Guards Division (United Kingdom)

The British Guards Division was formed in France in 1915 from battalions of the elite Guards regiments from the Regular Army. The division served on the Western Front for the duration of the First World War. The division's insignia was the "All Seeing Eye".

There was also a Guards Division in the Second World War which was formed on 12 June 1945 from the Guards Armoured Division which had undergone reorganisation.

Order of Battle
The division comprised the following infantry brigades:


 * 1st Guards Brigade :
 * 2nd Battalion, the Grenadier Guards
 * 2nd Battalion, the Coldstream Guards
 * 3rd Battalion, the Coldstream Guards
 * 1st Battalion, the Irish Guards


 * 2nd Guards Brigade :
 * 3rd Battalion, the Grenadier Guards
 * 1st Battalion, the Coldstream Guards
 * 1st Battalion, the Scots Guards
 * 2nd Battalion, the Irish Guards


 * 3rd Guards Brigade :
 * 1st Battalion, the Grenadier Guards
 * 4th Battalion, the Grenadier Guards
 * 2nd Battalion, the Scots Guards
 * 1st Battalion, the Welsh Guards

Each brigade had an attached machine gun company; these were eventually regimented into the 4th Battalion, Machine Gun Guards. The 4th Battalion Coldstream Guards acted as the Division's pioneer battalion.

Battles

 * Battle of the Somme (1916)