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

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m (→‎To be categorised: Added Machine Gun Guards with info from http://www.1914-1918.net/guardsmgr.htm, http://www.1914-1918.net/rhg.htm and http://www.1914-1918.net/lifeguards.htm)
m (→‎Women's organisations: suffixes for red links)
 
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I'm working on a definitive list of British battalions and regiments from 1914-1918, starting with the infantry, but 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).  
+
{{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.}}
  
−
The Long, Long Trail site has several pages on [http://www.1914-1918.net/britdivs.htm The British Divisions of 1914-1918] and Chris Baker, the site's owner, has 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!
+
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.
  
−
'''If you've got a diary you want to add now, please just click 'Edit' above, and add the name of the author's regiment.''' Add 'British infantry' or another appropriate label to help differentiate between units across different armies, then make it into a wiki link by putting two square brackets around the name of the regiment or battalion, like this:
+
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).
  
−
<nowiki>[[Royal Warwickshire Regiment, British infantry]]</nowiki>
+
'''If you've got a diary, letters or other personal narratives you want to add now:'''
  
−
This makes it into a red link [[Royal Warwickshire Regiment, British infantry]]; you can click on any red-linked page name to create that page.
+
*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 be categorised ===
+
See also [[naming conventions for British units]].
−
This is a great place to add any units that aren't yet linked, so they can be slotted in later.
 
−
*[[Lincolnshire Regiment, British infantry]]
 
−
**[[1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, British infantry]]
 
  
−
* [[Guards Machine Gun Regiment, British infantry]] (aka 6th or Machine Gun Regiment of Foot Guards)
+
== British Army ==
−
** [[No 1 (1st Life Guards) Battalion, British infantry]]
 
−
** [[No 2 (2nd Life Guards) Battalion, British infantry]]
 
−
** [[No 3 (Royal Horse Guards) Battalion, British infantry]]
 
−
** [[4th (Foot Guards) Battalion, British infantry]] (formerly 4th Battalion Machine Gun Guards)
 
−
--
 
  
 +
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:
  
−
Regiments and battalions below added from the listings on http://www.1914-1918.net/regiments.htm (with many thanks to Chris Baker)
+
* Regular Army
 +
* New Army
 +
* Territorial Force
 +
* Special Reserve
 +
* Volunteer Force
  
−
=== Coldstream Guards ===
+
Most regiments and corps included a mixture of units from each branch.
−
[[1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards, British infantry]]
 
  
−
[[2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards, British infantry]]
+
Every British army unit that has a page on this site should be listed in [[:Category:All British Army units]].
  
−
[[3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards, British infantry]]
+
See also [[British Army Hierarchies]] for more information about the structure of the Army.
  
−
[[4th Battalion (Pioneers), Coldstream Guards, British infantry]]
+
=== Higher formations ===
−
Formed as Guards Pioneer Battalion, but soon redesignated.
 
  
−
[[5th (Reserve) Battalion, Coldstream Guards, British infantry]]
+
These are tactical formations above division level:
−
Formed as 4th (Reserve) Battalion; redesignated as 5th (Reserve) Battalion.
 
  
−
[[1st Provisional Battalion, Coldstream Guards, British infantry]]
+
* [[: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.
  
−
=== Grenadier Guards ===
+
=== Infantry ===
  
−
[[1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards, British infantry]]
+
==== Infantry regiments ====
  
−
[[2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards, British 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. The website search can also help you find specific units under variant names.
  
−
[[3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards, British infantry]]
+
{| class="wikitable sortable"
 +
!Page Name
 +
!Full Name
 +
!Precedence
 +
|-
 +
|[[Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, British Army]]
 +
|Princess Louise's (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders)
 +
|091
 +
|-
 +
|[[Bedfordshire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Bedfordshire Regiment
 +
|016
 +
|-
 +
|[[Black Watch, British Army]]
 +
|Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)
 +
|042
 +
|-
 +
|[[Border Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Border Regiment
 +
|034
 +
|-
 +
|[[Cambridgeshire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Cambridgeshire Regiment
 +
|199 04
 +
|-
 +
|[[Cameron Highlanders, British Army]]
 +
|Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
 +
|079
 +
|-
 +
|[[Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), British Army]]
 +
|Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
 +
|026
 +
|-
 +
|[[Cheshire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Cheshire Regiment
 +
|022
 +
|-
 +
|[[Coldstream Guards, British Army]]
 +
|Coldstream Guards
 +
|000 02
 +
|-
 +
|[[Connaught Rangers, British Army]]
 +
|Connaught Rangers
 +
|088
 +
|-
 +
|[[Devonshire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Devonshire Regiment
 +
|011
 +
|-
 +
|[[Dorsetshire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Dorsetshire Regiment
 +
|039
 +
|-
 +
|[[Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, British Army]]
 +
|Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
 +
|032
 +
|-
 +
|[[Durham Light Infantry, British Army]]
 +
|Durham Light Infantry
 +
|068
 +
|-
 +
|[[East Kent Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
 +
|003
 +
|-
 +
|[[East Lancashire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|East Lancashire Regiment
 +
|030
 +
|-
 +
|[[East Surrey Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|East Surrey Regiment
 +
|031
 +
|-
 +
|[[East Yorkshire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|East Yorkshire Regiment
 +
|015
 +
|-
 +
|[[Essex Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Essex Regiment
 +
|044
 +
|-
 +
|[[Gloucestershire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Gloucestershire Regiment
 +
|028
 +
|-
 +
|[[Gordon Highlanders, British Army]]
 +
|Gordon Highlanders
 +
|075
 +
|-
 +
|[[Grenadier Guards, British Army]]
 +
|Grenadier Guards
 +
|000 01
 +
|-
 +
|[[Hampshire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Hampshire Regiment
 +
|037
 +
|-
 +
|[[Herefordshire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Herefordshire Regiment
 +
|199 07
 +
|-
 +
|[[Hertfordshire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Hertfordshire Regiment
 +
|199 06
 +
|-
 +
|[[Highland Cyclist Battalion, British Army]]
 +
|Highland Cyclist Battalion
 +
|199 09
 +
|-
 +
|[[Highland Light Infantry, British Army]]
 +
|Highland Light Infantry
 +
|071
 +
|-
 +
|[[Honourable Artillery Company (Infantry), British Army]]
 +
|Honourable Artillery Company (Infantry)
 +
|199 02
 +
|-
 +
|[[Household Battalion, British Army]]
 +
|Household Battalion
 +
|000 00
 +
|-
 +
|[[Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion, British Army]]
 +
|Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion
 +
|199 11
 +
|-
 +
|[[Irish Guards, British Army]]
 +
|Irish Guards
 +
|000 04
 +
|-
 +
|[[Kent Cyclist Battalion, British Army]]
 +
|Kent Cyclist Battalion
 +
|199 10
 +
|-
 +
|[[King's Liverpool Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|King's (Liverpool Regiment)
 +
|008
 +
|-
 +
|[[King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment)
 +
|004
 +
|-
 +
|[[King's Own Scottish Borderers, British Army]]
 +
|King's Own Scottish Borderers
 +
|025
 +
|-
 +
|[[King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, British Army]]
 +
|King's Own (Yorkshire Light Infantry)
 +
|051
 +
|-
 +
|[[King's Royal Rifle Corps, British Army]]
 +
|King's Royal Rifle Corps
 +
|060
 +
|-
 +
|[[King's Shropshire Light Infantry, British Army]]
 +
|King's (Shropshire Light Infantry)
 +
|053
 +
|-
 +
|[[Lancashire Fusiliers, British Army]]
 +
|Lancashire Fusiliers
 +
|020
 +
|-
 +
|[[Leicestershire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Leicestershire Regiment
 +
|017
 +
|-
 +
|[[Leinster Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians)
 +
|100
 +
|-
 +
|[[Lincolnshire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Lincolnshire Regiment
 +
|010
 +
|-
 +
|[[London Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|London Regiment
 +
|199 05
 +
|-
 +
|[[Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
 +
|047
 +
|-
 +
|[[Manchester Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Manchester Regiment
 +
|063
 +
|-
 +
|[[Middlesex Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment)
 +
|057
 +
|-
 +
|[[Monmouthshire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Monmouthshire Regiment
 +
|199 03
 +
|-
 +
|[[Norfolk Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Norfolk Regiment
 +
|009
 +
|-
 +
|[[North Staffordshire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire Regiment)
 +
|064
 +
|-
 +
|[[Northamptonshire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Northamptonshire Regiment
 +
|048
 +
|-
 +
|[[Northern Cyclist Battalion, British Army]]
 +
|Northern Cyclist Battalion
 +
|199 08
 +
|-
 +
|[[Northumberland Fusiliers, British Army]]
 +
|Northumberland Fusiliers
 +
|005
 +
|-
 +
|[[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, British Army]]
 +
|Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
 +
|043
 +
|-
 +
|[[Rifle Brigade, British Army]]
 +
|Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)
 +
|199 01
 +
|-
 +
|[[Royal Berkshire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment)
 +
|049
 +
|-
 +
|[[Royal Dublin Fusiliers, British Army]]
 +
|Royal Dublin Fusiliers
 +
|102
 +
|-
 +
|[[Royal Fusiliers, British Army]]
 +
|Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)
 +
|007
 +
|-
 +
|[[Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, British Army]]
 +
|Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
 +
|027
 +
|-
 +
|[[Royal Irish Fusiliers, British Army]]
 +
|Princess Victoria's (Royal Irish Fusiliers)
 +
|087
 +
|-
 +
|[[Royal Irish Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Royal Irish Regiment
 +
|018
 +
|-
 +
|[[Royal Irish Rifles, British Army]]
 +
|Royal Irish Rifles
 +
|083
 +
|-
 +
|[[Royal Munster Fusiliers, British Army]]
 +
|Royal Munster Fusiliers
 +
|101
 +
|-
 +
|[[Royal Scots Fusiliers, British Army]]
 +
|Royal Scots Fusiliers
 +
|021
 +
|-
 +
|[[Royal Scots, British Army]]
 +
|Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment)
 +
|001
 +
|-
 +
|[[Royal Sussex Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Royal Sussex Regiment
 +
|035
 +
|-
 +
|[[Royal Warwickshire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Royal Warwickshire Regiment
 +
|006
 +
|-
 +
|[[Royal Welsh Fusiliers, British Army]]
 +
|Royal Welsh Fusiliers
 +
|023
 +
|-
 +
|[[Royal West Kent Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)
 +
|050
 +
|-
 +
|[[Royal West Surrey Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
 +
|002
 +
|-
 +
|[[Scots Guards, British Army]]
 +
|Scots Guards
 +
|000 03
 +
|-
 +
|[[Seaforth Highlanders, British Army]]
 +
|Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's)
 +
|072
 +
|-
 +
|[[Sherwood Foresters, British Army]]
 +
|Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment)
 +
|045
 +
|-
 +
|[[Somerset Light Infantry, British Army]]
 +
|Prince Albert's (Somerset Light Infantry)
 +
|013
 +
|-
 +
|[[South Lancashire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Prince of Wales's Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment)
 +
|040
 +
|-
 +
|[[South Staffordshire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|South Staffordshire Regiment
 +
|038
 +
|-
 +
|[[South Wales Borderers, British Army]]
 +
|South Wales Borderers
 +
|024
 +
|-
 +
|[[Suffolk Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Suffolk Regiment
 +
|012
 +
|-
 +
|[[Welsh Guards, British Army]]
 +
|Welsh Guards
 +
|000 05
 +
|-
 +
|[[Welsh Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Welsh Regiment
 +
|041
 +
|-
 +
|[[West Riding Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment)
 +
|033
 +
|-
 +
|[[West Yorkshire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment)
 +
|014
 +
|-
 +
|[[Wiltshire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire Regiment)
 +
|062
 +
|-
 +
|[[Worcestershire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Worcestershire Regiment
 +
|029
 +
|-
 +
|[[York and Lancaster Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|York and Lancaster Regiment
 +
|065
 +
|-
 +
|[[Yorkshire Regiment, British Army]]
 +
|Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment)
 +
|019
 +
|}
  
−
[[4th Battalion, Grenadier Guards, British infantry]]
+
Also administratively part of the infantry:
  
−
[[5th (Reserve) Battalion, Grenadier Guards, British infantry]]
+
* [[Army Cyclist Corps, British Army]]
 +
* [[Royal Defence Corps, British Army]]
  
−
[[1st Provisional Battalion, Grenadier Guards, British infantry]]
+
Regiment pages show each regiment's parent record office. Record offices also have their own pages, listed in [[:Category:British Army record offices]].
  
−
=== Irish Guards ===
+
==== Infantry battalions ====
  
−
[[1st Battalion, Irish Guards, British infantry]]
+
'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]
  
−
[[2nd Battalion, Irish Guards, British infantry]]
+
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.
  
−
[[3rd (Reserve) Battalion, Irish Guards, British infantry]]
+
We don't yet have any information about Royal Defence Corps protection companies.
  
−
=== Scots Guards ===
+
See also [[#Volunteer Training Corps]] below.
  
−
[[1st Battalion, Scots Guards, British infantry]]
+
There are too many battalions to list on this page (already more than 1,700), but there are several ways you can find them:
  
−
[[2nd Battalion, Scots Guards, British infantry]]
+
The regiment pages shown in the table above should list all battalions known to have been part of a regiment.
  
−
[[3rd (Reserve) Battalion, Scots Guards, British infantry]]
+
The following categories list British infantry battalions:
  
−
=== Welsh Guards ===
+
* [[: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.
  
−
[[1st Battalion, Welsh Guards, British infantry]]
+
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.
  
−
[[2nd (Reserve) Battalion, Welsh Guards, British infantry]]
+
==== 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:
 +
 
 +
*[[Household Cavalry, British Army]]
 +
** [[Hyde Park 1st Life Guards Record Office, British Army]]
 +
** [[Windsor 2nd Life Guards Record Office, British Army]]
 +
** [[Regents Park Royal Horse Guards Record Office, British Army]]
 +
*[[Canterbury Cavalry Record Office, British Army]]
 +
**[[Corps of Dragoons, British Army]]
 +
**[[Corps of Lancers, British Army]]
 +
*[[York Cavalry Record Office, British Army]]
 +
**[[Corps of Hussars, British Army]]
 +
 
 +
==== Cavalry divisions and corps ====
 +
 
 +
* [[Cavalry Corps, British Army]]
 +
* [[1st Cavalry Division, British Army]]
 +
* [[2nd Cavalry Division, British Army]]
 +
* [[3rd Cavalry Division, British Army]]
 +
* the numbers 4th and 5th were used by Indian divisions
 +
* [[1st Mounted Division, British Army]]
 +
* [[2nd Mounted Division, British Army]]
 +
* [[3rd Mounted Division, British Army]]
 +
* [[4th Mounted Division, British Army]]
 +
* [[Yeomanry Mounted Division, British Army]]
 +
 
 +
==== 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:
 +
 
 +
* [[: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.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
==== Sources ====
 +
 
 +
*{{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, British Army]], consisting of:
 +
 
 +
* [[Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), British Army]]:
 +
** 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), British Army]]
 +
** machine gun squadrons attached to cavalry brigades: see [[:Category:British machine gun squadrons]]
 +
* [[Machine Gun Corps (Motors), British Army]], formerly part of [[Royal Field Artillery, British Army]] 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), British Army]] operated the first tanks and became [[Tank Corps, British Army]]
 +
* [[Machine Gun Training Centre, British Army]]
 +
 
 +
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, British Army]]
 +
** [[2nd Guards Machine Gun Company, British Army]]
 +
** [[3rd Guards Machine Gun Company, British Army]]
 +
* [[Guards Machine Gun Regiment, British Army]] (formerly Machine Gun Guards):
 +
** [[1st Battalion, Guards Machine Gun Regiment, British Army]]
 +
** [[2nd Battalion, Guards Machine Gun Regiment, British Army]]
 +
** [[3rd Battalion, Guards Machine Gun Regiment, British Army]]
 +
** [[4th Battalion, Guards Machine Gun Regiment, British Army]]
 +
 
 +
=== Artillery ===
 +
 
 +
[[Royal Artillery, British Army]] was an arm of the British Army, divided into two corps:
 +
 
 +
* [[Royal Horse Artillery and Royal Field Artillery, British Army]]; divided into two distinct identities:
 +
** [[Royal Horse Artillery, British Army]]
 +
** [[Royal Field Artillery, British Army]]
 +
* [[Royal Garrison Artillery, British Army]]
 +
 
 +
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, British Army]] but there are some exceptions. The following independent units were also classed as infantry regiments:
 +
 
 +
* [[Highland Cyclist Battalion, British Army]]
 +
* [[Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion, British Army]]
 +
* [[Kent Cyclist Battalion, British Army]]
 +
* [[Northern Cyclist Battalion, British Army]]
 +
 
 +
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.
 +
 
 +
* [[Army Chaplains Department, British Army]]
 +
* [[Army Ordnance Corps, British Army]]
 +
* [[Army Ordnance Department, British Army]]
 +
* [[Army Pay Corps, British Army]]
 +
* [[Army Pay Department, British Army]]
 +
* [[Army Service Corps, British Army]]
 +
* [[Army Veterinary Corps, British Army]]
 +
* [[Labour Corps, British Army]]
 +
* [[Military Police, British Army]] divided into:
 +
** [[Military Foot Police, British Army]]
 +
** [[Military Mounted Police, British Army]]
 +
* [[Non-Combatant Corps, British Army]]
 +
* [[Royal Army Medical Corps, British Army]]
 +
* [[Royal Army Ordnance Corps, British Army]]
 +
* [[Royal Engineers, British Army]]
 +
* [[Tank Corps, British Army]]
 +
 
 +
==== Women's departments ====
 +
 
 +
* [[Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service]]
 +
* [[Territorial Force Nursing Service, British Army]]
 +
* [[Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps, British Army]]
 +
 
 +
==== 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 part of the British Army, although regulated 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> 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 Force" is treated as a branch of the British Army, covering units from the date they were accepted by the Crown. "Volunteer Training Corps" is treated as a separate service, covering the same units before they were accepted by the Crown, and units that were never accepted into the Volunteer Force, if any can be identified.
 +
 
 +
Infantry units accepted by the Crown in 1916 are listed in Army Orders 206, 284, 323 and 374 of 1916. A few more are shown in Army Order 110 of 1918. New names and affiliations given in 1918 are shown in Army Order 208 of 1918.
 +
 
 +
For more information see:
 +
 
 +
* [http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=229702 Great War Forum thread on Volunteer Battalions]
 +
* [[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, British|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, British]]
 +
* [[1st Royal Naval Brigade, British]]
 +
* [[188th Infantry Brigade, British]]
 +
* [[189th Infantry Brigade, British]]
 +
* [[Anson Battalion, British]]
 +
* [[Benbow Battalion, British]]
 +
* [[Collingwood Battalion, British]]
 +
* [[Drake Battalion, British]]
 +
* [[Hawke Battalion, British]]
 +
* [[Hood Battalion, British]]
 +
* [[Howe Battalion, British]]
 +
* [[Nelson Battalion, British]]
 +
 
 +
== Royal Marines ==
 +
 
 +
* [[Royal Marine Light Infantry, British Army]]
 +
** [[Royal Marine Brigade, British]]
 +
** [[1st Battalion, Royal Marines, British]]
 +
** [[2nd Battalion, Royal Marines, British]]
 +
** [[Chatham Battalion, Royal Marines, British]]
 +
** [[Deal Battalion, Royal Marines, British]]
 +
** [[Plymouth Battalion, Royal Marines, British]]
 +
** [[Portsmouth Battalion, Royal Marines, British]]
 +
* [[Royal Marine Artillery, British Army]]
 +
* [[Royal Marine Engineers, British Army]]
 +
 
 +
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.
 +
 
 +
* [[Women's Hospital Corps, British]]
 +
* [[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, British]]
 +
* [[The Women's Legion, British]]
 +
* [[Almeric Paget Military Massage Corps, British]]
 +
* [[First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, British]] (FANY, now the Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps). Authorised by the British Crown but separate from the Army.
 +
* [[Women's Auxiliary Force, British]]
 +
* [[Women's Auxiliary Agricultural Corps, British]]
 +
* [[Women's Forage Corps, British]]
 +
* [[Women's Forestry Corps, British]]
 +
* [[Women's Land Army, British]]
 +
 
 +
 
 +
 
 +
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
 +
[[Category:British Army]]
 +
[[Category:British Empire]]

Latest revision as of 08:04, 12 November 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.

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.

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

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

Artillery

Royal Artillery, British Army 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, British Army 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 part of the British Army, although regulated 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] 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 Force" is treated as a branch of the British Army, covering units from the date they were accepted by the Crown. "Volunteer Training Corps" is treated as a separate service, covering the same units before they were accepted by the Crown, and units that were never accepted into the Volunteer Force, if any can be identified.

Infantry units accepted by the Crown in 1916 are listed in Army Orders 206, 284, 323 and 374 of 1916. A few more are shown in Army Order 110 of 1918. New names and affiliations given in 1918 are shown in Army Order 208 of 1918.

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)
    • Retrieved from ‘http://collaborativecollections.org/WorldWarOne/index.php?title=British_units_in_World_War_I&oldid=43542’