63rd (Royal Naval) Division

63rd (Royal Naval) Division
Able Seaman Simon Owen James of the Anson Battalion, who was killed in action on 27 May 1917, in one of the most iconic photographs of Royal Naval Division personnel.
Active	World War I September 1914 - April 1919
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	New Army
Type	Infantry
Engagements	Antwerp (1914) Battle of Gallipoli (1915) Battle of the Somme (1916) Third Battle of Ypres (1917)

The British 63rd (Royal Naval) Division was a First World War division of the New Army. The division had been formed (at the direction of Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty) at the outbreak of war as the Royal Naval Division. The division was composed largely of surplus reserves of the Royal Navy who were not required at sea,^[1] formed around a cadre of Royal Marines.

The division participated in the defence of the Belgian city of Antwerp in late 1914. From Antwerp, 1,500 sailors of the division fled to the neutral Netherlands, where they were interned.^[2] The division was shipped to Egypt prior to serving in the Battle of Gallipoli where it fought on both the Anzac and Helles battlefields. By the end of the Dardanelles campaign, casualties were such that the division no longer contained a significant number of naval servicemen and so in July 1916 it was redesignated as the 63rd Division^[1] when the original Territorial Force 63rd (2nd Northumbrian) Division was disbanded. The division moved to the Western Front in France for the remainder of the war.^[1]

Unit history

France and Antwerp 1914

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On 20 September it arrived at Dunkirk with orders to assist in the defence of Antwerp. The two other Brigades moved to Dunkirk for the same purpose on 5 October 1914. In the haste to organise and move the units to Belgium, 80% went to war without even basic equipment such as packs, mess tins or water bottles. No khaki uniform was issued. The two Naval Brigades were armed with ancient charger-loading rifles, just three days before embarking. The Division was originally titled the Royal Naval Division, and was formed in England in September 1914. At this stage, it had no artillery, Field Ambulances or other ancillary units. RND units that managed to successfully withdraw from Antwerp returned to England, arriving 11 October 1914.

Gallipoli

The RND was one of two British divisions (the other being the Regular Army 29th Division) at the Gallipoli landings. Originally the division was only required to make a diversion at Bulair in support of the main landings at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles. This diversion was carried out by one man, Bernard Freyberg. Shortly afterwards, on 28 April, four battalions were sent to Anzac to reinforce the hard-pressed Australian and New Zealand troops. Later the RND moved to Helles where it remained for the rest of the campaign on the peninsula.

Western Front

Ancre

After the evacuation of Gallipoli, the RND moved to France where it participated in the final phase of the Battle of the Somme, advancing along the River Ancre to capture Beaucourt.

The Division had four objectives during the Battle of Ancre. The first was to capture the "Dotted Green Line", the name given to the front line of the German trench complex. The second objective, the so called "Green Line", was the road to Beaucourt station. The road ran along a ridge which had been fortified by the Germans. The third objective was a trench which lay beyond the road, around the remains of Beaucourt on its south-west edge, and was named the "Yellow Line". The final objective, the "Red Line", was beyond Beaucourt. Here the Division was to consolidate and solidify the gains made during the battle.^[3]

The plan was for the battalions to leap-frog each other towards the final objective. Battalions Howe, Hawke and Hood from the 1st Royal Marines Light Infantry were assigned the "Dotted Green Line" and the "Yellow Line", while battalions Anson, Nelson and Drake from the 2nd Royal Marines Light Infantry were assigned the "Green Line" and the "Red Line". When the battle began in the early hours of the 13th of November, specific platoons from 1 RMLI crawled across no-man's land towards the German line.^[4] During this battle, the tactic of the rolling barrage was employed. However, despite the additional cover, significant casualties were sustained in no-man's land during the assault, with estimates of 50% of casualties occurring there before the first German trench had been captured.^[4] German artillery fire, coupled with machine gun fire, was so effective that all company commanding officers within 1 RMLI were killed before reaching the first objective.^[5]

Due to intense shelling prior to the assault, the German trenches had been significantly damaged. As a result the men became increasingly disorientated, meaning that the initial tactic of leap frogging could not be employed. Lieutenant Colonel Bernard Freyberg quickly realized this and did not wait for Drake battalion as planned. After leading Hood battalion to the "Green Line", he pressed forward with the remaining men of Drake battalion. The station road served as a useful landmark and allowed the commander to orientate himself and re-organize the attack. The expected bombardment began at the pre-arranged time of 0730 hours, allowing Freyberg to advance towards the "Yellow Line" at Beaucourt Station.^[6] Meanwhile, Battalions Nelson, Hawke and Howe suffered heavy casualties. Two of the three commanding officers from these battalions were among the early casualties: Leiutenant Colonel Burge of Nelson Battalion was killed whilst attacking a well fortified section of the "Dotted Green Line" and Lieutenant Colonel Wilson was severely wounded leading an attack on the same target. Another commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Saunders, was also killed early in the battle but his battalion, Anson, was more successful, managing to capture the "Green Line". Anson Battalion was then able to advance to the "Yellow Line" after making contact with the 51st Highland Division to its left.^[4] By 2230 hours, Beaucourt had officially been captured.^[6]

Just prior to the fighting on the Ancre, the division received a new commanding officer after Major General Archibald Paris was wounded, Major General Cameron Shute, appointed on 17 October 1916. General Shute had an intense dislike for the unconventional "nautical" traditions of the division and made numerous unpopular attempts to stamp them out. Following a particularly critical inspection of the trenches by General Shute, an officer of the division, Sub-Lieutenant A. P. Herbert, later to become a famous humorous writer, legal satirist and Member of Parliament, penned a popular poem that summed up the feelings of the men of the RND^[7]:

The General inspecting the trenches
Exclaimed with a horrified shout
'I refuse to command a division
Which leaves its excreta about.'

But nobody took any notice
No one was prepared to refute,
That the presence of shit was congenial
Compared to the presence of Shute.

And certain responsible critics
Made haste to reply to his words
Observing that his staff advisors
Consisted entirely of turds.

For shit may be shot at odd corners
And paper supplied there to suit,
But a shit would be shot without mourners
If somebody shot that shit Shute.

Ypres

The Division arrived at Ypres just before the Second Battle of Passchendaele.^[8]

Order of battle

Recruiting poster for the RND

The division initially comprised eight naval battalions named after famous British naval commanders (Anson, Benbow, Collingwood, Drake, Hawke, Hood, Howe, Nelson), plus the Royal Marine Brigade of four battalions from the Royal Marine dépôts at the ports of Deal, Chatham, Portsmouth and Plymouth.^[1]

• 1st (Drake) Battalion
• 2nd (Hawke) Battalion
• 3rd (Benbow) Battalion
• 4th (Collingwood) Battalion
• 5th (Nelson) Battalion
• 6th (Howe) Battalion
• 7th (Hood) Battalion
• 8th (Anson) Battalion
• 9th (Chatham) Battalion RMLI
• 10th (Portsmouth) Battalion RMLI
• 11th (Plymouth) Battalion RMLI
• 12th (Deal) Battalion RMLI

Due to the changing nature of the unit, it was made up of a number of brigades during the war.

1st Royal Naval Brigade 

Also known as 1st (Royal Naval) Brigade, 1st Brigade (1914 - July 1916). Replaced by the 190th Brigade (July 1916).

2nd Royal Naval Brigade 

Also known as 2nd (Royal Naval) Brigade, 2nd Brigade, 189th Brigade.

3rd Royal Marine Brigade 

Also known as 3rd (Royal Marine) Brigade, 188th Brigade.

As the naval character of the division diminished, more regular infantry battalions were included. Other battalions that served with the division include:

• 1st Royal Marines
• 2nd Royal Marines
• 2nd Battalion, The Royal Irish Regiment
• 7th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers
• 4th Battalion, The Bedfordshire Regiment
• 1/4th Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry
• 10th Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers
• 1/1st Battalion, Honourable Artillery Company
• 2/2nd (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment
• 2/4th (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment
• 1/28th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Artists' Rifles)

Battles

• Battle of Gallipoli
  • Landing at Anzac Cove (4 battalions)
  • Landing at Cape Helles (2 battalions)
  • Second Battle of Krithia
  • Third Battle of Krithia

See also

• List of British divisions in WWI
• Naval Brigade

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Royal Naval Division

• The British Army in the Great War: The 63rd (Royal Naval) Division
• Royal Naval Division service records online
• about the memorial to the RND