1st Armoured Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)
The 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army with a long history including service during both the First and the Second World Wars. It was based at Tidworth Camp. Previously, it has been designated 1st (Guards) Brigade, 1st Infantry Brigade, 1st Mechanised Brigade, and under the initial Army 2020 reforms assumed the title of 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade. Under the Future Soldier programme, the brigade merged with the 1st Artillery Brigade to form the 1st Deep Recce Strike Brigade Combat Team.
HM The King reviews the 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards at Bachy, France, December 1939.
History of the British 1st Division (1809–1909)
The 1st Division is an infantry division of the British Army that has been formed and disestablished numerous times since 1809 and is still currently active as the 1st Division. Lieutenant-General Arthur Wellesley raised the division for service in the Peninsular War, which was part of the Coalition Wars of the Napoleonic Wars. The division was disestablished in 1814 but reformed the following year for service in the War of the Seventh Coalition. It then fought at the Battle of Waterloo, where it repulsed numerous attacks, including the final attack of the day that was launched by the French Imperial Guard. Following the battle, the division marched into France and became part of the Army of Occupation before being disbanded a few years later.
Depiction of the French sortie at the Battle of Bayonne, April 1814, by William Heath and Thomas Sutherland (click to enlarge).
A depiction of Hougomont, after the battle, J.B. Romberg (1820).
Richard Caton Woodville's depiction of the division's attack during the Battle of the Alma, although it includes inaccurate uniforms.
British wounded, probably following the Battle of the Modder River, lying in a makeshift field dressing station.