WW1 CIG CARD BRITISH 2ND DIVISION COLDSTREAM GUARDS ETC

AN ORIGINAL CIGARETTE CARD ISSUED BY JOHN PLAYER AND SONS IN 1924 CELEBRATING THE BRITISH ARMY UNITS/DIVISIONS/CORPS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR.THE FRONT OF THE CARD SHOWS THE DIVISIONAL/UNIT SIGN AND ON THE REAR OF THE CARD IS A SHORT HISTORY OF THE UNIT AND SIGN. ORIGINAL CARD. NOT REPRODUCTION.

I AM NOT AN EXPERT ON CIGARETTE CARD CONDITIONS . I WILL LET YOU DECIDE FROM THE SCAN. HOWEVER IF YOU ARE NOT SATISFIED IN ANY WAY I OFFER A FULL 7 DAY RETURN NO QUIBBLE REFUND. I HAVE 100 % FEEDBACK.

THIS CARD WOULD LOOK MAGNIFICENT FRAMED EITHER ON IT'S OWN OR AS A COLLECTION.

PAYPAL ONLY PLEASE.

The British 2nd Division is a regular division of the British army, with a long history. It dates its existence as a permanently embodied formation from 1809, when it was established by Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Wellesley (later to become the Duke of Wellington) for service in the Peninsular War. (Prior to this, it was common for formations with the same number to be temporarily established for a single campaign and disbanded immediately afterwards; divisions remained a permanent part of the British Army's structure only after the Napoleonic Wars).

The division has long been associated with the north of England. The divisional insignia, the Crossed Keys of Saint Peter, were originally part of the coat of arms of the Diocese of York, and were adopted before or during the First World War.

World War I

The division was subsequently stationed on Salisbury Plain, and designated to be part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) which would be despatched in the case of general European war. When war did break out, the BEF was sent to support the French and Belgian armies. The division's commander at this point was Major General Charles Monro. The division took part in the long retreat from Mons, and suffered heavy casualties in the First Battle of Ypres.

The division served on the Western Front for the duration of the war. Although most of the division's regulars became casualties or were transferred to other formations, the division never lost its standing and reputation as a Regular formation. It fought in all the major battles on the Western Front.

After the war the division was part of the occupation force stationed at Cologne.

World War I formation

4th (Guards) Brigade :

• 2nd Battalion, the Grenadier Guards
• 2nd Battalion, the Coldstream Guards
• 3rd Battalion, the Coldstream Guards
• 1st Battalion, the Irish Guards
• 1/1st Battalion, The Hertfordshire Regiment (to 6th Bde. August 1915)

The brigade left the division on 20 August 1915 to join the Guards Division and was renamed the 1st Guards Brigade.

5th Brigade

• 2nd Battalion, the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
• 2nd Battalion, the Highland Light Infantry
• 17th (Service) Battalion, the Royal Fusiliers (from 99th Bde. December 1915, to 6th Bde. in February 1918)
• 24th (Service) Battalion, the Royal Fusiliers (from 99th Bde. December 1915)

The following battalions were part of the brigade during 1915.

• 1/7th Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment) (September 1915 to November 1915)
• 2nd Battalion, the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (January 1915 to July 1915)
• 2nd Battalion, The Worcestershire Regiment (August 1914 to December 1915)
• 1/9th Battalion (Glasgow Highlanders), the Highland Light Infantry (November 1914 to January 1916)
• 1st Battalion, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) (July 1915 to December 1915)

6th Brigade

• 1st Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment)
• 2nd Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment
• 13th (Service) Battalion (West Ham), The Essex Regiment
• 1st Battalion, the King's Royal Rifle Corps (to 99th Bde. December 1915)

The following battalions were part of the brigade during 1915.

• 1st Battalion, the Royal Berkshire Regiment (August 1914 to December 1915)
• 1/5th Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment) (February 1915 to December 1915)
• 1/7th Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment) (March 1915 to September 1915)
• 1/1st Battalion, The Hertfordshire Regiment (August 1915 to June 1916)

The 17th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers joined the brigade from the 5th Brigade in February 1918.

19th Brigade (19 August 1915 to 25 November 1915) :

• 2nd Battalion, the Royal Welch Fusiliers
• 1st Battalion, the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
• 1/5th Battalion, the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
• 1st Battalion, The Middlesex Regiment
• 2nd Battalion, the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders

The brigade joined the division in August 1915 from the 27th Division and left in November for the 33rd Division, where it swapped with the 99th Brigade.

99th Brigade

• 22nd (Service) Battalion, the Royal Fusiliers
• 23rd (Service) Battalion, the Royal Fusiliers
• 1st Battalion, the Royal Berkshire Regiment (from 6th Bde. December 1915)
• 1st Battalion, the King's Royal Rifle Corps (from 6th Bde. December 1915)

The brigade joined the division from the 33rd Division in November 1915. The following battalions left the brigade shortly afterwards:

• 17th (Service) Battalion, the Royal Fusiliers (to 5th Bde. December 1915)
• 24th (Service) Battalion, the Royal Fusiliers (to 5th Bde. December 1915)
• 1/5th Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment) (from 6th Bde. December 1915)