3rd (United Kingdom) Division
The 3rd (United Kingdom) Division, also known as The Iron Division, is a regular army division of the British Army. It was created in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, for service in the Peninsular War, and was known as the Fighting 3rd under Sir Thomas Picton during the Napoleonic Wars. The division fought at the Battle of Waterloo, as well as during the Crimean War and the Second Boer War. As a result of bitter fighting in 1916, during the First World War, the division became referred to as the 3rd (Iron) Division, or the Iron Division or Ironsides. During the Second World War, the division (now known as the 3rd Infantry Division) fought in the Battle of France including a rearguard action during the Dunkirk Evacuation, and played a prominent role in the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944. The division was to have been part of a proposed Commonwealth Corps, formed for a planned invasion of Japan in 1945–46, and later served in the British Mandate of Palestine. During the Second World War, the insignia became the "pattern of three" — a black triangle trisected by an inverted red triangle.
- 3rd Division
- 3rd Infantry Division
- 3rd Armoured Division
- 3rd (United Kingdom) Mechanised Division
- 3rd (United Kingdom) Division
- 3rd Division
- 3rd Infantry Division
- 3rd Armoured Division
- 3rd (United Kingdom) Mechanised Division
- 3rd (United Kingdom) Division
18 June 1809 - present
Armoured Infantry
1810–1814: Fighting 3rd
From 1916: The Iron Division, Ironsides, or Iron Sides
Crimean War[edit]
The 3rd Division took part in the Crimean War and fought in the Battle of Alma and the Siege of Sevastopol. It was under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Richard England.[16]
Second Boer War[edit]
During the Second Boer War (1899–1902) the division began under the command of General Gatacre.[17] In 1902 the army was restructured, and a 3rd Infantry division was established permanently at Bordon as part of the 1st Army Corps, comprising the 5th and 6th Infantry Brigades.[18][19]
Inter-War Period[edit]
After the end of the First World War, the division was stationed in southern England where it formed part of Southern Command. In 1937, one of its brigades, the 9th Infantry Brigade, was commanded by Brigadier Bernard Montgomery. He assumed command of the 3rd Division shortly before Britain declared war on Germany in September 1939.[21]
Armoured division[edit]
The 1975 Mason Review, a government white paper, outlined a new defence policy that removed the UK-based divisional-sized strategic reserve and also resulted in the restructure of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). With its role eliminated, the 3rd Division was disbanded. It was reformed in Soest, Germany, on 1 September 1977, as the 3rd Armoured Division.[44][46][47] Its reformation increased the BAOR to four divisions, for the first time since the end of the 1950s. Each division consisted of two armoured regiments, three mechanised infantry battalions, and two artillery regiments.[48][49]
The Mason Review removed brigades and replaced them with a concept of task forces or battlegroups. It was intended that the division could form up to five battlegroups, with each commanded by either an armoured regiment or an infantry battalion. These groups were to be formed for a specific task and allocated the required forces needed. The divisional commander (general officer commanding (GOC)) would oversee these battlegroups, but early training showed this to be impractical. To compensate, the divisional headquarters was increased to 750 men (wartime strength) and included two brigadiers. Each officer would command a flexible task force, which consisted of the battlegroups the GOC had formed. The division's task forces were named Task Force Echo and Task Force Foxtrot. These were not a reintroduction of a brigade command structure and had no administrative responsibilities. The approach intended to provide greater flexibility in tailoring forces to meet unforeseen events and allow for an overall reduction in the size of a division by 700 men.[50][51] The task force concept was dropped by the end of the decade, having been deemed to have not met expectations. The division then comprised the 6th and the 33rd Armoured Brigades, with each made up of two mechanised infantry battalions and one armoured regiment.[52][53][54]
In 1981, John Nott, the Secretary of State for Defence for the government elected in 1979, announced the 1981 Defence White Paper. It, like the Mason Review, aimed to balance the British military in line with the nation's financial resources and save manpower. Resultingly, the BAOR was restructured from four armoured divisions of two brigades, into a force of three divisions of three brigades.[55][56] The division then comprised the 4th (based in Münster), the 6th (Soest), and the 33rd Armoured Brigades (Paderborn). During the 1980s, the 33rd Armoured Brigade joined the 4th Armoured Division and in exchange the 3rd Armoured Division received the 19th Infantry Brigade (Colchester, England).[57] During 1983, the 6th Armoured Brigade converted into the 6th Airmobile Brigade and maintained that role until 1988.[52][58]
The end of the 1980s saw the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. In July 1990, the British government announced Options for Change. This framework sought to restructure the British military based on the new strategic situation, allow for further cost saving measures to be enacted, and to reduce the BAOR by half.[59] During September and October 1992, the division relocated from Germany to Bulford, Wiltshire where it was reorganised as a mechanized infantry division known as the 3rd (United Kingdom) Division.[44][60]
Post–Cold War[edit]
Following its reorganisation, the 3rd (United Kingdom) Division (also referred to as the 3rd (UK) Mechanised Division) was assigned to the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, a newly formed NATO HQ that was administered by the UK. Around 8,400 strong, it comprised the 1st (Tidworth) and the 19th (Mechanised) Brigades (Catterick), in conjunction with the 5th (Airborne) Brigade (Aldershot), the 2nd (National Communications) Brigade (Corsham), and the 43rd (Wessex) Brigade (Exeter). The 1st and 19th Brigades each contained a Challenger 1 tank-equipped armoured regiment, an armoured infantry battalion carried in Warrior tracked armoured vehicles, and two mechanised infantry battalions carried in Saxon armoured personnel carriers. In the event of a major emergency, as part of agreements between the UK and Italy, the division could be reinforced by the 132nd Armored Brigade "Ariete". During the 1990s, the division deployed troops to Angola, the Falkland Islands, Kosovo, Northern Ireland as part of Operation Banner, and Rwanda.[44][61][62] Most notably, in December 1995, following the signing of the Dayton Agreement, the division was the first British formation deployed as part of the Implementation Force to serve as peacekeepers in Bosnia and Herzegovina and remained through 1996. The British contribution to this force eventually came under the guidance of the Multi-National Division (South-West), which was administered by the 3rd Division for six months. Command then rotated to the 1st (UK) Armoured Division.[63] During 1999, the 5th Airborne Brigade was converted into the 12th Mechanised Brigade (still based at Aldershot). The division's tanks were replaced by 165 Challenger 2s. By the early 2000s, the formation's strength ranged from 18–21,600, depending on the source.[62][64][65]
Army 2020[edit]
On 1 January 2005, the 19th Mechanised Brigade was converted into the 19th Light Brigade. It then moved from Catterick to Northern Ireland in 2008.[73] The following year, the 4th Mechanised Brigade moved from Germany and joined the division.[74] This was followed, during April 2007, with the addition of the 52nd Infantry Brigade.[75] By the late 2000s, the division comprised the 1st Mechanised Brigade (based at Tidworth), the 12th Mechnised Brigade (Aldershot), the 19th Light Brigade, and the 52nd Infantry Brigade (Edinburgh).[74] In 2013, the 19th Brigade was disbanded leaving the division with just four brigades.[76]
The Strategic Defence and Security Review of 2010 outlined the Army 2020 plan. This project aimed to restructure the army from one optimized for the War in Afghanistan, to one that was more flexible and included the establishment of a "Reaction Force" and an "Adaptable Force". The latter would be based around the 1st (United Kingdom) Division, while the 3rd Division would serve as the basis for the Reaction Force. The division's new role required it to be held in a state of high readiness, ready to be deployed to undertake operations on short notice, and all its forces were concentrated around Salisbury Plain. The restructured division then contained the 1st, 12th, and 20th Brigades. These were all renamed from "Mechanised" brigades to "Armoured Infantry" brigades, with each containing an armoured cavalry regiment for reconnaissance, an armoured regiment equipped with Challenger 2 main battle tanks, two armoured infantry battalions carried in Warriors, and one infantry battalion carried in Mastiff infantry mobility vehicles (this battalion being described as a 'heavy protected mobility' battalion). The division also included the 101st Logistic Brigade, and could be supported by the 16 Air Assault Brigade as part of the reaction force.[77][78] By 2016, the division had a strength of around 16,000 personnel.[79]
Further changes occurred following the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, which resulted in Army 2020 Refine that was implemented in 2019. Army 2020 Refine saw the 1st Artillery Brigade, the 25th Engineer Group, and the 7th Air Defence Group all added to the division.[80][81]
Under the 2021 Future Soldier programme, the division is organised as such:[83]
The Iron Division nickname[edit]
During the First World War, the division obtained the nickname "the ironsides" and "The Iron Division.[40] Norman Scarfe, the divisional historian for the period 1943-1945, argued against a continuation of the nickname beyond the First World War. He wrote that while it was a complement to be associated with the term, it was a nickname "earned by quite different groups of units in quite different circumstances, not by the 3rd Division in its Assault form. 'Ironsides' is surely another not entirely justifiable reference to East Anglia, where Cromwell did his recruiting; and Iron, a symbol of strength and resolution of the 3rd Division in the Four Years' War, can also suggest inflexibility and cruelty, rust and robots. The distinction of being British [in comparison to the 3rd Canadian Division], on the other hand, is open to only one interpretation. It is the most suitable of all titles. There was only one 3rd British Division fighting in Europe, and from D-Day until the Germans were defeated the men of the division deserved the honour of their name."[84] The separation of traditions was also suggested by Lieutenant-Colonel T. F. Furnell, secretary of the Association of the 3rd (Iron) Division, who in a reunion speech to Second World War 3rd Division veterans stated "You of the 3rd British Division have more than lived up to the tradition of the Iron Division."[84] The Imperial War Museum highlighted that while the nickname was earned during the First World War, it continued on through the Second World War and indicated Major-General Bernard Montgomery (who took command in 1939) referred to the division as such.[40] Per Patrick Delaforce, Montgomery told an officer "I knew it in the last war – it was known as the 'Iron Division' then and it is going to be known as the "Iron Division" in this war."[85] The modern-day division still refers to itself as such.[86]