THE ROYAL NAVAL DIVISION

The odd one out of all the British divisions of the 1914-18 War, the RN Division was formed in September 1914 from Royal Marines and surplus naval reservists, organized in battalions named after distinguished sailors in naval history - Hood, Nelson, Howe, Drake etc. After early action in defence of Antwerp the division went to Gallipoli where it landed in April 1915 and saw the campaign through to the end. In April the division was taken over by the War Office from the Admiralty and the following month it was moved to France; in July it was given the number 63. It remained on the Western Front for the rest of the war. Total casualties amounted to nearly 48,000. This is an excellent history by an accomplished writer and a well-known literary figure.