Their final airborne mission was followed in March 1945, Operation Varsity, the second Allied airborne assault over the River Rhine. [13] The division’s advance party, formed around the 5th Parachute Brigade, had already arrived in India, when the Japanese surrendered after the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. [35], The 1st Parachute Brigade had been called the "Rote Teufel" or "Red Devils" by the German troops they had fought in North Africa. The re-designation of Force Troops Command (FTC) to 6th (United Kingdom) Division (6 (UK) Div) will provide the Army’s asymmetric edge , orchestrating Intelligence, Counter-Intelligence, Information Operations, Electronic Warfare, Cyber and unconventional warfare. It fought on the Western Front for the duration of the First World War. It served on the Western Front for the duration of the First World War, first seeing action in the First Battle of Ypres as part of III Corps. Despite intense efforts Vichy forces maintained control of the position and the main allied effort was switched to the advance on the coast. However, the division was sent to the Western Front in May 1916 and served there for the duration of the First World War. The 6th Armoured Division was a Second World War, British Army formation, created on 12 September 1940. The division was shipped to the Continent by sea, through Calais and Ostend. E.J. The four GDAs were controlled by 'gun operations rooms' (GORs) at Felixstowe, Vange, Chatham and Dover respectively. In November the division moved to the relatively quiet La Bassée sector, and in March 1917 it went to the Loos sector where it conducted operations and trench raids around Hill 70. The 61st Division was an infantry division of the British Army raised in 1915 during the Great War as a second-line reserve for the first-line battalions of the 48th Division. [3], In 1915 the division moved into the Ypres Salient to relieve troops that had fought in the Second Battle of Ypres. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1960. [10], 6 Division 3 Nov 39 – 11 Mar 40 & 10 – 17 Jun 40, 6 Division 29 Mar – 30 May 40 & 10 Jul – 9 Oct 41, On 26 July 2007 the Secretary of State for Defence announced that a new 'HQ 6 Division' would reform to direct the International Security Assistance Force's Regional Command South in Afghanistan. It will be based in York and will be known as HQ 6 Division, with a core of 55 Service personnel, drawn from existing structures. [7], The HAA guns were contained in four main 'gun defended areas' (GDAs) at Harwich, Thames & Medway North (guns emplaced along the north bank of the Thames Estuary), Thames & Medway South (guns emplaced along the south bank of the Thames Estuary and defending Chatham and Rochester), and Dover (including Folkestone). [12], On 29 September 1941 Major-General Evetts left and Brigadier G.N.C. In November the division moved to the relatively quiet La Bassée sector, and in March 1917 it went to the Loos sector where it conducted operations and trench raids around Hill 70. became H.Q. Eleven days later on 10 October that year it was redesignated the 70th Infantry Division, and Major-General Ronald Scobie assumed command. [28], In England the division went into a period of recruitment and training, concentrating on house to house street fighting in the bombed areas of Southampton and Birmingham. Originally an independent brigade before being attached to the division, the 19th Brigade moved to the 27th Division in May, 1915 and was not replaced, reducing the division to the standard three infantry brigades. [16] It had a clear focus on preparing brigades for Afghanistan and was based at Imphal Barracks, Fulford, York.During summer 2009, the divisional headquarters was significantly reinforced and transformed into Combined Joint Task Force 6 before deploying to Afghanistan as Regional Command South in November 2009. Unknown to the 6th Airborne, the exercise was a full scale rehearsal for the division's involvement in the imminent Normandy invasion. The Salient was relatively quiet for the rest of the year, except for an attack on the chateau at Hooge on 9 August. The division fought in the Gallipoli Campaign and on the Western Front. Appendix 1: Order of battle of the British Expeditionary Force, August 1914.