry, UK Highland Light Infantry 071
Honourable Artillery Company (Infantry), UK Honourable Artillery Company (Infantry) 199 02
Household Battalion, UK Household Battalion 000 00
Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion, UK Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion 199 11
Irish Guards, UK Irish Guards 000 04
Kent Cyclist Battalion, UK Kent Cyclist Battalion 199 10
King's Liverpool Regiment, UK King's (Liverpool Regiment) 008
King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, UK King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) 004
King's Own Scottish Borderers, UK King's Own Scottish Borderers 025
King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, UK King's Own (Yorkshire Light Infantry) 051
King's Royal Rifle Corps, UK King's Royal Rifle Corps 060
King's Shropshire Light Infantry, UK King's (Shropshire Light Infantry) 053
Lancashire Fusiliers, UK Lancashire Fusiliers 020
Leicestershire Regiment, UK Leicestershire Regiment 017
Leinster Regiment, UK Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) 100
Lincolnshire Regiment, UK Lincolnshire Regiment 010
London Regiment, UK London Regiment 199 05
Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, UK Loyal North Lancashire Regiment 047
Manchester Regiment, UK Manchester Regiment 063
Middlesex Regiment, UK Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment) 057
Monmouthshire Regiment, UK Monmouthshire Regiment 199 03
Norfolk Regiment, UK Norfolk Regiment 009
North Staffordshire Regiment, UK Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire Regiment) 064
Northamptonshire Regiment, UK Northamptonshire Regiment 048
Northern Cyclist Battalion, UK Northern Cyclist Battalion 199 08
Northumberland Fusiliers, UK Northumberland Fusiliers 005
Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, UK Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry 043
Rifle Brigade, UK Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) 199 01
Royal Berkshire Regiment, UK Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment) 049
Royal Dublin Fusiliers, UK Royal Dublin Fusiliers 102
Royal Fusiliers, UK Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) 007
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, UK Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 027
Royal Irish Fusiliers, UK Princess Victoria's (Royal Irish Fusiliers) 087
Royal Irish Regiment, UK Royal Irish Regiment 018
Royal Irish Rifles, UK Royal Irish Rifles 083
Royal Munster Fusiliers, UK Royal Munster Fusiliers 101
Royal Scots Fusiliers, UK Royal Scots Fusiliers 021
Royal Scots, UK Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) 001
Royal Sussex Regiment, UK Royal Sussex Regiment 035
Royal Warwickshire Regiment, UK Royal Warwickshire Regiment 006
Royal Welsh Fusiliers, UK Royal Welsh Fusiliers 023
Royal West Kent Regiment, UK Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) 050
Royal West Surrey Regiment, UK Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) 002
Scots Guards, UK Scots Guards 000 03
Seaforth Highlanders, UK Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's) 072
Sherwood Foresters, UK Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) 045
Somerset Light Infantry, UK Prince Albert's (Somerset Light Infantry) 013
South Lancashire Regiment, UK Prince of Wales's Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment) 040
South Staffordshire Regiment, UK South Staffordshire Regiment 038
South Wales Borderers, UK South Wales Borderers 024
Suffolk Regiment, UK Suffolk Regiment 012
Welsh Guards, UK Welsh Guards 000 05
Welsh Regiment, UK Welsh Regiment 041
West Riding Regiment, UK Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) 033
West Yorkshire Regiment, UK Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment) 014
Wiltshire Regiment, UK Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire Regiment) 062
Worcestershire Regiment, UK Worcestershire Regiment 029
York and Lancaster Regiment, UK York and Lancaster Regiment 065
Yorkshire Regiment, UK Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment) 019

Also administratively part of the infantry:

Regiment pages show each regiment's parent record office. Record offices also have their own pages, listed in Category:British Army record offices.

Infantry battalions

'The battalion was the basic tactical unit of the infantry of the British Army in the Great War of 1914-1918. At full establishment it consisted of 1,007 men of whom 30 were officers. It comprised a Battalion Headquarters and four Companies.'[1]

We now have pages for nearly every British infantry battalion known to have existed. There might be some provisional battalions and Royal Defence Corps battalions missing: these will need to be added manually if any can be identified.

We don't yet have any information about Royal Defence Corps protection companies.

See also #Volunteer Training Corps below.

There are too many battalions to list on this page (already more than 1,700), but there are several ways you can find them:

The regiment pages shown in the table above should list all battalions known to have been part of a regiment.

The following categories list British infantry battalions:

  • Category:British infantry battalions: all British infantry battalions that have pages, listed alphabetically by regiment, then in order of battalion numbers. Includes Army, Royal Navy and Royal Marines.
    • Also has sub-categories listing certain battalions by uniform distinctions and special roles, but these are not yet complete.
  • Category:British Army infantry battalions by regimental precedence: British Army infantry battalions only, listed in order of regimental precedence as shown in the above table, then in order of battalion numbers.

You can also use the search box to find battalions that already have pages. You don't always have to enter the name exactly as it appears in the page title: alternative names will often show up as redirects or part of the page text.

Infantry brigades

We now have a page for nearly every British infantry brigade that has war diaries. These pages are listed in Category:British infantry brigades.

Please feel free to add any missing brigades.

Infantry divisions

We now have pages for every British infantry division, including the divisions of the original Fourth New Army that were broken up in April 1915. These pages are listed in Category:British divisions.

Cavalry

We now have pages for more or less every British cavalry and yeomanry unit. You can find them in Category:British mounted units and its sub-categories.

Cavalry administrative units

These are the administrative corps and record offices of the British cavalry, including regular, yeomanry and Special Reserve regiments:

Cavalry divisions and corps

Cavalry brigades

See Category:British cavalry and mounted brigades for regular cavalry and yeomanry mounted brigades.

Cavalry and yeomanry regiments

Cavalry and yeomanry (ie Territorial cavalry) regiments and independent squadrons are listed in these categories:


Sources

Imperial Camel Corps

Machine Gun Units

We now have pages for all British machine gun units that have war diaries. Any that don't have war diaries will need to be added manually.

Most units belonged to Machine Gun Corps, UK, consisting of:

The Guards had their own machine gun units which were administratively separate from the Machine Gun Corps:

Artillery

Royal Artillery, UK was an arm of the British Army, divided into two corps:

The basic unit of the Royal Field Artillery was the brigade, which was roughly equivalent to an infantry battalion.

We now have pages for every Royal Horse Artillery unit that has war diaries. These are listed in Category:British horse artillery units.

Cyclists

See Category:British cyclist battalions and Category:British cyclist companies for cyclist units.

Most of these were administratively under Army Cyclist Corps, UK but there are some exceptions. The following independent units were also classed as infantry regiments:

The Territorial battalions of some county infantry regiments were equipped as cyclists. All of these battalions have pages and are categorised as cyclist battalions as well as infantry battalions.

Some yeomanry cavalry regiments were converted into cyclists. We haven't yet catalogued these changes but all yeomanry regiments have pages.

Other regiments, corps and departments

This is a list of other regiments, corps and departments of the British Army.

Women's departments

Officer Cadet Battalions

These battalions were set up to train new officers. They all have pages, listed in Category:British officer cadet battalions.

Volunteer Training Corps and Volunteer Force

Home defence units similar to the Home Guard in WW2. Initially known as the Volunteer Training Corps and not officially recognised by the War Office. In June 1916, the British Crown declared that volunteer units could be accepted under the terms of the 1863 Volunteer Act, which had never been repealed but had not been used in practice since the old Volunteer Force was converted into the Territorial Force in 1908. From then on, volunteer units accepted by the Crown were part of the Volunteer Force and their names were listed in the official Army Orders when they were accepted.[1] Later in the war, probably in 1918, Volunteer battalions were integrated into British Army regiments. We're not yet sure how far they were administratively integrated, but at the very least they took the name and badge of the parent regiment.

For the purposes of data on this site, Volunteer units that were officially accepted by Army Orders will be treated as a branch of the British Army called "Volunteer Force". If we can identify any units that existed in the VTC but were not accepted by the Crown into the VF, they will be classed as a separate service called "Volunteer Training Corps".

We don't have a definitive list of units, but have started building a list of red links below. Please add any regiments or battalions that you know of. Page names will be based on pre-1918 Volunteer regiment names to disambiguate the units from pre-1908 Volunteer battalions. Ideally the canonical names will be taken from Army Orders listing accepted units.

More units are listed in Army Orders 206, 284, 323 and 374 of 1916. Links to these will be added later.


For more information see:

Royal Navy

Branches:

  • Regular Navy
  • Royal Naval Reserve
  • Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve

Also included the Royal Naval Air Service, which operated aircraft and armoured cars.

Royal Navy infantry

These infantry units and formations were raised by the Royal Navy but fought on land under Army command.

Royal Marines

RMLI units that were not part of the Royal Naval Division will need to be added manually if any can be identified.

Royal Air Force

Formed in April 1918 from the Royal Flying Corps (part of the Army) and Royal Naval Air Service (part of the Royal Navy).

Other organisations

We need more information about the legal and administrative status of some of these organisations in relation to the British Army.


Women's organisations

See also women's departments of the British Army above.

  • Units started to be recognised on 17 June 1916, Army Order number 203 (1916)