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First World War 1st/4th Battalion,
King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment
4 August 1914 |
Mobilised at
Barrow in Furness |
Winter 1914-1915 |
Stationed in Southern England
Death of Private John Wilkinson, January
1915 |
3rd May 1915 |
Arrived in
France Landed at Boulogne. Joined 154th Infantry
Brigade, 51st Infantry Division |
15 June 1915 |
Battle of
Festubert |
7 January 1916 |
Joined 164th Infantry Brigade of 55th West Lancashire Division |
8 August
1916 |
The Somme:
Battle of Guillemont
Attack on Trones Wood |
11 September
1916 |
The Somme:
Battle of Ginchy
Attack on Delville Wood |
27 September
1916 |
The Somme:
Battle of Flers |
28 September 1916 |
Attack near Mametz |
23 December 1916 |
Raid on Cameroon Trench |
9 June 1917 |
Raid on Ibex Trench |
31 July 1917 |
3rd Battle
of Ypres: Battle of Pilckem Ridge
Attack on Wieltje |
20 September
1917 |
3rd Battle
of Ypres: Battle of the Menin Road Ridge |
November
1917 |
Battle of
Cambrai |
20 November 1917 |
Attack near Guillemont Farm |
30 November 1917 |
Repulse of Counter attack near Epéhy |
March and April 1918 |
Retreat |
9 - 11 April
1918 |
Battle of
Estaires - First Defence of Givenchy |
26 April 1918 |
Counter attack on Givenchy Craters |
24 August
1918 |
Givenchy
Craters |
October and November 1918
|
Advance to Victory |
4 November
1918 |
Battle of
the Sambre - Advance on Ath |
12 December 1918 |
Moved to Brussels |
April 1919 |
Returned to England |
The Armistice, 11th November 1918:
Newspaper cutting from 12 Nov 1918 with report of
the 1st/4th King’s Own in Leuze.
“THE NEWS IN LEUZE
Just at eleven o’clock I entered the little town of Leuze, which had
been on of the headquarters nearest the uncertain front. In the market
place were British troopers on their horses drew up in a hollow square,
3rd Dragoons, Royal Dragoons, and 10th Hussars, of the 6th Cavalry
Brigade, all in fighting kit. In the centre was the 1st/4th Battalion,
King’s Own, Barrow men of the 55th Division, their Colonel at their
head, and the old Mayor of Leuze beside him. From the windows of all the
houses roundabout and even from the roofs the inhabitants looked down on
the troops and heard uncomprehendingly the words of the Colonel as he
read from a sheet of paper the order that ended hostilities. A trumpeter
sounded the “Stand Fast.” In the narrow high street at one of end of the
little square were other troops moving slowly forward, and as the notes
of the bugle rose clear and crisp above the rumble of the gun carriages,
these men turned with smiles of wonder and delight, and they shouted to
each other; “The war is over.” For many of them this was the first news
of the armistice. They passed on, without even a glimpse of the historic
scene, beyond the screen of Hussars, but the tidings flashed back from
the file to file, “The war is over.”
The band of the Barrow men played “God Save The King.” None heard it
without a quiver of emotion. The mud stained troops paused in the
crowded street, the hum of the traffic was stilled. A rippling cheer was
drowned in the first notes of the Belgian hymn; the “Marseillaise”
succeeded it, and the army of each Ally was thus saluted in turn. I do
not think anyone heard the few choked words of the old Mayor when he
tried to voice the thanks of Belgium for this day of happiness.
It was five minutes passed eleven o’clock. The Dragoons and Hussars
wheeled aside and made a lane into the High Street, and through them
came the Lancashire men, stepping blithely behind their band. They wore,
every man of them, a Belgian or French tri-coloured ribbon; a great
Belgian flag tied to an improvised staff – a branch cut from a poplar –
was borne by a tall sergeant. The battalion passed into the busy street
and disappeared towards Ath, and after it the cavalry flowed through
Leuze as though on parade a sight to gladden the heart. The Army
“carried on” briskly as though a little ashamed of the emotions which
had seized us all for one unforgettable moment.”
Accession Number: KO2956/36
Photographs:
1st/4th (Territorial Force) Battalion, King's Own Royal Lancaster
Regiment
Collections: Records of the 1st/4th Battalion,
King's Own, First World War
Collections:
55th West Lancashire Division

Cartoon, circa 1918: New Officer: "I suppose that is a Labour
Company working there?"
Veteran: "No, it is the 1/4 King's Own on Rest."
A digital version of the Battalion War Diary is available on
cd-rom from the Museum Shop.
Also available:
The Fourth Battalion, The King's Own (Royal Lancaster
Regiment) and The Great War by Lieutenant Colonel W F A Wadham and
Captain J Crossley, published Ulverston, 1935. This book has now
been reprinted by the Museum and is available for £9.00 including UK
postage. More details from the Museum Shop.
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