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12th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment
The 12th (Service) Battalion, Cheshire Regiment was raised in Chester on the 13th of September 1914 as part of Kitchener's Second New Army and joined 22nd Division as army troops. They trained at Seaford, spending the winter in billets in Eastbourne. In February 1915 they transferred to 66th Brigade, still with 22nd Division. They moved to Aldershot for final training in June and proceeded to France on the 6th of September, landing at Boulogne, the division concentrating near Flesselles. In October they moved to Marseilles by train and embarked for Salonika on the 27th. 67th Brigade, 9th Borders, 68th Field Ambulance and the Advanced Divisional HQ saw their first action in the second week of December in the Retreat from Serbia. In 1916 the division fought in the the Battle of Horseshoe Hill and Battle of Machukovo. In 1917 they were in action during the Battles of Doiran. They were in action at Doiran just before the Armistice with Bulgaria was signed at the end September 1918. By the 20th of October the Division was at Stavros and embarked on destroyers to attempt a landing at Dede Agach, but rough weather forced abandonment and the infantry finally landed on the 28th and reached Makri before the Armistice with Turkey. Demobilisation began at Chugunsi and was complete by the end of March 1919.
3rd of September 1915 Off to France
5th of September 1915 In France
5th of September 1915 Concentration of Units
7th of September 1915 More Units Join
8th of September 1915 More Troops Join
10th of September 1915 On the Move 
11th of September 1915 Moves
17th of September 1915 Advance Units Arrive
21st of September 1915 In the Front Line
22nd of September 1915 Gas Precautions
29th of September 1915 Snipers and Reliefs
8th of October 1915 German Dud Shell
9th of October 1915 Artillery Regrouped
10th of October 1915 New and Old Armies
10th of October 1915 No Blankets
12th of October 1915 Catapulting Mills' Bombs
30th of October 1915 Ready to Go
9th Feb 1918 Reliefs
1st Mar 1918 Reliefs
3rd Mar 1918 At Rest
14th Apr 1918 Church Parade & Reliefs
16th Apr 1918 Reliefs
5th May 1918 Brigade Sports
6th May 1918 Conference
3rd June 1918 On the March
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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| Want to know more about 12th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment? There are:5255 items tagged 12th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
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Those known to have served with12th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment during the Great War 1914-1918. - Bent John William. L/Cpl. (d.19th September 1918)
- Cain John Thomas. Cpl. (d.19th May 1917)
- Dempster William John. Pte. (d.17th May 1917)
- Garfin George William. Pte.
- Graham George Frederick. Pte. (d.30th Sep 1918)
- Graham George Frederick. Pte. (d.30th Sept 1918)
- Lees Abraham Law. Pte.
- Lees Abraham Law. Pte.
- Littler William. Cpl. (d.7th Oct 1918)
- Page James. Pte.
- Weale Joseph. L/Cpl.
All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please Add a Name to this List
Records of 12th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment from other sources.
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Pte. Abraham Law Lees 12th Battalion Cheshire Regiment My grandfather, Abraham Lees, joined up in 1914 and was a machine gunner with the 12th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment. He was taken ill in Salonika in May 1916 with dysentery and returned to the UK on HS Rewa in August 1916. He was discharged on the grounds of ill health in 1917.
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Pte. Abraham Law Lees 12th Btn. Cheshire Regiment My grandfather, Abraham Law Lees enlisted at the beginning of the war in September 1914 with the Cheshire Regiment. He was in the 12th Battalion and after initially going to France, was posted to Salonika in 1915. He was hospitalised in Salonika a couple of times in 1916 and returned to the UK on the HMHS Rewa in the September. He was admitted initially to the Sherlock Street Auxilliary Hospital in Liverpool before being admitted to the Western General Hospital, Fazakerley, Liverpool. He was given a medical discharge in 1917. He was given the 1914-15 Star and the Victory Medal. I believe that he had contracted dysentery. He once told me about an incident in 1917 which still angered him. He was on a bus in Liverpool and a woman gave him a white feather. He had a badge which indicated that he had been medically discharged which he showed the woman, who then promptly burst into tears. Oddly enough he always told me he was in the Dardenelles during the war and it was only when I saw his medical records a few months ago that I discovered he was in Salonika.
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L/Cpl. Joseph Weale 12th Btn. Cheshire Regiment Joseph Weale was born in March 1889 in Shipton, Shropshire. He moved to Bromborough, Cheshire in the early 1900s.
He enlisted on 1st of September 1914 in Chester. He was appointed Lance Corporal 15th of July 1915 sent to France 6th of September 1915. He was badly wounded by shrapnel on 14th of May 1918 and discharged 10th of June 1919 and died in 1948.
He lost his younger brother Thomas Weale on 5th of September 1916 who was serving with the Shropshire Yeomanry who were attached to the Cheshires at the time, he is remembered on the Cenotaph in Eastham.
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Cpl. William Littler 12th Battalion Cheshire Regiment (d.7th Oct 1918) William Littler died of wounds received, aged 28, and is buried in the Mikra British cemetry in Kalamaria.
His younger brother John (23) died in France, on the 23rd of November 1916 near Ancre (Somme) serving with the 8th Btn. East Lancashire Regiment.
The family came from Cheshire.
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Pte. George Frederick Graham 12th Btn. Cheshire Regiment (d.30th Sept 1918) George Graham was 22 when he died of his wounds. He is buried in the Karasouli Military Cemetery in Greece.
He was the son of Frederick and Martha Graham of 5 Whittlefield Street, Burnley, Lancashire.
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Cpl. John Thomas Cain 12th Btn. Cheshire Regiment (d.19th May 1917) John Cain is buried in the Karasouli Military Cemetery in Greece.
He left behind a wife and seven children.
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Pte. George William Garfin 12th (Service) Btn Cheshire Regiment  George William Garfin joined the Army on 9 November 1915 Age 26. He attested in Manchester and was residing at 17 Gordon Street Leigh. His trade on enlistment was Cotton Spinner.
He embarked from Southampton on 26th Oct 1916 and joined The 12th Battalion The Cheshire Regiment. he disembarked at Salonica 6th Nov 16 and fought in the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in Greece and Bulgaria.
Pte George Garfin was charged on 28 Nov 1916 in Salonica. The charge was that “While on Active Service being deficient of a Mackintosh Cape value 15/1†He was subsequently deprived 14 days pay, made to pay for the Cape and was awarded 10 days Confined to Camp.
He was reported Wounded in the Field on 25th of April 1917 and was admitted to 42 General Hospital with a Gun Shot Wound to his right thigh. He was then moved on 6th Jan 1918 by 68 Field Ambulance after admission to 29 General Hospital. He was then medically reclassified as B2X and on 5th Mar 18 he was transferred to the Labour Corps and served in 976 Company and 999 company. On 10 August 1918 he was posted to the Lewis Gun School
as his specialist military qualification was a Lewis Gunner. He embarked for the UK on 10th of August 1918 and was discharged on 25th March 1919.
Pte Garfin was awarded the Victory Medal and British War Medal and was awarded a 20% Disability for deafness on discharge.
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Pte. George Frederick Graham 12th Btn. Cheshire Regiment (d.30th Sep 1918) Frederick George Graham served with the 12th Battalion Cheshire Regiment during WW1 and died on the 30th September 1918, aged 22. He is buried in Karasouli Military Cemetery, Greece. He was the son of Frederick and Martha Graham, of 5, Whittlefield St., Burnley.
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Pte. James Page 12th (Service) Battalion Cheshire Regiment In researching my grandfather's WW1 career, we would like to know how much a private soldier was paid, and how he managed to send money to his wife and young baby. My grandfather enlisted in September 1914, was sent to Salonika in 1915 and was not discharged until 1919. In 1918 he suffered from malaria, stated to have 20% disability and was transferred to the Labour Corps. I should be grateful to know about his pay, as I can find nothing online on this subject.
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