1st Denbighshire Rifle Volunteers, Uniforms and insignia
The uniform of the 1st Volunteer Bn was scarlet with blue facings, matching that of the RWF. In 1908 Regimental Colours were authorised for TF battalions, the 4th Bn's carrying the single Battle Honour South Africa 1900–02. In 1925 TA battalions were allowed to add the battle honours of their parent regiments; in addition the RWF battalions were granted the privilege of wearing the regiment's back flash (five black ribbons below the back of the collar).


1st Denbighshire Rifle Volunteers, Memorials
The RWF's regimental memorial for World War I and World War II, a sculpted group by Sir William Goscombe John, stands at the junction of Bodhyfryd and Chester roads in Wrexham. A memorial plaque to the World War I dead of the 4th (Denbighshire) Battalion was erected at the Poyser Street drill hall, and was later moved to the Barracks Drill Hall in Wrexham.


1st Denbighshire Rifle Volunteers, Memorials
The original (1909) Colours of the 4th (Denbighshire) Battalion were laid up on 7 November 1954 in St Giles' Church, Wrexham. The replacement set, presented in 1954 and later carried by the 3rd (V) Bn, TAVR, were also laid up in St Giles's on 5 September 1976.


1st Dental Battalion
1st Dental Battalion is unit of the United States Navy that supports United States Marine Corps forces. The battalion includes fifteen dental clinics spread throughout California and Arizona. The unit is based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and falls under the command of the 1st Marine Logistics Group and the I Marine Expeditionary Force.


1st Dental Battalion, Mission
To provide oral healthcare for war fighters and maintain operational readiness.


1st Dental Battalion, History
The 1st Dental Battalion runs 10 dental clinics on MCB Camp Pendleton and also runs clinics at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, and Mountain Warfare Training Center in Bridgeport, California.


1st Destroyer Flotilla
The 1st Destroyer Flotilla, also styled as the First Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the British Royal Navy from 1909  to 1940 and again from 1947 to 1951.


1st Destroyer Flotilla, History
In March 1907, a Channel Flotilla of destroyers was attached to the Channel Fleet until February 1909 when it was divided to form the 1st and 3rd Destroyer Flotillas. In March 1909 it was transferred to the 1st Division of the Home Fleet. On 27 July 1909, it was placed under the command of Commodore Edward F. B. Charlton until 1910. From May 1912 to July 1914 the flotilla was allocated to the First Fleet of the Home Fleets.


1st Destroyer Flotilla, History
In August 1914 it was grouped with two other flotillas to form the Harwich Destroyer Flotilla as part of the Grand Fleet until November 1916. The flotilla was next assigned to the Harwich Force where it remained until April 1917. From May 1917 until December 1918 it was in the Portsmouth Command. After World War One the flotilla was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet from November 1918 to April 1925. In 1925 it was re-designated 5th Destroyer Flotilla and assigned to its first overseas station as part of the Mediterranean Fleet until 1932.


1st Destroyer Flotilla, History
It was renamed back to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla still with the Med Fleet until August 1938. At the beginning of World War Two in September 1939, the flotilla was placed under the command of the Rear-Admiral, Destroyer Flotillas Mediterranean Fleet where it remained until July 1940 when it was moved to the Portsmouth Command, till May 1945. Post the Second World War the Flotilla was reformed again as part of the Mediterranean Fleet in July 1945 until October 1951 when it was renamed 1st Destroyer Squadron.


1st Destroyer Flotilla, History
Command structure organizational changes took place within the Royal Navy during the post-war period. The term Flotilla was previously applied to a tactical unit until 1951 which led to the creation of three specific Flag Officers, Flotillas responsible for the Eastern, Home and Mediterranean fleets. The existing destroyer flotillas were re-organized now as administrative squadrons.


1st Destroyer Flotilla, Administration
In the Royal Navy, a Captain (D) afloat or Captain Destroyers afloat is an operational commander responsible for the command of destroyer flotilla or squadron.


1st Destroyer Squadron (United Kingdom)
The 1st Destroyer Squadron was an administrative unit of the Royal Navy from 1951 to 1970.


1st Destroyer Squadron (United Kingdom), Operational history
Originally established as the 1st Destroyer Flotilla in 1947 it was renamed in 1st Destroyer Squadron in October 1951. During its existence, the squadron included C-class and Battle-class destroyers and Leander-class frigates. Ships from the squadron saw service in the Mediterranean Fleet, the Far East Fleet, in the Beira Patrol and as part of the Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT).


1st Destroyer Squadron (United Kingdom), Operational history
Of note: Command structure organizational changes took place within Royal Navy post war period the term Flotilla was previously applied to a tactical unit until 1951 which led to the creation of three specific Flag Officers, Flotillas responsible for the Eastern, Home and Mediterranean fleets the existing destroyer flotillas were re-organized now as administrative squadrons.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers
The 1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers and its successor units served in the British Army's Reserve Forces from 1859 to 1961. During World War I it carried out garrison duty in British India but went on to see active service in the Third Anglo-Afghan War. Converting to an air defence role before World War II its units participated in the Norwegian campaign and the Dunkirk evacuation, the Battle of Britain and then the campaigns in North Africa, Italy, and Burma


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Volunteer Force
The Volunteer Force came into existence in 1859 as a result of an invasion scare and the consequent enthusiasm for joining local Rifle, Artillery and Engineer Volunteer Corps. By 8 August 1860 there were already enough Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVCs) in Devonshire to form an Administrative Brigade with its Headquarters (HQ) at Teignmouth:


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Volunteer Force
In January 1861, a 2nd Administrative Brigade was formed, taking over the units in the west of the county.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Volunteer Force
Sir Lawrence Palk, 4th Bt, a former officer in 1st The Royal Dragoons, became lieutenant-colonel commanding the brigade on 2 September 1863, and honorary colonel in 1868, when Brent (promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 13 February 1866) took over command and Palk's son, Lawrence, (formerly an officer in the Scots Fusilier Guards) became a major in the unit. In January 1866, the 1st (Lyme Regis), 3rd (Bridport) and 4th (Portland) AVCs from the neighbouring county of Dorsetshire were included in the 1st Devonshire Administrative Brigade, joined by the 5th (Charmouth) and 6th (Swanage) upon formation in 1868 and 1869. All the Dorsetshire AVCs were transferred to the 1st Hampshire Administrative Brigade in January 1873.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Volunteer Force
In 1880, the AVCs were consolidated, and the 1st Devonshire Administrative Brigade became the 1st Devonshire AVC with the following composition:


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Volunteer Force
The corps was attached to the Western Division of the Royal Artillery from 1 April 1882, changing its designation to 1st Volunteer (Devonshire) Brigade, Western Division on 1 September 1886. It changed its name to 1st Devonshire Volunteer Artillery in November 1891, and the batteries were termed companies. By 1893 the War Office Mobilisation Scheme had allocated the 1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers to the Plymouth fixed defences. On 1 June 1899 the Royal Artillery was split into two branches, and the Artillery Volunteers were assigned to the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA). The divisional organisation was abandoned on 1 January 1902 and the unit was re-titled 1st Devonshire Royal Garrison Artillery (Volunteers).


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Armament
The 14th (Ilfracombe) Devonshire AVC was issued with a rifled gun together with a store of shot and powder in 1876, and it was installed on Beacon Point. In 1885, the battery at Beacon Point consisted of a 64-pounder RML gun and a 32-pounder mortar. In succeeding years, the old 64-pounder was sent to Combe Martin, where the unit had formed a half-battery, and two new 64-pounders replaced it and the mortar at Beacon Point. In 1905, two new 6-inch breechloading guns were installed at Beacon Point.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Territorial Force
When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908, the 1st Devonshire RGA became a brigade in the Royal Field Artillery (RFA). , initially as , changing to . Its planned organisation was to have been the III (or 3rd) Wessex Brigade of two Devonshire batteries and the 3rd ammunition column. However it changed to the IV (or 4th) Wessex in October 1908, and its final organisation  in 1910 was as follows:


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Territorial Force
The IV Wessex formed part of the Wessex Division of the TF.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War I, Mobilisation
On 26 July 1914, the Wessex Division was on Salisbury Plain, beginning its annual training. Three days later, with the international situation deteriorating, the division was warned to take 'precautionary measures'. The divisional HQ returned to Exeter and the units took up their precautionary posts across South West England. On 4 August, the division was ordered to mobilise for war. Between 10 and 13 August the division returned to Salisbury Plain, this time under war conditions.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War I, Mobilisation
In September, the War Office decided to raise 2nd Line TF units and formations, so the IV Wessex (now designated the 1/IV Wessex) began recruiting a duplicate unit, the 2/IV Wessex Brigade, RFA, which would serve in the 2nd Wessex Division.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War I, 1/IV Wessex Brigade
On 24 September, the 1st Wessex Division accepted liability for service in British India to relieve Regular Army units for the Western Front. The division's infantry battalions and field artillery brigades (less the ammunition columns, which were left behind) embarked at Southampton on 9 October and sailed via Gibraltar, Malta, and the Suez Canal to Bombay, where they disembarked on 9 November. Each of the brigade's three batteries arrived in India with five officers and 140 other ranks, manning four 15-pounder field guns.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War I, 1/IV Wessex Brigade
Although the 1st Wessex was officially numbered the 43rd (Wessex) Division in early 1915, it never served as a complete formation during the war: on arrival in India all its units were distributed to various garrisons, the individual batteries of the 1/IV Wessex Bde being posted to separate stations. No reinforcements reached the units during 1915, and their strength began to dwindle, made worse by the requirement to provide drafts for other theatres of war, while many of the best Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) were taken away for officer training.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War I, 1/IV Wessex Brigade
By 1916, it was clear that the complete division could not be returned to the Western Front as intended, so instead training was pushed forwards in India, some drafts were received from home, and the obsolescent 15-pounders were replaced by modern 18-pounder guns, to enable individual units to be sent to reinforce other theatres of war. The RFA brigades received numbers, the 1/IV Wessex becoming the CCXVIII (218th) Brigade, and in 1917 the batteries were also numbered, the 1/1st, 1/2nd and 1/3rd Devonshire Batteries becoming the 1094th, 1095th and 1096th.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War I, 1/IV Wessex Brigade
Subsequently, the batteries were increased to a strength of six guns by splitting one battery (1095th) up amongst the others. In July 1918, the brigade was returned to three-battery strength by the addition of 1104th (2/1st Wiltshire) Battery from 45th (2nd Wessex) Division (see below), so that by the end of the war the brigade had the following organisation:


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War I, 2/IV Wessex Brigade
The units of the 2nd Wessex Division began to form as soon as the 1st Wessex had embarked for India. Any officers and men left behind by the 1st Line units were used to train the 2nd Line. On 25 November, the War Office decided to send the 2nd Wessex to India as well, despite its lack of training. On 12 December 1914, the whole division embarked at Southampton and disembarked at Bombay 4–8 January 1915. The RFA batteries arrived with the same strength of five officers and 140 other ranks, equipped with four 15-pounders. Only in March 1915 was it discovered that half the 15-pounders had obturator pads made of wood, and could not be used for practice until these items had been replaced from England.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War I, 2/IV Wessex Brigade
Once the units were trained, they suffered from the same drain as the 1st Line, having to provide drafts for active theatres of war and losing their best NCOs for officer training. As with the 43rd Division, the artillery brigades of the 45th Division were gradually re-armed with the 18-pounder and received numbers, the 2/IV Wessex becoming CCXXVIII (228th).


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War I, 2/IV Wessex Brigade
On 12 August 1916, the 2/1st Devonshire Bty (later renumbered 1105th), was sent to Aden where it was re-equipped with 5-inch howitzers. It remained there until demobilisation in March 1919.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War I, 2/IV Wessex Brigade
The 2/2nd Devonshire Bty received the number 1106, but was broken up during 1917 to bring other batteries up to 6-gun establishment.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War I, 2/IV Wessex Brigade
By April 1917, CCXXVIII Bde had disappeared: the 2/1st Devonshire Bty at Aden was formally attached to CCXXVII (former 2/III Wessex) Bde and the 2/3rd Devonshire (which had become 1107th (Howitzer) Battery) joined XXI Bde RFA in 4th (Quetta) Division, stationed in Baluchistan in the southern part of the North West Frontier, where it remained until the end of World War I.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, 3rd Afghan War
When World War I ended in November 1918, very few of the two Wessex Divisions' original units remained in India; CCXVIII Brigade represented the largest remaining group of Wessex field gun batteries. The TF units could have expected to be demobilised and returned home, but instead several of them were retained for service in the Third Anglo-Afghan War of 1919.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, 3rd Afghan War
4th (Quetta) Division was a designated reserve formation for mobilisation on the North West Frontier. Its field artillery consisted of XXI Brigade RFA, which already included 1107th (2/3rd Devonshire) (H) Bty and was joined for the campaign by 1104th (2/1st Wiltshire) Bty from CCXVIII Bde. Meanwhile, the 1096th (1/3rd Devonshire) Bty from CCXVIII Bde joined the 46th Mobile Indian Brigade, and later the Kohat–Kurram Field Force.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, 3rd Afghan War
Fighting on the Afghan frontier started in May 1919, and reinforcements were sent into Baluchistan so that the area commander was able to concentrate a force at New Chaman for an attack on the Afghan frontier stronghold of Spin Boldak. The artillery of this force consisted of the 102nd Bty (with 18-pounders) and the 1107th (2/3rd Devonshire) Bty (with 4.5-inch and 5-inch howitzers), both from XXI Bde RFA. The attack on 27 May began with a creeping barrage fired by the 18-pounders while the howitzers of the Devonshires bombarded the fort and its outlying towers. The fort fell that afternoon, prompting strenuous attempts by the Afghans to retake it before the peace was signed in August.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Interwar
When the TF was reconstituted on 7 February 1920 the unit was reformed as the new 3rd Wessex Brigade, RFA, with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Devonshire Btys and a Dorsetshire Bty from the old III Wessex Bde. However, when the TF was reorganised as the Territorial Army (TA) in 1921 it was redesignated the 56th Wessex, the batteries were numbered and then lost the 'shire' from their titles in June 1924, when the RFA was amalgamated into the RA. By 1927 the brigade had left 43rd (Wessex) Division and been redesignated as an Army Field Brigade:


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Interwar
The title was changed to 56th (Devon) in March 1928, and in July 1929 the 224th (Dorset) Bty was transferred to the 94th (Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry) Army Fd Bde.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Interwar
In November 1938, the RA replaced its designation of 'brigade' for alieutenant-colonel's command by the more modern 'regiment'; the 56th was due to become the 56th (Devon) Field Regiment, but the RA was also beginning a programme of converting units to the Anti- Aircraft (AA) role. The 56th became the 51st (Devon) Light Anti- Aircraft Regiment, RA (one of the first Light AA (LAA) units to be formed in the TA):


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Interwar
After the Munich Crisis in 1938, the TA was doubled in size, and the 51st formed a duplicate unit at Exeter in 1939, the 55th Light Anti- Aircraft Regiment, RA:


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 51st (Devon) LAA, Dunkirk
The Territorial Army mobilised on the outbreak of war. The War Office's plan was that the first four newly formed TA LAA regiments would go to France as soon as they could be mobilised, in order to provide AA cover for the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). 51st (Devon) LAA Regiment therefore crossed to France as part of 2nd Anti - Aircraft Brigade (2nd AA Bde).


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 51st (Devon) LAA, Dunkirk
The new LAA regiments were still badly under-equipped for overseas service, having only a small number of their establishment of Bofors 40 mm guns and a lot of Light machine guns (LMGs), usually old Lewis guns, and a reduced scale of transport for a mobile role. In November 1939, 51st LAA only possessed 12 Bofors and 48 LMGs. On 2 December 1939 the regiment was joined by 6 LAA Bty, a Special Reserve battery that had been formed at Coleraine within 9th AA Rgt before that regiment specialised as heavy AA.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 51st (Devon) LAA, Dunkirk
When the German offensive began on 10 May 1940, 2nd AA Bde's task was to defend the airfields of the BEF's Air Component. As the Luftwaffe began the air raids that heralded the German offensive, 151st LAA Bty was in action at Abbeville airfield with A and C Troops. C Troop soon registered a hit, and A Trp claimed 11 hits during the day, but a Battery Quartermaster Sergeant (BQMS) and three gunners were killed.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 51st (Devon) LAA, Dunkirk
The BEF began its planned advanced into Belgium, but the German Army broke through the Ardennes, forcing the BEF to withdraw again, the AA batteries giving cover leap-frog fashion. Soon they were sucked into the ground battle, split into sub-units to join rearguard actions or moved back from one key point to another, with all the roads choked with refugees. By 21 May, 151st Bty had A Trp defending Hazebrouck, where an enemy aircraft was brought down, while B Trp was at Merville. Next, A Trp went to the defence of Cassel, where it was attacked by tanks and aircraft. One gun was hit and one had to be abandoned. Second Lieutenant Forbes went out to find the remaining two guns but was never heard of again. Sergeant Lord and 22 men eventually got out at Dunkirk.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 51st (Devon) LAA, Dunkirk
By now, the BEF was withdrawing towards the coast and beginning its evacuation from Dunkirk. 2nd AA Brigade took over control of all AA defences in Dunkirk on 24 May, with 51st LAA Rgt providing air defence in the northern sector of the pocket. At Dunkirk the last three guns of B Trp were constantly in action on Bray-Dunes, one gun being destroyed by a direct hit. Here they were joined by 152nd LAA Bty, with D, E and F Trps, which took up positions on the Dunkirk beaches and went into action at once.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 51st (Devon) LAA, Dunkirk
They were in continuous action from 21 to 25 May and many aircraft were brought down. The Bty commander, Major F.C. MacKenzie, was killed and buried in the dunes, the second-in-command, Capt A.M. Hicks, was wounded and a 2/Lt took over. By 27 May, all ammunition was expended and the guns were destroyed before the crews were evacuated. The RA history comments: 'This gallant battery had done much to save the BEF from the incessant air attacks n the beaches'.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 51st (Devon) LAA, Home defence
AA units returning from France were rapidly reinforced, re-equipped where possible, and redeployed for future integration into Anti- Aircraft Command's existing defence plans. 51st LAA, with 151st, 152nd and 153rd Btys under command, went to No 12 AA Practice Camp, Penhale, where it re-equipped with Bofors guns. 152nd LAA Bty was soon back in action defending Tangmere airfield during the Battle of Britain, destroying numerous enemy aircraft. The regiment then joined 45th AA Bde in South Wales. On 15 October 1940 6 LAA Bty transferred to 2nd LAA Rgt and later fought in the Western Desert Campaign.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 51st (Devon) LAA, Home defence
On 15 January 1941, 51st (Devon) LAA Rgt joined 6th Support Group in 6th Armoured Division, which had recently been formed as part of the GHQ Reserve. Support Groups at the time consisted of a brigade of mobile field, anti-tank (A/T) and LAA artillery together with lorried infantry, intended to support the armoured brigades of the division. The LAA regiment was equipped with towed Bofors guns. However, the support group concept was soon scrapped and from 1 June 1942 the regiment served directly under the HQ RA of 6th Armoured Division.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 51st (Devon) LAA, Tunisia
6th Armoured Division sailed from England on 8 November 1942, and landed at Algiers as part of Operation Torch, completing its concentration by 22 November. In December, V Corps took over operational control of the advance into Tunisia, and sent 6th Armoured to reinforce the infantry of 78th Division. With a front spread over 60 miles, the fighting consisted of confused encounter battles and enemy counter-attacks making skilled use of the terrain, so that British spearhead forces were often outflanked and encircled. AA guns were often involved in ground fighting. 51st (Devon) LAA Rgt had a hard time in these encounters, losing men and guns in actions in which they were encircled by the enemy.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 51st (Devon) LAA, Tunisia
During the Tunisian campaign, 6th Armoured took part in the following major actions:


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 51st (Devon) LAA, Tunisia
At the end of the campaign, 51st (Devon) LAA Rgt claimed to have destroyed 45 enemy aircraft for the expenditure of 62,300 rounds of ammunition – a high figure, but many of these rounds were fired in ground combats.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 51st (Devon) LAA, Italy
6th Armoured Division did not participate in the Allied invasion of Sicily nor the early stages of the Italian Campaign, remaining in North Africa until 18 March 1944. It then went to Italy and was operational by April, in time for Eighth Army's Spring campaign.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 51st (Devon) LAA, Italy
During the campaign, 6th Armoured Division took part in the following actions:


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 51st (Devon) LAA, Italy
By September 1944, the Axis air forces were suffering such shortages of pilots, aircraft and fuel that serious aerial attacks were rare, and AA units began to be put to other uses. 51st (Devon) LAA Rgt left 6th Armoured Division and rejoined 2nd AA Bde, which was supporting XIII Corps. Although it was responsible for defending a few airfields and other vital points, the brigade's role was mainly to provide Heavy AA guns firing in ground roles, while some of its LAA batteries were being retrained as infantry support troops to meet the increasing manpower crisis.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 51st (Devon) LAA, Italy
By the end of the year, 51st (Devon) LAA Rgt had been reduced from 54 to 36 Bofors guns. In January 1945, it had one battery in AA defence of bridges and 6th Armoured Division's gun areas, while the other batteries were carrying out labour duties for the Royal Engineers, transporting ammunition, and firing mortars for infantry support and for projecting smoke screens.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 51st (Devon) LAA, Italy
In February, first 152nd and then 153rd LAA Btys manned 4.2-inch mortars in support of 6th Armoured Division, then at the end of the month 153rd moved its mortars to support the Folgore Group of the Italian Co-belligerent Army. At the end of March, just before the final Allied offensive in Italy began, 2nd AA Bde had 51st Rgt disposed with 151st and 152nd LAA Btys in AA defence of 10th Indian Infantry Division's gun areas, while 153rd LAA Bty manned its mortars behind the Folgore Group.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 51st (Devon) LAA, Italy
The Allied armies in Italy launched their spring offensive (Operation Grapeshot) on 6 April 1945 and it made rapid progress. 2nd AA Brigade accompanied X Corps, but had little to do – its guns had trouble keeping up with the speed of the advance. The campaign ended with the surrender of German forces in Italy on 2 May 1945.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Norway
55th (Devon) LAA Regiment had already joined the BEF in France, but in April 1940 was diverted to the Allied expedition against Narvik, in Norway. It was sent as part of a new 6th AA Bde to provide AA cover for the forces that had landed at Harstad, an island town just outside Narvikfjord, in mid-April 1940. Its three batteries each had 12 Bofors guns, although like all the units in the brigade it was short of men, instruments and vehicles.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Norway
The regiment arrived at Harstad on 9 May, where the brigade's guns were already engaged against almost daily attacks on the shipping in the fjord. The regiment was sent to defend Harstad airfield, with a Troop of 164th LAA Bty detached to the expedition's naval base at Skånland. The regiment shot down its first aircraft on 10 May, capturing the downed German pilot. By 18 May, 164th LAA Bty had its HQ and eight guns defending Bardufos airfield where Royal Air Force Gloster Gladiator and later Hawker Hurricane fighters were based.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Norway
Narvik was captured on 28 May, but immediately afterwards orders were received to destroy the port and evacuate to the UK. (The BEF was simultaneously being evacuated from Dunkirk). To cover the evacuation, AA units were ordered to maintain maximum activity and especially to prevent reconnaissance overflights. At the same time, 6th AA Bde was ordered by London to recover its guns as a matter of priority. This was done by progressively thinning out defences.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Norway
Although much of the force's equipment was saved, 164th LAA Bty at Bardufoss was ordered to destroy all guns on 5 June after the aircraft had flown out and the runways had been cratered. 6th AA Brigade ended all AA defence on 6 June and by 8 June the British troops had embarked with their surviving equipment and the convoy sailed for the UK, still under air attack.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Home defence
After evacuation, 55th (Devon) LAA Rgt landed in the UK on 13 June and was sent to Troon to re-equip with Bofors guns and then supplement AA Command's defences. In early 1941 it joined 45th AA Bde, covering South Wales in 9th AA Division. Simultaneously the regiment was part of the War Office Reserve, available for service overseas. It was granted its 'Devon' subtitle  on 17 February 1942.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Ceylon and India
War with Japan broke out in December 1941 and reinforcements were urgently sent to bolster British forces in Asia. 55th (Devon) LAA Regiment, joined by a newly raised 524th LAA Bty, sailed early in 1942, landing at Colombo in Ceylon on 4 March. There it joined 1st Royal Marine AA Bde.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Ceylon and India
After the fall of Singapore and Burma in early 1942, the Imperial Japanese Navy decided to neutralise the important British naval base of Ceylon. Air raids against Colombo and Trincomalee began on 5 April and continued for months. As the AA defences built up and the threat of low-level attacks by carrier-based fighters receded, the LAA units could be redeployed. 1st RM AA Brigade with 55th (Devon) LAA left Ceylon for India in June 1942.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Ceylon and India
In 1942–3, Fourteenth Army fighting in Burma, adopted a new policy with the formation of composite Light Anti- Aircraft/Anti-Tank regiments, each containing two LAA and two A/T batteries. This format was intended to help divisions distribute sub-units with balanced firepower and mutual support in close jungle fighting where battle groups often had to move independently. 55th (Devon) LAA Rgt was one of those selected for conversion, exchanging two batteries with 56th (King's Own) A/T Rgt to become 55th Light Anti- Aircraft/Anti-Tank Regiment, RA on 9 August.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Ceylon and India
56th Anti-Tank Regiment (The King's Own), RA, formerly the 4th Bn King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster), had been heavily engaged in the defence of the River Lys during the Battle of France and then evacuated through Dunkirk. It had subsequently been joined by a newly formed 290th A/T Bty and by 203rd (Ross) A/T Bty from 51st (West Highland) A/T Rgt, which had evacuated through Cherbourg after the rest of the regiment was destroyed at St Valery with 51st (Highland) Division.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Ceylon and India
When the exchange with 55th (Devon) LAA Rgt took place, these were the two A/T batteries transferred, while 56th LAA/AT Rgt kept its original King's Own batteries, joined by 163rd and 164th from the 55th. Thus the composition of 55th LAA/AT Rgt, formed on 29 July in the Calcutta area, was as follows:


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Ceylon and India
In September 1943, 55th LAA/AT Rgt was in training at Marol, Bombay, preparing to join 20th Indian Infantry Division. In October, it moved to Ranchi with the division, and on 1 December it moved to Imphal on the Burma/Assam border and reached Tamu on 16 December.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Burma
Fourteenth Army's planned attack from Imphal was forestalled by a Japanese offensive that resulted in the Battle of Imphal. 20th Indian Division was holding Tamu, with its troops disposed in a series of brigade 'keeps' or 'boxes' on defensible high ground, and a screen on the Imphal plain. LAA batteries in the forward areas had problems in getting their guns up steep tracks to join infantry positions. 55th LAA/AT Rgt resorted to breaking its Bofors guns down into packs that could be loaded onto transport elephants. In the front line, the Bofors crews developed a technique for destroying Japanese log bunkers by shooting away the front supports until the whole thing collapsed. However, in their AA role, the gunners found it difficult to depress their weapons to hit Zero fighters making sweeps along valley floors.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Burma
When the Japanese offensive opened on 6 March 1944, it penetrated between the divisional boxes and 20th Indian Division began withdrawing from its forward screen to its main defensive positions on the Shenan Saddle just short of Palel. The two LAA batteries of 55th LAA/AT Rgt worked with infantry groups leap-frogging back to successive pre-prepared fall-back positions. They suffered shelling and tank attacks (destroying four Japanese tanks), but air attacks were slight (although 524th LAA Bty shot down one attacker).


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Burma
By the first week in April, the regiment was back in the main Imphal defences, in the boxes at Shenam and Bishenpur. Here they were subject to increased air attack by Nakajima Ki-43 fighter-bombers. On 6 April, 165th LAA Bty shot down three with 175 rounds, and another on 10 April. 524th LAA Bty set up outlying 'trap' positions and destroyed two more. By the end of the battle, 20th Indian Division's LAA guns had destroyed 12 aircraft with another four 'possibles'. During the battle, Imphal had been cut off and supplied by air until the Kohima road was reopened in June, after which 20th Indian Division began to advance.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Burma
The other two batteries from 55th (Devon) LAA Rgt, 163rd and 164th, served with 56th LAA/AT Rgt in 5th Indian Infantry Division on the Arakan front. Again, the British had formed air-supplied defensive 'boxes'. 56th LAA/AT Rgt provided AA defence for 5th Indian Division's HQ box, with Bofors guns operating in field gun areas, brigade boxes, in ground role actions against enemy strongpoints and in ambushes against infiltrators, while the A/T gunners were employed as infantry.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Burma
The division's boxes were besieged from 7 to 13 February, with the gunners in frequent actions against air attacks and infantry, but it was the Japanese supplies that failed first. Reinforcements cleared the road block behind 5th Indian Division, which then resumed its advance, while 56th LAA/AT Rgt was responsible for defending North Island at Maungdaw. In March the Monsoon broke and 5th Indian Division was relieved, 56th LAA/AT Rgt returning to Elephant Point near Cox's Bazar for a rest.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Burma
The division then took part in the relief of Imphal, 163rd and 164th LAA batteries moving by road to Dimapur where they assumed an infantry role while the A/T batteries were flown into the box. When the British counter-offensive began in May, RHQ and the AA batteries of 56th LAA/AT Rgt accompanied 2nd British Division in the advance from Kohima to Imphal


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Burma
By mid-1944, the Allies were achieving air superiority over Burma, sightings of Japanese aircraft had become rare and LAA guns were more often being used against ground targets in jungle fighting. Some LAA units were broken up to provide reinforcements for the infantry, while the LAA/AT units became solely A/T. Between 17 July and  1 September 1944, while back at Yairipok in India, 55th LAA/AT Rgt was converted into 111th (Devon) Anti -Tank Regiment, RA with 165th (later numbered 524th), 203rd and 290th A/T Btys.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Burma
56th LAA/AT Rgt reverted to 56th A/T Rgt on 1 October 1944, when 163rd LAA Bty became 351st A/T Bty, but operated infantry support mortars, while 164th LAA Bty left the regiment and remained directly under 5th Indian Division HQ.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Burma
In December 1944, 111th A/T Rgt went back into Burma with 20th Indian Division. In February 1945, the division established a bridgehead across the Irrawaddy River west of Mandalay, and in March it attacked southwards down the Irrawaddy, reaching Rangoon soon after its capture in Operation Dracula. By now both regiments were equipped with 36 x 6-pounder A/T guns and 36 x 3-inch mortars. In April–May 111th A/T Rgt sank a number of Japanese boats on the Irrawaddy. The regiment remained with 20th India Division until the end of June. 111th (Devon) A/T Rgt and its batteries were placed in suspended animation at the  RA Depot at Woolwich on 23 October 1945.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 55th (Devon) LAA, Burma
On 21 March 1945, 56th A/T Rgt set out from Assam to join the last phase of the war in Burma. By the beginning of April 20th Indian Division was concentrated at Meiktila airfield, defending against repeated Japanese attempts to retake it. 5th Indian Division then took part in the advance towards Rangoon, with 56th A/T supporting 4/7th Rajputs in successful attacks on two enemy strongpoints with their 6-pdrs and mortars. Once Rangoon had been captured, the regiment returned by sea to India, where it came under command of RA Training HQ No 40 until the end of the war.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Postwar, 83 LAA/SL Regiment
When the TA was reconstituted on 1 January 1947, the personnel then serving in 51st LAA Rgt were transferred to a new war-formed unit with the same regimental and battery numbers. On 1 April 1947 this was redesignated 83 LAA/Searchlight Regiment in the Regular Army with the following organisation:


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Postwar, 83 LAA/SL Regiment
This regiment was placed in suspended animation on 1 April 1948, then reformed 15 days later as a heavy AA regiment, but apparently reverted to LAA before finally entering suspended animation at Brackley, Northamptonshire, on 21 September that year.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Postwar, 256 (Devon) LAA Regiment
Meanwhile, the TA regiment was reformed at Exeter as 256 (Devon) LAA Regiment in 81 AA Brigade of Anti- Aircraft Command based in Plymouth.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Postwar, 256 (Devon) LAA Regiment
The 55th (Devon) LAA Rgt was intended to be reconstituted as 852nd (Devon) Tractor Battery, RA, but was instead transferred to the Royal Army Service Corps.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Postwar, 256 (Devon) LAA Regiment
In 1949, the 256th was redesignated the 256th (Devon) (Mixed) LAA/Searchlight Rgt ('Mixed' indicating that members of the Women's Royal Army Corps were integrated into the unit). In 1950, it absorbed the 396th (Devon) LAA Rgt, which had originally been the 7th (Haytor) Bn of the Devonshire Regiment at Newton Abbot, and had served in World War II as the 87th Anti -Tank Rgt, RA. By now, the regiment had dropped the 'Searchlight' part of its designation.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Postwar, 256 (Devon) LAA Regiment
In 1954, it absorbed the 668th (Devon and Cornwall) (M) Heavy AA Rgt (a new unit that had been formed at Plymouth in 1947). Then in 1955, when AA Command was disbanded and there was a major reduction in the TA's AA units, the regiment was merged with 524th (M) LAA/SL Rgt (7th Bn The Royal Hampshire Regiment) to form:


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Postwar, 256 (Devon) LAA Regiment
The following year, the amalgamations continued, with the 256th LAA Rgt absorbing the 407th (Devon) Coast Rgt, RA (which had originally been the 2nd Admin Brigade of Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, see above).


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Postwar, 256 (Devon) LAA Regiment
Finally, in 1961, the regiment's lineage ended when it was absorbed into the 296th (Royal Devon Yeomanry) Field Rgt, RA, except P (Royal Hampshire) Bty, which joined 383rd Light Rgt (The Duke of Connaught's Royal Hampshire), RA.


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Honorary Colonels
The following officers served as Honorary Colonel of the regiment:


1st Devonshire Artillery Volunteers, Memorials
The units' World War II memorials are at Exeter Guildhall.


1st Devonshire Engineers
The 1st Devonshire Engineer Volunteer Corps, later the Devonshire Fortress Royal Engineers, was a volunteer unit of Britain's Royal Engineers whose history dated back to 1862. The unit helped to defend the vital naval base of Plymouth, and supplied detachments for service in the field in both World Wars. During the North African campaign in World War II, the unit's sappers distinguished themselves in bridging the Nile and clearing minefields during and after El Alamein. Their successors served on the postwar Territorial Army until 1969.


1st Devonshire Engineers, Origins
The enthusiasm for the Volunteer movement following an invasion scare in 1859 led to the creation of many Rifle, Artillery and Engineer Volunteer units composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need. One such unit was the 1st Devonshire Engineer Volunteer Corps (EVC) formed at Torquay, with the first officers' commissions dated 28 January 1862.


1st Devonshire Engineers, Origins
The 1st Devonshire EVC was attached for administrative purposes to the 1st (Exeter and South Devon) Devonshire Rifle Volunteer Corps from April 1863 until August 1869, when it joined the 1st Administrative Battalion of Gloucestershire EVCs. With the reorganisation of the Volunteer Force in 1880, the Gloucestershire Admin Bn was consolidated as the 1st Gloucestershire EVC, with the 1st Devon providing E Company at Torquay and F Company at Exeter. The EVC titles were abandoned in 1888, when the units became 'Engineer Volunteers, Royal Engineers', proclaiming their affiliation to the Regular RE, and then simply 'Royal Engineers (Volunteers)' in 1896.


1st Devonshire Engineers, Origins
In August 1889, the Devon and Somerset companies were removed from the Gloucestershire battalion and constituted as a separate 1st Devonshire and Somersetshire RE (V), with its HQ at the Priory, Colleton Crescent, Exeter.


1st Devonshire Engineers, Origins
The 1st Devonshire and Somerset RE (V) sent a detachment of one officer and 25 other ranks to assist the regular REs during the Second Boer War in 1900, and a second section the following year.


1st Devonshire Engineers, Territorial Force
When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) in 1908, the Devon and Somerset Engineers were split to form the Devonshire Fortress Royal Engineers at Plymouth and the divisional engineer companies for the Wessex Division, which were based in Somerset (except for part of the signal company, which remained at Exeter).


1st Devonshire Engineers, Territorial Force
A new Drill Hall at Lambhay Green, Plymouth, designed in 1913, was completed in 1918.


1st Devonshire Engineers, World War I, Mobilisation
On the outbreak of war in August 1914, the fortress engineers moved to their war stations in the coastal defences, the Devonshire Fortress Engineers coming under the command of South Western Coast Defences HQ at Devonport, Plymouth. Shortly afterwards, the men of the TF were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service and WO instructions were issued to form those men who had only signed up for Home Service into reserve or 2nd Line units. The titles of these 2nd Line units were the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix. They absorbed most of the recruits that flooded in, and in many cases themselves went on active service later.


1st Devonshire Engineers, World War I, Mobilisation
In December 1914 the 1/1st Devonshire (Works) Co sailed to Gibraltar to relieve a Regular RE company there. In the Spring of 1915 it was relieved by 1/2nd Devonshire (Works) Co. The 1/1st Devonshire then moved to the Western Front and joined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). It served on the Somme in 1916. The 1/2nd Devonshire was in turn relieved by another TF company in November 1916 and embarked again for service with the BEF on 17 March 1917. The 1/4th Dorset (EL) Company was also sent to Gibraltar in April 1915 to replace a Regular company.


1st Devonshire Engineers, World War I, Mobilisation
When the TF companies of the RE received numbers in February 1917, they were assigned as follows:


1st Devonshire Engineers, World War I, Sinai and Palestine
Details of the service of the Devon companies are sketchy. At the end of August 1917, 571st Company officially changed its designation from 'Works' to 'Army Troops' and most of the company embarked at Southampton on 29 September (the wagons and horses followed a month later). 570th and 571st Companies disembarked at Alexandria in October, where 569th Company was already engaged on various duties around the ports and camps. At this stage of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was about to launch the Battle of Beersheba and begin its advance to capture Jerusalem. The three companies served on the vital lines of communications in Egypt and Palestine supporting the EEF for the rest of the war.


1st Devonshire Engineers, World War I, Later war
567th (Devon) Company was serving with X Corps in June 1917, and Fourth Army, by the time of the Armistice in November 1918. 568th (Devon) Company was still serving with First Army as late as June 1919. 569th, 570th and 5761st (Devon) Companies continued working on the Palestine Lines of Communications after the Armistice, 570th Company serving until at least March 1920.


1st Devonshire Engineers, World War I, Later war
Having spent much if the war working in the UK, 572nd (Devon) Works Company finally embarked to join the BEF on 8 August 1918 to work on aerodrome construction for the Royal Air Force, and remained overseas until at least March 1919. 614th continued doing fortress duties in Gibraltar until it was absorbed into the Regular 33rd Fortress Company RE in 1919.


1st Devonshire Engineers, Interwar
The Devonshire Fortress Engineers was reformed at Muttley Barracks, Plymouth, in the renamed Territorial Army (TA) in 1920, forming part of the Coast Defence forces in 43rd (Wessex) Divisional Area. In 1933 it was amalgamated with the Cornwall Fortress Engineers at Falmouth and became the Devonshire and Cornwall (Fortress) Engineers (D&C (F) RE) with the following organisation:


1st Devonshire Engineers, Interwar
The Plymouth Junior Technical School Cadet Corps was attached to the unit.


1st Devonshire Engineers, World War II, Mobilisation
Just before or shortly after war broke out in September 1939 a fifth EL&W company was added to the unit, based at Pendennis Castle under Commander, Fixed Defences, Falmouth, and No 4 Company  became an independent unit (482nd (Devon & Cornwall) Searchlight Company) under the command of 55th Anti- Aircraft Brigade. The remainder of the D&C (F) RE mobilised in the Plymouth and Falmouth Defences of Southern Command. In May 1940 the fortress companies were reorganised as field companies; No 5 E&L Company left for Tiverton on 23 May 1940, having been redesignated 573rd Devon and Cornwall Army Field Company.


1st Devonshire Engineers, World War II, Mobilisation
When VIII Corps was formed in Southern Command in June 1940, its engineers (VIII Corps Troops, Royal Engineers, or VIII CTRE) were provided by the Devonshire and Cornwall Fortress Engineers:


1st Devonshire Engineers, World War II, Mobilisation
However, in February 1941, the companies left VIII Corps and were sent to Egypt, where they became X CTRE when X Corps HQ arrived from England a few months later to join Eighth Army.


1st Devonshire Engineers, World War II, Bridging the Nile
On 20 July 1942, when Rommel was driving towards Egypt, General Headquarters (GHQ) ordered the construction of two bridges across the Nile to allow Eighth Army's armour to manoeuvre to the south if the Cairo defences were attacked. The task was assigned to X CTRE under Lt-Col E.N. Bickford. The sites chosen were at Helwan and Wasta, where the widths to be bridged were 2688 feet (820 m) and 2760 feet (840 m) respectively, and the difference between high and low water was about 22 feet (7 m).


1st Devonshire Engineers, World War II, Bridging the Nile
Pontoons were unavailable, so local feluccas were used to make a bridge of boats. 572nd Field Company took on the bridge at Helwan with the assistance of a Seychelles Pioneer Company, while 571st Field Company with a Mauritius Pioneer Company built the Wasta bridge. 570th Field Park Company was responsible for stores and welding. In the event, Rommel's final drive was halted at the Battle of Alam Halfa, the Cairo defences were not required, and the bridges were dismantled in November.


1st Devonshire Engineers, World War II, Clearing minefields
On 23 October, the Eighth Army under Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery counter-attacked at the Second Battle of El Alamein. For the first phase, the aptly-named Operation Lightfoot, the key was to breach the extensive German minefields during the night to allow the armour formations to pass through and exploit the success of the initial bombardment and infantry assault. For this work the sappers were trained to use the recently arrived Polish mine detector (Mine detector Mark I). X Corps organised a Minefield Task Force for each of its armoured divisions: 571st Field Company was attached to 10th Armoured Division, and both 572nd and 573rd Fd Cos were with 1st Armoured Division, while 570th Fd Park Co remained with X Corps HQ.


1st Devonshire Engineers, World War II, Clearing minefields
The task of clearing lanes through the minefields went according to plan, though delayed by the scale of the minefields and the presence of pockets of enemy resistance that had not been cleared out by the attacking infantry. The southern corridor was under enemy artillery and small-arms fire, and when a truck was set on fire the illumination meant that the sappers were exposed to even more accurate fire. However, the gap was cleared by 06.30 on 24 October, and 10th Armoured passed through.


1st Devonshire Engineers, World War II, Clearing minefields
Progress was slower in the northern corridor and 51st (Highland) Division had to put in a fresh attack with massed artillery support at 15.00, after which the sappers were able to clear the way for 1st Armoured to deploy during the second night. The regimental history attributes the relatively light casualties among the mine clearance parties, despite the firefights going on around them, 'to the excellence of the mine-lifting drill and the accuracy with which it was carried out'. By 4 November the German and Italian troops were in full retreat across the desert.


1st Devonshire Engineers, World War II, Advance to Tripoli
X CTRE followed Eighth Army's six-month advance across North Africa, repairing roads behind the advancing troops. Between Bouerat and Misourata, the unit dealt with 68 separate demolitions and craters, one involving the construction of a bridge with five 30-foot (10 m) spans. So many casualties were suffered from S-mines hidden among the demolitions that bulldozers were frequently called in.


1st Devonshire Engineers, World War II, Advance to Tripoli
Captain Desmond Fitzgerald, a Regular RE officer attached to the TA Devonians of 571st Fd Co for two months from 1 January, recalled that his duties mainly involved clearing mines and booby-traps from captured landing strips before they could be used by the Royal Air Force. The company was attached to 1st Armoured Division at this time.


1st Devonshire Engineers, World War II, Advance to Tripoli
When the damaged port of Tripoli was captured in late January 1943, Montgomery said that his "main preoccupation was to get the harbour uncorked and ships inside, so as to get a good daily tonnage landed" and reduce reliance on the long coast road from Tobruk. 571st Army Fd Co was one of the units sent to clear debris and repair the approach roads to the quays, and then begin repairing the Spanish Mole. Despite winter storms, a shallow entrance into the harbour was ready for small craft to enter and unload by 30 January.


1st Devonshire Engineers, World War II, Advance to Tripoli
The next task was to remove Fascist Party emblems and pictures of Benito Mussolini, and erect a special podium in the town square for a victory parade attended by Winston Churchill on 4 February. Fitzgerald recalls that the troops referred to this construction as the "oxometer" – a device for measuring bullshit.


1st Devonshire Engineers, World War II, Italy and North West Europe
X CTRE next took part in the Italian campaign of 1943–5, including the crossing of the Garigliano in January 1944. The four Devon companies left X CTRE in early 1945 when they were sent to join 21st Army Group fighting in North West Europe. Here they were redesignated 19th GHQ TRE. The units were demobilised some time after September 1945.


1st Devonshire Engineers, Postwar
When the TA was reconstituted in 1947, the four Devon companies (now termed squadrons, but unusually still retaining the numbers they had borne on and off since 1917) were reformed, comprising 116 Army Engineer Regiment:


1st Devonshire Engineers, Postwar
The regiment had its HQ at Plymouth and derived its seniority from the 1st Devonshire EVC of 1862. It formed part of 26 Engineer Group.


1st Devonshire Engineers, Postwar
116 Regiment was disbanded in 1950 and its number transferred from the TA to the Supplementary Reserve (later the Army Emergency Reserve). A new 116 (Devon and Cornwall) Engineer Regiment was formed in the TA in 1961, comprising a reformed 571 Field Squadron with 409 (Cornwall) Independent Field Squadron, the latter formed in 1956 by conversion of the 409th (Cornwall) Coast Regiment, Royal Artillery. When the TA was converted into the TAVR in 1967, 571 Sqn was reconstituted as B (Devon Fortress Engineers) Squadron in the Devonshire Territorials (Royal Devon Yeomanry/1st Rifle Volunteers). However, the squadron was short-lived, because the TAVR units were reduced to cadre in 1969 and the Devon Fortress Engineers lineage was discontinued.


1st Devonshire Engineers, Honorary Colonels
The following officers served as Honorary Colonel of the unit:


1st Devonshire Engineers, Memorial
There is a memorial plaque in Exeter Guildhall to the men of  570, 571, 572 and 573 Field Companies, 'formerly Devon and Cornwall Fortress Engineers',  who died  at home, and in North Africa and Italy during World War II.


1st Directors Guild of America Awards
The 1st Directors Guild of America Awards, honoring the outstanding directorial achievements in film in 1948, were presented in 1949.


1st Dismounted Brigade
The 1st Dismounted Brigade was a formation of the British Army in World War I. It was formed in Egypt in February 1916 by absorbing the Lowland and Scottish Horse Mounted Brigades. The brigade was on Suez Canal defences attached to the 52nd (Lowland) Division and was broken up in October 1916.


1st Dismounted Brigade, Formation
The 1st Dismounted Brigade was formed in Egypt in February 1916 by absorbing the Lowland Mounted Brigade and the Scottish Horse Mounted Brigade.


1st Dismounted Brigade, Formation
The Scottish Horse Mounted Brigade had served dismounted in the Gallipoli Campaign from September to December 1915 with the 2nd Mounted Division before being withdrawn to Egypt. Similarly, the Lowland Mounted Brigade served in Gallipoli from October until 30 December 1915 with 52nd (Lowland) Division when it was evacuated to Mudros. It was transferred to Egypt, arriving on 7 February 1916 and was immediately absorbed into the 1st Dismounted Brigade. On formation, the 1st Dismounted Brigade was commanded by Br-Gen Marquis of Tullibardine (former commander of the Scottish Horse Mounted Brigade) and consisted of:


1st Dismounted Brigade, Formation
From 8 February 1916, the brigade was attached to the 52nd (Lowland) Division in No. 3 (Northern) Section, Suez Canal Defences. The brigade remained with 52nd (Lowland) Division until 16 October 1916 when the brigade was dissolved.


1st Dismounted Brigade, Dissolved
On 27 September 1916, 3rd Scottish Horse was converted to form 26th (Scottish Horse) Squadron, Machine Gun Corps. It also provided a company to the Lovat's Scouts which formed the 10th (Lovat's Scouts) Battalion, Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders. The battalion was transferred to Salonika, arriving 20 October, where it joined 82nd Brigade, 27th Division.


1st Dismounted Brigade, Dissolved
On 1 October 1916, 1st Scottish Horse and 2nd Scottish Horse were amalgamated to form 13th (Scottish Horse Yeomanry) Battalion, Black Watch. The battalion was transferred to Salonika, arriving 21 October, where it joined 81st Brigade, 27th Division.


1st Dismounted Brigade, Dissolved
In October 1916, the remnants of the 1st Dismounted Brigade (Ayrshire Yeomanry and Lanarkshire Yeomanry) were absorbed into 2nd Dismounted Brigade which was later renamed as 229th Brigade in the 74th (Yeomanry) Division.


1st District of Columbia Cavalry Regiment
The 1st District of Columbia Cavalry was a Union Army cavalry regiment which fought in the American Civil War.


1st District of Columbia Cavalry Regiment, History
Four cavalry companies were formed from June to December 1863, under the command of Colonel Lafayette C. Baker for service in the defenses of Washington, D.C.; in November it was transferred to the Department of Virginia and North Carolina. Eight companies which had been raised in Augusta, Maine were attached to the regiment in early 1864. The regiment participated in the Siege of Petersburg during the remainder of 1864 and early 1865.


1st District of Columbia Cavalry Regiment, History
In August 1864, seven companies were transferred to the 1st Maine Cavalry, while the rest of the regiment was consolidated into two companies. After fighting in the Appomattox Campaign, the regiment served in garrison roles in Virginia until mustering out on October 26, 1865.


1st District of Columbia Infantry Regiment
The 1st District of Columbia Infantry was a Union Army infantry regiment which fought in the American Civil War.


1st District of Columbia Infantry Regiment, History
The regiment was organized during the summer of 1861 by James A. Tait, who served as the unit’s first colonel. After serving in garrison duties in the defenses of Washington, D.C., the regiment was sent to the Shenandoah Valley in May 1862, although it did not see any combat during the 1862 Valley Campaign. When Union forces in the Shenandoah region were consolidated into the Army of Virginia, the 1st D.C. Infantry became part of the 2nd Division, II Corps.


1st District of Columbia Infantry Regiment, History
As part of the army, it fought in the Battle of Cedar Mountain and served in reserve at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Following the campaign, the regiment was reassigned to the defenses of Washington, where it served for the remainder of the war. At first, it was part of the XII Corps of the Army of the Potomac, but was transferred to the Department of Washington.


1st District of Columbia Infantry Regiment, History
During the Battle of Fort Stevens, the 1st District of Columbia helped defend the northern line of forts and entrenchments but failed to see any combat. On February 28, 1865, the regiment was consolidated with the 2nd District of Columbia Infantry.


1st Division (Australia)
The 1st Division is the main formation of the Australian Army and contains the majority of the Army's regular forces. Its headquarters is in Enoggera, a suburb of Brisbane. The division was first formed in 1914 for service during World War I as a part of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). It was initially part of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) and served with that formation during the Gallipoli campaign, before later serving on the Western Front. After the war, the division became a part-time unit based in New South Wales, and during World War II it undertook defensive duties in Australia before being disbanded in 1945.


1st Division (Australia)
After World War II, the division remained off the Australian Army's order of battle until the 1960s, when it was reformed in New South Wales. In 1965 it adopted a certification role, determining the operational readiness of units deploying to Vietnam. It was re-formed in 1973 as a full division based in Queensland and in the decades that followed it formed the Australian Army's main formation, including both Regular and Reserve personnel. Throughout this period, the division's component units undertook multiple operations, mainly focused on peacekeeping in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.


1st Division (Australia)
Following the restructuring of the Australian Army under the "Adaptive Army" initiative, the 1st Division no longer had any combat units assigned to it, although the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment became a direct command unit in late 2017. The division is tasked with co-ordinating the Army's high-level training activities and maintaining the "Deployable Joint Force Headquarters" (DJFHQ). In the event of the Australian Army undertaking a large-scale land-based operation, the division would have further combat units force assigned to it and would command all deployed assets including those of the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Gallipoli
The Australian 1st Division was raised during the initial formation of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 15 August 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. The division consisted of around 18,000 men, organised into three infantry brigades, each of four battalions, and various supporting units including artillery, light horse, engineers and medical personnel. Each infantry battalion initially consisted of eight companies, although in January 1915, they were reorganised into the British four-company system. Its first commander was the senior Australian general and head of the AIF, Major General William Bridges.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Gallipoli
Over the course of six weeks, the division's subordinate units were raised separately in the various states before embarking overseas. The transports then concentrated off the Western Australian coast and the combined fleet sailed for Britain. While en route, concerns about overcrowding in the training camps in the United Kingdom meant that the decision was made to land the division in Egypt, where it would complete its training before being transported to the Western Front.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Gallipoli
While in Egypt, the division was assigned to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps along with the New Zealand and Australian Division. Following the Allied decision to force a passage through the Dardanelles, the division was allocated to take part in a landing on the Gallipoli peninsula along with Anglo-French forces. The 1st Division made the initial landing at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915. The 3rd Brigade formed the covering force which landed first, around dawn. The 1st and 2nd Brigades followed, landing from transports, and all were ashore by 9:00 am.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Gallipoli
While the landing was lightly opposed on the beach by elements of a single Turkish battalion, the Australians were checked short of their objectives as Turkish reinforcements arrived to secure the high ground around Chunuk Bair and Sari Bair. Critical fights developed on the left, over the hill known as Baby 700, and on the right on 400 Plateau, but stalemate set in and little further progress would be made for the remaining eight months of the campaign.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Gallipoli
On 15 May 1915, after Bridges was mortally wounded by a sniper, an English officer, Brigadier General Harold Walker was given temporary command while a replacement was dispatched from Australia. This was Colonel James Legge, the Australian Chief of the General Staff, who was not an immediately popular choice with either his corps commander, Lieutenant General William Birdwood, or his subordinate brigade commanders. That same month, the division's artillery – three field artillery brigades each operating twelve 18-pound pieces, which had proved inadequate in the early battle, was boosted by the arrival of several Japanese-made trench mortars.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Gallipoli
They were later joined by several heavier guns including a 4.7-inch gun and two 6-inch howitzers. On 24 June, Legge replaced Walker, who returned to command of the 1st Brigade, but after Legge was evacuated from Gallipoli he was moved sideways to command of the newly formed Australian 2nd Division and Walker resumed command of the 1st Division.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Gallipoli
The 1st Division's role in the August Offensive was to hold the front line and conduct a diversion on 400 Plateau at Lone Pine on 6 August. The resulting battle was the only occasion when a significant length of the Turkish trench line was captured, but resulted in heavy casualties. The main assault was made by the 1st Brigade, which was later reinforced by the 7th and 12th Battalions. Out of an assault force of 2,900 men, 1,700 were killed or wounded. On 7 August, the 6th Battalion from the 2nd Brigade made an unsuccessful attempt to capture the German Officers' Trench as a preliminary operation to other assaults by light horsemen at Quinn's Post and the Nek.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Gallipoli
In October, Walker was severely wounded and replaced by the division's artillery commander, Brigadier General Talbot Hobbs who in turn fell ill and was replaced on 6 November by the commander of the Australian 1st Light Horse Brigade, Brigadier General Harry Chauvel. The 1st Division was evacuated from the peninsula in December, returning to Egypt.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Gallipoli
During the early months of 1916 the AIF underwent a period of re-organisation and expansion, and the division's experienced personnel were used to provide cadre staff to the newly formed 4th and 5th Divisions before being brought back up to strength in preparation for deployment to the Western Front. On 14 March, Walker, having recovered from his wounds, resumed command of the division, now part of I Anzac Corps. Seven members of the division received the Victoria Cross for their actions during the campaign: Alexander Burton, William Dunstan, Frederick Tubb, Patrick Hamilton, Leonard Keysor, Alfred Shout, William Symons.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Somme, 1916
After reorganising in Egypt, where it was briefly employed to defend the Suez Canal against an Ottoman attack that never came, the 1st Division was transferred to France in mid-March. Arriving in Marseilles, they were moved by train to northern France where it was initially sent to a quiet sector south of Armentières to acclimatise to the Western Front conditions.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Somme, 1916
The division was not considered ready to be committed to the fighting at the start of the offensive on the Somme in early July, but as it dragged on I Anzac was sent to join the British Reserve Army of Lieutenant General Hubert Gough who intended to use the Australian divisions to take the village of Pozières. Walker resisted Gough's efforts to throw the 1st Division into battle unprepared, insisting on careful preparation.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Somme, 1916
When the 1st Division attacked shortly after midnight on 23 July, it succeeded in capturing half of the village but failed to make progress in the neighbouring German trench system. After enduring a heavy German bombardment, far surpassing anything yet experienced by an Australian unit, the 1st Division was withdrawn, having suffered 5,285 casualties, and was replaced by the Australian 2nd Division.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Somme, 1916
The division's respite was brief as in mid-August, with its battalions restored to about two-thirds strength, it returned to the line on Pozières Ridge, relieving the Australian 4th Division and continuing the slow progress towards Mouquet Farm. On 22 August, having lost another 2,650 men, the division was once again relieved by the 2nd Division. The division rotated through the line, conducting patrols and raids until 5 September when I Anzac Corps was withdrawn from the Somme and sent to Ypres for rest.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Somme, 1916
The division anticipated spending winter quarters in Flanders but was recalled to the Somme for the final stages of the British offensive. This time they joined the British Fourth Army, holding a sector south of Pozières near the village of Flers. The battlefield had been reduced to a slough of mud but the 1st Division was required to mount a number of attacks around Gueudecourt during the Battle of Le Transloy; all ended in failure which was inevitable in the conditions.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line, 1917
Starting on 24 February 1917, the 1st Division took part in the pursuit of the German forces as they retreated to their prepared fortifications in the Hindenburg Line. The division advanced against the German screen towards Bapaume and, on the night of 26 February, the 3rd Brigade captured the villages of Le Barque and Ligny-Thilloy. On the morning of 2 March, they withstood a German attempt to retake the villages. The 1st Division was then withdrawn to rest, joining the 4th Division. I Anzac's pursuit was carried on by the 2nd and 5th Divisions.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line, 1917
By April, the 1st Division (and I Anzac Corps) was once again part of Gough's Fifth Army (formerly the Reserve Army). On 9 April – the day the British launched the Battle of Arras – the 1st Division captured the last three villages (Hermies, Boursies and Demicourt) used by the Germans as outposts of the Hindenburg Line, thereby bringing the British line in striking distance of the main Hindenburg defences. This action cost the division 649 casualties. For actions during the fighting at Boursies, Captain James Newland and Sergeant John Whittle, both of the 12th Battalion (3rd Brigade), were awarded the Victoria Cross.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Hindenburg Line, 1917
The 1st Division was in support during the First Battle of Bullecourt which was the Fifth Army's main contribution to the Arras offensive. Once the first attempt on Bullecourt had failed, British attention concentrated on Arras and the Fifth Army's front was stretched thin with the 1st Division having to cover more than 12,000 yards (11,000 m).


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Hindenburg Line, 1917
The Germans, well aware of the vulnerable state of the British defences, launched a counter-stroke on 15 April (the Battle of Lagnicourt). The Germans attacked with 23 battalions against four Australian battalions. The German plan was to drive back the advanced posts, destroy supplies and guns and then retire to the Hindenburg defences. However, despite their numerical superiority, the Germans were unable to penetrate the Australian line.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Hindenburg Line, 1917
The 1st Division's artillery batteries in front of Lagnicourt were overrun and the village was occupied for two hours but counter-attacks from the Australian 9th and 20th Battalions (the latter from the 2nd Division) drove the Germans out. In this action the Australians suffered 1,010 casualties, mainly in the 1st Division, against 2,313 German casualties. Only five artillery guns were damaged.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Hindenburg Line, 1917
On 3 May the Second Battle of Bullecourt commenced. Initially the 1st Division in reserve but it was drawn into the fighting on the second day when the 1st Brigade was detached to support the 2nd Division's attack. The Australians seized a foothold in the Hindenburg Line which over the following days was slowly expanded. By 6 May, they had captured over 1,000 yards (910 m) of the German trenchline, and the 3rd Brigade had also been committed. The German attempts to drive the British from their gains finally ceased on 17 May and the 1st Division was withdrawn for an extended rest, having suffered 2,341 casualties.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Third Battle of Ypres
The 1st Division's artillery was in action from the start of the Third Battle of Ypres on 31 July 1917 but the infantry were not called upon until the second phase of the battle commenced on 20 September with the Battle of Menin Road. Attacking across 1,000-metre (1,100 yd) front, along with ten other divisions, including the Australian 2nd Division on their left, the 1st Division captured around 1,500 metres (1,600 yd) of ground, securing Glencorse Wood and gaining a foothold in Polygon Wood. The Australian divisions suffered 5,000 casualties from the battle – the 1st Division lost 2,754 men – mainly due to retaliatory shelling from heavy artillery after the advance had completed.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Third Battle of Ypres
The 1st Division was relieved by the Australian 5th Division before the next assault, the Battle of Polygon Wood (26 September), but in turn took up the advance for the following Battle of Broodseinde (4 October), the third and final of the successful bite-and-hold attacks conceived by General Herbert Plumer of the British Second Army.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Third Battle of Ypres
This battle marked the peak of British success during 3rd Ypres and apart from minor roles on the southern flank of the Canadian Corps during the Battle of Poelcappelle, First Battle of Passchendaele and the Second Battle of Passchendaele, it was the end of the 1st Division's involvement. The division's casualties were 2,448 men killed or wounded.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Hazebrouck
The Australians wintered in Flanders, engaging in vigorous patrolling and raiding. The 1st Division was still at Messines when the Germans launched their final offensive starting on the Somme with Operation Michael on 21 March 1918. In the first week of April, the 1st Division, along with the 2nd, began moving to the Somme when, on 9 April, the Germans launched Operation Georgette; an attack north and south of Armentières followed by a swift drive towards the vital rail junction of Hazebrouck.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Hazebrouck
The 1st Division, having reached Amiens and about to join up with the Australian Corps, was ordered to turn around and hurry back north. Hazebrouck was reached on 12 April, just in time to relieve the exhausted British divisions. Holding a line 5 miles (8.0 km) east of the town, the 1st Division helped halt the German advance on 13 April (the Battle of Hazebrouck) and then repulsed a renewed offensive on 17 April after which the Germans abandoned their push, concentrating instead on the high ground west of Messines.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Hazebrouck
The division remained active in Flanders from May to July, engaging in a process of informal but carefully planned raiding known as peaceful penetration. Their greatest success came on 11 July when they took 1,000 yards (910 m) of front, 120 prisoners and 11 machine guns from the German 13th Reserve Division. This unrelenting pressure had a severe impact on German morale.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Hundred Days, 1918
The 1st Division returned to the Australian Corps on 8 August 1918, the day on which the final British offensive commenced with the Battle of Amiens. The division was sent into action the following day, relieving the 5th Division, but arrived late due to its rushed preparation. The 1st Division continued the attack for the next three days, driving towards Lihons, but progress was slow as the Australians moved beyond their supporting guns and tanks.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Hundred Days, 1918
On 23 August the 1st Division attacked south of the River Somme towards Chuignes with the British 32nd Division on its southern flank attacking Herleville. The Australians suffered 1,000 casualties but took 2,000 German prisoners out of a total of 8,000 captured by both the British Third and Fourth Armies on that day. The 1st also captured a German 15-in naval gun. On 18 September, despite being severely depleted – only 2,854 infantrymen out of division's 12,204 nominal strength were available – the 1st Division took part in the assault on the Hindenburg "Outpost" Line during the Battle of Épehy, capturing a large section of the line.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Hundred Days, 1918
After this, the division was withdrawn from the line. They would take no further part in the fighting, having lost 677 men in their final battle. In early October, the rest of the Australian Corps, severely depleted due to heavy casualties and falling enlistments in Australia, was also withdrawn upon a request made by Prime Minister Billy Hughes, to re-organise in preparation for further operations. On 11 November, an armistice came into effect, and as hostilities came to an end, the division's personnel were slowly repatriated back to Australia for demobilisation and discharge. This was completed by 23 March 1919, when the division was disbanded. Throughout the course of the war, the division suffered lost around 15,000 men killed and 35,000 wounded, out of the 80,000 men that served in its ranks.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War I, Hundred Days, 1918
In commemoration of its war dead, the division built a memorial a stone obelisk memorial at Pozières, as the division lost more casualties there than any other battle (7,654 casualties in six weeks). The memorial lists the division's main battles as: Pozières, Mouquet Farm, Le Barque, Thilloy, Boursies, Demicourt, Hermies, Lagnicourt, Bullecourt, Third Ypres,Menin Road, Broodseinde Ridge, Poelcapelle, Second Passchendaele, Hazebrouck, Second Somme, Lihons, Chuignolles, Hindenburg Line and Épehy.


1st Division (Australia), History, Inter war years
In 1921, after the AIF was disbanded, the part-time Citizens Forces was re-organised to adopt the numerical designations of the AIF. Thus the 1st Division was re-raised as a reserve formation, initially under the command of Colonel Charles Brand, composed primarily of infantry units based in New South Wales and Queensland.


1st Division (Australia), History, Inter war years
During the inter-war years, the assignment of battalions to brigades and divisions varied considerably within the Army and as a result the 1st Division's composition was changed a number of times; its initial order of battle included three infantry brigades – the 1st, 7th and 8th – each of four infantry battalions, and various supporting elements including engineers, field ambulance, artillery, signals, transport, medical, veterinarians and service corps troops. The division was based headquartered at Burwood, New South Wales.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War II
Upon the outbreak of World War II the 1st Division consisted of two infantry brigades – the 1st and 8th – as well as two field artillery regiments, one medium artillery regiment and two engineer field companies. At this stage the division was partly mobilised, although as the provisions of the Defence Act (1903) precluded the deployment of the Militia to fight outside of Australian territory, it was decided to raise an all volunteer force for overseas service.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War II
This force was known as the Second Australian Imperial Force, and initially about a quarter of its soldiers were drawn from the Citizens Military Forces. After fighting broke out in the Pacific, however, in December 1941 members of the Militia were prevented from joining the AIF and were called up for full-time service to bolster defences in Australia in an effort to counter the possibility of attacks by Japanese land forces against the Australian mainland.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War II
Later a number of Militia formations took part in the fighting against the Japanese in the Pacific, notably in New Guinea and Borneo, however, the 1st Division remained in Australia throughout the war. Based in New South Wales, the division formed part of the Port Kembla Covering Force during the early stages of the Pacific War and in March 1942 became part of the II Corps, First Army.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War II
During this time the division's composition changed numerous times as many of its subordinate units were transferred. Shortly after mobilisation the division lost its engineer field companies and in June 1940 the three artillery regiments assigned to the division were also transferred out, to be replaced by a light horse regiment which had been converted to the machine gun role although this too was later removed from the division's order of battle.


1st Division (Australia), History, World War II
In mid-1942, the division's headquarters staff were transferred along with their commander, Major General Cyril Clowes, to Milne Force, which later took part in the Battle of Milne Bay. Later the division was transferred to the Second Army. By April 1943, the division consisted of the 1st, 9th and 28th Brigades, and was headquartered in Parramatta. As manpower restrictions in the Australian economy forced the early demobilisation of large numbers of men, the majority of which came from infantry units in Australia that were not involved in fighting overseas. The 1st Division was one of these units and by January 1945, when the 2nd Brigade was disbanded, the division consisted of only one infantry brigade, the 1st. The division was officially disbanded on 6 April 1945.


1st Division (Australia), History, Post World War II
After World War II, the Australian military was demobilised. By 1948 this process had been completed and a period of reorganisation began. This resulted in the establishment of a Regular infantry force consisting of a single brigade and two divisions of part-time soldiers in the Citizens Military Force (CMF).


1st Division (Australia), History, Post World War II
There was no room within this structure for the 1st Division and as a result it remained off the Australian Army's order of battle until 1960, when its headquarters was reformed in Sydney, New South Wales, following the implementation of the Pentropic divisional structure, commanding all Army units – Regular and CMF – in New South Wales. It was also responsible for training some CMF units in other states.


1st Division (Australia), History, Post World War II
In 1965, the Pentropic structure was abolished and the divisional headquarters' was tasked with determining the readiness of units deploying to Vietnam. It fulfilled this role until Australia's commitment to the conflict ended in late 1972. In November the following year, the division was established at Enoggera Barracks in Brisbane, Queensland, and was re-formed as the Australian Army's "main striking force".


1st Division (Australia), History, Post World War II
Throughout the Cold War era, the division grew into a formation of over 13,000 personnel, which, at its peak in the early 2000s consisted of four brigades: two Regular, one integrated and one Reserve spread across Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory. In 1997, the formation's headquarters assumed the additional task of raising a deployable joint force headquarters, tasked with commanding Army, Royal Australian Air Force and Royal Australian Navy assets during large-scale operations.


1st Division (Australia), History, Post World War II
During this time, the division was not deployed as a complete formation, although its elements undertook numerous operations. These include peacekeeping operations in Namibia, Western Sahara, Cambodia, Somalia, Rwanda, East Timor, and the Solomon Islands. The division also deployed personnel to Iraq as part of Operation Catalyst and to Afghanistan as part of Operation Slipper.


1st Division (Australia), Present
Following the establishment of Forces Command, in 2009, and the implementation of the "Adaptive Army" initiative it was decided that no combat units would be directly assigned to the 1st Division on a permanent basis. Instead, it was decided that all combat forces would be assigned to Forces Command and the Headquarters 1st Division would provide a command and control function for "high-level training activities", during which activities combat units would be force assigned to the division.


1st Division (Australia), Present
It was also tasked with commanding "large scale ground operations" and, at the behest of Headquarters Joint Operations Command (HQJOC), the divisional headquarters was tasked with forming the "Deployable Joint Force Headquarters (DJFHQ)", responsible for commanding all deployed forces including those of the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force.


1st Division (Australia), Present
As of mid-October 2017, the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment became a direct command unit of headquarters of the 1st Division, serving as a specialist amphibious warfare unit. The unit remains based at Lavarack Barracks in Townsville.


1st Division (Colombia)
The 1st Division (Spanish: Primera División del Ejército Nacional de Colombia) is a Colombian National Army division consisting on two brigades; The 2nd Brigade based in the city of Barranquilla and the 10th Armored Brigade based in the city of Valledupar. Its current commander is general Juan Bautista Yepez Bedoya, an infantry officer.


1st Division (Colombia), Units, Headquarters
1st Division Headquarters are located in the city of Santa Marta.


1st Division (Estonia)
The 1st Division was one of the three Estonian divisions created during the Estonian War of Independence, which was active till the Soviet occupation of Estonia. Since the restoration of independence in 1991 there are no divisions currently among the Estonian Defence Forces.


1st Division (Estonia), History
On 16 November 1918, the Estonian Provisional Government made the decision to create an armed force of volunteers. It was decided that army would consist of a single division which would have six infantry regiments, one cavalry regiment, one artillery regiment, and one engineering battalion. Major General Aleksander Tõnisson was assigned commander of the division, with Colonel Jaan Rink as chief of staff. However, when the Estonian War of Independence started on 28 November 1918 with the Soviet attack on Narva, the Estonian Army numbered only 2,200 to 2,300 men, with the bulk of the fighting actually conducted by the paramilitary Defence League.


1st Division (Estonia), History
Soviet forces included the 6th Red Rifle Division at Narva and the 2nd Novgorod Division south of Lake Peipus. After losing at Narva a period of retreat began for the 1st Division. Advancing against weak Estonian defences the Red Army captured Valga on 18 December, Tartu on 22 December, and Tapa on 24 December. In order to conduct a more flexible defence of South Estonia, a separate 2nd Division was formed on 24 December under command of Colonel Viktor Puskar. By the end of the year the Soviets had advanced to within 34 kilometres (21 mi) of the capital, Tallinn.


1st Division (Estonia), History
By the beginning of 1919 the Estonian Army had been increased to 13,000 men, with 5,700 on the front facing 8,000 Soviets. The strengthened Estonian Army stopped the 7th Red Army's advance on 2–5 January 1919, and went on the counter-offensive on 7 January. Tapa was liberated two days later with the support of armoured trains, followed by Rakvere on 12 January. With the aim of capturing Narva, a 1,000 strong Finnish-Estonian force was landed at Utria on 17 January, in the rear of the 6th Rifle Division, cutting off the Soviet forces west of them. On 18 January Narva was liberated. Subsequently, the north eastern front stabilized along the Narva river. Over the course of 11 days the 1st Division had advanced 200 kilometres (120 mi).


1st Division (Estonia), History
After repulsing the Soviet forces in North Estonia the 1st Division was involved in active combat near Narva. During spring the Red Army made several unsuccessful attacks against 1st Division positions. By April 11,000 Estonians of the 1st Division were facing 16,000 Soviets near Narva, during which the main Soviet effort was concentrated in South Estonia. After the White Russian Northern Corps' (later renamed to Northwest Army) offensive against Soviet forces began to fail in June at the hands of the 7th Red Army, the front was stabilized on Luga River and Saba River with support of the 1st Division. In July and August the 1st Division was involved in heavy fighting with Soviet forces in that area.


1st Division (Estonia), History
At the end of September 1919, the Northwest Army had initiated a new attack on Petrograd, but was repelled by the Red Army in November. The 7th and 15th Soviet Armies advancing behind the collapsing White Russian forces continued to attack fortified positions along the Estonian border near Narva. The first clashes took place on the Luga River on 16 November, starting the final battles of war with 120,000 Soviets facing just 40,000 Estonians. After repeated attacks on the fortified Estonian positions, the 7th Red Army managed to achieve limited success. At the end of November the situation on front calmed as the Soviets needed to replenish their forces. In order to exert pressure on Estonia in the peace talks, intensive Soviet attacks resumed on 7 December.


1st Division (Estonia), History
On 16 December there was critical breakthrough, with the 15th Soviet Army crossing the Narva River, however the Estonian counter-attack the following day successfully pushed the Soviets back. The Estonian high command actively reinforced the 1st Division at Narva during the fighting, dispatching the 3rd Division command, while general Tõnisson became commander of whole Viru Front. He was replaced as 1st Division commander by Colonel Otto Heinze. After suffering 35,000 casualties in the heavy battles, the Red Army was completely exhausted by the end of December. A ceasefire came into effect on 3 January 1920.


1st Division (Estonia), History
Post war 1st Division staff was based in Rakvere. Since 1 February 1940, the division was made up by the Narva Military District and Viru-Järva Military District.


1st Division (German Empire)
The 1st Division (1. Division) was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed in Königsberg in March 1816 as a Troop Brigade (Truppen-Brigade). It became the 1st Division on September 5, 1818. From the corps' formation in 1820, the division was subordinated in peacetime to I Army Corps (I. Armeekorps). The 1st Division was disbanded in 1919, during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.


1st Division (German Empire)
The 1st Division and its regiments fought in the Austro-Prussian War against Austria in 1866, including the Battle of Königgrätz. The division then fought in the Franco-Prussian War against France in 1870–71. Its regiments saw action in the Battle of Noisseville, the Battle of Gravelotte, the Siege of Metz, the Battle of Amiens, the Battle of Hallue, and the Battle of St. Quentin, among other actions.


1st Division (German Empire)
In World War I, the division initially served on the Eastern Front, seeing action at the battles of Stallupönen, Gumbinnen, and Tannenberg, and the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes. The division then fought in the Battle of Łódź and in the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive of 1915. In March 1916, the 1st Infantry Division was transferred to the Western Front. One month later, it entered the Battle of Verdun. After several months' hard fighting around Fort Vaux, the division was withdrawn from the line and returned to the Eastern Front, where it arrived in August 1916.


1st Division (German Empire)
It then participated in the invasion of Romania, which had entered the war in 1916 on the Allied side. The division returned to Verdun at the end of 1917. In 1918, it took part in the German spring offensive, which the Germans referred to as the Kaiserschlacht, the Second Battle of the Marne, and the Battle of the Hindenburg Line.


1st Division (German Empire), 1870 organization
During wartime, the 1st Division, like other German divisions, was redesignated an infantry division. The organization of the 1st Infantry Division in 1870 at the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War was as follows:


1st Division (German Empire), Pre-World War I organization
Many regiments were renamed and assigned to different divisions during the period from 1871 to 1914. In 1914, the peacetime organization of the 1st Division was as follows:


1st Division (German Empire), August 1914 organization
On mobilization in August 1914, at the beginning of World War I, most divisional cavalry, including brigade headquarters, was withdrawn to form cavalry divisions or split up among divisions as reconnaissance units. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from their higher headquarters. The 1st Division was again renamed the 1st Infantry Division. Its initial wartime organization (major units) was as follows:


1st Division (German Empire), Late World War I organization
Divisions underwent many changes during the war, with regiments moving from division to division, and some being destroyed and rebuilt. During the war, most divisions became triangular - one infantry brigade with three infantry regiments rather than two infantry brigades of two regiments (a "square division"). An artillery commander replaced the artillery brigade headquarters, the cavalry was further reduced, the engineer contingent was increased, and a divisional signals command was created. The 1st Infantry Division's order of battle on February 19, 1918, was as follows:


1st Division (Imperial Japanese Army)
The 1st Division (第1師団, Dai-ichi shidan) was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the Jade Division (玉兵団, Gyoku-heidan). The 1st Division was formed in Tokyo in January 1871 as the Tokyo Garrison (東京鎮台, Tōkyō chindai), one of six regional commands created in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army. The Tokyo Garrison had responsibility for the eastern region of Honshū (Kantō region), centered on the Tokyo metropolitan area. The six regional commands were transformed into divisions under the army reorganization of 14 May 1888, based on recommendations by the Prussian military advisor Jakob Meckel to the Japanese government.


1st Division (Imperial Japanese Army), Action
As one of the oldest Divisions in the Imperial Japanese Army, the 1st Division saw combat in the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War.


1st Division (Imperial Japanese Army), Action
After the wars, the division returned to Tokyo, with permanent headquarters opened in Minami-Aoyama 15 June 1918. The February 26 Incident was an attempted coup d'état staged by elements of the 1st Division in Tokyo in 1936. Because the situation on the Soviet border was still volatile because of the ongoing Soviet–Japanese border conflicts, the 1st division was soon sent to Manchukuo-Soviet border under the command of the Kwantung Army. The division participated in a Kanchazu Island incident, successfully driving off Soviet invaders by 30 June 1937. 1 September 1937 a 101st division was created to garrison Tokyo instead of 1st Division. Later, the parts of the 1st division have participated in disastrous Nonomhan Incident in 1939.


1st Division (Imperial Japanese Army), Action
During the 1944, the division was reassigned to the Philippines to participate in the Pacific War, and initially based in Manila where it formed the core of General Tomoyuki Yamashita's 14th Area Army. Ordered to oppose the re-occupation of Leyte by the American and Filipino forces, the 1st Division landed at Ormoc City on the west coast of Leyte on 1 November 1944. Their orders were to move up Leyte Highway Number 2 to Carigara and to secure the northern half of the island.


1st Division (Imperial Japanese Army), Action
However, American and Filipino forces had already seized Carigara, and American air strikes had deprived the Japanese 1st Division of its supply chain and reinforcements. Unable to reach Carigara, the Japanese fortified hilltops and ridges along the highway, and defended these areas against the US and Philippine Commonwealth military offensive from 7 November 1944 though 12 December 1944, in fierce combat, including combat in the middle of a typhoon. By the time Battle of Leyte was won by American and Filipino forces, of the 11,000 Japanese soldiers, only 800 were evacuated to Cebu in January 1945. As result, the 1st Division ceased to exist as an operational unit. The remnants of division have participated in the Battle for Cebu City though.


1st Division (Iraq)
The 1st Division (IFF) is a motorized infantry division of the Iraqi Army headquartered in Camp Fallujah.


1st Division (Iraq)
The division, along with much of the Iraqi Army, is equipped with American supplied weapons, equipment, and vehicles. The division suffered heavy casualties in the fight against the Islamic State.


1st Division (Iraq), History
Originally the 1st Division was one of the four initial divisions of the Iraqi Army, active by 1941. It later became the 1st Mechanised Division, and in 1978, according to reports from the British Military Attache in Baghdad, formed part of the 3rd Corps, and was headquartered at Diwaniya, with the 1st (Diwaniya), 34th (Nasirya) and 27th Brigades (Kut). It fought in the Iran–Iraq War, including Operation Fath ol-Mobin, in which the division suffered heavy losses, and at the Second Battle of Al Faw.


1st Division (Iraq), History
It was in Kuwait during the 1991 Gulf War, fought during the Battle of Khafji, and was active during the 1990s. At the beginning of the 2003 invasion of Iraq it was part of the 5th Corps in the Mosul area. It was disbanded with the rest of the Iraqi Army in May 2003.


1st Division (Iraq), History
The division was reformed c. 2005–07 with the rest of the Iraqi Army. The 1st Division was originally formed from the battalions of the Iraqi Intervention Force.