# List of commanders of the British 2nd Division

The 2nd Division was an infantry division of the British Army, which was first formed in 1809 and finally disbanded in 2012. The division was commanded by a general officer commanding (GOC). In this role, he would receive orders from a level above him in the chain of command, and then use the forces within the division to undertake the mission assigned. In addition to directing the tactical battle the division was involved in, the GOC oversaw a staff and the administrative, logistical, medical, training, and discipline of the division. The division had 65 different permanent GOCs over its history that spanned 203 years.
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 2nd Division was formed on 18 June 1809 by Lieutenant-General Arthur Wellesley, and served in the Peninsular War (part of the Napoleonic Wars). After the Peninsular War ended in 1814, the division was disbanded only to be re-raised the following year when the War of the Seventh Coalition broke out. The division fought at the Battle of Waterloo, and played a pivotal role in the defeat of the final French attack of the day. The division's light infantry brigade flanked and attacked the French Imperial Guard, causing them to falter, and then retreat. The brigade then spearheaded the British general advance after the retreating French forces. In December 1818, the division was disbanded once again.
During the mid to late 19th century, several formations bore the name "2nd Division". The ones that fought in the Crimean War and the Second Boer War were considered to be part of the same lineage as the two that fought in the Napoleonic Wars by Everard Wyrall, who compiled the 2nd Division's First World War official history. Reformed in 1854, the division fought in the Crimean War against the Russian Empire. It served throughout the siege of Sevastopol, had a critical role in the Battle of Inkerman, and was stood down at the end of the war in 1856. A new 2nd Division was mobilised in 1899, for action in the Second Boer War. It took part in all the battles that comprised the Relief of Ladysmith, and was broken-up at the end of 1900 when conventional warfare ended. This allowed the division's personnel to be reassigned to mobile columns or to garrison towns, in an effort to combat the guerrilla tactics that the Boers employed.
In 1902, the division was reformed as a permanent formation. It was based at Aldershot, in southern England, prior to the First World War and during the inter-war period. In 1914, the division deployed to France shortly after the war started as part of the British Expeditionary Force. It served on the Western Front between 1914 and 1918. During the Second World War, the division was again deployed to France in the opening stages of the war. In the subsequent Battle of France, the division was forced to evacuate back to England. In 1942, the formation was transported to India, and subsequently fought in Burma in 1944 and 1945. In the post-war years, it formed part of the British Army of the Rhine in Germany. In 1976, the infantry division was transformed into an armoured formation based in Germany, but was disbanded at the end of 1982. The 2nd Division was then reformed in York, England, in 1983. Following the end of the Cold War, the division was once again disbanded. It was re-raised in 1994 as a training formation and maintained this role until 2012, when it was disbanded for the final time.

## General officer commanding

General officer commanding :
| No. | Appointment date | Rank | General officer commanding | Notes |
| 1 | 18 June 1809 | Major-General | Rowland Hill | The division was formed for the first time, during the Peninsular War, from troops based in Portugal. |
| N/A | 20 June 1810 | Major-General | James Leith | Leith was scheduled to take command of the division on this date, but never did. Instead, he was given command of the 5th Division. |
| Acting | 8 August 1810 | Major-General | William Stewart | Stewart became acting commander of the division, due to Hill being stricken with fever. |
| 2 | 29 November 1810 | Major-General | William Stewart | On this date, Stewart formally became the commander. |
| 1 | May 1811 | Major-General | Rowland Hill | Once Hill recovered from his period of sickness, he returned and retook command of the division. |
| Acting | 1812 | Lieutenant-General | Christopher Tilson-Chowne | Held the local rank of lieutenant-general. Alternatively known as Christopher Tilson and Christopher Chowne. |
| 2 | 1812/1813 | Major-General | William Stewart | Stewart returned to the peninsula in late 1812. At the division's next battle, the Battle of Maya in July 1813, Stewart was again in command. He was wounded in this battle. |
| Acting | 30 July 1813 | Major-General | William Pringle | Took temporary command of the division following William Stewart's injury during the Battle of Maya in July 1813. |
| Acting | 4 August 1813 | Major-General | George Walker | |
| 2 | September 1813 | Major-General | William Stewart | |
| 3 | May 1814 | Major-General | William Anson | At the conclusion of the Peninsular War, the division was disbanded in France. The final troops departed in June. |
| 4 | 11 April 1815 | Lieutenant-General | Henry Clinton | The division was reformed on this date from troops based in the Southern Netherlands. Clinton led the division from its inception through the Battle of Waterloo, and as part of the Army of Occupation that was based in France after the war. He held command until the division was disbanded in France, during December 1818. |
| 5 | 20 June 1854 | Lieutenant-General | George de Lacy Evans | The division was formed in Varna, Ottoman Bulgaria, from British troops who had been assembled, and had prepared to move to the Crimean peninsular during the Crimean War. |
| Acting | 1854 | Major-General | John Pennefather | Pennefather was acting commander of the division, after de Lacy Evans had been injured following a fall from his horse. He commanded the division at the Battle of Inkerman on 5 November 1854. |
| 6 | 23 January 1855 | Lieutenant-General | John Pennefather | In early 1855, Pennefather went on sick leave and an unknown officer took command. Pennefather returned to command by March 1855. |
| 7 | 19 July 1855 | Lieutenant-General | Edwin Markham | In 1856, after the end of the war, the division was disbanded in Crimea. |
| 8 | 9 October 1899 | Lieutenant-General | Francis Clery | A new 2nd Division was formed in England, and then moved to southern Africa to fight in the Second Boer War. Clery was a major-general when the division was mobilised, but given the temporary rank of lieutenant-general once in Africa. The division was broken up at the end of 1900, while still in southern Africa. |
| 9 | February 1900 | Major-General | Neville Lyttelton | Temporary commander, while Clery was ill |
| 10 | 1 April 1902 | Major-General | Charles Douglas | This marked the first time the 2nd Division was formed as a permanent formation, and not as raised on an ad hoc basis for a particular war. Douglas left his position on 12 February 1904. |
| 11 | 1 March 1904 | Major-General | Bruce Hamilton | Hamilton was also the commander of the 3rd Brigade, until 2 May 1904. On 12 February 1907, Hamilton ended his tenure as the divisional commander. |
| 12 | 12 May 1907 | Major-General | Theodore Stephenson | |
| 13 | 1 February 1910 | Major-General | Henry Lawson | |
| 14 | 1 February 1914 | Major-General | Archibald Murray | |
| 15 | 5 August 1914 | Major-General | Charles Monro | The division was dispatched to France on the outbreak of the First World War. |
| Acting | 26 December 1914 | Brigadier-General | Robert Fanshawe | |
| 16 | 1 January 1915 | Major-General | Henry Horne | |
| 17 | 5 November 1915 | Major-General | William Walker | |
| 18 | 27 December 1916 | Major-General | Cecil Pereira | Pereira held command for the duration of the war. In 1919, the division entered Germany. It was then renamed, and ceased to exist on 17 February 1919. |
| 19 | 28 June 1919 | Major-General | Richard Butler | The 2nd Division was reformed in England on this date |
| 20 | 3 April 1923 | Major-General | Peter Strickland | |
| 21 | 1 October 1926 | Major-General | Edmund Ironside | |
| 22 | 26 October 1928 | Major-General | Thomas Cubitt | Cubitt was promoted to lieutenant-general during his tenure as division commander. |
| 23 | 11 March 1931 | Major-General | Henry Jackson | |
| 24 | 11 March 1935 | Major-General | Archibald Wavell | |
| 25 | 19 August 1937 | Major-General | Henry Wilson | |
| 26 | 15 June 1939 | Major-General | Charles Loyd | The division was now known as the 2nd Infantry Division. On the outbreak of the Second World War, the division was dispatched to France. |
| Acting | 16 May 1940 | Brigadier | Francis Davidson | |
| 27 | 20 May 1940 | Major-General | Noel Irwin | During Irwin's tenure, the division was evacuated from France and returned to England. |
| Acting | 12 August 1940 | Brigadier | Charles Findlay | |
| Acting | 15 August 1940 | Brigadier | Gerald Gartlan | |
| 28 | 18 September 1940 | Major-General | Daril Watson | |
| 29 | 11 October 1941 | Major-General | John Grover | In April 1942, the division was dispatched to British India. |
| 30 | 8 July 1944 | Major-General | Cameron Nicholson | |
| Acting | 15 August 1944 | Brigadier | Michael West | |
| 30 | 23 August 1944 | Major-General | Cameron Nicholson | |
| Acting | 26 August 1944 | Brigadier | Henry Bourke | |
| 30 | 10 September 1944 | Major-General | Cameron Nicholson | |
| Acting | 13 September 1944 | Brigadier | Henry Bourke | |
| 30 | 24 September 1944 | Major-General | Cameron Nicholson | The division took part in the Burma campaign of 1944–45, and fought at the battles of Kohima and Mandalay. |
| Acting | 1 June 1945 | Brigadier | Henry Bourke | |
| 30 | 12 July 1945 | Major-General | Cameron Nicholson | |
| 31 | 1946 | Major-General | Robert Arkwright | |
| 32 | October 1946 | Major-General | John Churcher | After the conclusion of hostilities, the division absorbed the 36th Infantry Division. The division then moved to Malaya, and was disbanded in 1946. |
| 33 | February 1947 | Major-General | Philip Balfour | The division was reformed in Germany, by the re-designation of the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division. Balfour, who had been the GOC of the 53rd, retained his position. |
| 34 | November 1947 | Major-General | Philip Roberts | |
| 35 | 1949 | Major-General | Colin Callander | Callander ended his appointment on 26 April 1951 |
| 36 | 2 July 1951 | Major-General | Basil Coad | |
| 37 | 5 October 1954 | Major-General | John Wilsey | |
| 38 | 1 May 1956 | Major-General | Cosmo Nevill | |
| 39 | 16 April 1958 | Major-General | William Stirling | The formation was now known as the 2nd Division. |
| 40 | 8 February 1960 | Major-General | Alexander Williams | |
| 41 | 20 February 1962 | Major-General | Mervyn Butler | |
| 42 | 4 March 1964 | Major-General | Norman Wheeler | |
| 43 | 28 March 1966 | Major-General | John Sharp | Sharp ended his tenure in command on 1 December 1967 |
| 44 | 1 January 1968 | Major-General | Chandos Blair | |
| 45 | 15 March 1970 | Major-General | Rollo Pain | |
| 46 | 15 March 1972 | Major-General | John Archer | |
| 47 | 25 February 1974 | Major-General | Desmond Mangham | |
| 48 | 22 January 1976 | Major-General | Frank Kitson | Kitson took command of the division prior to and led it during its reorganisation into the 2nd Armoured Division. |
| 49 | 28 February 1978 | Major-General | Alexander Boswell | |
| 50 | 12 March 1980 | Major-General | Martin Farndale | Final commander of the 2nd Armoured Division. The division was disbanded in Germany at the end of 1983. |
| 51 | 1 January 1983 | Major-General | Patrick Palmer | The 2nd Infantry Division was reformed in England on this date. Palmer was made GOC North East District, in conjunction with commanding the division. |
| 52 | 12 January 1984 | Major-General | Peter Inge | Also the GOC North East District |
| 53 | 18 January 1988 | Major-General | Charles Guthrie | Also the GOC North East District |
| 54 | 13 November 1987 | Major-General | Murray Naylor | Also the GOC North East District |
| 55 | 30 October 1989 | Major-General | Michael Rose | Also the GOC North East District |
| 56 | 30 September 1991 | Major-General | Michael Walker | Also the GOC North East District. Walker was the final GOC of the 2nd Infantry Division, before it was disbanded in early 1992 as part of the 1990s Options for Change. |
| 57 | 1994 | Major-General | Patrick Cordingley | Cordingley became GOC Eastern District on 23 November 1992. The 2nd Division was refounded in 1994. |
| 58 | 1 July 1996 | Major-General | Dair Farrar-Hockley | |
| 59 | 14 May 1999 | Major General | Robert Gordon | This marks the first occasion of the hyphen being dropped from major-general in The London Gazette. |
| 60 | 18 November 2002 | Major General | Nick Parker | |
| 61 | 1 March 2004 | Major General | Euan Loudon | |
| 62 | 22 January 2007 | Major General | David McDowall | |
| 63 | 29 May 2009 | Major General | Andrew Mackay | Resigned from position in protest to the then ongoing operations in Afghanistan |
| 64 | 26 October 2009 | Major General | David Shaw | |
| 65 | 4 January 2012 | Major General | Nick Eeles | The division was disbanded in April 2012, as part of an army restructure. |