13th (Western) Division

May 2020 December 2025 13th (Western) Division WW1 British 13th (Western) Division.svg 134px 21 August 1914 – March 1919 UKGBI United Kingdom 23px Infantry Iron Division First World War Battle of Gallipoli Battle of Sari Bair Battle of Chunuk Bair Mesopotamian Campaign The 13th (Western) Division was one of the Kitchener's Army divisions in the First World War, raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener. It fought at Gallipoli, in Mesopotamia (including the capture of Baghdad) and Persia. War service 1914–1915 1914 thumb|left|Men of No. 15 Platoon, D Company, 9th (Service) Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, pictured here at Basingstoke, presumably during 1915. The 13th (Western) Division was formed as part of Field Marshal Lord Kitchener's First New Army at Salisbury Plain in August 1914. During the formation of the division, Major General Robert Kekewich was appointed as its first general officer commanding (GOC). On 5 November 1914, while on sick leave, he committed suicide.6 November 1914, New York Times Although meant for service on the Western Front, with most of the rest of Kitchener Armies, it was sent to the Mediterranean to reinforce the Anglo-French in the Gallipoli campaign.Aspinall-Oglander 1992 76, 99–100 Gallipoli 1915 thumb|upright=.75|Lieutenant General Sir Stanley Maude, who commanded the 13th Division at Gallipoli and the unsuccessful attempt to relieve Kut in Mesopotamia. The 13th (Western) Division, now commanded by Major General Frederick Shaw, an experienced infantry brigade commander, landed at Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli peninsula in July 1915 in preparation for the Battle of Sari Bair (The August Offensive) beginning on 6 August.Aspinall-Oglander 1992 112, 138 Although all of its component infantry battalions arrived, the divisional artillery did not arrive for some months.Callwell 1920 161 Initially in reserve to the main break-out from Anzac by units of the New Zealand and Australian Division, the 38th and 39th Infantry brigades were sent in as reinforcements as the attack stalled.Aspinall-Oglander 1992 184 thumb|left|View of Gallipoli from the battleship HMS Cornwallis. The smoke is coming from stores being burned during the evacuation. The 7th Gloucesters and the 8th Royal Welch Fusiliers were sent to support the Wellington battalion of the New Zealand Infantry Brigade when it made the attack on Chunuk Bair on the morning of 8 August.Bean 1941 644 Battalions of the division formed the core of the force (known as Baldwin's Brigade after the commander, Brigadier General Anthony Baldwin) to capture Hill Q on 9 August but were not in position in time and so spent the day encamped on a small plateau beneath Chunuk Bair known as The Farm. When the Ottomans counter-attacked on the morning of 10 August the 13th (Western) Division troops on Chunuk Bair and at The Farm, suffered many casualties.Aspinall-Oglander 1992 306–307 On 23 August, Major General Stanley Maude, another experienced commander, took over the shattered 13th Division, Shaw having been invalided home. By September, the division had suffered nearly 5,500 killed, wounded or missing out of its original strength of 10,500 men. Of the thirteen battalion commanders in the division, ten had become casualties.Callwell 1920 160–162Aspinall-Oglander 1992 367–375 At the beginning of October the division was moved from Anzac Bay to Suvla Bay. Even though the division was once again in reserve, it suffered casualties from Ottoman artillery.Callwell 1920 162 The senior Allied commanders at Gallipoli knew by now that the Dardanelles Campaign was a lost cause. To Maude fell the task of making sure that his division slipped away in the night during the evacuation of the Suvla Bay positions. Maude, a methodical commander, recorded, I do not think we left behind us £200 worth of stuff worth having. I got away all my guns and ammunition and we even destroyed the sandbags which we had to leave in the parapets by ripping them with bayonets or clasp knives to make them useless. The withdrawal was apparently a complete surprise for the Turks, for nothing happened on either night beyond the usual sniping and firing. In a way I could not help feeling a little sorry that they did not find us out, for my division had two strongly prepared lines, each with an excellent field of fire to fall back upon, and if they had only come on we should have given them a real good dressing.Callwell 1920 176 After embarking from Suvla, the division was ordered in December to reinforce the British forces at Cape Helles.Aspinall-Oglander 1992 449, 466 No sooner than the division had arrived through W Beach, than the decision was made to evacuate this last foothold. As the division was preparing to fall back to the beaches, it was attacked by Ottoman units in the late afternoon and evening of 7 January 1916.Callwell 1920 180–181 The main thrust of the attack, the first action under the division's new commander, fell on the 39th Brigade, in particular, the 7th North Staffords, defending Fusilier Bluff, who drove off the attackers.Aspinall-Oglander 1992 473 The British evacuation from Helles occurred on the night of 8/9 January 1916. The 13th Division, fresh from its defensive success began to fall back to Gully Beach at 5:00 p.m. By 1:15 a.m. the last detachments holding the divisional trenches were on the beach waiting to be loaded onto transports. At 2:30 a.m., Maude was informed that there were not enough transports coming to Gully Beach to carry off the division. Maude and his headquarters staff, as well as the pickets that had been covering the beach site, had to make the 2 mi run in the dark to W Beach to be transported out of Helles.Callwell 1920 183–184 Lieutenant General Sir William Birdwood wrote that he considered the 13th (Western) Division was the best division in the Dardanelles Army. Following its withdrawal, the division was sent to Egypt, where it was reunited with its artillery, much of which had been stationed in Egypt.Callwell 1920 182–183, 189Macmunn Falls 1996 60, 98, 156 War service 1916–1918 Mesopotamia (Kut) March–April 1916 thumb|Tommies of the 7th (Service) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment, on the march in Mesopotamia. In February 1916, the 13th (Western) Division was sent to Mesopotamia (now Iraq) to reinforce the Tigris Corps. The picture was possibly taken in 1917 because of the prevalence of steel helmets. After a brief refit in Egypt where the infantry battalions were brought up to strength, the division was dispatched to Mesopotamia (now Iraq) as reinforcements for Anglo-Indian forces attempting to raise the siege of Kut.Moberly 1924 289 It took until the end of March for the division to make the journey from Egypt to Basra and then from Basra up to the Tigris to join the rest of the Tigris Corps.Callwell 1920 199–203 The 13th (Western) Division discovered that the supply situation in Mesopotamia was very difficult, port facilities at Basra were inadequate and lacking good roads or a railway, river transport was necessary to move supplies into the hinterland. There was a lack of boats to keep the Anglo-Indian force, which the 13th (Western) Division was joining, adequately supplied.Buchanan 1938 61Aspinall-Oglander 1992 279 The 13th (Western) Division brought with it modern heavy artillery, including howitzers and as the strongest unit available, became the spearhead of the attempt by the Tigris Corps to relieve the Kut garrison, beginning on 6 April 1916. The division fought the Battle of Hanna, Fallahiya, and Sanniyat. After taking the first two places, the 13th (Western) Division was stopped by the Ottoman forces under the command of Khalil Pasha at the Battle of the Sanniyat on 9 April 1916. During the fighting on 5–9 April 1916, four 13th (Western) Division men were awarded the Victoria Cross. The first was Captain Angus Buchanan for his actions on 5 April 1916. On 9 April 1916, Chaplain William Addison, Private James Fynn and Lieutenant Edgar Myles were awarded the Victoria Cross for saving wounded soldiers.Candler 1919 299 In three days of battle, the division was reduced to 5,328 effectives.Moberly 1924 388 Exhausted by its three days of fighting, the division became the reserve for the Tigris Corps during the next phase of the operation. On 16 April 1916, it supported the 3rd (Lahore) Division on the right bank of the Tigris, as it captured the Bait Isa line, part of the Es Sinn defences supporting the Sanniyat position on the opposite bank.Chappell 2009 370 Taking the Bait Isa line exposed the flank of the Sanniyat position to enfilading artillery and machine-gun fire. On the night of 16/17 April 1916, Khalil Pasha committed his reserves to a counter-attack to retake Bait Isa. The counter-attack struck as the 13th (Western) Division was preparing to storm the next defensive position. Although the 13th (Western) Division and 3rd (Lahore) Division hung on to their gains, the Ottoman counter-attack had taken the steam out of the Anglo-Indian offensive.Moberly 1924 419–420 With the 13th (Western) Division so depleted, it was reduced to providing machine-gun and artillery fire for the 7th (Meerut) Division when it made the final push to break the Ottoman lines at the Sanniyat.Candler 1919 299 On 22 April 1916, the divisional artillery and machine-guns were used to support the abortive attack by the 7th (Meerut) Division.Callwell 1920 215Wauchope 1925 229 On 29 April 1916, following the Tigris Corps' failure to break the Ottoman siege and the sinking of the steamer Julnar as it attempted to steam upriver past the Ottoman defenders, the Kut garrison surrendered.Moberly 1924 435–436 At the end of August 13 (Western) Division was withdrawn to Amara to ease the supply situation.Moberly 1997 29 Baghdad, December 1916 – March 1917 Between May and December 1916, the 13th (Western) Division refitted and re-equipped, ready for the drive northward to capture Baghdad. In July, Major-General Maude was elevated to command the expanded and renamed Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force. In his place, Brigadier-General Walter Cayley, formerly the commander of the 39th Brigade, was elevated to command of the division.Callwell 1920 228 On 12 December 1916, the division advanced from Sheik Sa'ad on Kut.Callwell 1920 231 At the Second Battle of Kut, the division helped drive the Ottoman forces from the town. After a brief pause, the division drove north, crossing the Diyala River, and participated in the capture of Baghdad on 11 March 1917.Candler 1919 89–96 Following the capture of Baghdad, the 13th (Western) Division fought a number of battles to consolidate British control over the Baghdad vilayet. This included fighting at Dellis Abbas (27–28 March 1917), Duqma (29 March 1917), Nahr Kalis (9–15 April 1917), the passage of the Adhaim (18 April 1917) and the action of the Shatt al 'Adhaim (30 April 1917). Despite the relative inaction of the British to advance further, the division also fought at the Second and Third Action of Jabal Hamrin (16–20 October 1917 and 3–6 December 1917).Moberly 1997 67–70, 107 Mosul, February–October 1918 thumb|left|Tommies of the 7th (Service) Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment, at Baladajar Station in the aftermath of the failed attempt to hold Baku in Persia, 1918. Along with the rest of the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force, the 13th (Western) Division remained in the Baghdad vilayet for the rest of 1917 and the early part of 1918. The division fought its last engagement as a division at the action of Tuz Khurmatli on 29 April 1918.Moberly 1997 151–157 In July 1918, the 39th Brigade was detached from the division and be assigned to Dunsterforce (Major General Lionel Dunsterville).Moberly 1997 189–228 The 40th Brigade was detached from the division, along with the divisional artillery, to support the drive to Mosul and further north.Moberly 1997 147–158, 162–166, 256, 266 Occupation and Demobilization With the conclusion of the war, the 13th (Western) Division remained in the Mosul area on occupation duties until evacuated at the end of 1918. In 1919, two of the division's battalions, 6th East Lancashire and 6th Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, were transferred to the Army of Occupation. The rest of the division proceeded to Amara where it was demobilised on 17 March 1919.Baker 2020 Order of battle Data taken from Moberly 1997 unless indicated.Moberly 1997 370 The division consisted of the following brigades (15 July 1916) 38th Brigade (G.O.C.: Brigadier-General J. W. O'Dowda) 6th (Service) Battalion, King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) 6th (Service) Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment 6th (Service) Battalion, Prince of Wales's Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment) 6th (Service) Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment 38th Machine Gun Company (joined 24 October 1916)Baker 2020 38th Supply & Transport Column Army Service Corps (A.S.C.) (formed January 1917, merged into the Division Train 1 August 1918)Baker 2020 38th Trench Mortar Battery (G Battery joined from 39th Brigade 7 October 1917, renamed 38th Battery February 1918)Baker 2020 39th Brigade (G.O.C. Brigadier-General Walter Cayley) (left the Division between 10 July and 19 August 1918, and attached to North Persia Force)Baker 2020 9th (Service) Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment 7th (Service) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment 9th (Service) Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment 7th (Service) Battalion, Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire Regiment) 39th Machine Gun Company (joined 26 October 1916)Baker 2020 39th Supply & Transport Column A.S.C. (formed January 1917)Baker 2020 39th Trench Mortar BatteryBaker 2020 G Battery ( joined 13 January 1917, moved to 38th Brigade 7 October 1917)Baker 2020 H Battery (transferred from 14th (Indian) Division 8 October 1917 renamed 39th Battery, 18 February 1918)Baker 2020 40th Brigade (G.O.C: Brigadier General A. C. Lewin) 8th (Service) Battalion, Cheshire Regiment 8th (Service) Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers 4th (Service) Battalion, South Wales Borderers 8th (Service) Battalion, Welsh Regiment (left January 1915 became divisional pioneers) 5th (Service) Battalion, Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire Regiment) (joined December 1914 from division troops) 40th Machine Gun Company (joined 24 October 1916)Baker 2020 40th Supply & Transport Column A.S.C. (formed January 1917, merged into the Division Train 1 August 1918)Baker 2020 40th Trench Mortar Battery (joined as I Battery 23 September 1917, renamed 40th battery 18 February 1918)Baker 2020 Divisional Troops: 5th (Service) Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment (left for 40th Brigade December 1914) 8th (Service) Battalion, Welsh Regiment (Pioneers from January 1915) 273rd Company, MGC formed October–November 1917Baker 2020 D Squadron, 1/1st Hertfordshire Yeomanry (divisional mounted troops) (joined 8 July 1916, left 20 November 1916, rejoined 3 March 1917, left 3 August 1917) C Squadron, 33rd (Indian) Cavalry (attached briefly in March 1916)Baker 2020 13th (Western) Divisional Cyclist Company, Army Cyclist CorpsBaker 2020 13th (Western) Divisional Train A.S.C.Baker 2020 120th, 121st, 122nd, 123rd Companies (left June 1915)Baker 2020 38th and 40th Brigade Transport and Supply Columns, new Divisional Transport and Supply Column (merged and formed 1 August 1918, renamed as 13th (Western) Divisional Train) 24th Mobile Veterinary Section Army Veterinary Corps 10th Field Bakery A.S.C. (joined as first British mobile field bakery, 23 April 1916)Baker 2020 31st Field Butchery A.S.C. (joined 23 April 1916)Baker 2020 Royal Artillery (Brigadier-General F. E. L. Barker) LXVI Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (R.F.A.) LXVII Brigade, R.F.A. (left October 1915 for 10th (Irish) Division)Baker 2020 LXVIII Brigade, R.F.A. (left October 1915 for 10th (Irish) Division)Baker 2020 LXIX (Howitzer) Brigade, R.F.A. (broken up May 1916)Baker 2020 LV Brigade, R.F.A. (joined January 1916 from 10th (Irish) Division)Baker 2020 LVI Brigade, R.F.A. (joined January 1916 from 10th (Irish) Division left July 1916)Baker 2020 13th Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery (R.G.A.) (left 30 May 1915)Baker 2020 91st Heavy Battery, R.G.A. (joined 7 June 1915, left 1917)Baker 2020 74th Heavy Battery, R.G.A. (joined 24 August 1916, left 23 November 1916)Baker 2020 157th Heavy Battery, R.G.A. (one section attached January–February 1917)Baker 2020 2/104th Heavy Battery, R.G.A. (attached February–March and October–December 1917)Baker 2020 157th Siege Battery, R.G.A. (attached in February 1917)Baker 2020 26th (Jacobs) Mountain Battery, R.G.A. (joined 23 October 1917, left 10 August 1918)Baker 2020 177th Heavy Battery, R.G.A. (joined 25 October 1917, left 29 May 1918)Baker 2020 384th Siege Battery, R.G.A. (joined 25 October 1917, left 1 October 1918)Baker 2020 387th Siege Battery, R.G.A. (joined 25 October 1917, left 24 March 1918)Baker 2020 133rd, 135th, 136th and 137th Trench Howitzer Batteries (joined January–February 1917)Baker 2020 Royal Engineers 71st Field Company 72nd Field Company (left for North Persia Force with 39th Brigade Group) 88th Field Company 13th (Western) Divisional Signals Company Royal Army Medical Corps 39th Field Ambulance 40th Field Ambulance (left for North Persia Force with 39th Brigade Group) 41st Field Ambulance 28th Sanitary Section (joined March 1916) General Officers Commanding +GOCsBecke 1938 35 Tenure Name Notes 24 August – 26 October 1914 Major-General Robert Kekewich Died 5 November 1914 26 October 1914 – 15 March 1915 Major-General H. B. Jeffreys 15 March – 22 August 1915 Major-General Frederick Shaw Sick 22 August 1915 22–23 August 1915 Brigadier-General J. H. de B. Travers Acting 23 August 1915 – 10 July 1916 Major-General Stanley Maude 10 July – 8 August 1916 Brigadier-General Walter Cayley Temporary 8 August 1916 – 20 May 1918 Major-General Walter Cayley Seconded to III (Tigris) Corps 20 May 1918Home on leave 29 June 1918 20 May – 23 December 1918 Brigadier-General J. W. O'Dowda Acting 23 December 1918 – 17 March 1919 Major-General Sir Walter Cayley Campaigns Battle of Gallipoli Battle of Sari Bair 6–10 August 1915 Battle of Chunuk Bair Russell's Top. 7 August 1915 Hill 60. 21 Aug and 27–28 August 1915 Evacuation of Suvla. 19–20 December 1915 Last Ottoman attack at Helles. 7 January 1916 Evacuation of Helles. 7–8 Jan 1916 Mesopotamian campaign Siege of Kut Capture of Hanna and Fallahiya. 5 April 1916 Second attack on Sannaiyat. 9 April 1916 Action of Bait 'Isa. 17–18 April 1916 Third attack on Sannaiyat. 22 April 1916 Fall of Baghdad Capture of the Hai Salient. 25 January – 5 February 1917 Capture of the Dahra Bend. 9–16 February 1917 Passage of the Diyala. 7–10 Mar 1917 Occupation of Baghdad. 11 March 1917 Dellis Abbas. 27–28 March 1917 Duqma. 29 March 1917 Nahr Kalis. 9–15 April 1917 Passage of the 'Adhaim. 18 April 1917 Action of the Shatt al 'Adhaim. 30 April 1917 Second action of Jabal Hamrin. 16–20 October 1917 Third action of Jabal Hamrin. 3–6 December 1917 Tuz Khurmatli. 29 April 1918 See also United Kingdom List of British divisions in World War I References 20em Sources History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Committee of Imperial Defence Military Operations: Gallipoli, May 1915 to the Evacuation https://archive.org/details/gallipoli-v-2-pt-01-p-003-008/GallipoliV2Pt01p003-008/ II Aspinall-Oglander C. F. 1992 1932 Heinemann London facs. repr. Imperial War Museum and Battery Press registration Archive Foundation 0-89839-175-X Baker C. https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/13th-western-division/ The Long, Long Trail 2020 The 13th (Western) Division in 1914–1918 24 May 2020 C. E. W. Bean Charles Bean Official history of Australia in the war of 1914–18 The Story of ANZAC: From 4 May 1915 to the Evacuation of The Gallipoli Peninsula II 11th 1941 Angus and Robertson Sydney https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1416846 Australian War Memorial 988930216 Becke A. F. 1938 Order of Battle of Divisions Part 3A New Army Divisions (9–26) London HMSO 421375028 Sir George Buchanan The Tragedy of Mesopotamia 1938 William Blackwood & Sons London 1153169819 C. E. Callwell The Life of Sir Stanley Maude, Lieutenant-General, K.C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O. Constable London 1920 https://archive.org/details/cu31924028003055/mode/2up registration Archive Foundation 650459970 Edmund Candler CIHM/ICMH Digital series 85525-85526 The Long Road To Baghdad 1919 Cassell London and Toronto https://archive.org/details/longroadtobaghd02cand/mode/2up Archive Foundation 1083476483 The Regimental Warpath 1914–1918 Brad Chappell General Data 2009 978-0-98-205410-9 History of the Great War based on Official Documents by Direction of the Committee of Imperial Defence Military Operations: Egypt and Palestine, From the Outbreak of War with Germany to June 1917 https://archive.org/details/militaryoperatio0000geor/page/n5/mode/2up I Macmunn George Fletcher Falls Cyril Bentham 1996 1928 HMSO London facs. repr. Imperial War Museum and Battery Press, Nashville TN registration Archive Foundation 0-89839-241-1 History of the Great War Based on Official Documents Compiled at the Request of the Government of India, under the Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence The Campaign in Mesopotamia 1914–1918 https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.201482 II Moberly Frederick James 1924 HMSO London 1st registration Archive Foundation 772783874 History of the Great War Based on Official Documents Compiled at the Request of the Government of India, under the Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence The Campaign in Mesopotamia 1914–1918 https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.210668 III Moberly Frederick James 1997 1925 HMSO London facs. repr. Imperial War Museum and Battery Press, Nashville TN registration Archive Foundation 1-901623-05-X Major-General Arthur Grenfell Wauchope Arthur Grenfell Wauchope A History of The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) in the Great War, 1914–1918 (3 volumes) 1925 The Medici Society London 277942489 Further reading A. J. Barker The Bastard War: The Mesopotamian Campaign of 1914–1918 1967 Dial Press New York https://archive.org/details/bastardwarmesopo0000ajba registration Archive Foundation 2118235 none History of the Great War Based on Official Documents The Campaign in Mesopotamia 1914–1918 Compiled at the Request of the Government of India, under the Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence I Moberly Frederick James 1997 1923 HMSO London facs. repr. Imperial War Museum and The Battery Press Nashville, TN https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.285028/page/n1/mode/2up registration Archive Foundation 0-89839-268-3 none History of the Great War based on Official Documents by Direction of the Committee of Imperial Defence Operations in Persia 1914–1919 Moberly Frederick James 1987 1929 HMSO London Imperial War Museum facsimile of the confidential 1929 printing 978-0-11-290453-3 none John Keegan John Keegan The First World War 2000 1998 Vintage Canada and Colophon Toronto 978-0-67-697224-5 none Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Arthur T. Wilson Loyalties: Mesopotamia 1914–1917: A Personal and Historical Record 1969 Greenwood Press New York https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.77288 registration Archive Foundation 11585 none External links The British Army in the Great War: The 13th (Western) Division https://web.archive.org/web/20181101075507/http://www.1914-1918.net/13div.htm 1 November 2018 Category:Infantry divisions of the British Army in World War I Category:Kitchener's Army divisions Category:Military units and formations established in 1914 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1919 Category:1914 establishments in the United Kingdom