- Labour Corps
The Labour Corps was set up in April 1917 of men who, for various reasons, were not ‘combat fit’ but could undertake manual labour. Many of the men were soldiers returning to duty having been previously wounded or were older. The various Labour Corp companies would be assigned to the combat units as support troops engaged in all the necessary digging and construction work for trenches, dug outs and fortifications.
Private 8407 Percy J Davies, Labour Corps. 7 November 1918, Oswestry General Cemetery. – formerly 4 Bn RWF
Private 66027 GH Humphreys, 67 Coy Labour Corps. DoW 23 September 1918, Tincourt New British Cemetery – formerly 42577 7 Bn RWF
Private 16909 John Butler, West Felton WM – formerly in 5, 7 and 8 Bns King’s Shropshire Light Infantry. Served in 206 Labour Corps – a PoW Coy working on communication lines..
- Lancashire Fusiliers
Link to – Lancashire Fusiliers Museum
The Lancashire Fusiliers raised 28 regular, territorial and service battalions during the war of which 19 served overseas.
1 Bn Lancashire Fusiliers – 86 Brigade 29 Division.
The 1 Bn Lancasg=hire Fusiliers ws a regular army battalion. At the start of the war they were in India. In March 1915 they sailed via Egypt to Gallipoli landing at Cape Helles 25 April 1915 – this action was the famous ‘6 VCs before breakfast’, the battalion suffering heavy losses during the landings from open row boats. After the evacuation from Gallipoli the battalion was moved to France arriving there in March 1916. They fought on the Somme in 1916, in 1917 at Arras and Third Ypres and in 1918 the Kaiser Offensive and 100 Days.
Soldiers of the Lancashire Fusiliers, part of 29th Division, are seen on board Trawler 318 used during the Dardanelles landings, before disembarking at ‘W’ and ‘V’ beaches off Cape Helles on 5 May 1915. On 26 May 1915, the Lancashire Fusiliers were transferred to 125th Brigade of the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division. (IWM Q 13219)
1/8 Bn Lancashire Fusiliers – 197 Brigade, 66 (2 East Lancs.) Division
The 1/8 Bn Lancashire Fusiliers was a territorial unit mobilised at Salford on 9 August 1914. They went straight to Egypt arriving there in September and from there were deployed to Gallipoli in May 1915. After the evacuation from Gallipoli they remained in Egypt until February 1917 when the moved to the Western Front. In 1917 they fought at Third Ypres and in 1918 the Kaiser Offensive and 100 Days.
Battle of Albert. Wiring party of the 1st Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers going up to the trenches. Beaumont Hamel, July 1916. Note a trench pump in the foreground. (IWM Q 731)
2/7 Bn Lancashire Fusiliers – 197 Brigade, 66 (2 East Lancs.) Division
2/7 Bn Lancashire Fusiliers was formed in Salford in August 1914. Originally a home service unit they went over to France in February 1917. They suffered heavy casualties and in April 1918 were reduced to cadre strength. The battalion returned to England in June and were disbanded in July 1918
12 Bn Lancashire Fusiliers – 65 Brigade, 22 Division
Raised in September 1914. Arrived in France 5 September 1915 and then moved to Macedonia in November 1915. Returned to France July 1918.
Private 9995 Laban James West Felton War Memorial
16 Bn Lancashire Fusiliers, (2 Salford Pals) – 96 brigade 32 Division
The 16 Bn Lancashire Fusiliers was raised at Salford in November 1914 by the local MP Montague Brown. It was service battalion also known as 2 Salford Pals. They went over to France in November 1915 and first saw action in 1916 on the Somme in the Thiepval sector when they took heavy casualties, They were also involved during the Kaiser Offensive and 100 Days. After the war they were part of the Army of Occupation, arriving at Bonn in February 1919. They remained in Germany until October 1919.
17 Bn Lancashire Fusiliers, (1 South East Lancashire) – 104 Brigade, 35 Division
The 17 Bn Lancashire Fusiliers was raised at Bury in Decrmbar 1914 as a Bantam battalion. They went over to France in January 1916. They saw action in 1916 on the Somme, in 1917 at Third Ypres and in 1918 the Kaiser Offensive and 100 Days. After the war they remained in France and Belgium until March 1919.
Temporary Lieutenant Harold N (Nicholson) Lewis, 17 Bn Lancashire Fusiliers, KIA 18 October 1917, Tyne Cot Memorial (unknown) – commissioned and attached to 17 Bn March 1917
Sentry of the Lancashire Fusilier in a front line trench watching German trenches through a mirror periscope. Opposite Messines, near Ploegsteert Wood, January 1917. (IWM Q 4652)
- Lancers.
The Lancers were mounted cavalry, somewhat of an anachronism in the new mechanised industrial warfare. On the Western Front they were typically held in the rear areas ready to move forward quickly to exploit breakthroughs but were rarely used and suffered heavy casualties when they were.
9th (Queen’s Royal) Lancers – 2 Cavalry Brigade. 1 Cavalry Division
12th (Prince of Wales’s Royal) Lancers – 2 Cavalry Brigade. 1 Cavalry Division
The 9th (Queen’s Royal) Lancers and 12th (Prince of Wales’s Royal) Lancers were regular units and went over to France in September 1914. They mainly saw action during the phases of more open warfare, during 1914 and the 100 Days in 1918 and before the entrenchments.
9th Lancers returning from the front at Premont, 13 October 1918. (IWM Q 72605)
Officers of the Royal Scots Greys and the 12th Lancers putting up tent poles for the officers’ mess at their camp, October 1916. (IWM Q 1403)
Troops of the 9th Lancers, 1st Cavalry Division, entering Malmedy, 1 December 1918. (IWM Q 7185)
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