The Gordons raised 21 battalions in the First World War, serving on the Western Front and in Italy and winning 65 battle honours.'The regular force battalions (1st and 2nd Gordons) were immediately assigned to the British Expeditionary Force on the outbreak of war. 3rd (Reserve) Gordons remained in Aberdeen to serve as the depot unit for the duration of the war. The 1st Gordons in Plymouth was assigned to 8 Brigade of the 3rd Division, while 2nd Gordons was assigned to 20 Brigade in the 7th Division following its recall from Cairo. The first line Territorial Force battalions; 1/4th (Aberdeen,) 1/5th (Buchan and Formartine), 1/6th (Banffshire and Donside), 1/7th (Deeside), were assigned to 153 (2nd Highland) Brigade of the 51st (Highland) Division. This brigade was also known as the Gordons Brigade until May 1915 because of its composition solely of Gordon Highlanders battalions. A further eight Territorial Force battalions (2/4th, 2/5th, 2/6th, 2/7th, 3/4th, 3/5th, 3/6th, and 3/7th) were formed as part of the second line Home Service. These units were chronically undermanned and ill-equipped throughout the war and did not serve overseas. Four Service battalions - 8th (Service), 9th (Service), 10th (Service), and 11th (Service) - were formed as part of Lord Kitchener's New Army scheme with 9th Gordons eventually serving as a pioneer battalion. A 1st Garrison battalion was formed in 1916 for service in India.'Unusually, The Gordon Highlanders did not serve on any of the other battle fronts where British soldiers fought during the war. The sole exception was the 2nd Gordons which was sent as part of a joint Anglo-French force to aid the Italians in 1917 after their heavy defeat by Austro-German forces at the Battle of Caporetto.'The regiment lost 1,000 officers and 28,000 men during the war.

Gordon Highlanders in the First World War

History

Falls, Cyril

Military

Naval Military Press Ltd

This is a brief, unvarnished account of two battalions of the London Regiment: 1/8th which went to France with 47th (2nd London) Division in March 1915; and its second line counterpart, 2/8th, which arrived out with 58th (2/2nd London) Division in January 1917. In February 1918, the reduction of the number of battalions in a brigade from 12 to 9 resulted in both battalions amalgamating to form the 8th Battalion - in 58th Division. There is a list of Honours and Awards, headed by the VC won by Sgt Knight of 2/8th Battalion in the Salient in September 1917. A summary of casualties shows a total of 201 Officers and 5051 Other Ranks of whom 53 and 1027 respectively were dead.

History of the Post Office Rifles, 8th Battalion City of London Regiment 1914 to 1918

One of the Battalion Commanders, One of the Battalion Commanders

Fine record of service on the Western Front being: "A substantial & detailed account of the Battalion's movements & battles between Feb. 1915 & Nov. 1918... includes quotations from operational orders & as expected from this author, the entire work is lucid & authoritative." - Perkins. Includes Ypres 1915, Festubert, Givenchy, Ploegsteert, Vimy Ridge 1915-16 & again in 1917, Somme, Passchendaele, Amiens 1918, Final Advance. A roll of honour and awards complete this history.

The 13th Battalion Royal Highlanders of Canada 1914-1919

From 1850 onwards these highly mobile batteries based on mule transport &amp; "screw-guns" that broke down into portable components that could be off-loaded &amp; into action in seconds, were utilised in every North West Frontier campaign &amp; overseas in The Great War (Gallipoli, German East Africa, Persia &amp; Mesopotamia.) &amp; World War II (Ethiopia, Malaya &amp; Burma).

The History of the Indian Mountain Artillery

Graham, C. A. L.

For obvious reasons the Ministry of Food was one of the most important Government departments in a rationed wartime Britain. The Ministry was evacuated to Colwyn Bay in North Wales to escape the Blitz on London and its staff the ‘bureaucrats in battledress’ of this book’s title, formed the 11th Denbighshire Battalion of the Home Guard, guarding a strip of the North Wales coast that would have been vital had the Germans invaded Ireland a very real possibility. This well-illustrated unit history tells the full story of this unusual Home Guard battalion who, not being native to Wales, were the nearest counterpart in the Home Guard to a unit on foreign service.

BUREAUCRATS IN BATTLEDRESS

Smith, Henry

The Home Guard, familiar to us all from the antics of Dad’s Army on the TV, in fact performed a deadly serious role - guarding infrastructure and communications, and releasing the regular Army for more front-line work. This is one of the Home Guard’s Unit histories, giving a detailed account of their history - from the Government’s first appeal for volunteers onwards. The Home Guard’s history stretched from the early anxious days in the summer of 1940 when a German invasion was hourly expected to the preparations for D-Day when the boot was on the Allied foot. It is a story of amateurism transformed into increasing sophistication and better weaponry; and a professional and patriotic dedication to often humdrum duty that united Great War veterans with youths awaiting the call-up to the regular forces. When they were finally disbanded in November 1944 the Home Guard deserved the thanks of a grateful nation that they had truly served and helped to save.

THE HISTORY OF THE 1st (LOYAL CITY OF EXETER) BATTALION DEVON HOME GUARD

Wiltsher, H. J.

The military history of Canada during World War I began on August 4, 1914, when Britain entered the First World War (1914–1918) by declaring war on Germany. The British declaration of war automatically brought Canada into the war, because of Canada's legal status as a British dominion which left foreign policy decisions in the hands of the UK parliament. However, the Canadian government had the freedom to determine the country's level of involvement in the war. On August 5, 1914, the Governor General declared a war between Canada and Germany. The Militia was not mobilised and instead an independent Canadian Expeditionary Force was raised.'Canada's sacrifices and contributions to the war changed its history and enabled it to become more independent, while opening a deep rift between the French and English speaking populations. For the first time in its history, Canadian forces fought as a distinct unit, first under a British commander and then under a Canadian-born commander. The high points of Canadian military achievement during the First World War came during the Somme, Vimy, and Passchendaele battles and what later became known as "Canada's Hundred Days" Canada's total casualties stood at the end of the war at 67,000 killed and 250,000 wounded, out of an expeditionary force of 620,000 people mobilised (39% of mobilised were casualties).'Canadians of British descent—the majority—gave widespread support arguing that Canadians had a duty to fight on behalf of their Motherland. Indeed, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, although French-Canadian, spoke for the majority of English-Canadians when he proclaimed: "It is our duty to let Great Britain know and to let the friends and foes of Great Britain know that there is in Canada but one mind and one heart and that all Canadians are behind the Mother Country." Prime Minister Robert Borden offered assistance to Great Britain, which was quickly accepted.

CANADIAN MOUNTED RIFLES

Johnston, G. Chalmers

Covering in good detail the activities of the Battalion from reformation after the evacuation of France till it was disbanded in August 1944. The 7th Battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment was a 2nd line Territorial Army unit formed on the outbreak of war in 1939. Originally part of the famous 51st (Highland) Infantry Division it served with them in France in 1940 stationed on the Maginot Line, thus escaping encirclement, and Dunkirk. But the reprieve was only temporary. The Battalion suffered heavy casualties when the 51st Division was surrounded and forced to surrender on 12th June. Just 31 members of the Battalion managed to escape to Britain. The battalion was re-formed in 1941 and transferred to the 176th Infantry Brigade, part of the 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division. It took part in the Normandy campaign after D-Day. On 7/8th August the battalion’s Captain David Jamieson of D Company was awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroic leadership in beating off enemy night attacks. Due to an acute shortage of infantrymen, the battalion was disbanded in late August and its men replaced losses in other British divisions of the 21st Army Group, who had suffered heavy losses in Normandy.

A HISTORY OF 7th BATTALION THE ROYAL NORFOLK REGIMENT in World War No. 2 July 1940 - August 1944

Anon. Anon.

AFRICAN GENERAL SERVICE MEDALS

Magor, R. B.

Story of the 55th (West Lancashire) Division

J O Coop

Europe

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