Welcome
to the 4th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers website!
Introduction
The
4th Battalion (Bn) came into being as a result of the
Army reforms of 1908, when 'Volunteer' and Yeomanry Bns
were combined to form a new organisation called the Territorial
Force. Battalion Headquarters were
established in Hexham and detachments were formed along
Tynedale at Bellingham, Corbridge, Haltwhistle, Hayden
Bridge, Newburn and Prudhoe.
The
4th Bn was one of four Northumberland Fusilier Territorial
Bns, all of whom were mobilised when war broke out on
the 4th of August 1914. The following day, 17 officers
and 660 men from the 4th Bn reported to the war station
and embarked on a period of intensive training in Newcastle
and later the Blyth area. The 4th Bn sailed for France,
as an integral part of the Northumbrian
(Territorial) Division, on the 20th of April 1915.
Within
a week the 4th Bn was committed to action in the Ypres
Salient, suffering heavy casualties in an assault
on the German front line during the Battle of St Julien.
Over the next three years the Bn fought in most of the
British sectors on the Western Front including the Somme, Passchendaele, Arras,
the Lys and Aisne.
Casualties were typically heavy, with more than 770 fusiliers
killed and 2000 wounded, necessitating hundreds of men
to be recruited and drafted, primarily from Tynedale
during the early months of the war, but eventually from
all over the United Kingdom.
The
4th Bn virtually ceased to exist after the Battle of
the Aisne (27 May 1918), because so many fusiliers were
killed, wounded or captured.
Website
Origins
I
have been researching the 4th (Territorial) Battalion
of the Northumberland Fusiliers, for the period 1908
to 1919, for a few years now. It began as a family history
project, to determine what happened to my Great Grandfather
during the 1st World War. However, the lengths to which
I had to go in order to reconstruct his short military
career, convinced me of the need for a written account
of the 4th battalions' exploits. The research also equipped
me with much of the material with which to write such
an account and to compile a database of all those who
served with the battalion. Needless to say my
family history project has not resurfaced!
This
ongoing research has produced a mass of data relating
to:
*
More than 6000 fusiliers, 2500 of
whom definitely served with the 4th Battalion (Bn)
NF between 1908 and 1919.
*
The day to day location
and actions of the 4th Bn throughout the 1st World
War.
This
website was originallly launched in December 2003 and
has attracted more than 11,000 visitors in its first
three years. It is now in the process of being relaunched
(November 2006) after a year of stagnation due to work
committments. Please be patient while this takes place,
as some of the links may not work and page layouts will
change. The good news is the site will now be steadily
expanded and enhanced using the vast amount of data kindly
donated.
Website
Aim
To
collate data information on the 4th Battalion and its
personnel in order to provide an accurate and detailed
account of its exploits during World War One.
How you
can help
This
data, which I am sure will be of interest to local and
family historians, has been collated from a wide variety
of published and
archived material, including unit and personal war
diaries, newspaper articles, medal rolls and relatives.
However, there are periods of the Great War where there
is very little recorded on the 4th Bn and its activities.
Therefore, the narrative, database and web pages could
be significantly enhanced by data from original material
such as fusiliers' diaries, letters, photographs and
army papers.
If
you possess such items and are willing to loan the originals
or donate copies to me then I
would be very pleased to hear from you. All items
will be treated with the utmost respect and returned
as quickly as possible.
If
you possess, or would like, information on a relative
or family friend, who you believe served with the battalion
during this period, again I
would be very pleased to here from you.
Content
Please
take time to visit some of the 70 pages on this site
and learn about:
* The Northumbrian Territorial
Division. Referred to as the 50th Division by mid-1916.
* The three
territorial infantry brigades of the Northumberland
Division. Known as the Northumberland, York & Durham and Durham
Light Infantry Brigades. Referred to as the 149th,
150th and 151st Infantry Battalions by mid-1916.
* The
territorial battalions of the Northumberland
Brigade: Known as the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th battalions.
*
The Companies of the 4th Battalion: The Bellingham, Corbridge, Haltwhistle, Hayden
Bridge, Hexham, Newburn and
two Prudhoe companies (coys).
*
The sectors of
the Western Front on which the 4th Bn served, including
the Ypres
Salient, Armentieres, Somme, Arras, The
Lys and the Aisne.
*
The battles the
4th Bn took participated in, including: St
Julien, Flers-Courcellette, 2nd
Passchendaele, Rosieres, Estaires, St
Quentin and the Somme
Crossings.
*
The Officers and men of
the 4th (Service and
Reserve), 1/4th, 2/4th and 3/4th Battalions NF.
*
The memorials and cemeteries where fusiliers of the
4th Bn are commemorated, including the Menin
Gate, Thiepval, Tyne
Cot, Soissons and Hexham.
* The
activities undertaken by the population of Tynedale
to support the
4th Battalion and the war effort in general.
If
you are searching for information on an individual who
served in the Northumberland Fusiliers (NF) during the
First World War and the information provided on this
website does not appear to fit what you already know,
you should bear in mind that the NF Regiment had raised
more than fifty Battalions by 1918. This website is devoted
to just one of those Battalions.
Select
the NF Regiment link for
a brief description of the other NF battalions and a
list of websites that will provide more information on
them.
Terms
& Conditions of site use
The
information provided on this website is the result of
countless hours of painstaking research principally conducted
at the National Archives - Public Records Office, British
Library - Newspaper Library and the Northumberland Fusiliers
Museum. I have taken particular care to ensure all the
information presented (published and unpublished works)
has been correctly referenced and the authors acknowledged.
Be
courteous, request permission to use the information
and acknowledge the source.
If
you find this website of interest, or benefit from a
database search, please consider making a donation to
offset the cost of running the site. Contact the webmaster
using the link provided below.
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