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_Division&sq=&lang=&file=File:British_3rd_Infantry_Division2.svg) Divisional insignia since 1940[1] | |
| Active | 18 June 1809 - present |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Armoured Infantry |
| Part of | Field Army |
| Garrison/HQ | Bulford Camp, Wiltshire |
| Nickname(s) | 1810–1814: Fighting 3rd From 1916: The Iron Division, Ironsides, or Iron Sides |
| Engagements | Napoleonic Wars Crimean War Second Boer War First World War Second World War Palestine Emergency Gulf War Iraq War |
| Website | Official website |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | James Martin |
| Insignia | |
| c. First World War | _Division&sq=&lang=&file=File:3rd_Division_WW1.svg) |
The 3rd (United Kingdom) Division, also known as The Iron Division, is a regular army division of the British Army. It was created in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, for service in the Peninsular War, and was known as the Fighting 3rd under Sir Thomas Picton during the Napoleonic Wars. The division fought at the Battle of Waterloo, as well as during the Crimean War and the Second Boer War. As a result of bitter fighting in 1916, during the First World War, the division became referred to as the 3rd (Iron) Division, or the Iron Division or Ironsides. During the Second World War, the division (now known as the 3rd Infantry Division) fought in the Battle of France including a rearguard action during the Dunkirk Evacuation, and played a prominent role in the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944. The division was to have been part of a proposed Commonwealth Corps, formed for a planned invasion of Japan in 1945–46, and later served in the British Mandate of Palestine. During the Second World War, the insignia became the "pattern of three" — a black triangle trisected by an inverted red triangle.
- ^ Cole p. 36