Although brand new
as a division it had the advantage of containing a large number of
professional soldiers who had not yet been worn out on the battlefields
of the Western Front- a great rarity at the time. The 29th can thus be
considered as a crack division of well-disciplined and well-trained men.
The Division’s historical performance in the campaign also bears
witness to the division’s resilience, as the 29th was to attack again
and again on the Helles Front, losing heavily in the process, but
nevertheless always seemed to be able to spearhead one more push.
- When the 29th Division were
first warned out for Gallipoli they were 17,000 strong. Over
the next 9 months the suffered 34,000 casualties including
9,000 KIA or MIA. So in other words they were effectively
wiped out twice in nine months.
- This one Division suffered
more KIA, MIA & WIA than all the Australian Units combined
and about the same as Australia & New Zealand put
together.
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It may be useful at this
point to show the make up of the 29th Division at the time of Gallipoli,
and some of the detail of how and where the Division was made up.
The 29th Division comprising 3 Brigades of Infantry
(86, 87 and 88 Brigades) and some Divisional
supporting units, was formed at Nuneaton, Rugby, Banbury and Stratford
between January and March 1915, by bringing together units of the
regular army that were on overseas garrison and similar duties around
the British Empire when war began.(1LF were in India where Private
Grimshaw VC was taught to be a signaller and got his first stripe)
Training and mobilization took place in the Midlands, in the area
Warwick-Nuneaton-Rugby.
The Division was initially earmarked
for the Western Front, but was eventually selected for the attempt in
the Dardanelles. Landed at Gallipoli in April 1915. Served at Gallipoli
until January 1916. Arrived in France in March 1916. Served in France
and Flanders until the Armistice.
Below is the Order of Battle for the
29th Division:
- 86th (Fusilier) Brigade
- 2nd Bn. the Royal Fusiliers
(joined January 1915)
- 1st Bn. the Lancashire
Fusiliers (joined January 1915)
- 16th (Service) Bn (Public
Schools), the Middlesex Regiment (joined April 1916, disbanded February
1918)
- 1st Bn. the Royal Munster
Fusiliers (joined January 1915, left April 1916)
- 1st Bn. the Royal Dublin
Fusiliers (joined December 1914, left October 1917, rejoined
April 1918)
- 1st (Service) Bn. the Royal
Guernsey (joined October 1917, left April 1918)
- 2nd Battalion the 3rd (City of London)
London Regiment (joined August 1915, left January 1916)
- 87th Brigade
- 2nd Bn. the South Wales
Borderers (joined January 1915)
- 1st Bn. the King's Own Scottish
Borderers (joined January 1915)
- 1st Bn. the Royal Inniskilling
Fusiliers (joined January 1915, left Feb 1918)
- 1st Bn. the Border Regiment (joined
January 1915)
- 88th Brigade
- 1st Battalion 5th Royal Scots
(joined March 1915, left July 1916)
- 4th Bn. the Worcestershire
Regiment (joined
February 1915 )
- 2nd Bn. the Hampshire Regiment (joined
February 1915)
- 1st Bn. the Essex Regiment
(joined
February 1915, left February 1918)
- 2nd Bn. the Leinster Regiment (joined
April 1918)
- The 1st Bn. the Royal
Newfoundland Regiment (joined February 1915, left
April 1918)
- 2nd Battalion 1st (City of London)
London Regiment (joined August 1915, left
January 1916)
- Divisional Troops
- 1st Battalion the 2nd Monmouthshire
Regiment (joined as Pioneer Bn May 1916)
- Engineer Units
- 2nd (Lowland) Field Company
(joined Jan 15, left Feb 16, subsequently
renamed 410th Field Coy)
- 455th Field Company (joined Mar
15, renamed from 1st (West Riding) Field
Coy)
- 497th Field Company (joined Feb
16, renamed from 3rd (Kent) Field Coy)
- 510th Field Company (joined Jan
15, renamed from 2nd (London) Field Coy)
- Below is a time line of the 29th
Division through World War 1
- 16 March 1915 : sailed from
Avonmouth, landing in Egypt two weeks later
- 10 April 1915 : moved to Mudros
- 25 April 1915 : landed on
Gallipoli, at Cape Helles
- Battles for Krithia and the
Achi Baba heights
- The Division occupied positions
on Cape Helles
- 2 January 1916 : withdrawn from
Gallipoli and moved to Egypt
- 29 March 1916 : landed at
Marseilles and proceeded to the Western Front
- The Battle of Albert (first
phase of the Battle of the Somme 1916)
- The Battle of Le Transloy
(eighth phase of the Battle of the Somme 1916) (88th Brigade)
- The First Battle of the Scarpe
(first phase of the Arras Offensive)
- The Second Battle of the Scarpe
(second phase of the Arras Offensive)
- The Battle of Langemarck
(second phase of Third Battle of Ypres)
- The Battle of the Menin Road
(third phase of the Third Battle of Ypres)
- The Battle of the Polygon Wood
(fourth phase of the Third Battle of Ypres)
- The Battle of Broodseinde
(fifth phase of the Third Battle of Ypres)
- The Battle of Poelcapelle
(sixth phase of the Third Battle of Ypres)
- The Battle of Cambrai
- The Battle of Estaires (first
phase of the Battles of the Lys)
- The Battle of Messines, 1918
(second phase of the Battles of the Lys) (88th Brigade)
- The Battle of Hazebrouck (third
phase of the Battles of the Lys) (less 88th Brigade)
- The Battle of Bailleul (fourth
phase of the Battles of the Lys) (88th Brigade)
- The First Battle of Kemmel
(fifth phase of the Battles of the Lys) (88th Brigade)
- The Advance in Flanders (took
part in the Action of Outtersteene Ridge )
- The Battle of Ypres 1918
- The Battle of Courtrai
- On the morning of the 26th April
1915 the 1st Bn Lancashire Fusiliers could only muster 16 Officers
and 304 men out of a total of 27 Officers and 1,002 men who had
embarked for W beach.
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