The British 34th Division was a New Army division formed in April France on January 1916 and spent the duration of the First World War in action on the Western Front.

The division was originally made up of Pals battalions, notably the 10th Lincolns, known as the Grimsby Chums, and two brigades of Northumberland Fusiliers; the Tyneside Scottish and Tyneside Irish. The division's first major action was the attack at La Boisselle on the first day of the Battle of the Somme during which the division suffered heavy casualties and many of the original Pals were killed.

Unit history

Formation

101st Brigade 

• 10th (Service) Battalion (Grimsby Chums), The Lincolnshire Regiment (to 103rd Bde February 1918)
• 11th (Service) Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment (until May 1918)
• 15th (Service) Battalion (1st Edinburgh), The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) (until May 1918)
• 16th (Service) Battalion (2nd Edinburgh), The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) (until May 1918)
• 2/4th Battalion (TF) , The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) (from June 1918)
• 2nd Battalion, The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment (from June 1918)

102nd (Tyneside Scottish) Brigade 

The original Tyneside Scottish battalions were:

• 20th (Service) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers
• 21st (Service) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers
• 22nd (Service) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers
• 23rd (Service) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers

In February 1918 the 20th and 21st Battalions were disbanded and in June the 22nd (3rd Tyneside Scottish) joined the 48th Brigade, 16th (Irish) Division while the 23rd Battalion (4th Tyneside Scottish) joined the 116th Brigade, 39th Division.

• 25th (Service) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (from February 1918 until June 1918)
• 1/4th Battalion, The Cheshire Regiment (from July 1918)
• 1/7th Battalion, The Cheshire Regiment (from July 1918)
• 1/1st Battalion, The Herefordshire Regiment (from June 1918)

103rd (Tyneside Irish) Brigade 

The original Tyneside Irish battalions were:

• 24th (Service) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers
• 25th (Service) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers
• 26th (Service) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers
• 27th (Service) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers

In February 1918, the 24th, 26th and 27th Battalions were disbanded and the 25th Battalion (2nd Tyneside Irish) transferred to the 116th Brigade, 39th Division. For the remainder of the war, the brigade structure was:

• 1st Battalion, The East Lancashire Regiment (from February 1918 until May 1918)
• 10th (Service) Battalion (Grimsby Chums), The Lincolnshire Regiment (from 101st Bde February 1918 until June 1918)
• 1/5th (Dumfries and Galloway) Battalion, The King's Own Scottish Borderers (from June 1918)
• 1/8th Battalion, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) (from June 1918)
• 1/5th (Renfrewshire) Battalion, The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders (from June 1918)

Between 6 July and 22 August 1916, the 102nd and 103rd Brigades, which had been effectively wiped out during the first day on the Somme, were transferred to the 37th Division, being replaced by the 111th and 112th Brigades. In this period the 37th Division was holding the line on a quiet sector at Vimy Ridge.

Battles

• Battle of the Somme (1916)

External links

• The British Army in the Great War: The 34th Division (http://www.1914-1918.net/34div.htm)