THE IRON DIVISION
3rd (United Kingdom) Division, based at the heart of the British Army on Salisbury Plain, is the only division at continual operational readiness in the UK.
'The Iron Division' is made up of 1st Deep Reconnaissance Brigade Combat Team, 12th Armoured Brigade Combat Team, 20th Armoured Brigade Combat Team, 11 Signals Brigade and 101st Operational Sustainment Brigade, 7th Air Defence Group and 25 (Close Support) Engineer Group, 4 Military Intelligence Battalion and 7 Military Intelligence Battalion.
The 3rd Division Today
3rd (United Kingdom) Division exists as the United Kingdom’s strategic land warfare asset.
As such the Division is able to bring to bear the considerable firepower of the British Army and concentrate the force which includes: Reconnaissance, Armoured Cavalry; Armoured and Mechanised Infantry, Aviation, Artillery, Engineers and Logistics; in what is referred to as “the full spectrum” of warfighting capability.
Concentrating on continual combat readiness, 3rd Division stands by to protect the UK, its people and project our influence as a world class Army.
Origins
The Iron Division can trace its history to 1809 in Spain when in the early years of the Peninsular War the future Duke of Wellington decided to adopt, for the first time in the British Army, a permanent divisional structure to help him combat the French.
The Division's first General Officer Commanding was Major General Thomas Picton and it remained part of the Army structure throughout the 19th Century. It fought at The Battle of Waterloo (1815), against the Russians in the Crimean War (1854-6) and in South Africa during the Second Boer War (1899-1900).
World Wars
The 20th Century saw the Division fight with distinction in the First and Second World Wars. In the First World War the Division was present at Mons (1914), Ypres (1915), the Somme (1916), Arras (1917) and finally as part of the occupation force of the Rhineland (1918-9) earning the nickname 'The Iron Division'.
In the Second World War the Division had two distinct phases. Firstly it was part of the British Expeditionary Force sent to France to stem the German advance, but having fought hard yet ultimately unsuccessfully, it was evacuated from Dunkirk.
The second saw it lead the assault on Sword Beach on D-Day and fight as part of 21st Army Group across northern Europe and into Germany in 1945.
Division Locations
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Headquarters
Bulford Camp, Wiltshire
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HQ 1st Deep Reconnaissance Strike Brigade
Delhi Barracks, Tidworth
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HQ 12th Armoured Brigade Combat Team
Bulford Barracks, Wiltshire
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HQ 20th Armoured Brigade Combat Team
Bulford Camp, Salisbury
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HQ 101 Logistic Brigade
St Omer Barracks, Aldershot
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HQ 7 Air Defence Group
Thorney Island, Hampshire
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HQ 25 Engineer Group
Bulford Camp, Salisbury
