The history of the Guards Division

This Division has the distinction of being formed in France in August 1915. The various Guards units that had been with other Divisions were withdrawn to be brought together to create this fine formation. It remained on the Western Front throughout the war and was engaged in the operations listed below.

1915
The Battle of Loos

1916
The Battle of Flers-Courcelette*
The Battle of Morval, in which the Division captured Lesboeufs*
The battles marked * are phases of the Battles of the Somme 1916

1917
The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line
The Battle of Pilkem**
The Battle of the Menin Road**
The Battle of Poelkapelle**
The First Battle of Passchendaele**
The battles marked ** are phases of the Third Battle of Ypres
The Battle of Cambrai 1917

1918
The Battle of St Quentin***
The Battle of Bapaume***
The First Battle of Arras 1918***
The battles marked *** are phases of the First Battles of the Somme 1918
The Battle of Albert****
The Second Battle of Bapaume****
The battles marked **** are phases of the Second Battles of the Somme 1918
The Battle of Havrincourt+
The Battle of the Canal du Nord+
The Battle of Cambrai 1918+
The battles marked + are phases of the Battles of the Hindenburg Line
The pursuit to the Selle
The Battle of the Selle
The Battle of the Sambre

The Division, which was in and around Maubeuge at the Armistice, was rejoined by the 4th (Guards) Brigade from 31st Division on 17 November 1918. The Guards Division was then ordered to the Rhine and crossed the German frontier on 11 December. Battalions began to return to England on 20 February 1919 and the final moves of the Division were completed by 29 April 1919.

The Guards advanced towards the camera on this road to Gouzeaucourt in their recapture of the village during the Battle of Cambrai

The order of battle of the Guards Division

1st Guards Brigade
Joined as complete 4th (Guards) Brigade from 2nd Division on 20 August 1915 and renumbered two days later.
2nd Bn, the Grenadier Guards
2nd Bn, the Coldstream Guards
3rd Bn, the Coldstream Guards	left 8 February 1918
1st Bn, the Irish Guards
1st Guards Brigade Machine Gun Company	formed by 19 September 1915 left to move into 4th Bn Guards MG Regiment 1 March 1918
1st Guards Trench Mortar Battery	formed by 18 May 1916
2nd Guards Brigade
3rd Bn, the Grenadier Guards	joined 19 August 1915
1st Bn, the Coldstream Guards	joined 25 August 1915
1st Bn, the Scots Guards	joined 25 August 1915
2nd Bn, the Irish Guards	joined 17 August 1915, left 8 February 1918
2nd Guards Brigade Machine Gun Company	formed by 19 September 1915 left to move into 4th Bn Guards MG Regiment 1 March 1918
2nd Guards Trench Mortar Battery	formed in April 1916
3rd Guards Brigade
1st Bn, the Grenadier Guards	joined 4 August 1915
4th Bn, the Grenadier Guards	joined 19 August 1915, left 18 February 1918
2nd Bn, the Scots Guards	joined 9 August 1915
1st Bn, the Welsh Guards	joined 20 August 1915
3rd Guards Brigade Machine Gun Company	formed by 19 September 1915 left to move into 4th Bn Guards MG Regiment 1 March 1918
3rd Guards Trench Mortar Battery	formed 24 March 1916
Divisional Troops
4th Bn, the Coldstream Guards	joined as Divisional Pioneer Battalion 15 August 1915
4th (Foot Guards) Bn, the Guards Machine Gun Regiment	joined 27 March 1917 as 4th Guards MG Company, became Bn 1 March 1918
Guards Divisional Employment Company	formed by 30 June 1917
Divisional Mounted Troops
The Household Cavalry Divisional Squadron	joined 5 August 1915, broken up 20 June 1916
Divisional Artillery
LXI (Howitzer) Brigade	joined 24 August 1915, broken up 14 November 1916
LXXIV Brigade, RFA	joined 30 August 1915
LXXV Brigade, RFA	joined 4 September1915
LXXVI Brigade, RFA	joined 4 September 1915, left 19 January 1917
Guards Divisional Ammunition Column	joined 3 September 1915, from 16th (Irish) Division. The four Brgade Ammunition Columns amalgamated into DAC on13 May 1916
V.Gds Heavy Trench Mortar Battery RFA	formed May 1916, left 8 February 1918
X.Gds, Y.Gds and Z.Gds Medium Mortar Batteries RFA	formed March 1916; on 8 February 1918, Z broken up and batteries reorganised to have 6 x 6-inch weapons each
Royal Engineers
55th Field Company	joined September 1915
75th Field Company	joined August 1915
76th Field Company	joined August 1915
Guards Divisional Signals Company	joined August 1915 from 16th (Irish) Division
Royal Army Medical Corps units
3rd Field Ambulance	joined 25 August 1915
4th Field Ambulance	joined 19 August 1915
9th Field Ambulance	joined 28 August 1915
45th Sanitary Section	joined August 1915, transferred to XVII Corps on 9 April 1917
Other Divisional Troops
4th Divisional Train ASC	11, 124, 168, 436 Companies, joined 24 August 1915
46th Mobile Veterinary Section AVC	joined 17 August 1915
Guards Divisional Motor Ambulance Workshop	joined from England 23 August 1915, transferred to Divisional Train 9 April 1916

This page is dedicated to the memory of men like
Thomas Cahill MM, a soldier of the 2nd Irish Guards who carried out a bombing attack at the Hohenzollern Redoubt on 18 October 1915. After being wounded in January 1916 he was commissioned into the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and was killed in action on 26 March 1918.
Thomas was researched in detail for a private client by fourteeneighteen|research