38th ( Welsh ) Infantry Division The 38th ( Welsh ) Infantry Division was a British Army division . A 38th Division was in existence in both the First and Second World Wars , but not between the wars and there is no direct link between the two formations . The division ' s insignia was The Red Dragon of Wales . During the Second World War the insignia was changed to the cross of Saint David ( yellow , on a black background ) . World War I . The 38th ( Welsh ) Division ( originally numbered 43rd ) , was a New Army division formed in December 1914 comprising battalion s from Wales which were raised by public subscription and private patronage . It was intended to be half of a Welsh Army Corps . Authorisation to create these new divisions , part of Kitchener ' s Army , was given on 10 October 1914 . In the event , only the 38th Division was created , and the Welsh Army Corps , which had the support of David Lloyd George , never formed . The division began moving to France in November 1915 and was in action by December 1915 . It spent the duration of the First World War in action on the Western Front until the Armistice of 1918 . The division ' s single action of 1916 was the capture of Mametz Wood during the Battle of the Somme — it was so badly mauled that it did not return to major action for over a year , when it successfully captured the Pilckem Ridge on 31 July 1917 , during the Battle of Pilckem Ridge . There is now a memorial at Mametz Wood in honour of the division ( see second link below ) . It was later involved in the Third Battle of Ypres and the Battle of Epehy . The division was , for a fifth line Kitchener formation , relatively successful and well regarded . The division was disbanded between 1918 and 1920 . Order of Battle in World War I . Infantry . 113th Brigade : 114th Brigade 115th Brigade Pioneers Divisional Artillery . The following artillery units served with 38th Division : CXIX Brigade Royal Field Artillery CXX Brigade Royal Field Artillery CXXI Brigade Royal Field Artillery CXXII ( Howitzer ) Brigade Royal Field Artillery Trench Mortars The field artillery brigade numbers and existing personnel were transferred from the original 30th ( CXIX , CXX and CXXI ) and 31st Divisions ( CXXII ) when the ' Fourth New Army ' was broken up in April 1915 to provide reserve units . CXXII Brigade exchanged a battery with each of the others on 24 May 1916 , with the result that all four brigades had a howitzer battery ( designated D Battery ) . In August 1916 the brigades were reorganised again so that each had two 6 - gun batteries and a 4 - gun howitzer battery , CXX Brigade disappearing in the process . CXIX Brigade left in January 1917 to become Army Field Artillery . A further reorganisation in June 1917 saw CXXI and CXXII Brigades return to an establishment of three field and one howitzer battery , each of six guns . 38 Heavy Battery Royal Garrison Artillery was raised for the division but left before June 1915 ; it later went to France in 1916 as part of XLII Heavy Artillery Group . The divisional artillery remained at Larkhill to complete their training when the rest of the division embarked for France in December 1915 . I , II , III and IV ( H ) London Field Brigades , which were already in France with 36th ( Ulster ) Division , served with 38th Division until January 1916 when 56th ( London ) Division was reformed . 38th Divisional Artillery rejoined the division in France on 28 December 1915 . Brigade Ammunition Columns were disbanded and absorbed by 38th Divisional Ammunition Column in May 1916 . During the army - wide reorgansation of February 1918 , Z Trench Mortar Battery was split up between X and Y batteries , and V Heavy Trench Mortar Battery joined XV Corps . World War II . In 1939 , the British government ordered the expansion of the Territorial Army , including the creation of a second line of infantry divisions . The 53rd ( Welsh ) Infantry Division provided officers and men , but little equipment for the new 38th ( Welsh ) Infantry Division . The second line Welsh territorial division had not seen service in France during the First World War , so that the 38th Division had a much more prestigious record . The division again included the 113th , 114th and 115th Infantry Brigades , although the battalions which they commanded had no relation to those of the First World War division . The division remained in the United Kingdom throughout the war . From 1943 the division was placed on the lower establishment , meaning that it had fewer men and less equipment than first line formations . In January 1944 it became a reserve training division and its brigades were detached . While reformed on paper in September 1944 , this was simply a deception exercise and the original 38th division was disbanded . Its number was assumed by the 80th Division , a training formation which provided men for the British forces in North - West Europe . This new 38th division was again disbanded at the end of the war .