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4th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment
East Lancashire Regiment, 4th Btn. The 4th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment, was a unit of the Territorial Force with their HQ in Blackburn. A, B, C, D and E Companies were based in Blackburn, F and G Coys in Darwen and H Coy in Clitheroe. When war broke out in August 1914 they were based in Blackburn with the East Lancashire Brigade in East Lancashire Division. They were mobilized for war and moved to to Chesham Fold Camp (Bury) for training then proceeded overseas leaving from Southampton on the 10th of September 1914, arriving in Egypt on the 25th of September 1914. The Division underwent training around Cairo and defended the Suez Canal against the Turkishh attack in February. In May the Division became 126th Brigade, 42nd (East Lancashire) Division and went on to land at Cape Helles in Gallipoli and took part in the action capture the dominating heights around the village of Krithia. By August, the division had lost about 2/3rd of it's men through battle casualties, injuries or sickness and reinforcements arrived. The Battalion made a successful withdrawal from the Helles bridgehead and on the 28th of December 1915 landed on Mudros and then returned to Egypt.
On the 27th of February 1917 they landed Marseilles and proceeded to the Western Front. They were re-equipped for trench warfare and entered the line at Epehy, as part of III Corps in Fourth Army. In September they moved north to Flanders and were in action at the Battle of Passechendaele for a short time before moving to the coast at Nieuport. In November they moved to Givenchy where they undertook the construction of concrete defence works. On the 14th of February 1918 they transferred to 198th Brigade in 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division and absorbed the 2/4th Batallion. In April they were reduced to cadre strength and in August transferred to 118th Brigade in 39th Division on Lines of Communication work.
2nd May 1915 Orders
9th Aug 1915 Messages of Congratulation
12th Aug 1915 Shelling
13th Aug 1915 Bombing Party
9th Aug 1916 Salvage
20th Aug 1916 Outposts
17th Sep 1916 Outposts
20th Dec 1916 On the March
21st Dec 1916 On the March
9th Apr 1917 Demonstration 
23rd Apr 1917 Reliefs
24th Apr 1917 Attack Made
25th Apr 1917 Attack Made
27th Apr 1917 Reliefs
9th May 1917 Reliefs
13th May 1917 Reliefs
19th May 1917 On the March
16th Jun 1917 Reliefs
21st Jun 1917 Reliefs
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| Want to know more about 4th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment? There are:5249 items tagged 4th Battalion, East Lancashire 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 with4th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment during the Great War 1914-1918. - Chadwick Robert. Pte.
- Faulkner William. Pte.
- Hall Albert. Pte. (d.3rd April 1916)
- Hall Robert. Pte. (d.3rd April 1916)
- Heaps Robert. Pte. (d.9th Oct 1915)
- Heyworth William. Pte. (d.15th Dec 1916)
- Ingham James. Pte. (d.10th Jun 1915)
- Miller Matthew. Pte.
- Noon Martin. Pte. (d.19th May 1915)
- Royle William Thomas. Pte. (d.23 March 1918)
- Shaw Robert Wynn. Pte. (d.29th August 1915)
- Shorrock Walter. Cpl.
- Wood George. 2nd Lt.
- Yates Thomas Henry. 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 4th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment from other sources.
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Pte. Robert Wynn Shaw 1st/4th Battalion East Lancashire Regiment (d.29th August 1915) Robert Wynn Shaw was my great uncle, the brother of my maternal grandmother.
He died in August 1915 and is buried in the Chatby Military Cemetery in Alexandria, Egypt. His name is also commemorated on the war memorial at St James Church, Blackamoor near Darwen Lancashire.
He was only 19 years old when he died. According to information handed down in the family, he died of disease. We don't have any more information on the circumstances of his death but from information found online about the regiments movements during WW1, we think it likely he had been based in Egypt since late 1914. We don't know if he saw action but would like to know this.
According to my late mother, his poor mother never recovered from losing him at such a young age.
None of the family has ever visited his grave. I would like to do so, but travelling to Alexandria is a bit of a daunting prospect.
The inscription on his stone, according to the CWGC website is 'In Jesu's keeping'. I'd like to know if this was likely to have been supplied by his family or his comrades.
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Pte. Matthew Miller 4th Btn. East Lancashire Regiment My father Matthew Miller, was born in 1885 and was conscripted into WWI with the East Lancashire Regiment. He was a middleweight boxer in the unit and got to the finals. He fought at Somme and told stories of the Labasse Canal and the mud. He was taken prisoner at Passchendaele and apparently saved the life of a POW at the POW camp from drowning. The German Camp Commander who was a brewmeister in Berlin said my father should come to Berlin after the war and drink beer. He was transferred to another camp under control of the Hungarians. He recalled an tragic incident of being in a shell hole with 24 other men and a a guy from Leeds said "eeh I could just eat a piece of my mams fat cake" when another shell blew up in the hole and out of the 24 men only three survived, my father was one of them.
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Pte. Robert Chadwick 4th Btn., C Coy. East Lancashire Regiment My grandfather, Robert Chadwick, was a POW for 10 months in the Munster II POW camp. He survived the war and emigrated to Canada in 1920.
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Pte. Robert Hall 1/4th Btn. East Lancashire Regiment (d.3rd April 1916) Private Robert Hall is buried in the Suez War Memorial Cemetery in Egypt.
He enlisted in Burnley and lived in Padiham, Lancashire.
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Pte. William Heyworth 1/4th Btn. East Lancashire Regiment (d.15th Dec 1916) William Heyworth died 15th December 1916 and buried in the Cairo War Memorial Cemetery, Cairo, Egypt.
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Pte. James Ingham 1/4th Btn. East Lancashire Regiment (d.10th Jun 1915) James Ingham was born in Burnley, Lancs and Lived at Greenwood Rocks Farm, Sabden. He died on 10th June 1915 and commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey.
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Pte. Robert Heaps 1/4th Btn. East Lancashire Regiment (d.9th Oct 1915) Robert Heaps died on the 9th of October 1915.
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Pte. Albert Hall 1/4th Btn. East Lancashire Regiment (d.3rd April 1916) Albert Hall served with the 1/4th Battalion East Lancashire Regiment during WW1 and died on the 3rd April 1916, age 26. He is buried in the Suez War Memorial Cemetery in Egypt.
He was the son of William Hall.
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Cpl. Walter Shorrock 1/4 Battalion East Lancashire Regiment Walter Shorrock was my Great Uncle and my maternal Grandmother's brother. Walter was born in Blackburn Lancashire in 1885 and was a Weaver in the local Cotton industry.
At the outbreak of War, he enlisted in the 1/4 East Lancashire Regiment and after a brief spell of training in England he sailed from Southampton on 10 September 1914 disembarking at Alexandria in Egypt on 25 September 1914.
The Division was concentrated around Cairo for acclimatisation and further training. The purpose of the East Lancashire Division was to defend the Suez Canal from Turkish troops.
Walter fought throughout 1914 to 1916 in Egypt and was involved in the reinforcement of the beleaguered Garrison in Gallipoli -it was during this time that Walter was promoted to Corporal. He also saw active service at the Helles bridgehead and around the fierce fighting to capture the dominating heights at Krithia. During these Battles, the East Lancashire Division lost more than one third of its men. After a brief spell in Mudros, Walter returned to Alexandria.
Walter was further involved in the Battle of Romani which involved hazardous trekking in loose sand and scorching conditions.
At the beginning of March 1917, Walter moved with his Division to the Western Front which involved trench warfare under very different conditions to those he had experienced in Egypt and Gallipoli.
After arriving at Epehy Walter moved to Havrincourt facing the severity of the German Hindenburg Line at Cambrai. Walter was then involved in the Third Battle of Ypres or Passchendeele including an attack on the Sans Souci on 15 September 1917. Later that month he moved over to Belgium at Nieuport before on to Givenchy on the La Bassee Canal near Bethune.
Walter was wounded in action on 29 June 1917 and days later was gassed after heavy shelling. He battled on and after re-joining his Battalion he saw further action before succumbing to gastritis which eventually saw him discharged from the Army in October 1918 - after completing 4 years and 77 days in the Great War.
Walter survived the War and continued to live a contented life until his death in 1973 at the age of 88 years.
I am proud to say I knew and met Walter on several occasions when he visited my Grandmother. He was a kindly, quiet and self-effacing man who belied the tortuous experiences he had been through in the service of his Country
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Cpl. Thomas Henry Yates 4th Btn. East Lancashire Regiment My grandfather Thomas Henry Yates served as Corporal with the 4th East Lancs regiment, residing in Darwen, he was along with many others taken prisoner of war. The Darwen Days website has a list of pows from the town as published in the Darwen News, newspaper. My grandmother mentioned that the pow camp was in eastern Germany.
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Pte. William Faulkner 4th Btn. East Lancashire Regiment My father William Faulkner, was a member of the 4th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment and left Southampton for Egypt in 1914. He fought at the Battle of Krithia Vineyard. He transferred to the machine gun corps and was commissioned in 1918
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Pte. Martin Noon 4th Battalion East Lancashire Regiment (d.19th May 1915) My Great Grand father Martin Noon was killed in Gallipoli his grave is in the Lancashire Landing Cemetery Turkey.
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Pte. William Thomas Royle 4th Btn. (d.23 March 1918) William Thomas Royle was born in Rochdale in 1891. In 1911 he married Mary Ann Hall from Blackburn. Billy and Polly, as they were known, settled in Blackburn and had three daughters Elizabeth (Betty), Jane (Jenny) and Sarah (Sally).
When the First World War broke out, Billy was working as a painter's labourer. As family members, friends and colleagues signed up as volunteers Billy said he was not going to fight until he had to because he had a wife and three children to care for.
One day, opening his lunch box at work, Billy found a white feather. White feathers were given to men, mostly by women, as a sign of their cowardice in not joining up. Originally given by society women to their better off boyfriends when they wanted to get rid of them, the practise was adopted around the country by other classes. Some men actually started wearing badges stating that they were in reserved occupations to avoid being presented with the white feather. On his way home from work that day Billy went to Canterbury St Barracks in Blackburn, signed up and went home to announce what he had done.
Billy was a member of the 4th Battalion East Lancs Regiment. In early 1918 he came home on leave. When he had left home to return to Barracks at Colchester, Polly noticed he had left his dogtag on the windowsill. Bill's brother in law, who was returning to Colchester the next day said he would take it with him. When he arrived in Colchester, Billy had gone, posted overseas.
On March 23rd 1918, in the early hours of the morning, the 4th Battalion East Lancs Regiment was in the trenches of the Somme, waiting for the order to go over the top. Billy, as lookout was one of the first to go. Billy was killed as he went on the offensive, his body was never identified and he remains missing to this day. Billy is commemorated on the memorial to the missing at Pozieres in Northern France
At the end of the war, when the soldiers returned to parade through Blackburn, Polly went along with her mother Sarah. She saw a soldier, who from behind she thought was her Billy. He was Walter Peace and Polly later married him
His story was told to me by his daughter Jane, who was my grandma, and by my great-gran Polly.
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