Order of battle for the Battle of the Somme

This is the order of battle for the Battle of the Somme. The Battle of the Somme was an offensive fought on the Western Front during World War I from 1 July to 18 November 1916 as one of the greatest engagements of the war. It was fought between French, British and Dominion forces and the German Empire in the Somme River valley and vicinity in northern France.

British and Dominion forces
In typical British county regiments, the 1st and 2nd Battalions were regular army, the 3rd was the special reserve battalion which did not normally serve overseas but remained at home as the regimental depot and training unit, from which replacements were sent to the regular battalions. The 4th, 5th and 6th Battalions were normally Territorial Force battalions. Amongst the terms of service in the Territorial Force, service outside the United Kingdom was voluntary. Territorial battalions raised second line battalions which would be numbered 2/4th, 2/5th and 2/6th, initially from men who declined to volunteer for overseas service. The number of battalions depended on the recruitment potential of the area from which the battalions were raised (the Dorsetshire Regiment raised eleven battalions, whilst the London Regiment managed to raise eighty-eight battalions). Regular army divisions were numbered 1st to 8th. "New Army" divisions of Kitchener's Army raised after the outbreak of war were numbered 9th to 26th. The 27th to 29th Divisions were Regular army divisions made up from units recalled from garrisons around the empire. The 30th to 41st were New Army and the 42nd to 74th were Territorial. The 63rd Division (Royal Naval Division) was made up from Naval Reserves and did not follow this numbering pattern.

Army

 * British Expeditionary Force: Commander: General Sir Douglas Haig (since 10 December 1915)
 * Third Army: Army Commander: General Sir Edmund Allenby
 * Fourth Army: The Fourth Army was formed on 5 February 1916. Army Commander: General Sir Henry Rawlinson.
 * Reserve Army: The Reserve Army was formed on 23 May 1916 and took over VIII and X Corps from the Fourth Army on 4 July 1916, during the Battle of Albert. Army Commander: General Sir Hubert Gough
 * Fifth Army: The Reserve Army was renamed the Fifth Army on 30 October 1916

Corps

 * II Corps. Corps Commander: Lieutenant-General Claud Jacob
 * III Corps. Corps Commander: Major-General Henry Hudson later replaced by Lieutenant-General Sir William Pulteney
 * V Corps. Corps Commander: Lieutenant-General Edward Fanshawe
 * VII Corps. Corps Commander: Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas d'Oyly Snow
 * VIII Corps. Corps Commander: Lieutenant-General Aylmer Hunter-Weston
 * X Corps. Corps Commander: Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Morland
 * XIII Corps. Corps Commander: Lieutenant-General Walter Congreve VC
 * XIV Corps. Corps Commander: Lieutenant-General Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan
 * XV Corps. Corps Commander: Lieutenant General D.M.G. Campbell, then Lt–Gen Henry Horne then Lt–General John du Cane
 * Canadian Corps. Corps Commander: Lieutenant-General the Honourable Sir Julian Byng
 * ANZAC Corps. Corps Commander: Lieutenant-General Sir William Birdwood
 * Machine Gun Corps

French Sixth Army, which contained British or Dominion forces:
 * 20th Army Corps. The 11th and 39th Divisions were attached to the French XX Corps (Sixth Army) for the opening days of the battle.
 * 35th Army Corps. The British 2nd Division was detached to XXXV Corps, Sixth Army.

Formations per battle
Refer following section titled "Divisions" for brigades, regiments and battalions associated with each division participating in the listed battles. Battle nomenclature and participating units information taken from source British Army Council Command Notice 1138 unless stated.

Battle of Albert: 1–13 July

 * Capture of Montauban
 * Capture of Mametz
 * Capture of Fricourt
 * Capture of Contalmaison
 * Capture of La Boisselle

Battle of Bazentin Ridge: 14–17 July

 * Capture of Longueval
 * Capture of Trônes Wood
 * Capture of Ovillers

Battle of Pozières: 23 July – 3 September

 * Fighting for Mouquet Farm

Battle of Flers-Courcelette: 15–22 September

 * Capture of Martinpuich



Battle of Morval: 25–28 September

 * Capture of Combles
 * Capture of Lesbœufs
 * Capture of Gueudecourt

Battle of Le Transloy: 1–18 October

 * Capture of Eaucourt l'Abbaye
 * Capture of Le Sars
 * Attacks on the Butte de Warlencourt

Battle of the Ancre Heights: 1–18 October

 * Capture of Schwaben Redoubt
 * Capture of Stuff Redoubt
 * Capture of Regina Trench

Battle of the Ancre: 13–16 November

 * Capture of Beaumont-Hamel

Royal Flying Corps

 * No. 1 Squadron RFC
 * No. 2 Squadron RFC
 * No. 3 Squadron RFC
 * No. 4 Squadron RFC
 * No. 6 Squadron RFC
 * No. 9 Squadron RFC
 * No. 10 Squadron RFC
 * No. 41 Squadron RFC
 * No. 70 Squadron RFC

French forces
A majority of the French Divisions were triangular divisions – comprising three regiments, with each regiment containing three battalions. During the Battle of Verdun, General Pétain had rotated the French Divisions through the battle – resulting in a large number of divisions entering the Battle of the Somme with experience.

Army and corps organisation
List of Army/Corps/Divisions involved taken from Organigramme des Grandes Batailles.

Army

 * Northern Army Group (Groupe d'armées du Nord) Commander: General Ferdinand Foch
 * Sixth Army: Army Commander: General Marie Émile Fayolle
 * Tenth Army: Army Commander: General Joseph Alfred Micheler

Corps
(Note: A majority of the corps and divisions were transferred from other armies during the battle.)
 * I Corps. Corps Commander: General Adolphe Guillaumat
 * II Corps. Corps Commander: General Denis Auguste Duchêne
 * V Corps. Corps Commander: General Antoine Baucheron de Boissoudy
 * VI Corps. Corps Commander: General Marie Jean Auguste Paulinier
 * VII Corps. Corps Commander: General Georges de Bazelaire
 * IX Corps. Corps Commander: General Horace Fernand Achille Pentel
 * XI Corps. Corps Commander: General Charles Mangin
 * XX Corps. Corps Commander: Generals Georges Prosper Anne Claret de la Touche and Émile Alexis Mazillier
 * XXI Corps. Corps Commander: General Paul Maistre
 * XXX Corps. Corps Commander: General Paul Chrétien
 * XXXII Corps. Corps Commander: Generals Henri Mathias Berthelot and Marie-Eugène Debeney
 * XXXIII Corps. Corps Commander: General Alphonse Nudant
 * XXXV Corps. Corps Commander: General Charles Jacquot
 * I Colonial Corps. Corps Commander: General Pierre Berdoulat
 * II Colonial Corps. Corps Commander: General Ernest Joseph Blondlat
 * I Cavalry Corps. Corps Commander: General Louis Conneau
 * II Cavalry Corps. Corps Commander: General Antoine de Mitry

Infantry divisions

 * 1st Infantry Division
 * 2nd Infantry Division
 * 3rd Infantry Division
 * 4th Infantry Division
 * 10th Infantry Division
 * 11th Infantry Division
 * 12th Infantry Division
 * 13th Infantry Division
 * 14th Infantry Division
 * 17th Infantry Division
 * 18th Infantry Division
 * 20th Infantry Division
 * 25th Infantry Division
 * 26th Infantry Division
 * 39th Infantry Division
 * 41st Infantry Division
 * 42nd Infantry Division
 * 43rd Infantry Division
 * 45th Infantry Division
 * 46th Infantry Division
 * 47th Infantry Division
 * 48th Infantry Division
 * 51st Infantry Division
 * 53rd Infantry Division
 * 56th Infantry Division
 * 61st Infantry Division
 * 62nd Infantry Division
 * 66th Infantry Division
 * 70th Infantry Division
 * 72nd Infantry Division
 * 77th Infantry Division
 * 120th Infantry Division
 * 121st Infantry Division
 * 125th Infantry Division
 * 127th Infantry Division
 * 132nd Infantry Division
 * 152nd Infantry Division
 * 153rd Infantry Division
 * Moroccan Infantry Division
 * 2nd Colonial Infantry Division
 * 3rd Colonial Infantry Division
 * 10th Colonial Infantry Division
 * 15th Colonial Infantry Division
 * 16th Colonial Infantry Division

Cavalry divisions

 * 1st Cavalry Division
 * 2nd Cavalry Division
 * 3rd Cavalry Division
 * 4th Cavalry Division

German: 2nd Army
German order of battle derived from Hart, Appendix C unless stated. Commander: General der Infanterie Fritz von Below On 19 July, split into the 1st Army (opposite the British) and the 2nd Army, Commander: General der Artillerie Max von Gallwitz (opposite the French) with authority over the 1st Army as Armeegruppe Gallwitz-Somme, this was not an army group, the term for which was Heeresgruppe Chief of the German General Staff: General der Infanterie Erich Falkenhayn (until 28 August 1916), Generalfeldmarschall Paul von Hindenburg. German divisions were being converted from square to triangular, hence some had four infantry regiments, others had three.