28th Division (United Kingdom)

The 28th Division was an infantry division of the British Army raised for service in World War I.

28th Division
Formation sign of the 28th Division, a strip of red cloth on the shoulder strap.[1]
Active1914 – 1923
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
Engagements
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Edward Bulfin

History
Men of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Fusiliers manning a trench near Bairakli Jum'a in Macedonia, May 1917.

Formed in England in December 1914 – January 1915 from regular army battalions returning from India, Singapore and Egypt. In January 1915 the division moved to France and on to the Western Front.

The division took part in the Second Battle of Ypres, where they suffered massive casualties, and in the Battle of Loos. In October 1915 the 28th Division embarked from Marseilles for Egypt and in November 1915 travelled on to Salonika where the division would remain for the rest of the war.

After the Armistice with Bulgaria came into effect on 30 September 1918, 28th Division advanced across the country towards Turkey. The Ottoman Empire also signed an Armistice on 30 October, after which 28th Division was sent to occupy the Dardanelles Forts. It remained in Turkey on peacekeeping duties until October 1923.[2][3]

Order of battle

The division was composed of the following units during World War I:[4][5]

83rd Brigade

This Brigade was temporarily under the command of 5th Division between 3 March and 7 April 1915, when it was replaced by 15th Brigade from that Division.

84th Brigade

This Brigade was temporarily under the command of 5th Division between 23 February and 7 April 1915, when it was replaced by 13th Brigade from that Division.

85th Brigade

Brigade transferred temporarily to 3rd Division between 19 February 1915 and 6 April 1915. It was replaced by the 9th Brigade from that Division.

228th Brigade

This Brigade was formed on 26 February 1917, as Army Troops, although it was always associated with this Division. It came under the command of the Greek "Crete Division" from 30 September 1918, and was broken up on 4 October 1918.

Division Troops
  • 23rd (Service) Battalion (Welsh Pioneers), Welsh Regiment (joined August 1916)
  • 28th Divisional Train Army Service Corps
  • 17th Mobile Veterinary Section Army Veterinary Corps
  • 819th Divisional Employment Company (formed 14 September 1917)
  • Divisional Mounted Troops
    • B Squadron, 1/1st Surrey Yeomanry (joined 22 December 1914, left to join XVI Corps on 27 December 1916)
    • 28th Cyclist Company Army Cyclist Corps (joined 29 December 1914, left to join XVI Corps on 8 December 1916)

Royal Artillery
  • III Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (R.F.A)
  • XXXI Brigade, R.F.A.
  • CLXLVI Brigade R.F.A. (left August 1917)
  • LIV Brigade, R.F.A. (joined August 1917)
  • VIII (Howitzer Brigade R.F.A. (attached from 5th Division between 21 February and 23 June 1915)
  • 71st and 121st Heavy Batteries, Royal Garrison Artillery (R.G.A.) (joined 18 January 1915, left 6 April 1915)
  • 61st Howitzer Battery, R.F.A. (attached between 21 February and June 1915)
  • CXXX (Howitzer) Brigade, R.F.A. (joined September 1915)
  • 13 Heavy Battery, R.G.A. (joined 23 October 1915 from 13th (Western) Division, left 26 February 1916, for XXXVII Heavy Brigade)
  • 7th Mountain Battery, R.G.A. (attached between 30 December 1915 and 18 June 1916)
  • IV Highland (Mountain) Brigade, R.G.A. (joined December 1916, left 10 September 1918)
  • III Mountain Brigade, R.G.A. (joined 16 September 1918)
  • 28th Divisional Ammunition Column (formed by Territorials from the Wessex (Hampshire) Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery)

Royal Engineers

Royal Army Medical Corps
  • 84th (1/2nd London) Field Ambulance
  • 85th (1/3rd London) Field Ambulance
  • 86th (2nd Northumbrian) Field Ambulance
  • 15th (London) Sanitary Section

Commanders
  • Major-General H. L. Croker (21 May 1916)
  • Acting: Brigadier-General E. M. Morris (27 January 1917)
  • Major-General H. L. Croker (8 March 1917)
  • Major-General T. O. Marden (8 November 1920)
  • Colonel-Commandant A. S. Cotton (19 March 1923)

See also

Notes
  1. Chappell p. 17
  2. Becke, pp. 112–6.
  3. Wakefield & Moody, pp. 225–32.
  4. Becke, pp. 106–111.
  5. Baker, Chris. "28th Division". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  6. Baker, Chris. "King's (Liverpool Regiment)". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  7. Baker, Chris. "Durham Light Infantry". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  8. Baker, Chris. "Seaforth Highlanders". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  9. Baker, Chris. "Royal Irish Fusiliers". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  10. Baker, Chris. "Royal Irish Fusiliers". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 17 November 2018.

References
  • Maj A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 1: The Regular British Divisions, London: HM Stationery Office, 1934/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-38-X.
  • Chappell, Mike (1986). British Battle Insignia (1). 1914–18. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 9780850457278.
  • Alan Wakefield and Simon Moody, Under the Devil's Eye: Britain's Forgotten Army at Salonika 1915–1918, Stroud: Sutton, 2004, ISBN 0-7509-3537-5.
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