History

Formed in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in December 1914 - January 1915 from regular arm battalions returning from India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 , Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 and Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 . In January 1915 the division moved to France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and on to the Western Front

Western Front (World War I)

Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...

.

The division took part in the 2nd Battle of Ypres

Second Battle of Ypres

The Second Battle of Ypres was the first time Germany used poison gas on a large scale on the Western Front in the First World War and the first time a former colonial force pushed back a major European power on European soil, which occurred in the battle of St...

 where they suffered massive casualties and in the Battle of Loos

Battle of Loos

The Battle of Loos was one of the major British offensives mounted on the Western Front in 1915 during World War I. It marked the first time the British used poison gas during the war, and is also famous for the fact that it witnessed the first large-scale use of 'new' or Kitchener's Army...

 . In October 1915 the 28th Division embarked from Marseilles to Egypt and in November 1915 on to Salonika where the division would remain for the rest of the war.

Component units

• 83rd Brigade

This Brigade was temporarily under the command of 5th Division between 3 March and 7 April 1915, when it was replaced by 15th Brigade

British 15th Infantry Brigade

The 15th Infantry Brigade is a British Army brigade. It was part of the regular British 5th Infantry Division during the Second World War, and is now part of the British 2nd Infantry Division in the north of the United Kingdom, with specific responsibility for the areas of North East England and...

 from that Division.

• 2nd Bn, The King's Own Regiment (Lancaster)

• 1/5th Bn, The King's Own Regiment (Lancaster) (joined March 1915, left October 1915)

• 2nd Bn, The East Yorkshire Regiment (joined December 1914)

• 1st Bn, The KOYLI
  King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
  The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry was a regiment of the British Army. It officially existed from 1881 to 1968, but its predecessors go back to 1755. The regiment's traditions and history are now maintained by The Rifles.-The 51st Foot:...
  
   (joined November 1914, left June 1918)

• 1st Bn
  1st Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment
  The 1st Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment was formed in 1881 from the 65th Regiment of Foot .- Early history :After amalgamation in the army reform of 1881 the new 1st Battalion of the York and Lancaster Regiment were based in Bengal, India. In 1882 they were shipped to Aden while the 2nd...
  
  , the York and Lancaster
  York and Lancaster Regiment
  -History:It was formed in 1881 through the amalgamation of two other regiments:*65th Regiment*84th RegimentThe title of the regiment was derived not from the cities of York and Lancaster, or from the counties...
  
   (joined December 1914)

• 1/3rd Bn, The Monmouthshire (joined March 1915, left September 1915. Absent May to August 1915 when amalgamated with its sister 1/1st and 1/2nd Bn following serious casualties at Ypres)

• 84th Brigade

This Brigade was temporarily under the command of 5th Division between 23 February and 7 April 1915, when it was replaced by 13th Brigade

British 13th Infantry Brigade

The 13th Infantry Brigade was a regular British Army formation during the Second World War.-History:This brigade was part of the British Expeditionary Force sent to France in 1940. After the retreat from France the 13th Brigade was involved in the landings on Vichy held French Madagascar in 1942...

 from that Division.

• 2nd Bn, The Northumberland Fusiliers (joined December 1914, left June 1918)

• 1st Bn, The Suffolk Regiment (joined November 1914)

• 2nd Bn, The Cheshire Regiment (joined December 1914)

• 1st Bn, The Welsh Regiment (joined December 1914)

• 1/6th (Glamorgan) Bn, The Welsh (joined July1915, left October 1915)

• 1/1st Bn, The Monmouthshire Regiment (joined February 1915, left September 1915)

• 1/12th (County of London) Bn, The London Regiment (joined February 1915, left May 1915)

• 85th Brigade

Brigade transferred temporarily to 3rd Division between 19 February 1915 and 6 April 1915. It was replaced by the 9th Brigade from that Division.

• 2nd Bn, The Buffs (joined December 1914)

• 3rd Bn, The Royal Fusiliers (joined December 1914, left July 1918)

• 2nd Bn, The East Surrey Regiment (joined December 1914)

• 3rd Bn, The Middlesex Regiment (joined December 1914)

• 1/8th Bn, The Middlesex (joined March 1915, left June 1915)

• 228th Brigade

This Brigade was formed on 26 February 1917, as Army Troops, although it was always associated with this Division. It came under the command of the Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 Crete

Crete

Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...

 Division from 30 September 1918, and was broken up on 4 October 1918.

• 2nd (Garrison) Bn, The King's (Liverpool) Regiment (joined August 1917)

• 2/5th Bn, Durham Light Infantry
  Durham Light Infantry
  The Durham Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1968. It was formed by the amalgamation of the 68th Regiment of Foot and the 106th Regiment of Foot along with the militia and rifle volunteers of County Durham...
  
   (joined March 1917)

• 1st Garrison Bn, The Seaforth Highlanders (joined March 1917)

• 2nd Garrison Bn, The Royal Irish Fusiliers (joined March 1917, left August 1917)

• 22nd (Wessex & Welsh) Bn TF, The Rifle Brigade (joined November 1916)

Divisional Mounted Troops

B Squadron, 1/1st Surrey Yeomanry

Surrey Yeomanry

The Surrey Yeomanry was a unit of the British Army formed as volunteer cavalry in 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars. In 1901 the Regiment was granted the title Princess of Wales's which was changed to Queen Mary's when George V became the King...

 (joined 22 December 1914, left to join XVI Corps

XVI Corps (United Kingdom)

The British XVI Corps was a British infantry corps during World War I.- History :British XVI Corps was formed in Salonika in January 1916 under Lieutenant General George Milne. Milne was starved of resources by Sir William Robertson who considered all operations outside the Western Front to be...

on 27 December 1916)

28th Cyclist Company (joined 29 December 1914, left to join XVI Corps on 8 December 1916)

Commanders

• Maj-Gen. E. Bulfin (17/12/1914) Sick
• Maj-Gen. C. Briggs (12/10/1915)
• Maj-Gen. H. Croker (21/5/1916)
• Brig-Gen. E. Morris (Acting, 27/1/1917)
• Maj-Gen. H. Croker (8/3/1917)

External links

• 28th Division History - British Army in the Great War
• Order of Battles World War I