From there, they went by troop camels up the desert to Sidi Barrani. I think he was one of the Burgess newspaper family so he may have written his memoirs somewhere. Passing through Kohima was like viewing a scene of Flanders in the 1914-18 War with skeletons of trees with no leaves on them. By the outbreak of the Second World War (1939-45), 1st Battalion was back in Britain. [13] Due to the daytime (or shift working) occupations of the men in the LAA troops, the troops required eight times the manpower of an equivalent regular unit.[14]. Almost the last sight of land which we had before going out into the Atlantic Ocean was the coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, where my wife, Hazel, was then living and where she stayed for most of the war. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. During the siege, after being the Western Desert Force the Division became the 70th British Division. As an example, the three-line battalions of the 4th Borderers were numbered as the 1/4th, 2/4th, and 3/4th respectively. joined 23rd Brigade as a reserve brigade in the 4th Indian Division. The battalion spent an unpleasant time bivouacking without cover, but eventually formed up for embarkation on river transport. The 4th Battalion The Border Regiment had been guarding the Lines of Communications in France since November 1939, but they, inevitably, became heavily engaged in the German onslaught. An account of the visit is contributed to WW2 Peoples War. You might also try writing to (or visiting) the Town Hall in Rennes and asking what records they might have. The regiment's territorial components formed duplicate second and third line battalions. Repatriation to the U.K. had begun for those with three years and eight months overseas service, so the strength of the battalion was gradually diminishing. All of the component units were federalized during the Spanish American War as the Second Infantry, Texas Volunteers. moved from Aleppo to a town called Idlib, some distance away, where we remained for a further three weeks, and then returned to the military barracks in Aleppo. 'D Company' held on to Incheville for several days until they ran short of ammunition. I only know a little about that area and that incident, but if 'Ouest France' has featured the story, then I am sure there must be many details available about what happened. The only change to the regiment's structure during the period of 18811908 occurred in 1900, when a new volunteer battalion was raised, namely the 3rd (Cumberland) Volunteer Battalion. We arrived at Avonmouth Docks in Bristol and embarked on the liner Orontes. World War II Iraq War. The 4th and 5th landed with the Army in the Crimea in 1854 and fought at the Battles of Alma and Inkerman. (d.11th June 1940) Fearon William Milburn. where they had an airstrip. I met here one Sheikh Hamoudi, who was a friend of Lawrence of Arabia, and Glubb Pasha. This was a well-planned and executed campaign, overcoming incredible supply difficulties. At the end of the training period, the battalion was not only highly trained in jungle and Chindit operations but, with the constant exercise and increased rations, was very fit. It went on to serve in many British Army campaigns until 1958, when it was merged into The Kings Regiment (Manchester and Liverpool). There was much suffering but also much success, including the taking of many prisoners. entrained in a railway tunnel in Malvern presumably for security reasons, although the whole town knew that we were leaving for overseas. Both predecessor regiments were affiliated with counties just south of the English-Scottish border, in what is now Cumbria, and so the new unit was named The Border Regiment. We set sail down the Bristol Channel on 21st March. These were awarded 66 battle honours and four Victoria Crosses. those of the BBC. Have a look at pages 181-187. No ground action was experienced by the Bn. The 4th Battalion of the Borders were given the task of clearing the woods that were partially held by the Germans. So, following in the footsteps of their fathers and uncles of the Great War, the men of Cumberland and Westmorland went down to the battle alongside the Queen's Bays of the 2nd Armoured Brigade. This infantry regiment was first raised in 1702. At 3.45pm Orders issued in accordance with above and 4th Batt. The other regular battalion were hastily brought home from the East, Kings Own to fight in France, and Border to join the Incomparable 29th Div. All the RAF and British troops were tehn withdrawn, and there was this mad dash to get to the ports. The training was severe and, apart from the tactical training, consisted, quite frequently, of marching up to 40 miles a day with full equipment. The size of a regiment could range from 1,000 to 5,000 troops. It then participated in the Cherbourg Peninsula operation while attached to 2nd Armored Division from 19 July through 2 August 1944. It deployed to the Western Front in March 1916, remaining there for the rest of the conflict. For any other comments, please Contact Us. Another of the companies reached the north bank of the Somme and were engaged in mortar machine gun and rifle exchanges with the Germans. At this time, the Japanese advance into India west of the Chindwin had begun and we were quite ignorant of the exact location of the forward Japanese troops and felt that there was a threat to the railway line with its many bridges, but we arrived safely without incident at Mariani. In Suez Harbour lay the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth, which were transporting Australians to Egypt and Italian prisoners to Australia, and the Mauritania. The HQ of the battalion was in Kendal, then in Westmorland. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not 1st Battalion was again in Burma on the outbreak of the First World War (1914-18), having returned there in 1910. As we were not now in touch with the two platoons on roadblocks, and as I was not an infantry officer and Major Scott was wounded, it was decided to withdraw as the party was no longer large enough to carry out an assault on the strong point on the hill from which the LMG fire had come. After re-training for D-Day, the battalion eventually had to wait until August 1944 to deploy to North-West Europe. WO 169 / 1737 1st Northumberland Fusiliers On the subject of the environment, I would like to make a comment here on the conditions in which the columns were operating. On the retreat of the German / Italian Forces, the 4th Battalion The Border Regiment occupied the airfield of El Adem. However we got into the unit lines without casualties, only to be shelled by our own Howitzers from inside Tobruk. The Border Regiment was a line infantry infantry regiment of the British Army, which was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot and the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot. The battalion, nicknamed the Magnificent Bastards, is based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California and are a part of the 5th Marine Regiment and 1st Marine Division. WO 169 / 1713 Durham Light Infantry I believe that the Bn. public. These patrols included the entering of the Vichy French village of Mergyioun and taking prisoners. [All the above relieved the Australian infantry. Please see my various contributions to this archive on the incident. 4th Battalion, The Border Regiment those of the BBC. I finished my army career, excepting for T.A. Usually relief of the pack enabled the casualty to finish the days march to the rest area, but we had a small number of ponies in the column on which we transported the more serious casualties. As there is as yet so much more to learn about incident I ask perchance does your Mr Hutchinson have any knowledge of that incident? The best of luck to you, and thanks again!. They were highly thought of by the Australian troops and the commander, General Leslie Morshead. After kitting up we were transported one morning to the dockside in Alexandria and boarded R.N. The badge of todays regiment includes the Lion of England of the Kings Own and the laurel wreath awarded to the 34th for their part in the rearguard which saved the Army at the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745. moved by road the whole length of the Lebanon and Syria to Aleppo, where we were billeted in the aerodrome with companies on detachment to towns on the Turkish frontier - Djerablus, Actarine and Azzaz. 2nd Battalion The Border Regiment on the North-West Frontier of India, c1933. There were varying degrees of success. At the same time, the 34th Cumberland and the 55th Westmorland Regts became the 1st and 2nd Bns The Border Regt. Bangalore was a comfortable station where we were in a semi-permanent camping site but where I discovered that I was suffering from amoebic dysentery. It deals with the experiences of the 4th Battalion The Border Regiment during World War Two. The Brigade now moved into Imphal and was thereafter moved by truck to railhead at Dimapur. Cpl. I could not imagine a more appropriate ending. For any other comments, please Contact Us. Both battalions marched many miles over the veldt during the Guerilla war that followed. Alongside this, the 4th (Militia) Battalion was also disbanded in 1908. 4 Border Regt., 1940-1945 and R.M.O. The Chinese Dragon with which the Border Regt was always associated was awarded to the 55th after the First China War of 1841. Here a lot of the time was spent in processing Greek refugees, who had travelled from German-occupied Greece through Turkey to Syria, and were being sorted out for referral to the Greek authorities, in exile, in Egypt. moved off at 4.55 followed by 5th Btn and arrived in bivouac at 6pm. The disorders soon settled down and we returned to Ranchi, but were shortly called upon again to assist the civil power, this time at Gaya, south of Patna. Pte. It was planned at 8th Army H.Q. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please click here. At nighttime, the Companies sent out patrols between their fronts and the enemy but no major clashes occurred before November 18th. The size of a battalion could range from 500 to 1,500 troops. The Territorial Force (later Territorial Army) was formed in 1908, which the volunteer battalions joined, while the militia battalions transferred to the "Special Reserve". . The Special Reserve reverted to its militia designation in 1921, then to the Supplementary Reserve in 1924; however, its battalions were effectively placed in 'suspended animation'. Leaving the desert, the 70th Division, including the 4th Battalion The Border Regiment, were now went to India and Burma. After we had travelled a mile or two from the village, Major Scott said that there was a wounded NCO left in the village and would I return there with a section of ten men and try to recover him. So, men from Cumberland and Westmorland were present at both checks on Rommel and the German Afrika Corps! and in 1944, fought at Arnhem. Over the six-month period, the Bn. Unfortunately for this account I do not have contact details for Mr Hutchinson personally. While it isn't strictly what you are looking for I thought it might shed a little more light on it. Even though suppressive Mepacrine tablets were regularly taken, malaria was not entirely suppressed. 2nd Kings Own and 2, 4 and 9 Border all fought in Burma as explained in the beginning of this article. We then returned to Chittagong where we remained for a further few weeks, before joining a troop train for an 11-day journey to Bangalore in South India. If I get a better reply I've got your e-mail and I will send a message to you that way. I've just looked through some of my notes and various books in French and English to refresh my memory of what went on. at this time. The set-up for columns entering Burma proper was that a stronghold was formed from which the columns operated and which contained an airstrip. September 2003. There appears to have been strict censorship in operation at the time. Having read the contribution you have made on behalf of Mr Hutchinson I see a mention of a rail journey through Rennes and arrival in Southampton 18th June 1940 (Tuesday). 1st battalion, 8th infantry, 4th infantry division vietnam. Remained in India throughout the war. Delhi, hence Louis Mountbattens action on arrival to take command of S.E.A.C. After being earmarked for support in General Archibald Wavell's offensive 'Battleaxe' the next departure was for the Syrian campaign. Pte. Just before Christmas we again moved, this time to Malvern, in the neighbouring county of Worcester, the home of a famous English school. Anyway, we can but try! The early dawn mist gave way to brilliant unclouded weather as the tanks and infantry moved to the attack. Fighting on in France in 1940 after Dunkirk. In October 1940 I joined 4 Border at Kington Camp, Hereford, where I had been posted as Regimental M.O., following my officer recruitment training at RAMC Depot, Crookham, Aldershot. We spent a very pleasant few weeks in Kirkee Barracks, which in peacetime was an R.A. Barracks and in the Officers Mess was the longest dining table of any British Army Officers Mess in the world. It was then sent to South Africa in 1899, where it fought throughout the Boer War (1899-1902). National Army Museum, Royal Hospital Road, London, SW3 4HTRegistered Charity Number: 237902, The Kings Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster). Our journey was uneventful and our first landfall was at Freetown, Sierra Leone, though we had previously had a glimpse of the Azores. At one time or another these units were part of the garrison: 1st Royal Northumberland Fusiliers (Machine Guns) We remained here three weeks during which we had the opportunity to visit Beirut, which was a beautiful town with wonderful amenities and it is so sad to think of the horrors that it has suffered in recent years. It was the last east-bound convoy before the liner was converted to troop carrying and the accommodation was of the 1st Class passenger variety, as was the food, though the troops mess decks were fairly cramped. Whilst 1 Border served in BAOR and Berlin, the Kings Own served in Aden and Kenya. Although up to recent years they have been head-hunters, when we were amongst them, they behaved in a civilised and friendly manner and each village had a detached Christian village where those who were converted went to live and they all lived amicably if separately. To give the reader some idea of the preparedness for, and the attitude of the British Indian Establishment, it is of interest to relate that the first action of the authorities was to try to carry out a customs examination of a mobilised British division arriving in the country complete with weapons and transport from a war zone to a potential war zone. 18 It was redesignated '1st Battalion, The South Saskatchewan Regiment, CASF' on 7 November 1940, 19 and on 15 December 1940 it embarked for Great Britain. It appears the British authorities at the time suppressed news of those left behind while, for understandable propaganda reasons, playing up the relative success of Operation Dynamo. Trouble with Mexico caused the regiment to be stationed on the Texas border in 1913. Historical records of events in France, post Operation Dynamo, are sketchy. The 4th Kings Own formed a part of General Napiers Army that fought the Abyssinian War of 1867-68. 41 The battalion was disbanded on 4 April 1946. The 1st Battalion 7th Infantry Regiment and the 4th Battalion 7th Infantry Regiment (from Aschaffenburg, Germany) patrolled the Czechoslovakia border with Germany for years in preparation for war with The Soviet Union (USSR . L/Cpl. R.E. The 1st Bn The Kings Own fought at Le Cateau and in the retreat from Mons in the first actions in the 1914-18 War. As the Bn. 6th Rajputana Rifles, 4th Bn. The main duties of the battalion in this situation were the control of and dispersal of mobs and setting up of roadblocks and checkpoints. In August 1945 when Japan surrendered, the 9th was stationed at Waw, west of Sittang River. Regimental Orders. was called upon to reinforce the area. Often for this kind of enquiry I've asked at the Town Hall and someone there can usually know where to start or who to contact. Regards, After the war the two regular battalions served in Germany and Italy, before I Border was posted to Palestine in 1947. The officers were billeted in, and had the Officers Mess in, the school buildings, the school having been evacuated by staff and pupils. We arrived in Tobruk Harbour just after dark in the evening, after an uneventful journey, during which we had the nicest English breakfast of bacon and eggs in the Wardroom that we had tasted since coming to Egypt. 1st Raider Battalion; 2nd Raider Battalion . was ordered to move along the perimeter road that the Italians had built during the siege and press on towards El Adam Aerodrome. It is no longer possible to leave messages here. Disembarking, they moved to El Quassasin by rail. KOSB A3/1-3. It continued in British Army service until the 1881 reforms, when it was amalgamated with the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot to form The Border Regiment. Some days afterwards the Bn. 6 Royal Ulster Rifles, (T.A.) The fighting took place in Picardy, Artois and finally in Normandy. The fighting continued all day in the beautiful spring day until nightfall when all the companies withdrew, taking numbers of prisoners with them. You should be able to get hold of a book in English entitled 'Finest Hour' by Tim Clayton and Phil Craig (1999), Hodder & Stoughton. This infantry regiment was formed in 1881. was at the centre and in rear of the strong points and in my Regimental Aid Post, we lived in dugouts as did the rest of H.Q.. A.E.F. As an example, the three-line battalions of the 4th Borderers were numbered as the 1/4th, 2/4th, and 3/4th respectively. Company - A company was made up of three or more platoons and was commanded by a captain. The 2nd Bn The Kings Own formed 41 and 46 Columns in 111 Bde in the Chindits; 2nd 13n The Border Regt in 20th Indian Division; 4th Bn The Border Regt in 23 Brigade forming 34 and 55 Columns; and the 9th Bn The Border Regt in 17th Indian Division. was attached to the 4th Battalion Border Regiment, as Platoon Commander of 12th Field Company RE . When the breakout came, more aggressive raids began, until they were relieved by the Polish Carpathian Division. Occupying the village of Kiam in the central sector, the battalion were engaged in patrolling. Sadly he died on 6th. Todays regiment remembers with pride the four battalions who served in Burma. (2d, 3d, and 4th Battalions ordered into active Federal service 2 May 1992 at home stations; released 9 May 1992 from active Federal service and reverted to state control) Reorganized 1 October. The regiment lost over 7,700 men during the war. We remained in Bangalore until coming up to Christmas and, just before Christmas, we entrained again, this time for Dehra Dun, a military cantonment in north India. The Bn. Some weeks later we were off again by train to Suez. Meanwhile, 2nd Battalion had returned to Britain from South Africa in 1907 and deployed straight to France in September 1914. Recognition of the corps by the authorities brought regulation and as the war continued the small corps were formed into battalion sized units of the county Volunteer Regiment. In the advance into Burma, 2 Border crossed the Irrawaddy on February 13, whilst in April, 1945, 9 Border fought in the battles for Meiktila. This infantry regiment was formed in 1881. was in good shape, an efficient unit, discipline and morale were good, and the unit well trained. After some delay, the 4th Battalion left the port and moved to Rennes by rail. Thoroughly enjoyed it. By 1920, all of the regiment's war-raised battalions had disbanded. The Army rescued European captives from the Emperor Theodores mountain stronghold, Magdala, and returned to the coast before the spring rains swelled the rivers and blocked the route. They were part of the 70th British Infantry Division]". We were given fourteen days leave, which Bob Watt and I took together. The Kings Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) and The Border Regiment (Carlisle) amalgamated to form The Kings Own Royal Border Regiment in 1959. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not The Volunteer Training Corps were raised with overage or reserved occupation men early in the war, and were initially self-organised into many small corps, with a wide variety of names. Little in the way of operations were carried out, though the battalion did march to Shabe Bazar and B company was sent to a supposed area of Japanese activity at Taung Bazar, but despite active patrolling no contact was made with the Japanese.
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