 the british army's 8th infantry division was active in both the first world war and the second world war. ==history== the british 8th division was a regular army division that was formed by combining battalions returning from outposts in the british empire at the outbreak of the first world war. major-general francis davies took command on 19 september 1914. the division moved to france in november, 1914, following the first battle of ypres. the division fought on the western front for the duration of the war, taking part in the battle of neuve chapelle, the battle of aubers ridge, the battle of the somme (1916) and the third battle of ypres. brigadier-general r. oxley took acting command of the division on 27 july 1915, being succeeded by major-general havelock hudson on 1 august 1915. major-general w. heneker took over on 10 december 1916. major-general sir bernard montgomery commanded the 8th infantry division from 1938 to july 1939, followed by major-general reade godwin-austen. the 8th infantry division was never a complete formation during the second world war. in 1939 it was based in palestine and consisted of two infantry brigades (14th and 16th brigades). due to the needs of defence against german and italian forces these units were sent to places of need and reformed as different formations. although it had infantry it had no divisional troops due to the shortage of artillery and engineers in the middle-east. ==first world war composition== ; 23rd brigade : *2nd battalion, the devonshire regiment *1st battalion, the prince of wales's own (west yorkshire regiment) *2nd battalion, the cameronians (scottish rifles) (until february 1918) *1/6th battalion, the cameronians (scottish rifles) (from march 1915 until june 1915) *2nd battalion, the middlesex regiment *1/7th battalion, the middlesex regiment (from march 1915 until february 1916) ; 24th brigade : *1st battalion, the worcestershire regiment *1st battalion, the sherwood foresters *2nd battalion, [[the north
1914_establishments_in_the_United_Kingdom British_World_War_II_divisions Divisions_of_the_United_Kingdom_in_World_War_I Infantry_divisions_of_the_United_Kingdom Military_units_and_formations_established_in_1914