Organisation of the British Army in the Great War
To help organisation in World War One
, the army had units of different sizes to allow the commanders
to provide the right number of men for the front line and for
the logistics needed to support them.
The smallest unit was a section, made
up of 10 to 15 men, led by a Lance Corporal.
Four sections made up a platoon, led
by a Lieutenant.
Four platoons made up a company, led
by a Captain.
4 companies made up a battalion which
was led by a Lt-Colonel
Each battalion was then part of a brigade which
consisted of three to six battalions although in World War One
it tended to consist of four battalions.
The commander of a Brigade was a
Brigadier General who would have his own HQ and command team.
A division would be
made up of a number of Brigades, often as many as eight or nine
in WW1.
The makeup would provide the skills
required i.e. infantry, machine gun corps, cavalry, artillery,
engineers, medical corps and specialist units such as
veterinary, service corps, cyclist etc.
A division was under the control of a
Major-General who controlled as many as 10,000 men.
Divisions were then allocated large
tasks like holding a long stretch of front line trenches, taking
a specific targets or garrisoning a large area. The General was
then able to allocate individual tasks to the Divisions who
themselves would allocate tasks from their resources.
Two divisions made up a corps led by
a Lieutenant General
Two corps or Four divisions made up
an army which was led by a General.
During the course of World War One
there were five British armies fighting.
For details of the Divisions and
Brigades in which Essex battalions served during World War
One Click Here