Mobilisation

Annual training for the West Lancashire Division had just begun at Kirkby Lonsdale when war was declared on 4 August 1914, and all units at once returned to their headquarters for mobilisation. On 10 August the TF was invited to volunteer for Overseas Service and all the units of the West Lancashire Division did so.^{[3][14][15][16]} Following this the War Office issued instructions on 15 August to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units. On 31 August, the formation of a reserve or 2nd Line unit was authorised for each 1st Line unit where 60 per cent or more of the men had volunteered for Overseas Service. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix. In this way duplicate battalions, brigades and divisions were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas.^[17]

The 2/5th Bn Loyals was formed at Bolton in October 1914 and became part of the 2/1st North Lancashire Bde in the 2nd West Lancashire Division. A 3/5th Bn was raised in 1915 to provide drafts to the other battalions when they were serving overseas and the Loyals even formed a 4/5th Bn, which served on the Western Front.^{[3][15][18][19][20]}

1/5th Loyals

The 1/5th Bn mobilised in Bolton and moved to Chipping Sodbury in Gloucestershire, where it guarded the railway line from Wootton Bassett to Avonmouth Docks. In November it moved to Sevenoaks in Kent and prepared for overseas service.^{[15][18][19][21][22]}

Guillemont

The High Street of Guillemont, 1916

On 25 July the 55th Division was relieved and travelled south to join in the Somme offensive. It moved into the line opposite Guillemont on 30 July and prepared to attack on 8 August (the Battle of Guillemont). 164th (North Lancashire) Brigade made the initial attack, and 1/5th Loyals moved out early on to support it. B and C Companies were sent on to occupy trenches running north between the Trones–Guillemont road and Railway Support Trench, C Company then continuing to join 1/8th Bn King's Liverpool Regiment (the Liverpool Irish) in the front line. Soon afterwards A and D Companies were ordered up to join 2/5th Bn Lancashire Fusiliers. However, the attack had failed with heavy casualties and the division was ordered to repeat it the following day. This time 1/5th Loyals and the 1/10th King's Liverpool (Liverpool Scottish) were to lead. There was no preliminary bombardment, only a short covering barrage beginning at 04:20. The Liverpool Scottish followed this barrage closely and got as far as the enemy wire, which was uncut. But because of the late arrival of the orders and the crowded trenches on the way up, the 1/5th Loyals could not get into position until after 05:00, long after the barrage had ended. Nevertheless, the battalion 'made a most gallant assault' at 05:25; unable to reach the enemy trenches they were forced back to their starting point. Every officer with the right hand companies became a casualty. Battalion losses totalled 33 killed, 85 wounded and 20 missing.^[20][30][31]

During August the battalion received a draft of reinforcements and returned to the line on 5 September, but it took no direct part in the division's battles of that month except to hold reserve trenches. At the end of the month the division moved to the Ypres area, where the battalion occupied a reserve line on the Yser Canal, suffering numerous casualties from artillery fire. Thereafter it took its turns in holding the front line, the only notable action being a large raid carried out in January 1917, which was only partially successful and resulted in heavy losses in proportion to the numbers engaged: 8 killed, 50 wounded and 2 missing from a party of 144.^[32]

2/5th Loyals

The battalion was formed at Bolton in October 1914 and was assigned to the 2/1st North Lancashire Bde in the 2nd West Lancashire Division in Spring 1915. These were redesignated 170th Bde and 57th (2nd West Lancashire) Division respectively in August 1915. A serious shortage of equipment hampered the training of the 2nd Line TF units and the only weapons available were .256-in Japanese Ariska rifles.^{[3][15][17][18][19][43][44]}

In September 1915 the 57th Division assembled round Canterbury in Kent, with the 2/5th Loyals at Ashford. Serious training could now begin, and Lee-Enfield service rifles were issued in November (though these were not in good condition). Lewis guns arrived towards the end of February 1916. In July the division was moved to Aldershot Command and the 2/5th Loyals went to Blackdown Camp.^{[15][17][18][19][43][45]}

Pioneers

External image
5th Loyals
5th Loyals entering Cambrai, 10 October 1918[48]

On 4–5 February 1918 the 1/5th Bn from 55th Division (see above) and 4/5th Bn (see below) merged with the 2/5th Bn, which from then on was simply called the 5th Bn. It also received large drafts from the ('Kitchener's Army') 8th and 9th Service Bns Loyals. The merged battalion reorganised on a three-company basis, left 170th Bde, and became the divisional pioneer battalion, at the recommendation of the divisional commander, who recognised the large number of former coal-miners in its ranks. It was immediately put to work strengthening the division's defences.^{[15][14][17][49]}

The division remained in quiet sectors during the German spring offensive, but the 5th Loyals were moved about frequently on different pioneer tasks, suffering a trickle of casualties as a result. Once the Allied Hundred Days Offensive was under way, the pioneers were distributed by companies to follow closely behind the advancing troops and improve the roads in the forward area. On 27 September the 57th Division forced the line of the Canal du Nord. 170th Brigade's attack was led by the pioneers of the 5th Loyals, with two companies of 2/4th Loyals in support for mopping-up and then defending the captured ground. On 9 October the 5th Loyals were among the first troops to liberate the town of Cambrai. Again, they were among the first British troops to enter Lille, and afterwards the battalion provided a Guard of honour for President Georges Clemenceau when he visited the city on 16 October. The battalion was at Tournai when the Armistice with Germany was signed.^[15][50]

After hostilities ceased, the battalion was assigned to 171st Bde, clearing and evacuating stores in the Arras area, where demobilisation began in January 1919. By the end of March the units had been reduced to cadres and the last left France in June.^[17][43][51] 5th Loyals was disembodied on 25 June.^[3]

3/5th Loyals

This battalion was formed at Fletcher Street Barracks in Bolton in April 1915. It moved to Weeton Camp, near Kirkham, Lancashire, in June, where it went under canvas with the other 3rd Line battalions of the North Lancashire Brigade. In October it moved to Blackpool, where it was accommodated in billets in the South Shore District under the command of Lt-Col F.W. Foley. The battalion's role was to provide drafts for the 1/5th and 2/5th Bns, and it appears not to have been short of recruits. At this date TF men could not be transferred from one regiment to another without their consent, but in April 1916 the battalion's Honorary Colonel, the Earl of Derby (who was also Under-Secretary of State for War), asked for 200 volunteers to transfer to the 2/4th King's Own: 212 immediately offered themselves. In June there were enough trained men to form a 4/5th Bn to replace the under-recruited 2/4th King's Own in 170th Bde for overseas service (see below).^{[3][15][18][19][52][53]}

The 3/5th Loyals was then in training at Oswestry, changing its designation to 5th Reserve Bn on 8 April 1916. On 1 September 1916 it was absorbed into the 4th Reserve Bn as part of the Training Reserve.^{[3][15][18][54][55]}

4/5th Loyals

This battalion joined 170th Bde in 57th Division at Ashford. It landed at Le Havre on 12 February 1917 and thereafter its service was the same as the 2/5th Bn. On 26 October it attacked at Passchendaele at 05.45, following the barrage at a distance of 25–50 yards despite the mud and waterlogged shell craters. The reserve company had to pass through the enemy's retaliatory barrage, and there was light machine-gunning. But once the battalion reached the Green Line at 06.20 it was held up by a crossfire from enemy pillboxes. A few of these pillboxes were captured and a counter-attack was driven off, but for most of the day the battalion lay in the mud suffering heavy casualties from machine guns and air attack. At 21.00 the battalion was withdrawn, having suffered 66 killed, 170 wounded and 53 missing.^[3][15][56]

On 4 February 1918 the 4/5th merged with 1/5th and 2/5th Bns to form the divisional pioneer battalion (see above).^{[3][15][18][17][20][57]}

14th Loyals

The men of the TF who had not signed up for overseas service were separated from their battalions in 1915 and formed into Provisional Battalions for coast defence. These men from the 2/4th, 3/4th, 2/5th and 3/5th Loyals were formed into the 42nd Provisional Battalion at Herne Bay, Kent, on 1 September 1915 and joined 9th Provisional Brigade, later in 218th Brigade in 73rd Division at Witham in Essex.^{[15][58][59][60]}

The Home Service men continued serving in home defence until 1916, when the Military Service Act swept away the Home/Overseas service distinction and the provisional battalions took on the dual role of home defence and physical conditioning to render men fit for drafting overseas. The 42nd Provisional Battalion officially became the 14th Bn Loyals (TF) at Broadstairs on 1 January 1917. The battalion never served overseas, and as the men were drafted away it was disbanded on 17 December 1917.^[3][15][18]ref>Army Council Instruction 2364 of December 1916 (Appendix 204).</ref>^[61][62]

Mobilisation

The TA was mobilised on 1 September 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II. The 5th and 6th Loyals mobilised at Derby Barracks, Bolton, as motorcycle battalions in 55th Division. However, from 15 September the division's duplicate units, including 6th Loyals, were formed into the 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division.^{[3][7][65][66]} Neither of these divisions joined the British Expeditionary Force in France, and were still training in the UK when the Battle of France broke out. 5th Loyals had just been transferred to a new 20th Independent Infantry Brigade (Guards) on 24 April 1940 but was left behind when the brigade was hurriedly sent to the Defence of Boulogne on 22 May 1940.^[67]

18th Battalion Reconnaissance Corps

Cap badge of the Reconnaissance Corps, 1941

In January 1941 the Reconnaissance Corps was formed to provide reconnaissance ('recce') units for infantry divisions. A number of existing motor-cycle infantry battalions were transferred to the new corps, and 5th Loyals joined 18th Division at Madeley Heath, Staffordshire, as its recce battalion. It was redesignated 18th Battalion, Reconnaissance Corps on 26 April 1941.^{[3][68][69][70]} The basic equipment of the new battalions was Humber Light Reconnaissance Cars, Universal Carriers, and 15-hundredweight light trucks, though much of the early equipment used in training was improvised, such as Beaverettes in place of the Humber LRCs.^[71]

18th Battalion was the first unit of the new Recce Corps to see action. Along with 18th Division it had been shipped from England bound for Middle East Command, but while in the Indian Ocean it was diverted to the Far East following the Japanese invasion of Malaya. After staging in India, it followed the main body of the division to Singapore, landing on 5 February 1942. Having lost the bulk of its weapons and equipment when Japanese dive-bombers attacked its troopship Empress of Asia, the unit hastily re-equipped as an infantry battalion and moved into the northern sector of the defences of Singapore Island.^[72][73] Two companies were detached to 54th Bde, the remainder were with divisional HQ.^[74]

The British commander, Lt-Gen Arthur Percival, considered that the village of Bukit Timah was the key to the defence and on 10 February he ordered 18th Division to form an ad hoc force to occupy it. Commanded by Lt-Col L.C. Thomas, it was known as 'Tomforce' and consisted of 18th Recce Bn, 4th Bn Royal Norfolk Regiment, 1/5th Bn Sherwood Foresters, a battery of 85th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery, and a battery of 5th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery. Japanese tanks were attacking Bukit Timah and the village was in flames. Tomforce was ordered to send 18th Recce Bn forward but the position had been lost by midnight, so the battalion was disposed across the road, supporting an Australian road block.^[72][75]

Tomforce counter-attacked on 11 February, with 4th Norfolks on the right, 18th Recce astride the road in the centre and 1/5th Sherwood Foresters on the left, but it was facing two Japanese divisions and was driven back. That afternoon it came under 'ferocious aerial and artillery attack', which it held off with support from the heavy coastal artillery (9.2-inch and 6-inch guns) at Connaught and Siloso Batteries.^{[72][73][76][77]}

By 13 February the whole force was defending a perimeter covering Singapore city, with the remnants of Tomforce still holding the Burkit Timah road. The battalion continued to hold its positions, and carried out counter-attacks until the surrender of the whole British force in Singapore on 18 February. 18th Recce Bn had suffered 55 officers and men killed, and a further 264 died as prisoners of war before the end of the war.^[3][72]

2nd Reconnaissance Regiment

The 6th Loyals, like its parent unit, was also trained as a motorcycle battalion. Having left 59th Division in June 1940, it joined 2nd Division, a Regular Army formation, on 30 November, and remained with it until the end of the war. It was redesignated 2nd Battalion, Reconnaissance Corps on 26 April 1941. The Recce Corps later adopted cavalry nomenclature, and the unit was redesignated again as 2nd Reconnaissance Regiment on 6 June 1942, with squadrons replacing companies.^{[3][68][69][78][79]}

By then it was in India, the 2nd Division having been transferred there in April 1942, arriving at Bombay in early June. It went into training at Poona, but training was interrupted by internal security duties necessitated by the unrest after the arrest of Mahatma Gandhi, and then anti-bandit duties later in the year.^[78][80]

The regiment was reorganised, gaining an additional squadron (D Sqn), while A and later C Sqns were equipped with amphibious LVT-1 Alligators and assigned to 36th Indian Division for a proposed operation on the coast of Burma. However, the operation was cancelled, the two squadrons relinquished the equipment and returned to the regiment.^[80] The Reconnaissance Corps formally became part of the Royal Armoured Corps on 1 January 1944.^[3][68][78]

In the spring of 1944, during the Japanese advance on Kohima, the division moved up to Dimapur in Assam. At first, 2nd Recce Rgt had A Sqn disposed along 18 miles of the Dimapur–Kohima road, with the rest of the regiment in a defensive 'Box' at Zubza. In late April, HQ Sqn moved to Punjab Hill and D Sqn to Lone Tree Hill. Then in May, after the division had relieved the garrison of Kohima, the regiment was given an infantry role, to force the enemy off the high jungle-covered slopes of Aradura Spur, which they had held since the beginning of the battle. The operation began on 11 May with an attack on Pulebadze Ridge, which eventually sucked in the whole regiment. The conditions were extreme, with porters the only means of transport, and the Japanese defenders were willing to accept heavy casualties. After weeks of attritional fighting, 2nd Recce Rgt was withdrawn at the end of the month for resupply. Although the Aradura Spur was not taken, the Japanese 31st Division was virtually destroyed.^[78][80]

It was not until the autumn of 1944 that the regiment was committed to an active role in Fourteenth Army's offensive to re-capture Burma. By then D Sqn had been disbanded and the regiment had been reorganised as a light recce regiment. For five weeks in January and February 1945 it was used as a decoy to persuade the Japanese that the attack was going to be made on the Sagaing Hills from the north. It later provided a covering force ('Hookforce') for an RAF airstrip at Sadaung consisting of C Sqn under Major Hook with A Company of the Nepalese Army's Mahindra Dal Regiment.^[80]

During the advance through Burma the regiment's main problem was a shortage of vehicles: it only had enough carriers for four Troops, and scout cars for two Troops. However it operated aggressively: Lieutenant Tarmey's troop developed the tactic of driving into enemy positions 'with Brens firing before dismounting and rolling grenades into Japanese bunkers'. Corporal McAleer of this troop won a Military Medal, while in the course of several actions by Lt Sutton's troop, Sergeant Rothwell gained a Distinguished Conduct Medal.^[80]

The regiment continued its active role until after the Fourteenth Army had advanced beyond Mandalay, suffering relatively few casualties given the amount of combat it saw. It was withdrawn on 7 April 1945, and the war had ended before it could return to action.^[80]