| Unit Name: | 6th Division 6th Infantry Division 6th (United Kingdom) Division |
| Dates: | Raised and disbanded numerous times between 1810 and present |
| Country: |  United Kingdom |
| Branch: | British Army |
| Battles: | 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.
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).
See also: General officer commanding.
| Appointment date | width=10% scope="col" | Rank | width=15% scope="col" | General officer commanding | width=45% scope="col" | Notes | class=unsortable width=5% scope="col" | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Major-General | The division was formed in Portugal from locally based British and Portuguese troops | ||||||
| 2 | Lieutenant-General | |||||||
| Temporary | Major-General | Commanded until 9 February 1812 when he was sent home as "[not] very fit to take charge of a large body". | ||||||
| Temporary | Major-General | |||||||
| 2 | Lieutenant-General | |||||||
| 3 | Major-General | Pack was wounded in action at the Battle of Sorauren on 28 July | ||||||
| Acting | Major-General | |||||||
| 4 | Major-General | |||||||
| 2 | Lieutenant-General | At the conclusion of the Peninsular War, in 1814, the division was disbanded in France. The final troops departed in June. | ||||||
| 5 | Lieutenant-General | On 11 April 1815, the division was reformed in Southern Netherlands. | ||||||
| Acting | Major-General | Lambert assumed temporary command while Cole was on his honeymoon. He commanded the division at the Battle of Waterloo. | ||||||
| 5 | Lieutenant-General | 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. | ||||||
| 6 | Lieutenant-General | 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. | ||||||
| 7 | Major-General | The division was reformed in England | [1] | |||||
| 8 | Major-General | On 12 May 1907, Stephenson relinquished command of the division. The division was then reorganised as the 4th Division. | [2] [3] | |||||
| 9 | Major-General | The 8th Division, based in Ireland, was reorganised as the 6th Division | [4] | |||||
| 10 | Major-General | [5] | ||||||
| 11 | Major-General | [6] | ||||||
| 12 | Major-General | 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. | ||||||
| 13 | Major-General | |||||||
| 14 | Major-General | |||||||
| 15 | Major-General | 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. | ||||||
| 16 | Major-General | 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. | ||||||
| 17 | Major-General | 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. | ||||||
| 18 | Major-General | The division was reformed in Egypt on this date. | ||||||
| Acting | Brigadier | |||||||
| 18 | Major-General | |||||||
| Acting | Brigadier | During this period, the division was transferred into besieged port of Tobruk and was redesignated as the 70th Infantry Division on 10 October 1941. | ||||||
| 19 | Major General | The division was reformed for the War in Afghanistan | ||||||
| 20 | Major General | The division was disbanded in 2011 | ||||||
| 21 | Major General | The division was reformed by the redesignation of Force Troops Command | [7] | |||||
| 22 | Major General | |||||||
| 23 | Major General |