The British 4th Infantry Division.

[leigh kitchen]

Originally formed in 1809 by The Duke of Wellington, for participation in the Peninsular War. Present at the Battle of Waterloo, it held the British right flank & took no active part in the fighting, although afterwards itt captured the town of Cambrai.

The 4th Division fought in the Crimean War in the Battle of Alma, the Battle of Inkerman, & the Battle of Balaclava, & during WWI it was one of the first regular army divisions to go to France at the outbreak of waras part of The British Expeditionary Force.

It served on the Western Front for the duration, being was present during all the major offensives including the Battles of the Marne, Ypres, Somme & Passchendaele.

During WWII the 4th Infantry Division, along with the 3rd Infantry Division was part of 2nd Corps, British Expeditionary Force, arriving in France in October 1939.

During the evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940, it held the west flank of the Dunkirk perimeter.

It spent the next two years in the United Kingdom.

It later served took part n Operation Torch & served in North Africa with First Army & with The Central Mediteranian Force in Italy, taking part in the Battle of Monte Cassino.

In November 1944 it was sent Greece.

It was reformed from the 11th Armoured Division as part of The British Army of The Rhine in 1956, & redesignated 4th Armoured Division on 1/1/1978, part of1st British Corps in Germany. The Division ceased its armoured role on 1/7/1993.

Its original badge was the fourth quadrant of a crcle, in red, but this was later changed to a red circle with one quadrant displaced, on a white square, later still by the same design but on a black square.

In 1995 a completely new design of badge was adopted, featuring a lions head on a circular background.

Printed examples of the 4th Division badge: