The history of 14th (Light) Division
This division came into existence as a result of Army Order 324, issued on 21 August 1914, which authorised the formation of the six new divisions of the First New Army, or K1. At first it was numbered as the 8th (Light) Division, but as more regular army units recalled and arriving from far outposts of Empire became available to create a division, they were given precedence to form a new 8th Division and this was renumbered as the 14th (Light) Division.
The 14th (Light) Division took part in the following battles and engagements:
Commanded by Major-General V. A Couper (from 22 October 1914, replacing the initial commander Major-General T. L. N. Morland)
1915
- The Action of Hooge, in which the division had the misfortune to be the first to be attacked by flamethrower (30 July)
- The Second Attack on Bellewaarde (25 September)
1916
- The Battles of the Somme 1916:
- The Battle of Delville Wood (July)
- The Battle of Flers-Courcelette (September)
1917
- The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line (March-April)
- The Arras Offensive (or Battle of Arras):
- The First Battle of the Scarpe (April)
- The Third Battle of the Scarpe (May)
- The Third Battles of Ypres:
- The Battle of Langemarck (August)
- The First Battle of Passchendaele (October)
- The Second Battle of Passchendaele (October)
1918
- The First Battles of the Somme, 1918 (German Operation “Michael):
- The Battle of St Quentin (March)
Briefly commanded by Major-General W.H. Greenly (took over on 22 March 1918, left five days later on Couper’s return)
Commanded by Major-General P. C. B. Skinner (took over 31 March 1918)
- The First Battles of the Somme, 1918 (German Operation “Michael) (continued):
- The Battle of the Avre
In the two actions in defensive fighting against Operation “Michael”, the division suffered very severe casualties, losing almost 6,000 troops. Two of the division’s artillery units, 46 and 47 Brigades RFA, lost all their guns. The division was withdrawn from the line and placed on the construction of a new defensive line in the rear. On 26 April, the infantry battalions were reduced to a training cadre. Various units were temporarily attached before the division was moved to England for re-establishment on 17 June 1918. The refreshed division, although still short on numbers, moved back to France and joined Second Army 2-6 July 1918.
- The Battle of Ypres 1918 and the final advance in Flanders (September – November)
1919
On 24 March 1919 the 14th (Light) Division ceased to exist, having suffered more than 37,100 casualties during the war.
The order of battle of the 14th (Light) Division
| 41st Brigade | |
| 7th Bn, the King’s Royal Rifle Corps | left February 1918 |
| 8th Bn, the King’s Royal Rifle Corps | left as a cadre in June 1918 |
| 7th Bn, the Rifle Brigade | left June 1918 |
| 8th Bn, the Rifle Brigade | left as a cadre in June 1918 |
| 41st Machine Gun Company | joined 15 February 1916 left to move into 14th MG Battalion 1 March 1918 |
| 41st Trench Mortar Battery | joined 2 May 1916 |
| 18th Bn, the York & Lancaster Regt | joined in England June 1918 |
| 29th Bn, the Durham Light Infantry | joined in England June 1918 |
| 33rd Bn, the London Regiment | joined in England June 1918 |
| 42nd Brigade | |
| 5th Bn, the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire LI | left as a cadre in June 1918 |
| 5th Bn, the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry | disbanded February 1918 |
| 9th Bn, the King’s Royal Rifle Corps | left as a cadre in June 1918 |
| 9th Bn, the Rifle Brigade | left as a cadre in June 1918 |
| 42nd Machine Gun Company | joined 24 February 1916 left to move into 14th MG Battalion 1 March 1918 |
| 42nd Trench Mortar Battery | joined 15 April 1916 |
| 6th Bn, the Wiltshire Regt | joined as a cadre June 1918 and rebuilt |
| 16th Bn, the Manchester Regt | joined as a cadre June 1918 and rebuilt |
| 14th Bn, the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders | joined as a cadre June 1918 and rebuilt |
| 43rd Brigade | |
| 6th Bn, the Somerset Light Infantry | left June 1918 |
| 6th Bn, the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry | disbanded February 1918 |
| 6th Bn, the Yorkshire Light Infantry | disbanded February 1918 |
| 10th Bn, the Durham Light Infantry | disbanded February 1918 |
| 43rd Machine Gun Company | formed at Houtkerque 16 February 1916 left to move into 16th MG Battalion 1 March 1918 |
| 43rd Trench Mortar Battery | joined 24 April 1916 |
| 9th Bn, the Cameronians | joined February 1918, left April 1918 |
| 7th Bn, the King’s Royal Rifle Corps | joined February 1918, left as a cadre June 1918 |
| 12th Bn, the Suffolk Regt | joined as a cadre June 1918 and rebuilt |
| 6th Bn, the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers | briefly attached June 1918 |
| 20th Bn, the Middlesex Regt | joined as a cadre June 1918 and rebuilt |
| 10/11th Bn, the Highland Light Infantry | joined as a cadre June 1918 and rebuilt |
| Divisional Troops | |
| 11th Bn, the King’s (Liverpool Regt) | became Divisional Pioneer Bn 11 January 1915, left June 1918 |
| 8th Bn, the Devonshire Regt | left May 1915 |
| 15th Bn, the Loyal North Lancashire Regt | joined in England June 1918 |
| 6th Bn, the Leinster Regt | briefly attached July 1918 |
| 8 Motor Machine Gun Battery | joined early 1915, left 5 November 1916 |
| 249th Machine Gun Company | joined 21 July 1917, left 1 October 1917 |
| 224th Machine Gun Company | joined 17 November 1917 left to move into 14th MG Battalion 1 March 1918 |
| 14th Battalion Machine Gun Corps | formed 1 March 1918 |
| Divisional Mounted Troops | |
| D Sqn, the Duke of Lancaster’s Own Yeomanry | left 11 May 1916 |
| 14th Divisional Cyclist Company, Army Cyclist Corps | formed 11 January 1915, left 11 May 1916 |
| Divisional Artillery | |
| XLVI Brigade, RFA | |
| XLVII Brigade, RFA | |
| XLVIII Brigade, RFA | left 7 January 1917 |
| XLIX (Howitzer) Brigade, RFA | broken up 6 October 1916 |
| 14th Divisional Ammunition Column RFA | |
| 14th Heavy Battery, RGA | formed as 8th (New) Heavy Battery RGA – the most senior Heavy Battery of the New Armies – on 12 October 1914. Designation changed soon after, and joined Division 9 February 1915. Left on 8 June 1915 and joined XVI Heavy Artillery Brigade. |
| V.14 Heavy Trench Mortar Battery RFA | joined 28 July 1916, left 19 January 1918 to join Fifth Army Mortar School |
| X.14, Y.14 and Z.14 Medium Mortar Batteries RFA | formed 11 March 1916; on 3 February 1918, Z broken up and batteries reorganised to have 6 x 6-inch weapons each |
| Royal Engineers | |
| 61st Field Company | |
| 62nd Field Company | |
| 89th Field Company | joined January 1915 |
| 14th Divisional Signals Company | |
| Royal Army Medical Corps | |
| 42nd Field Ambulance | |
| 43rd Field Ambulance | |
| 44th Field Ambulance | |
| 25th Sanitary Section | left 1 April 1917 |
| Other Divisional Troops | |
| 14th Divisional Train ASC | 100, 101, 102 and 103 Companies |
| 26th Mobile Veterinary Section AVC | |
| 215th Divisional Employment Company, Labour Corps | joined by 9 June 1917 |
| 14th Divisional Motor Ambulance Workshop | absorbed into Divisional Train 9 April 1916 |
Divisional histories
There is no published history for this division.
Divisional memorials
The divisional memorial now stands at Hill 60 near Ypres, having been relocated here from Railway Wood, scene of the division’s fighting for Bellewaarde in 1915, in 1978.
Links
Article: Where are the 14th Division’s “Kaiserschlacht” dead?
Personal note
In memory of my wife’s grandfather William Townsend, who along with his younger brother Gabriel enlisted into the 5th (Service) Battalion of the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry. Will was wounded during the Second Attack on Bellewaarde, and Gabriel was killed on the same day. He has no known grave. Will returned to action, was wounded again at Delville Wood and twice more before the war was out. His injuries caused him to have to wear a leather brace for the rest of his life and to give up his old occupations as a cowman and timber worker. There is a pre-war group photograph of local men employed on road-mending outside the Axe and Cleaver Inn, not far from their home in Little Birch, Herefordshire, in which the two boys can be seen. They are remembered.