KING'S OWN (ROYAL LANCASTER REGIMENT) 1914-18  

Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, Armentières 1914, Ypres 1915 '17, Gravenstafel, St Julien, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Festubert 1915, Loos, Somme 1916 '18, Albert 1916 '18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières, Guillemont, Ginchy, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Le Transloy, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916, Arras 1917 '18, Scarpe 1917 '18, Arleux, Messines 1917, Pilckem, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 '18, St. Quentin, Lys, Estaires, Hazebrouck, Béthune, Bapaume 1918, Drocourt-Quéant, Hindenburg Line, Canal du Nord, Selle, Valenciennes, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914-18, Struma, Doiran 1917 '18, Macedonia 1915-18, Suvla, Sari Bair, Gallipoli 1915, Egypt 1916, Tigris 1916, Kut al Amara 1917, Baghdad, Mesopotamia 1916-18.

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1st Battalion

4.8.14 Dover, as part of 12th Brigade, 4th Division. To Cromer, then Neasden, Middlesex. Landed at Boulogne 23.8.14. The 12th Brigade was attached to 36th (Ulster) Division on the Somme from 4.11.15 to 3.2.16. On 11.11.18 at Querenaing, S.W. of Valenciennes, France.

Victoria Cross:

2nd Battalion

4.8.14 Lebong, India. 19.11.14 sailed for England and landed at Plymouth on 22.12.14. Here joined 83rd Brigade, 28th Division, at Winchester. Embarked for Havre at Southampton on 16.1.15. October 1915 to Egypt. Early December 1915 to Salonika. November 1915 to Salonika. On 30.9.18, in Macedonia, north of Lake Doiran.

Victoria Cross:

1/4th Battalion T.F.

4.8.14 Ulverston as part of North Lancs Brigade, West Lancs Division. To Slough 14.8.14 on railway guard duty. To Sevenoaks November 1914. April 1915 North Lancs Brigade to 51st (Highland) Division at Bedford and became 154th Brigade. May 1915 landed at Boulogne. To 164th Brigade, 55th (West Lancs) Division 16.1.16 in Hallencourt area. On 11.11.18 located near Ath, Belgium.

Victoria Cross:

1/5th Battalion T.F.

4.8.14 Lancaster as part of North Lancs Brigade, West Lancs Division. To Didcot 14.8.14 on railway guard duty. To Sevenoaks November 1914. Landed at Havre 15.2.15. To 83rd Brigade, 28th Division 3.3.15. To 2nd Brigade, 1st Division 21.10.15. To 166th Brigade, 55th (West Lancs) Division 7.1.16 in Hallencourt area. On 11.11.18 located near Ath, Belgium.

2/5th Battalion T.F.

Formed at Lancaster September 1914. To Blackpool November 1915. To North Lancs Brigade, West Lancs Division at Sevenoaks February 1915. April 1915 to 170th Brigde, 57th (West Lancs) Division. July 1916 to Aldershot. February 1917 landed in France. On 11.11.18 located at Lezennes, east of Lille, France.

6th Battalion

Formed at Lancaster August 1914. To Tidworth in 38th Brigade, 13th (Western) Division. February 1915 to Aldershot. July 1915 to Gallipoli, landing at Suvla Bay in August. January 1916 to Egypt. February 1916 to Mesopotamia. On 31.10.18 located near Delli Abbas, N.E. pf Baghdad, Mesopotamia.

Victoria Cross:

7th Battalion

Formed at Lancaster September 1914. To Tidworth Pennings in 56th Brigade, 19th (Western) Division. December 1914 to billets in Andover. February 1915 to Clevedon. March 1915 to Tidworth. July 1915 landed in France. Disbanded 22.2.18 and personnel to 1/4th and 1/5th Battalions, and 6th Entrenching Battalion.

Victoria Cross:

8th Battalion

Formed at Lancaster October 1914 and to Codford in 76th Brigade, 25th Division. November 1914 to Boscombe in billets. May 1915 to Odiham, Aldershot. Landed in France 27.9.15. With 76th Brigade to 3rd Division 15.10.15. On 11.11.18 located near Solesmes, France.

Victoria Cross:

9th Battalion

Formed at Lancaster October 1914. To Eastbourne in 65th Brigade, 22nd Division. November 1914 to Seaford and in December to billets in Eastbourne. April 1915 to Seaford. June 1915 to Aldershot. September 1915 landed in France. October 1915 to Salonika, landing on 7.11.15. On 30.9.18, in Macedonia, north of Lake Doiran.

11th Battalion

Formed at Lancaster August 1915 as a Bantam Battalion and to Aldershot in 120th Brigade, 40th Division in Blackdown area. Absorbed 12th South Lancs 2.3.16. Landed in France 3.6.16. Disbanded in France 7.2.18; personnel to 6th Entrenching Battalion. 

PRINTED SOURCES

Anon - Record of the War Memorial of The King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, 1914-1918 [London : W.H. Smith and Son, 1924.]

Cowper, J.M.  - The King's Own : the Story of a Royal Regiment.  Vol. 3, 1914-1950 [Aldershot : Gale & Polden, 1957.]

Hodgkinson, Albert - The King's Own, T.F., being a record of the 1/5th Battalion, the King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) in the European War, 1914-1918 [Lewes : Lewes Press, 1921.]

Lt-Col. W. F. A. Wadham and Captain J. Crossley - FOURTH BATTALION THE KINGS’S OWN (ROYAL LANCASTER REGIMENT) AND THE GREAT WAR [Naval & Military reprint SB 150pp. 2003 N&MP Reprint of 1920 Original Edition. ISBN 1843425548].
Available from Naval & Military Press.

INTERNET SOURCES

The King's Own - on Chris Baker's 'Long, Long Trail' website.

Remember - Exploring the Great War experiences of a local community using King's Own as an example. Much useful information.

N.B. Only battalions that saw overseas service are listed here. Units that stayed in England are not shown.

©Paul Reed 2004