Worcestershire Regiment - The Long, Long Trail (original) (raw)

Regimental depot

Norton Barracks, Worcester

Battalions of the Regular Army

1st Battalion
August 1914 : in Cairo. Returned to England, landing at Liverpool 16 October 1914.
16 October 1914 : came under command of 24th Brigade in 8th Division. Moved to Hursley Park (Winchester).
Landed at Le Havre 6 November 1914.
Article: an early trench raid, 1st Worcesters

2nd Battalion
August 1914 : in Aldershot. Part of 5th Brigade in 2nd Division.
Landed at Boulogne 14 August 1914.
20 December 1915 : transferred to 100th Brigade in 33rd Division.

3rd Battalion
August 1914 : in Tidworth. Part of 7th Brigade in 3rd Division.
Landed at Rouen 16 August 1914.
18 October 1915 : transferred with Brigade to 25th Division.
10 November 1917 : transferred to 74th Brigade in same Division.
22 June 1918 : transferred to 57th Brigade in 19th (Western) Division, absorbing 10th Bn.

4th Battalion
August 1914 : in Meiktila in Burma.
Returned to England, landing at Avonmouth 1 February 1915.
February 1915 : came under orders of 88th Brigade in 29th Division.
Moved to Leamington Spa.
Sailed from Avonmouth 21 March 1915 for Gallipoli, going via Egypt. Landed at Cape Helles on 25 April 1915.
January 1916 : evacuated from Gallipoli to Egypt.
20 March 1916 : landed at Marseilles for service in France.

5th and 6th (Reserve) Battalions
August 1914 : in Worcester. Moved on mobilisation to Fort Tregantle near Plymouth and went on in autumn 1917 to Harwich (6th went to Dovercourt) for duty with the Harwich Garrison.

Battalions of the Territorial Force

1/7th Battalion
August 1914 : in Kidderminster. Part of Gloucester and Worcester Brigade, South Midland Division. Moved on mobilisation to Swindon but very quickly on to Maldon in Essex.
31 March 1915 : landed at Boulogne.
15 May 1915 : formation became the 144th Brigade, 48th (South Midland) Division.
November 1917 : moved with the Division to Italy.

Lieutenant Baxter’s Platoon, C Company, 1/7th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment, resting in a cornfield near Lavieville, September 1916. Imperial War Museum image Q1081

1/8th Battalion
August 1914 : in Worcester. Record same as 1/7th Bn.
14 September 1918 : landed back in France and three days later came under command of 75th Brigade in 25th Division.

2/7th Battalion
Formed at Kidderminster in September 1914 as a home service (“second line”) unit.
January 1915 : came under orders of 2nd Gloucester & Worcester Brigade, 2nd South Midland Division, at Northampton. Moved to Chelmsford in April 1915 and on to Salisbury Plain in February 1916.
Landed in France on 24 May 1916.
August 1915 : formation became 183rd Brigade, 61st (2nd South Midland) Division.
6 February 1918 : disbanded in France, officers and men going to 2/8th and 10th Bns

2/8th Battalion
Formed at Worcester in September 1914 as a home service (“second line”) unit. Record same as 2/7th Bn.
11 February 1918 : transferred to 182nd Brigade, 61st (2nd South Midland) Division.

3/7th and 3/8th Battalions
Formed at Worcester in April 1915 as depot/training (“third line”) units. Moved to Weston-super-Mare.
8 April 1916 : became Reserve Bns at Salisbury Plain and 7th then absorbed 8th on 1 September 1916.
Moved to Cheltenham in October 1916, Catterick in March 1917, Blyth in summer 1917 and finally Newcastle in 1918 for duty with Tyne Garrison.

Battalions of the New Armies

9th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Worcester in August 1914 as part of K1 and came under orders of 39th Brigade in 13th (Western) Division. Moved to Tidworth but by January 1915 was in billets in Basingstoke. Moved to Blackdown (Aldershot) in February 1915.
Sailed from Avonmouth in June 1915 and landed on Gallipoli next month.
January 1916 : Division evacuated from Gallipoli and moved to Egypt.
July 1918 : Brigade transferred to North Persia Force.

10th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Worcester in September 1914 as part of K2 and came under orders of 57th Brigade in 19th (Western) Division.
Moved to Perham Down and in March 1915 to Tidworth.
Landed in France 18 July 1915.
22 June 1918 : reduced to cadre strength, most personnel going to 3rd Bn.
28 June 1918 : cadre attached to 121st Brigade in 40th Division.
10 July 1918 : absorbed by 17th Bn.

11th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Worcester in September 1914 as part of K3 and came under orders of 78th Brigade in 26th Division. Moved to Codford St Mary but by November 1914 was in billets in Cheltenham. Moved to Longbridge Deverill in April 1915.
Landed in France during the night of 21-22 September 1915.
Moved to Salonika in November 1915.

12th and 13th (Reserve) Battalions
Formed in Plymouth in November 1914 as Service Battalions of K4 and came under orders of 98th Brigade, original 33rd Division. Moved to Plymouth (12th, but by January 1915 this battalion was at Fowey) and Looe (13th).
10 April 1915 : became Reserve battalions. Moved to Wareham and Blandford. By July 1916 12th was at Swanage.
1 September 1916 : 13th converted into 46th Training Reserve Battalion of 10th Reserve Brigade, and 12th Bn absorbed into same brigade.

14th (Service) Battalion (Severn Valley Pioneers)
Formed at Worcester on 10 September 1915 by Lieut-Col. H. Webb, MP. Adopted by War Office in March 1916. Moved to Larkhill and Codford.
Landed at Le Havre 21 June 1916 and came under orders of 63rd (Royal Naval) Division.

Other Battalions

15th and 16th (Transport Workers) Battalions
Formed in Swindon in December 1916 and Bristol in March 1917. Spent most of the war at Swindon, then in Southampton in 1918.

17th (Service) Battalion
25 May 1918: the 1st Provisional Garrison Guard Bn of the Labour Corps joined 176th Brigade in 59th (2nd North Midland) Division. It was retitled as 17th Garrison Bn of the Worcestershire Regiment on 25 May 1918
18 June 1918: transferred to 121st Brigade in 40th Division
28 June 1918 : retitled at Hazebrouck and at the same time absorbing the cadres of both the 10th Bn and the 12th Yorkshire Regiment.
Late June 1918 : became Pioneer Bn to 40th Division.

1st (Reserve) Garrison Battalion
Formed in Portsmouth in January 1916. Moved to Ryde in 1917 but returned to Portsmouth early 1918. By June 1918 was at Dublin.

The regimental memorial plaque at Gheluvelt.