List of commanders of the British 6th Division

6th Division 6th Infantry Division 6th (United Kingdom) Division
Portrait of Henry Clinton, by Samuel William Reynolds, who led the division for the majority of the Peninsular War.
Active	Raised and disbanded numerous times between 1810 and present
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Engagements	Napoleonic Wars Second Boer War First World War Second World War

The 6th Division was an infantry division of the British Army and was first formed in 1810. The division was commanded by a general officer commanding (GOC). In this role, the GOC received orders from a level above him in the chain of command, and then used the forces within the division to undertake the mission assigned. In addition to directing the tactical battle in which the division was involved, the GOC oversaw a staff and the administrative, logistical, medical, training, and discipline of the division.[1]

Prior to 1809, the British Army did not use divisional formations. As the British military grew in size during the Napoleonic Wars, the need arose for such an implementation in order to better organise forces for administrative, logistical, and tactical reasons. The 6th Division was formed in 1810 by Lieutenant-General Arthur Wellesley, and served in the Peninsular War (part of the Napoleonic Wars).

General officer commanding

See also: General officer commanding

General officer commanding

No.	Appointment date	Rank	General officer commanding	Notes	Source(s)
1	6 October 1810	Major-General	Alexander Campbell	The division was formed in Portugal from locally based British and Portuguese troops	[2]
2	9 February 1811	Lieutenant-General	Henry Clinton		[3]
Temporary	5 November 1811	Major-General	Robert Burne	Commanded until 9 February 1812 when he was sent home as "[not] very fit to take charge of a large body".	[2][4]
Temporary	26 January 1813	Major-General	Edward Pakenham		[3]
2	25 June 1813	Lieutenant-General	Henry Clinton		[5]
3	22 July 1813	Major-General	Denis Pack	Pack was wounded in action at the Battle of Sorauren on 28 July	[5]
Acting	28 July 1813	Major-General	Edward Pakenham		[3]
4	8 August 1813	Major-General	Charles Colville		[5]
2	9 October 1813	Lieutenant-General	Henry Clinton	At the conclusion of the Peninsular War, in 1814, the division was disbanded in France. The final troops departed in June.	[6]
5	11 April 1815	Lieutenant-General	Sir Galbraith Cole	On 11 April 1815, the division was reformed in Southern Netherlands.	[7]
Acting	18 June 1815	Major-General	Sir John Lambert	Lambert assumed temporary command while Cole was on his honeymoon. He commanded the division at the Battle of Waterloo.	[8]
5	7 July 1815	Lieutenant-General	Sir Galbraith Cole	Cole resumed command around 7 July. Following the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, the British military in France was reorganised into three divisions. The remaining forces, including the 6th Division, were stood down.	[7][9]
6	14 December 1899	Lieutenant-General	Thomas Kelly-Kenny	The division was mobilized in the United Kingdom for service in the Second Boer War. Kelly-Kenny maintained command through to the end of 1900 when, while still in southern Africa, the division was broken-up.	[10][11]
7	2 March 1904	Major-General	Arthur Wynne	The division was reformed in England	[12]
8	21 November 1906	Major-General	Theodore Stephenson	On 12 May 1907, Stephenson relinquished command of the division. The division was then reorganised as the 4th Division.	[13][14]
9	May 1907	Major-General	Lawrence Parsons	The 8th Division, based in Ireland, was reorganised as the 6th Division	[15][16][17]
10	1 October 1909	Major-General	Charles Metcalfe		[18]
11	16 July 1910	Major-General	William Pulteney		[19]
12	27 July 1914	Major-General	John Keir	Under Keir, the division was mobilised for service in the First World War. The division moved to France in September 1914, and served on the Western Front for the entirely of the war.	[20][21]
13	27 May 1915	Major-General	Walter Congreve		[22]
14	14 November 1915	Major-General	Charles Ross		[22]
15	21 August 1917	Major-General	Thomas Marden	The division entered Germany following the end of the war, in November 1918. The division started to demobolize and ceased to exist by March 1919.	[23]
16	8 November 1919	Major-General	Peter Strickland	The division was reformed in Ireland, and took part in the Irish War of Independence. Following the conclusion of the war, there was no room for the division to be based in Northern Ireland and it was disbanded by 1923.	[16][24]
17	3 November 1939	Major-General	Richard O'Connor	The division was reformed in Egypt, following the outbreak of the Second World War, when the 7th Infantry Division was redesignated. On 17 June 1940, the division was redesignated as headquarters Western Desert Force.	[25]
18	17 June 1940	Major-General	John Evetts	The division was reformed in Egypt on this date.	[25]
Acting	7 April 1941	Brigadier	Cyril Lomax		[25]
18	19 April 1941	Major-General	John Evetts		[25]
Acting	29 September 1941	Brigadier	Noel Martin	During this period, the division was transferred into besieged port of Tobruk and was redesignated as the 70th Infantry Division on 10 October 1941.	[26]
19	1 February 2008	Major General	Jacko Page	The division was reformed for the War in Afghanistan	[27][28]
20	23 January 2009	Major General	Nick Carter	The division was disbanded in 2011	[27][29]
21	1 August 2019	Major General	James Bowder	The division was reformed by the redesignation of Force Troops Command	[30][31]
22	1 September 2021	Major General	Gerald Strickland		[32]
23	31 July 2023	Major General	Daniel Reeve		[33]

Notes

1. Haythornthwaite 2016, The Divisional System.
2. Reid 2004, p. 61.
3. Reid 2004, p. 62.
4. McGuigan & Burnham 2017, p. 71.
5. Reid 2004, p. 63.
6. Reid 2004, p. 63; Oman 1930, p. 513.
7. Weller 2010, p. 34; Siborne 1900, pp. 73; Ross-of-Bladensburg 1896, pp. 49–50.
8. McGuigan & Burnham 2017, pp. 161, 164.
9. McGuigan & Burnham 2017, p. 164.
10. Creswicke 1900a, p. viii; Creswicke 1900b, p. 171; Creswicke 1901, pp. 28, 138.
11. "No. 27142". The London Gazette. 8 December 1899. p. 8258.
12. "Hart's Annual Army List, Militia List, and Imperial Yeomanry List for 1906". London: John Murray. p. 101. Retrieved 9 January 2021. and "No. 27973". The London Gazette. 4 December 1906. p. 8538.
13. "No. 27973". The London Gazette. 4 December 1906. p. 8538. and "No. 28024". The London Gazette. 24 May 1907. p. 3593.
14. "Hart's Annual Army List, Militia List, and Imperial Yeomanry List for 1906". London: John Murray. p. 101. Retrieved 9 January 2021. and "Hart's Annual Army List, Militia List, and Imperial Yeomanry List for 1909". London: John Murray. pp. 104–105. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
15. "Hart's Annual Army List, Militia List, and Imperial Yeomanry List for 1908". London: John Murray. p. 100. Retrieved 9 January 2021. and "Hart's Annual Army List, Militia List, and Imperial Yeomanry List for 1909". London: John Murray. p. 103. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
16. Lord & Watson 2003, p. 35.
17. "No. 28296". The London Gazette. 12 October 1909. p. 7495.
18. "No. 28296". The London Gazette. 12 October 1909. p. 7495. and "No. 28400". The London Gazette. 26 July 1910. p. 5397.
19. "No. 28400". The London Gazette. 26 July 1910. p. 5397. and "No. 28864". The London Gazette. 7 August 1914. p. 6204.
20. "No. 28864". The London Gazette. 7 August 1914. p. 6204.
21. Becke 1935, pp. 73, 78.
22. Becke 1935, p. 73.
23. Becke 1935, pp. 73, 79; Marden 1920, p. 80.
24. "No. 31666". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 November 1919. p. 14790.
25. Joslen 2003, p. 49.
26. Joslen 2003, pp. 49–50.
27. Tanner 2014, p. 15.
28. "No. 58602". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 February 2008. p. 1683.
29. "No. 58961". The London Gazette (Supplement). 27 January 2009. p. 1334.
30. "No. 62720". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 July 2019. p. 13064.
31. "Army restructures to confront evolving threats". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
32. "No. 63464". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 September 2021. p. 15746.
33. "No. 64155". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 August 2023. p. 17190.

References

• Becke, Archibald Frank (1935). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 1: The Regular British Divisions. London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office. OCLC 929528172.
• Creswicke, Louis (1900a). South Africa and the Transvaal War. Vol. II. Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack. OCLC 154231374.
• Creswicke, Louis (1900b). South Africa and the Transvaal War. Vol. V. Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack. OCLC 154231374.
• Creswicke, Louis (1901). South Africa and the Transvaal War. Vol. VI. Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack. OCLC 154231374.
• Haythornthwaite, Philip (2016). Picton's Division at Waterloo. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-78159-102-4.
• Joslen, H. F. (2003) [1960]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield, East Sussex: Naval and Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1.
• Lord, Cliff; Watson, Graham (2003). The Royal Corps of Signals: Unit Histories of the Corps (1920–2001) and its Antecedents. West Midlands: Helion. ISBN 978-1-874622-07-9.
• Marden, Thomas Owen, ed. (1920). A short History of the 6th Division: Aug. 1914–March 1919. London: Hugh Rees, Ltd. OCLC 251477707.
• McGuigan, Ron; Burnham, Robert (2017). Wellington's Brigade Commanders. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 978-1-47385-079-8.
• Oman, Charles (1930). A History of the Peninsular War. Vol. VII August 1813 – April 14, 1814. Oxford: Oxford University Press. OCLC 185228609.
• Reid, Stuart (2004). Wellington's Army in the Peninsula 1809–14. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-517-4.
• Ross-of-Bladensburg, John Foster George (1896). A History of the Coldstream Guards from 1815 to 1895. London: A.D. Inness & Co. OCLC 1152610342.
• Siborne, William (1900). The Waterloo Campaign (5th ed.). Westminster: Archibald Constable and Co. OCLC 672639901.
• Tanner, James (2014). The British Army since 2000. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78200-593-3.
• Weller, Jac (2010) [1992]. Wellington at Waterloo. Barnsley: Frontline Books. ISBN 978-1-84832-586-9.