6th (United Kingdom) Division

6th Division 6th Infantry Division 6th (United Kingdom) Division
The most recent iteration of the divisional insignia
Active	1810–1815 1899–1900 1904–1922 1939–1941 2008–2011 2019–2023
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Part of	Field Army
Garrison/HQ	Trenchard Lines, Upavon
Engagements	Napoleonic War Peninsula War Battle of Fuentes de Onoro Battle of Salamanca Battle of the Pyrenees Battle of Orthez Second Boer War First World War First Battle of Ypres Battle of the Somme Battle of Cambrai Battle of Épehy Irish War of Independence Second World War War in Afghanistan
Website	Official website
Commanders
Current commander	Major General Daniel Reeve
Insignia
c. Second World War
c. First World War

The 6th (United Kingdom) Division is an active division of the British Army, which has been raised numerous times as needed over the last 200 years. It was first established by Lieutenant-General Arthur Wellesley in 1810, for service in the Peninsular War (part of the Coalition Wars of the Napoleonic Wars) as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army. Over the following four years, the division took part in numerous battles and sieges. Notably, on 22 July 1812, the division was heavily engaged during the Battle of Salamanca and suffered the most casualties of any allied formation in that battle. Following the invasion of France, the formation played a prominent role in the 1814 Battle of Toulouse where it assaulted and seized numerous French redoubts protecting the city. While successful, the formation suffered heavy losses from the fighting. This battle marked the end of the Peninsular War and the War of the Sixth Coalition, and the division was broken-up. It was reformed and active for most of the following year, during the War of the Seventh Coalition; held in reserve at the beginning of the Battle of Waterloo, it was committed in the evening to bolster the centre-left of the British line and suffered heavy casualties in the process.

The division also took part in the Second Boer War and the First World War. It was active in the early stages of the Second World War, with its component brigades engaged in various parts of the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre. In the twenty-first century, the division was reformed on 1 February 2008, for Operation Herrick service in the War in Afghanistan. It was disbanded following deployment to Afghanistan as a combined joint task force, in 2011. The division was again reformed, by the renaming of Force Troops Command, in August 2019. It appears to have become Land Special Operations Forces on 1 December 2023.^[1]