The 6th Infantry Division was the last division planned as part of the
BEF of 1914. It took part in the fighting on the Aisne and the Battle of
Armentières in 1914; and then served in the Ypres salient for 18 months
(including its recapture of Hooge in August 1915), before its
translation to the Somme in 1916 to take part in the Battles of
Flers-Courcelette, Morval and the Transloy Ridges. In 1917 it was
involved in heavy fighting at Loos as a result of the Battle of Arras,
and again in the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917. In 1918 it would
bear the brunt of the German offensive as part of Third Army on 21
March, and would finish its war with Fourth Army in the Hundred Days
campaign from the Hindenburg Line onwards.
A brief operational history was published in 1920. This new history
covers the operations in detail, but devotes two chapters to study of
the division's commanders from its four major-generals to its battalion
COs; a chapter to the divisional and brigade staff; a chapter to
training and another on the development of divisional firepower; and
reviews medical services, engineering and logistics. The book seeks to
place the division within the context of the tactical and operational
development of the British Army in the First World War.