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UK Armoured Division

1 (UK) Armoured Division has existed in the British Army since 1809 when the Duke of Wellington formed it, in Portugal, from two British brigades and one Hanoverian brigade of the King's German Legion. Therefore, since its inception in the 1800s 1 Div has had strong links with this part of Germany.

The Division has been stationed in Germany since June 1960, as part of NATO, first in Verden an der Aller and since 1993 here in Herford. The 1st (UK) Armoured Division is now the only British division to be stationed in Germany, from a peak of 4 divisions during the height of the Cold War, though it is not the only element of the British Forces in Germany. The Support Command is based in Rheindahlen, (just outside Mönchengladbach), with some 3,600 personnel.
It is important to understand how 1 (UK) Armoured Division fits into Britain's contribution to NATO. In 1990, following the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the British Government conducted a defence review, which reduced the size of the British Army from 155,000 personnel to 116,000. The impact of this restructuring was that the British Army of the Rhine was reduced to a strength of 1 Armoured Division with supporting troops. That division is the 1st (UK) Armoured Division, which is now assigned as part of the UK's contribution to the Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps.