Third Infantry Division (British)

Third Infantry Division (British). “The Iron Division”. Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington, formed the division in 1809 to serve in the Peninsula War. Known during the Napoleonic Wars as the "Fighting Third," the division fought at the Battle of Waterloo and later in the Crimean War and Second Boer War. Established as a Regular Army division in World War I, it was among the first sent to France. Earning its nickname in the savage fighting of 1916, the "Iron Division" served four years on the Western Front. Redeployed to France early in 1939, the Third Division was in the British Expeditionary Force whose "typically British" evacuation from Dunkirk (26 May-3 June 1940) J. B. Priestley characterized as "so absurd, yet so grand and gallant" (BBC Broadcast, 5 June 1940). , , Some four years after falling back from France on 31 May 1940, the Iron Division returned, landing on Sword Beach (Queen White sector) under Major General T. G. "Tom" Rennie, who commanded until wounded by a mine on 13 June. Writ large, the division's D-Day tasks were to protect the invasion's eastern flank and take Caen by nightfall. In the event, the Iron Division was the 1 Corps force landing farthest from its inland objective, the last division to land, and the most vulnerable to counterattack. Coming ashore at 0725 in a single-brigade front, the 8th Brigade landed slightly west of the Orne River. The 185th and 9th Brigades followed. By 1130 the 185th Brigade was ashore on Queen Red, but the reserve 9th Brigade did not get in until midafternoon. , , Despite limited maneuver room in a tidal flat much reduced by the wind driven flood, the 8th Brigade forced exits from Queen White. Elements of its 1st South Lancashire Regiment fought toward Hermanville-sur-Mer; its 2nd East Yorkshire Regiment cleared enemy positions south of Ouistreham. Its 1st Suffolk Regiment pressed south of Colleville-sur-Orne to capture strongpoint "Morris" with its four field guns then assault strongpoint "Hillman" (Headquarters of the German 736th Grenadier Regiment) which did not fall until 2000 hours. , , The battle plan called for the 185th Brigade, led by the King's Shropshire Light Infantry (SLI) aboard tanks of the attached 27th Armored Brigade, to spearhead the push for Caen: as the KSLI punched down the Hermanville-Caen road, the 2nd Warwickshire and 1st Norfolk Regiments would clear the flanks. Congestion on the beach, enemy artillery, and heavy resistance at Hillman delayed the attack, however. By 1600 hours, the tank-mounted KSLI had secured Biéville, but in the day's sole armored counterattack, the German 21st Panzer Division forced the regiment to dig in for the night. By morning, the 21st Panzer Division had reinforced the Lébisey-La Londe ridge, setting the stage for the long struggle for Caen that would ensue until its fall on 9 July. , , The strong disposition of enemy armor between the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division and 185th Brigade persuaded the 1 Corps Commander, Lieutenant General J. T. Crocker, and Maj. Gen. Rennie to abandon the planned inland thrust of the 9th Brigade and order it instead to Pegasus Bridge to reinforce the 6th Airborne Division (British) and defend the Orne River crossings, On D-Day, the 9th Brigade stopped for the night, facing west on the high ground between Périers-sur-le-Dan and St. Aubin d'Arquenay. Though Caen remained untaken for a month, the Iron Division preserved the invasion's left flank while preventing the enemy from disengaging forces to counterattack the Allied advances elsewhere. , , In tribute to the men of the Third Infantry Division (British) whose valor, fidelity, and sacrifice on D-Day and beyond honored their Iron Division forebears and inspired their successors. Given by Mr. and Mrs. J. Dale Harvey Il and family and dedicated on Memorial Day 2007.