British Army Hierarchies - Revision history

GavinRobinson: Text replacement - "British Infantry Arm" to "Infantry, British Army"

2017-11-12T18:29:59Z

Text replacement - "British Infantry Arm" to "Infantry, British Army"

GavinRobinson: Text replacement - "British Cavalry Arm" to "Cavalry, British Army"

2017-11-12T18:27:58Z

Text replacement - "British Cavalry Arm" to "Cavalry, British Army"

GavinRobinson: Text replacement - "Battalion ([^,\|]+), British Army" to "Battalion, $1, British Army"

2017-11-11T21:04:55Z

Text replacement - "Battalion ([^,\|]+), British Army" to "Battalion, $1, British Army"

GavinRobinson: Text replacement - ", UK" to ", British Army"

2017-11-11T20:00:35Z

Text replacement - ", UK" to ", British Army"

GavinRobinson: updated; moved sources to Official unit diaries and histories page

2016-03-16T18:52:17Z

updated; moved sources to Official unit diaries and histories page

Show changes

GavinRobinson: cat and sources

2015-06-27T18:56:40Z

cat and sources

GavinRobinson: updating and adding links

2015-05-15T17:36:03Z

updating and adding links

GavinRobinson: cats and updating text

2014-12-22T09:37:53Z

cats and updating text

GavinRobinson: /* Administrative Hierarchy */ more examples

2014-11-19T09:07:38Z

‎Administrative Hierarchy: more examples

GavinRobinson: adding notes on sources

2014-11-19T09:03:01Z

adding notes on sources

@@ Line 93: / Line 93: @@
 ==== Infantry administrative hierarchy ====
-* Arm: [[British Infantry Arm]]
+* Arm: [[Infantry, British Army]]
 * Record office: [[Lichfield Infantry Record Office, British Army|Lichfield Infantry Record Office]]
 * Regiment/corps: [[Lincolnshire Regiment, British Army|Lincolnshire Regiment]]

@@ Line 115: / Line 115: @@
 ==== Cavalry administrative hierarchy ====
-* Arm: [[British Cavalry Arm]]
+* Arm: [[Cavalry, British Army]]
 * Record office: [[Canterbury Cavalry Record Office, British Army|Canterbury Cavalry Record Office]]
 * Regiment/corps: [[Corps of Dragoons, British Army|Corps of Dragoons]]

@@ Line 89: / Line 89: @@
 === Infantry battalion ===
-Example hierarchies for [[1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, British Army|1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment]], which was a battalion of the Territorial Force.
+Example hierarchies for [[1/5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment, British Army|1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment]], which was a battalion of the Territorial Force.
 ==== Infantry administrative hierarchy ====
@@ Line 96: / Line 96: @@
 * Record office: [[Lichfield Infantry Record Office, British Army|Lichfield Infantry Record Office]]
 * Regiment/corps: [[Lincolnshire Regiment, British Army|Lincolnshire Regiment]]
-* Unit: [[1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, British Army|1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment]]
+* Unit: [[1/5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment, British Army|1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment]]
 ==== Infantry tactical hierarchy ====
@@ Line 107: / Line 107: @@
 * Formation: [[46th Division, British Army|46th Division]]
 * Formation: [[138th Infantry Brigade, British Army|138th Infantry Brigade]]
-* Unit: [[1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, British Army|1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment]]
+* Unit: [[1/5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment, British Army|1/5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment]]
 === Regular Cavalry ===

@@ Line 89: / Line 89: @@
 === Infantry battalion ===
-Example hierarchies for [[1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, UK|1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment]], which was a battalion of the Territorial Force.
+Example hierarchies for [[1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, British Army|1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment]], which was a battalion of the Territorial Force.
 ==== Infantry administrative hierarchy ====
 * Arm: [[British Infantry Arm]]
-* Record office: [[Lichfield Infantry Record Office, UK|Lichfield Infantry Record Office]]
+* Record office: [[Lichfield Infantry Record Office, British Army|Lichfield Infantry Record Office]]
-* Regiment/corps: [[Lincolnshire Regiment, UK|Lincolnshire Regiment]]
+* Regiment/corps: [[Lincolnshire Regiment, British Army|Lincolnshire Regiment]]
-* Unit: [[1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, UK|1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment]]
+* Unit: [[1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, British Army|1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment]]
 ==== Infantry tactical hierarchy ====
@@ Line 103: / Line 103: @@
 * Formation: [[British Expeditionary Force]] (ie Western Front)
-* Formation: [[Third Army, UK|Third Army]]
+* Formation: [[Third Army, British Army|Third Army]]
-* Formation: [[VII Corps, UK|VII Corps]]
+* Formation: [[VII Corps, British Army|VII Corps]]
-* Formation: [[46th Division, UK|46th Division]]
+* Formation: [[46th Division, British Army|46th Division]]
-* Formation: [[138th Infantry Brigade, UK|138th Infantry Brigade]]
+* Formation: [[138th Infantry Brigade, British Army|138th Infantry Brigade]]
-* Unit: [[1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, UK|1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment]]
+* Unit: [[1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, British Army|1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment]]
 === Regular Cavalry ===
-Example hierarchies for [[7th Dragoon Guards, UK|7th Dragoon Guards]].
+Example hierarchies for [[7th Dragoon Guards, British Army|7th Dragoon Guards]].
 ==== Cavalry administrative hierarchy ====
 * Arm: [[British Cavalry Arm]]
-* Record office: [[Canterbury Cavalry Record Office, UK|Canterbury Cavalry Record Office]]
+* Record office: [[Canterbury Cavalry Record Office, British Army|Canterbury Cavalry Record Office]]
-* Regiment/corps: [[Corps of Dragoons, UK|Corps of Dragoons]]
+* Regiment/corps: [[Corps of Dragoons, British Army|Corps of Dragoons]]
-* Unit: [[7th Dragoon Guards, UK|7th Dragoon Guards]]
+* Unit: [[7th Dragoon Guards, British Army|7th Dragoon Guards]]
 ==== Cavalry tactical hierarchy ====
@@ Line 125: / Line 125: @@
 * Formation: [[British Expeditionary Force]] (ie Western Front)
-* Formation: [[Fourth Army, UK|Fourth Army]]
+* Formation: [[Fourth Army, British Army|Fourth Army]]
-* Formation: [[XIII Corps, UK|XIII Corps]]
+* Formation: [[XIII Corps, British Army|XIII Corps]]
 * Formation: [[2nd Indian Cavalry Division]]
 * Formation: [[9th Indian Cavalry Brigade]] (also known as Secunderabad Cavalry Brigade)
-*Unit: [[7th Dragoon Guards, UK|7th Dragoon Guards]]
+*Unit: [[7th Dragoon Guards, British Army|7th Dragoon Guards]]
-The cavalry divisions on the Western Front were sometimes part of a tactical formation called [[Cavalry Corps, UK|Cavalry Corps]], which should not be confused with the administrative corps of [[Corps of Dragoons, UK|Dragoons]], [[Corps of Hussars, UK|Hussars]] and [[Corps of Lancers, UK|Lancers]].
+The cavalry divisions on the Western Front were sometimes part of a tactical formation called [[Cavalry Corps, British Army|Cavalry Corps]], which should not be confused with the administrative corps of [[Corps of Dragoons, British Army|Dragoons]], [[Corps of Hussars, British Army|Hussars]] and [[Corps of Lancers, British Army|Lancers]].
 [[Category:British Army]]
 [[Category:Sources]]
 [[Category:Help]]

@@ Line 120: / Line 120: @@
 ===Primary===
-*[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices London Gazette]: supposed to publish Royal Warrants for creation of new regiments, but they're hard to find.
+*[https://archive.org/search.php?query=britain%20army%20list%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts The Army List]: mostly a catalogue of officers but also contains lists of units.
 *Army Orders: official orders for creating, renaming and disbanding units (among many other things). Published by HMSO. Sets in BL and TNA, WO 123. Has internal index but there does not appear to be any easily available index published separately.
 *Army Council Instructions: official orders for creating, renaming and disbanding units (among many other things). Published by HMSO. Set in TNA.
@@ Line 137: / Line 136: @@
 [[Category:British Army]]

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 *Record Office
 *Regiment/Corps
-*(some odd ones between regiment and unit that only apply in some cases)
+*Identities (an intermediate level between regiment and unit that only applies in some cases)
 **Horse and Field Artillery were administratively part of the same Regiment/Corps but had distinct regimental identities within it
 **Motor Machine Gun Service had its own identity and cap badge. Originally part of Royal Artillery but later moved to Machine Gun Corps
@@ Line 35: / Line 36: @@
 **Lines of Communication (under GHQ in each theatre)
 *Army (not used in every theatre)
-*Corps
+*Corps (not used in every theatre)
 *Division
 *Brigade (infantry, cavalry or tank, but not artillery)
@@ Line 52: / Line 53: @@
-==Regulars and Territorials==
+== Regulars and Territorials ==
-Every unit of the British Army could be classed as one of:
+Each unit of the British Army belonged to one of these branches:
 *Regular Army
@@ Line 61: / Line 62: @@
 *New Army
-These classifications apply at unit level and don't follow the admin hierarchy: most infantry regiments contained battalions of all types.
+These classifications apply at unit level and don't follow the administrative hierarchy: most infantry regiments contained battalions of all types.
 Except for Special Reserve, they can also apply to formations at Brigade and Division level, but are usually meaningless at higher levels.
@@ Line 71: / Line 72: @@
 Administrative hierarchy:
-*Arm: Infantry
+*Arm: [[British Infantry Arm]]
-*Record Office: [[Lichfield Infantry Record Office|Lichfield]]
+*Record Office: [[Lichfield Infantry Record Office, UK]]
-*Regiment/Corps: [[Lincolnshire Regiment]]
+*Regiment/Corps: [[Lincolnshire Regiment, UK]]
-*Unit: [[1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment]]
+*Unit: [[1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, UK]]
 *Unit: B Company
 *Unit: 5 Platoon
@@ Line 80: / Line 81: @@
 Same battalion's tactical hierarchy, 1 July 1916 (sources: [http://www.gommecourt.co.uk/men.htm gommecourt.co.uk]; WO 95/2691):
-*Formation: General Headquarters, British Expeditionary Force (ie Western Front)
+*Formation: General Headquarters, [[British Expeditionary Force]] (ie Western Front)
-*Formation: Third Army
+*Formation: [[Third Army, UK]]
-*Formation: VII Corps
+*Formation: [[VII Corps, UK]]
-*Formation: [[46th Division]]
+*Formation: [[46th Division, UK]]
-*Formation: [[138th Infantry Brigade]]
+*Formation: [[138th Infantry Brigade, UK]]
-*Unit: [[1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment]]
+*Unit: [[1/5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, UK]]
 *Unit: B Company
 *Unit: 5 Platoon
-===Regular Cavalry===
+=== Regular Cavalry ===
 Administrative hierarchy:
-*Arm: Cavalry
+*Arm: [[British Cavalry Arm]]
-*Record Office: Cavalry Canterbury
+*Record Office: [[Canterbury Cavalry Record Office, UK]]
-*Regiment/Corps: Corps of Dragoons
+*Regiment/Corps: [[Corps of Dragoons, UK]]
-*Unit: 7th Dragoon Guards
+*Unit: [[7th Dragoon Guards, UK]]
 *Unit: B Squadron
 Same regiment's tactical hierarchy, 14 July 1916 (source: David Kenyon's PhD thesis, pp. 50-56):
-*Formation: General Headquarters, British Expeditionary Force (ie Western Front)
+*Formation: General Headquarters, [[British Expeditionary Force]] (ie Western Front)
-*Formation: Fourth Army
+*Formation: [[Fourth Army, UK]]
-*Formation: XIII Corps
+*Formation: [[XIII Corps, UK]]
-*Formation: 2nd Indian Cavalry Division
+*Formation: [[2nd Indian Cavalry Division]]
-*Formation: Secunderabad Cavalry Brigade
+*Formation: [[Secunderabad Cavalry Brigade, Indian]]
-*Unit: 7th Dragoon Guards
+*Unit: [[7th Dragoon Guards, UK]]
 *Unit: B Squadron
-The cavalry divisions on the Western Front were sometimes part of a tactical formation called Cavalry Corps, which should not be confused with the administrative corps of Dragoons, Hussars and Lancers.
+The cavalry divisions on the Western Front were sometimes part of a tactical formation called [[Cavalry Corps, UK|Cavalry Corps]], which should not be confused with the administrative corps of Dragoons, Hussars and Lancers.
 ==Sources==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ==Units, Formations and Regiments==
@@ Line 17: / Line 15: @@
 ===Administrative Hierarchy===
-*Arm (infantry, cavalry or artillery; might not be needed for others: see talk page; See also [http://www.1914-1918.net/hm_forces.html The Long Long Trail: Constitution of Military Forces])
+*Arm (infantry, cavalry or artillery; see also [http://www.1914-1918.net/hm_forces.html The Long Long Trail: Constitution of Military Forces])
 *Record Office
 *Regiment/Corps
@@ Line 23: / Line 21: @@
 **Horse and Field Artillery were administratively part of the same Regiment/Corps but had distinct regimental identities within it
 **Motor Machine Gun Service had its own identity and cap badge. Originally part of Royal Artillery but later moved to Machine Gun Corps
-**Yeomanry regiments could be duplicated into 3 lines. Might be helpful to group these as regimental identities between units and admin corps
+**Yeomanry regiments could be duplicated into 3 lines.
 **Army Service Corps was divided into horse transport, motor transport, remounts etc.
-**Territorial Area (significant admin level for Territorial Royal Engineers but not for infantry; other arms may vary)
+**Territorial region (significant admin level for Territorial Royal Engineers but not for infantry; other arms may vary)
 **Royal Engineers (Transport) was a big organisation within the Royal Engineers. Signal Service was also a sub-group of Royal Engineers
 **Honourable Artillery Company was divided into infantry and artillery. The infantry part shared a record office with the London Regiment
@@ Line 41: / Line 39: @@
 *Brigade (infantry, cavalry or tank, but not artillery)
-Units could be direct members of any level of formation. Above Brigade level this was in groups known as Divisional Troops, Corps Troops, Army Troops, or GHQ Troops (these groups were integral to the formation and didn't change identity so might not be worth representing as objects in their own right).
+Units could be direct members of any level of formation. Above Brigade level this was in groups known as Divisional Troops, Corps Troops, Army Troops, or GHQ Troops .
 ===Unit Hierarchy===
@@ Line 48: / Line 46: @@
 *Infantry Company; Cavalry Squadron; Field Artillery Battery
 *Infantry Platoon; Cavalry Troop; Field Artillery Section
 A Royal Engineers Company was a similar size to an Infantry Company but for many types of engineers was the largest unit, attached directly to a formation.
@@ Line 60: / Line 56: @@
 Every unit of the British Army could be classed as one of:
-*Regular Army (often divided into pre-war and Kitchener's New Armies, but this may be unnecessary in some cases and problematic in others)
+*Regular Army
 *Territorial Force (including Yeomanry)
 *Special Reserve
 These classifications apply at unit level and don't follow the admin hierarchy: most infantry regiments contained battalions of all types.
@@ Line 119: / Line 116: @@
 There is no complete published list of which divisions were in which corps and when. This data will need to be added manually from a variety of sources.
 ===Primary===
@@ Line 127: / Line 122: @@
 *[https://archive.org/search.php?query=britain%20army%20list%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts The Army List]: mostly a catalogue of officers. Supposed to contain lists of regiment names as used at the time, but they're hard to find.
 *Army Orders: official orders for creating, renaming and disbanding units (among many other things). Published by HMSO. Sets in BL and TNA, WO 123. Has internal index but there does not appear to be any easily available index published separately.
 *WO 95:
 **original orders of battle: snapshots of whole tactical hierarchy in each theatre at regular intervals.
 **original war diaries
 **catalogue data: includes regiment and unit names but not consistent enough to be an authority in itself.
 ===Secondary===
@@ Line 140: / Line 134: @@
 *E.A. James, ''British Regiments 1914-1918''. Gives brief details of every British infantry battalion and cavalry regiment. Useful bibliography but doesn't cite sources for specific facts. Mostly superseded by The Long Long Trail, but includes what appears to be a definitive list of full names of British regiments.
 *[http://www.1914-1918.net/ The Long Long Trail]: Chris Baker's website. Includes pages for each British regiment and division. Brief history of battalions but doesn't have a detailed page for each battalion. Generally doesn't cite sources but regiment and division pages seem to be mostly derived from Becke and James. Mentions having corrected some errors in James so should be preferred where they disagree.

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:03, 19 November 2014
Line 111:		Line 111:

	The cavalry divisions on the Western Front were sometimes part of a tactical formation called Cavalry Corps, which should not be confused with the administrative corps of Dragoons, Hussars and Lancers.		The cavalry divisions on the Western Front were sometimes part of a tactical formation called Cavalry Corps, which should not be confused with the administrative corps of Dragoons, Hussars and Lancers.
		+
		+	==Sources==
		+
		+	These are some of the main sources for British Army structure and naming.
		+
		+	There is no complete published list of which divisions were in which corps and when. This data will need to be added manually from a variety of sources.
		+
		+
		+
		+	===Primary===
		+
		+	*[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices London Gazette]: supposed to publish Royal Warrants for creation of new regiments, but they're hard to find.
		+	*[https://archive.org/search.php?query=britain%20army%20list%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts The Army List]: mostly a catalogue of officers. Supposed to contain lists of regiment names as used at the time, but they're hard to find.
		+	*Army Orders: official orders for creating, renaming and disbanding units (among many other things). Published by HMSO. Sets in BL and TNA, WO 123. Has internal index but there does not appear to be any easily available index published separately.
		+	*WO 95:
		+	**original orders of battle: snapshots of whole tactical hierarchy in each theatre at regular intervals.
		+	**original war diaries
		+	**catalogue data: includes regiment and unit names but not consistent enough to be an authority in itself.
		+
		+
		+
		+	===Secondary===
		+
		+	*William Spencer, ''First World War Army Service Records: a guide for family historians''. Detailed guide to official documents of British Army, not just personnel files. Includes list of regiments and record offices, but this is incomplete and contains some errors.
		+	*A.F. Becke, ''Order of Battle of Divisions'' (6 vols). Commonly known as 'Orders of Battle'. Mostly compiled from a sample of original orders of battle from WO 95, with notes on changes in between. Only covers British formations. Doesn't cite original documents for specific facts.
		+	*E.A. James, ''British Regiments 1914-1918''. Gives brief details of every British infantry battalion and cavalry regiment. Useful bibliography but doesn't cite sources for specific facts. Mostly superseded by The Long Long Trail, but includes what appears to be a definitive list of full names of British regiments.
		+	*[http://www.1914-1918.net/ The Long Long Trail]: Chris Baker's website. Includes pages for each British regiment and division. Brief history of battalions but doesn't have a detailed page for each battalion. Generally doesn't cite sources but regiment and division pages seem to be mostly derived from Becke and James. Mentions having corrected some errors in James so should be preferred where they disagree.