6th Infantry Division ( United Kingdom ) The 6th Infantry Division was first established by Arthur Wellesley , 1st Duke of Wellington for service in the Peninsula War as part of the Anglo - Portuguese Army and was active for most of the period since , including the First World War and the Second World War . The modern division was reformed on 1 February 2008 , as a deployable two star Headquarters for service in Afghanistan during Operation Herrick . It was officially reformed with a parade and flag presentation at York on Tuesday 5 August 2008 and then closed in April 2011 . Peninsula War . The 6th Division was formed for service in the Peninsula War by Arthur Wellesley , 1st Duke of Wellington , it was present at the Battles of Fuentes de Onoro , Salamanca , Pyrenees and the Battle of Orthez . First World War . The British 6th Division was a Regular Army division that was sent to France on 9 September 1914 . It served on the Western Front for the duration of the First World War , first seeing action in the First Battle of Ypres as part of III Corps . In 1915 the division moved into the Ypres Salient to relieve troops that had fought in the Second Battle of Ypres . The Salient was relatively quiet for the rest of the year , except for an attack on the chateau at Hooge on 9 August . At the end of July 1916 the division was withdrawn , having suffered 11 , 000 casualties , and in September it was attached to XIV Corps where it joined in the Battle of the Somme by attacking the German fortification known as the Quadrilateral . It captured this area on 18 September . They then participated in the attacks on Morval and Le Transloy before being withdrawn on 20 October and moved into Corps Reserve . Total casualties on the Somme were 277 officers and 6 , 640 other ranks . In November the division moved to the relatively quiet La Bassée sector , and in March 1917 it went to the Loos sector where it conducted operations and trench raids around Hill 70 . It was withdrawn on 25 July , shortly before the final assault on the hill . From reserve , it then went to take part in the Battle of Cambrai as part of III Corps . Four days after the battle ended , the division was withdrawn to rest at Basseux . By February 1918 the division was manning the Lagnicourt Sector and was there on 22 March when the Germans launched their Spring Offensive which drove the division back and caused 3 , 900 casualties out of its 5 , 000 infantry . On 25 March the division was withdrawn to the Ypres Salient again as part of Second Army . By September the division was part of IX Corps and took part in the Battle of Epehy , participating in the general attack on St Quentin and The Quadrilateral that began on 18 September and ended with the Quadrilateral ' s capture on the 25th . The division ' s last two major assaults of the war were in October . On the 8th they captured Bohain and on the 18th they took the high ground overlooking the Sambre – Oise Canal that prepared the way for the Battle of the Sambre . First World War formation . The brigade transferred to the 24th Division in October 1915 , swapping with the 71st Brigade . Originally an independent brigade before being attached to the division , the 19th Brigade moved to the 27th Division in May , 1915 and was not replaced , reducing the division to the standard three infantry brigades . The brigade joined from the 24th Division in October 1915 , swapping with the 17th Brigade . Second World War . During the Second World War the division did not fight as a complete formation . On 3 November 1939 it was formed in Egypt by the redesignation of the British 7th Infantry Division , under the command of Major - General R . N . O ' Connor . On 17 June 1940 Divisional H . Q . became H . Q . Western Desert Force . The Division effectively ceased to exist . The Division reformed in Egypt on 17 February 1941 , under the command of Major - General John Evetts . From 7 to 19 April it was temporarily under command of Brigadier C . E . N . Lomax . On 18 June , when command of the allied forces fighting in the Syria - Lebanon Campaign on the southern front were reorganised , the divisional HQ was placed under Australian I Corps to command the remnants of " Gentforce " ( 5th Indian Infantry Brigade and 1st Free French Light Division ) . Two days later the division was joined from Egypt by 16th Infantry Brigade and on 29 June by 23rd Infantry Brigade . " Gentforce " force captured Damascus on 21 June . For the rest of the campaign , which ended with the Vichy French surrender on 11 July , the division was engaged with the support of Australian units in attempts to force the Damascus to Beirut road through the Anti - Lebanon mountains the entrance to which was dominated by the high Jebel Mazar . Despite intense efforts Vichy forces maintained control of the position and the main allied effort was switched to the advance on the coast . On 29 September 1941 Major - General Evetts left and Brigadier G . N . C . Martin took acting command . Eleven days later on 10 October that year it was redesignated the 70th Infantry Division , and Major - General Ronald Scobie assumed command . Second World War formation . Artillery Engineers British 22nd Infantry Brigade 6 Division 3 Nov 39 - 11 Mar 40 & 10 - 17 Jun 40 British 22nd Guards Brigade 6 Division 17 Feb - 6 Apr 41 British 14th Infantry Brigade 6 Division 29 Mar - 30 May 40 & 10 Jul - 9 Oct 41 British 16th Infantry Brigade 6 Division 23 Mar - 7 Jun 40 British 23rd Infantry Brigade 6 Division 29 Jun - 9 Oct 41 Twenty - First Century . On 26 July 2007 the Secretary of State for Defence announced that a new ' HQ 6 Division ' would reform to direct the International Security Assistance Force ' s Regional Command South in Afghanistan . Des Browne said ' In order to meet these temporary demands we have decided to augment the forces ’ command structure , and will temporarily establish an additional 2 - Star deployable HQ . It will be based in York and will be known as HQ 6 Division , with a core of 55 Service personnel , drawn from existing structures . We will keep our planning assumption under review but currently we assess this HQ will be established until 2011 . ' Major General J D Page OBE took command of the new HQ with effect from 1 February 2008 . The new divisional headquarters , " Headquarters 6th ( United Kingdom ) Division " , marked its formation with a parade and flag presentation in York 5 August 2008 . It had a clear focus on preparing brigades for Afghanistan and was based at Imphal Barracks , Fulford , York . During summer 2009 , the divisional headquarters was significantly reinforced and transformed into Combined Joint Task Force 6 before deploying to Afghanistan as Regional Command South in November 2009 . The division headquarters closed in April 2011 . Afghanistan War Formation . Regional Command South – Kandahar Airfield Task Force Helmand - " British 11th Light Brigade " Task Force Kandahar - " Canadian 1st Mechanized Brigade Group " Task Force Leatherneck - " US 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade " Task Force Uruzgan - " Dutch 11th Airmobile Brigade " Task Force Zabul - " Romanian 2nd Mountain Brigade " US 5th Brigade Combat Team , 2nd Infantry Division General Officers Commanding . Commanders have included :