29th Division (United Kingdom)

29th Division
Active	January 1915 – 1919
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Division
Nickname(s)	"Incomparable Division"
Engagements	First World War Gallipoli Campaign Landing at Cape Helles First Battle of Krithia Second Battle of Krithia Third Battle of Krithia Battle of Gully Ravine Battle of Sari Bair Battle of Krithia Vineyard Battle of Scimitar Hill Western Front Battle of the Somme Battle of Passchendaele Battle of Cambrai (1917)

The 29th Division, known as the Incomparable Division, was an infantry division of the British Army, formed in early 1915 by combining various Regular Army units that had been acting as garrisons around the British Empire. Under the command of Major-General Aylmer Hunter-Weston, the division fought throughout the Gallipoli Campaign, including the original landing at Cape Helles. From 1916 to the end of the war the division fought on the Western Front in Belgium and France.

According to the published divisional history (see reference below), 'The total casualties of the 29th Division amounted to something like 94,000. Gallipoli alone accounted for 34,000. This must be, if not a record, among the highest totals in any division … The number of Victoria Crosses won by members of this division was 27 (12 at Gallipoli). This constitutes a record'.^[1] A large commemorative Portland stone obelisk, built in 1921 to remember the Division's review by King George V before they were sent to Gallipoli, is located on a roundabout on the A45 just north of Stretton-on-Dunsmore, Warwickshire.^[2] A memorial to the 29th Division is located in Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial. Lieutenant-General Beauvoir De Lisle, wartime commander of the 29th British Division, unveiled the monument the morning of the official opening of the site on 7 June 1925.^[3]