To give some of our newer members who didn't know the late Iain Kerr here is a sample of one of his amazing answers. I keep information such as this as important. Aye Malcolm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Royal Naval Division Background Royal Naval Brigades were originally ad-hoc groupings of sailors and marines to be employed in land operations alongside units of the British Army. Prior to the outbreak of World War II on 4 Aug 1914, Royal Naval Brigades had served in many parts of the world. The Royal Naval Brigades had fought with distinction in the Crimea, the Indian Mutiny, in China, the South African War, and in a variety of lesser campaigns. The Royal Naval Division in World War I During the First World War, Winston Churchill formed the Royal Naval Division as an infantry formation in Aug 1914. This continued a tradition of employing ad-hoc groupings of sailors and marines in land operations alongside units of the British Army. Prior to the outbreak of World War II on 4 Aug 1914, Royal Naval Brigades had served in many parts of the world, fighting with distinction in the Crimea, the Indian Mutiny, China, South Africa and in a variety of lesser campaigns. The Royal Naval Division was initially found from those men of the Royal Navy Reserve, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and the Royal Marine Reserve. The Admiralty realised that on mobilisation the Royal Navy would have between 20-80,000 men of the various reserves, for whom there would be no space in any warship's complement. The surplus was sufficient to form two naval infantry brigades and to provide a Royal Marine Brigade to be available for home defence or special tasks.. The Royal Naval Division was established with two Naval Brigades and one Marine Brigade; each having four battalions. The eight Naval battalions were named Drake, Hawke, Benbow, Collingwood, Nelson, Howe, Hood and Anson. (The Benbow and Collingwood Battalions were disbanded before May 1916.) The 1st and 2nd Naval Brigades were formed at Walmer and Betteshanger in Kent in Aug and Sep 1914. Initial Operations The Royal Marine Brigade became the 3rd Brigade and included the Royal Marine Artillery and Chatham, Portsmouth and Plymouth Battalions. It landed at Ostende on 27 Aug 1914. The Royal Marine Brigade returned from Ostende on 31 Aug 1914 and re-embarked for Dunkirk on 19 Sep 1914 with a strength of 2,200 men. The brigade then reached Kassel, Belgium by 30 Sep 1914 and returned into Belgium, detraining at Antwerp on 3 Oct 1914. Antwerp's outer forts were taken by the advancing German forces and the Brigade were put in the trenches immediately. 4-9 Oct 1914 Defence of Antwerp The two other Brigades (1st and 2nd Royal Naval Brigades) embarked from Dover on 4 Oct 1914, landed at Dunkirk, detrained at Antwerp on 6 Sep 1914 and joined the RM Brigade in the trenches. The Royal Naval Division withdrew to St Gilles Waes on 9 Oct 1914, and began entraining for Ostende, except for about 1,500 men of the 1st RN Brigade, who failed to cross the River Scheldt in time and crossed into occupied Holland. There they were interned for the rest of the war, but a few managed to escape back to Britain. The Royal Naval Division landed at Dover about 11 Oct 1914 and started to replace lost equipment and men. (Note that by 1916 there were only a handful of the "Antwerp" men left, the casualties suffered by the Division being so high). The Division assembled around Blandford Camp, Dorset on 27 Nov 1914. The battalions were based in a series of tented camps, and trained for their next operational deployment. The Hood Battalion's presence at Blandford is marked by a battalion war memorial on the camp entrance road off the A354 Salisbury to Blandford Forum road. The Royal Naval Division at Gallipoli The Royal Naval Division was selected to play a major part in Churchill's plan to defeat the German/Turkish alliance by an amphibious attack into what he called "the soft under-belly of Europe" to seize the entrance to the Bosphorus at Gallipoli. This was one of the greatest disasters of the Great War. The Royal Naval Division started to embark for Lemnos at Devonport on 6 Feb 1915 and by 1 Mar 1915, the rest of the Division (except the training Depot) were on their way to Lemnos. By 19 Mar 1915 the Division were stationed off the Gallipoli peninsula, but as the "great Naval attack" on 18 Mar had failed, the Division were returned to Egypt and landed at Port Said by 29 Mar 1915. The Division re-embarked for Mudros on 8 Apr 1915 and were landed at Helles Beach, on the Gallipoli Peninsula on 25 Apr 1915. It was deployed and involved as follows: 25-26 Apr 1915 Gulf of Xeros (RN Division) 25-26 Apr 1915 Landing at Cape Helles (Anson and Plymouth Battalions) 28 Apr-12 May 1915 Defence of Anzac (Chatham, Portsmouth, Nelson and Deal Battalions) 28 Apr 1915 1st Battle of Krithia (2nd RN Brigade and Drake and Plymouth Battalions) 1-2 May 1915 Eski Hissarlik (2nd RN Brigade and Drake and Plymouth Battalions) 6-8 May 1915 2nd Battle of Krithia (Drake, Plymouth, Howe, Hood and Anson Battalions) 2 May 1915 The Chessboard (Nelson, Deal, Chatham and Portsmouth Battalions) 4 Jun 1915 3rd Battle of Krithia (RN Division) 7-9 Jan 1916 Evacuation of Helles (RN Division). Recovery from Gallipoli With the withdrawal of British forces from the Dardanelles in early Jan 1916, The Royal Naval Division was evacuated to Mudros and split up. Drake and Hawke Battalions went to Imbros between 19 Jan and 15 Feb 1916; Hood Battalion to Mudros between 20 Jan and 22 Feb 1916. The 2nd Brigade went to Stavros on 20 Jan 1916. The Division did not reform until arriving back in France in May 1916. During this period, the Royal Naval Division was transferred from the Admiralty to the War Office control. (Authority: 79/8954 (SD2) dated 29 Apr 1916). Transfer to the Army and to France and Flanders The Battalions landed in France at Marseilles as follows: Howe 12 May, 2nd RM 12 May: Anson 19 May; 1st RM 19 May; Hood 20 May; Nelson 22 May; and Hawke 23 May 1916. In France the Royal Naval Division was formally numbered the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division and the Brigades were numbered the 188th, 189th and 190th. (Authority ACI No 1363 dated 8 Jul 1916). Owing to the fearful losses suffered in Nov 1916, several Army battalions were attached to the Division from time to time. The 63rd (Royal Naval) Division remained in France and Flanders for the rest of the war and fought in the following battles: Dates Battle Parent Formation 13-18 Nov 1916 Somme V Corps, 5th Army 13-15 Nov 1916 Ancre V Corps, 5th Army 20 Jan - 27 Feb 1917 Operations on the Ancre II Corps, 5th Army 17/18 Feb 1917 Miraumont II Corps, 5th Army 23-29 Apr 1917 Arras XIII Corps, 5 Army 23/24 Apr 1917 2nd Scarpe XIII Corps, 5 Army 28/29 Apr 1917 Arleux XIII Corps, 5 Army 26 Oct - 10 Nov 1917 3rd Ypres XVIII Corps, 5th Army 26 Oct - 5 Nov 1917 2nd Passchendaele XVIII Corps, 5th Army 30/31 Dec 1917 Welch Ridge V Corps, 3rd Army 21 Mar - 5 Apr 1918 1st Somme V Corps, 3rd Army 21-23 Mar 1918 St Quentin V Corps, 3rd Army 24/25 Mar 1918 1st Bapaume V Corps, 3rd Army 5 Apr 1918 Ancre V Corps, 3rd Army 8-23 Aug 1918 2nd Somme IV Corps, 3rd Army 21-23 Aug 1918 Albert IV Corps, 3rd Army 26 Aug - 3 Sept 1918 2nd Arras XVII Corps, 3rd Army 2/3 Sept 1918 Droucourt-Queant Line XVII Corps, 3rd Army 27 Sept - 8 Oct 1918 Hindenburg Line XVII Corps, 3rd Army 27 Sept - 1 Oct 1918 Canal du Nord XVII Corps, 3rd Army 8 Oct 1918 Capture of Niergnies, Cambrai XVII Corps, 3rd Army 7-11 Nov 1918 Advance in Picardy XXII Corps, 1st Army 7 Nov 1918 Grande Honnelle XXII Corps, 1st Army The End of the War The units of the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division were fighting till the last minute of the war. They ended the war on Armistice Day 11 Nov 1918 capturing their objective for that day, the Mons-Givry Road. The Division HQ opened at Harveng. The 63rd Division were to have advanced into Germany with the Army of Occupation, but this was cancelled on 13 Nov 1918. On 17 Nov 1918, the Army of Occupation marched through the Division's outpost line. The Royal Naval Division were withdrawn to Valenciennes on 26 Nov 1918 and King George V visited the Division there on 5 Dec 1918. Demobilisation started in Dec 1918 with the "key-men", i.e. those having critical civilian occupations such as miners being demobbed first. The strength of the Division dwindled fast, by the end of Jan 1919 3,875 men had been demobbed, end of Feb 1919 7,047 had gone. The 63rd (Royal Naval) Division became a cadre in Mar 1919 and were disbanded in Apr 1919. Thus came the end of a brilliant fighting force, which had lost 47,953 men killed, wounded or missing 1914-18, or equivalent to three 1918 Infantry Divisions, in four years. The Division had fought throughout the war of 1914 - 1918, at Antwerp, on the bloody invasion of Gallipoli and Salonika and finally from 1916 to 1918 in France and Flanders. The Division held its final parade on the 6th June 1919. During W.W.1 the Royal Naval Division suffered the following casualties: Killed : 582 Officers, 10,797 other ranks; Wounded: 1,364 Officers 29,528 other ranks. Yours aye, Iain Kerr In Windsor, Berkshire Web Page at: http://home.clara.net/iainkerr/index.htm Rootsweb Sponsor Listowner for the KERR; McTURK and SOUTHON lists. 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