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1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment were at Bordon serving with 3rd Brigade, 1st Division when war was declared in August 1914.
They proceeded to France, landing at Le Havre on the 13th of August 1914 and fought on the Western Front throughout the war, taking part in most of the major actions. In 1914 they were involved in The Battle of Mons and the subsequent retreat, The Battle of the Marne, The Battle of the Aisne, the First Battle of Ypres and the Winter Operations of 1914-15. In 1915 they were in action during The Battle of Aubers and The Battle of Loos. In 1916 they were in action in the Battles of the Somme. In 1917 they saw action in The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line and the Third Battle of Ypres. In 1918 the Battles of the Lys, the Second Battles of Arras, the Battles of the Hindenburg Line, The Battle of the Selle and The Battle of the Sambre, in which the Division fought the Passage of the Sambre-Oise Canal. At the Armistice, 1st Division was selected to advance into Germany and formed part of the Occupation Force at Bonn.
26th Aug 1914 Worse than the Mouth of Hell
26th Aug 1914 On the March
29th Aug 1914 At Rest
30th Aug 1914 On the March
31st Aug 1914 On the March
1st Sep 1914 Outpost Duty
2nd Sep 1914 Rear Guard
3rd Sep 1914 Advance Guard
3rd Sep 1914 Retirement
4th Sep 1914 In Action
6th Sep 1914 In Reserve
17th Sep 1914 In Action
19th Sep 1914 Reliefs Complete
9th Oct 1914 Problems with the Post
10th Oct 1914 A German Souvenir
24th Oct 1914 Withdrawl
29th Oct 1914 Advance Made
30th Oct 1914 Shelling
31st Oct 1914 Divisional HQ Hit
15th Nov 1914 Orders
18th Jan 1915 The Dangers of Shrapnel
25th Jan 1915 Swift Reinforcements 
9th May 1915 The Battle of Aubers Ridge: The Souther pincer Richebourg L’Avoue. At 4.06am: sunrise and all very quiet on this front.
5.00am: British bombardment opens with field guns firing shrapnel at the German wire and howitzers firing High Explosive shells onto front line. German troops are seen peering above their parapet even while this shelling was going on.
5.30am: British bombardment intensifies, field guns switch to HE and also fire at breastworks. The lead battalions of the two assaulting Brigades of 1st Division go over the top to take up a position only 80 yards from German front. (2nd Brigade has 1/Northants and 2/Royal Sussex in front and 2/KRRC and 1/5th Royal Sussex in immediate support; 3rd Brigade has 2/Royal Munster Fusiliers and 2/Welsh in front, with 1/4th Royal Welsh Fusiliers in support). Heavy machine-gun fire cuts the attackers down even on their own ladders and parapet steps, but men continue to press forward as ordered.
In the area of the Indian Corps, the lead battalions of the Dehra Dun Brigade of the Meerut Division (2/2nd Ghurkas, 1/4th and 1st Seaforth Highlanders) were so badly hit by enemy fire that no men got beyond their own parapet and the front-line and communications trenches were soon filled with dead and wounded men.
5.40am: British bombardment lifts off front lines and advances 600 yards; infantry assault begins. Despite the early losses and enemy fire the three Brigades attempted to advance across No Man's Land. They were met by intense crossfire from the German machine-guns, which could not be seen in their ground-level and strongly protected emplacements. Whole lines of men were seen to be hit. Few lanes had been cut in the wire and even where men reached it they were forced to bunch, forming good targets for the enemy gunners. The leading battalions suffered very significant losses, particularly among officers and junior leaders. Around 100 men on the Northants and Munsters got into the German front, but all were killed or captured. The advance of the supporting battalions suffered similarly, and by 6.00am the advance had halted, with hundreds of men pinned down in No Man's Land, unable to advance or fall back.
6.15am: A repeat of the initial bombardment is ordered, with the added difficulty of uncertain locations of the most advanced troops.
7.20am: Major-General Haking (CO, 1st Division) reports failure and asks if he should bring in his last Brigade (1st (Guards)). He offered his opinion that it would not be successful.
7.45am: A further one hour bombardment starts, ordered by Lieut-General Anderson (CO, Meerut Division). Its only impact is to encourage German artillery to reply, bringing heavy shelling down onto British front and support trenches. German fire continued until about 10.30am.
8.00am: First reports reach Haig, but they underestimate losses and problems. Haig also hears of early French successes in Vimy attack; he resolves to renew the effort in the Southern attack, with noon being the new zero
hour. This was subsequently moved when it was learned from I Corps how long it would take to bring supporting units up to replace those that had suffered in the initial attacks. The new attack at 2.40pm would again be preceded by a 40 minute bombardment. The various movements of relief forces were achieved only with much confusion and further losses under renewed enemy shellfire. The time was again moved, to 4.00pm. In the meantime, the German infantry in the Bois de Biez area was reinforced.
3.20pm: Bombardment repeated and seen to be a little more successful, blowing gaps in the wire and in the enemy front-line.
3.45pm: Bareilly Brigade, moving up to relieve the Dehra Dun, loses more than 200 men due to enemy shelling.
3.57pm: The leading companies of the 1/Black Watch of 1st (Guards) Brigade, brought in to replace the shattered 2nd Brigade, went over the top despite the 1/Cameron Highlanders being late to arrive and moved at the double across No Man's Land. Some reached the German breastwork just as the bombardment lifted; most were however killed or captured in the German firing trench although a small party reached the second position. The two lead companies of the Camerons, coming up on the left of the Black Watch a few minutes later, suffered heavy machine-gun casualties in crossing between the front lines. At approximately the same time, the two fresh battalions of the 3rd Brigade, the 1/Gloucestershire and 1/South Wales Borderers began to advance but were cut down without reaching the enemy. Meerut Division orders Bareilly Brigade to advance, even though it is clear that conditions are unchanged: few men even reached a small ditch 20 yards in front of their own front line, and the Brigade suffered more than 1000 casualties within minutes.
4.35pm: 1st Division orders another 10 minutes shelling but it is seen to have no effect.
4.40pm: Large explosion at German ammunition dump in Herlies, hit by a long-range British heavy shell. Smoke clouds drifting towards British lines caused a gas alarm. Br-Gen. Southey (CO, Bareilly Brigade) reports that further attempts to advance would be useless.
5.00pm: General Haig, hearing of the continued failure of the Southern attack, orders 2nd Division to relieve 1st Division with a view to a bayonet attack at dusk, 8.00pm.
9th May 1915 1st Glosters in action
24th of May 1915 Zeppelin under observation
29th May 1915 Reliefs
18th Aug 1915 Reliefs
25th Sep 1915 1st Glosters in Action
13th Oct 1915 In Action
14th Oct 1915 1st Glosters in Action
26th Nov 1915 Snow
11th Dec 1915 Reliefs
17th Dec 1915 Reliefs
1st Jan 1916 Reliefs
14th February 1916 Operational Order 53.
16th of November 1916
1st Jan 1917 Moves
9th Jan 1917 Working Parties
17th Jan 1917 Heavy Snow
22nd Jan 1917 Working Parties and Training
23rd Jan 1917 Moves
24th Jan 1917 Moves
31st Jan 1917 Very Cold Weather
6th Feb 1917 Reliefs
6th Feb 1917 Reliefs
7th Feb 1917 Reliefs
8th Feb 1917 Reliefs
9th Feb 1917 Reliefs Complete
10th Feb 1917 Hard Ground
11th Feb 1917 Quiet
12th Feb 1917 Quiet
1st Apr 1918 Hostile Artillery
2nd Apr 1918 Trench Raids
3rd Apr 1918 Quiet
4th Apr 1918 Orders
5th Apr 1918 Moves
6th Apr 1918 Relief Complete
7th Apr 1918 Moves
8th Apr 1918 Moves
9th Apr 1918 Artillery Barrage
29th Oct 1918 Attack and Counter Attack
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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| Want to know more about 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment? There are:5291 items tagged 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire 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 with1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment during the Great War 1914-1918. - Bailey Arthur Henry. Pte. (d.10th March 1916)
- Biggs Francis Charles. Pte. (d.14th January 1915)
- Blackwell MM. Charles William. Pte
- Calder George Walter. L/Cpl.
- Cork Samuel Alfred. Pte. (d.22nd May 1915)
- Faulkner MM Frederick Thomas. Sgt
- Fleming Robert. (d.9th May 1915)
- Foot Cecil William Arthur. Pte.
- Giles Reginald Stephen. Pte (d.20th Aug 1916)
- Grange William George. Pte.
- Grange William George. Pte.
- Hancock A. Pte.
- Hardwell Tom. Pte.
- Haynes Philip Henry. Pte. (d.8th Nov 1917)
- Holme Alexander Charles. Lt. (d.6th September 1914)
- Large Arthur James. Pte
- Shore William Ewart Gladstone . Pte. (d.12th February 1917)
- Thompson Thomas John. Pte. (d.28th Oct 1918)
- Waite William Charles. Pte. (d.14th April 1918)
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 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment from other sources.
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Did you know? We also have a section on World War Two. and a
Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.
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Pte. William Ewart Gladstone Shore 7th Btn. Gloucestershire Regiment (d.12th February 1917) My Grandfather, WEG Shore, was firstly in the 1st Battalion Gloucester's. He was wounded in the Battle for Loos (Western Front). He returned home to recover October 1915. He saw his son (my father for the first time, as he was born just 7 days after grandfather sailed to France.
He was later shipped to Mesopotamia with 7th Battalion, wounded on the 10th of February 1917. He died from wounds received on 12th of February 1917. He left behind 4 small children, and my grandmother.
I have written a factual account of this and how my family coped with his loss (or not as it turned out). I have titled it "War Widow and Child", and sub titled it "Was she a Vilian and worst mother on Earth?
or A Victim of Tragedy and Predatory Men".
It is available form Amazon Books, if anyone wants to read an emotive thought provoking true story of how a normal Tommy's family was effected.
Much more than a war story.
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Pte Reginald Stephen Giles 1st Btn. Gloucestershire Regiment (d.20th Aug 1916) Reginald Giles is my grandfather's brother. He has no known grave he is commemorated at Thiepval Memorial.
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Pte. William Charles Waite 2nd Battalion South Lancashire Regiment (d.14th April 1918) William Waite, the son of Mr and Mrs Frank Waite of Rangeworthy, Gloucestershire, enlisted into the General Service on 29th November 1915.
He transferred to the reserve and was mobilized on 15th June 1916 and posted to the Royal Engineers. On 25th December 1916 he was posted to 1st Btn, Gloucestershire Regiment and deployed to France.
He was wounded on 19th of November 1917 and repatriated to UK on 20th. On 25th of March 1918 he was re-deployed to France with 2nd Btn, South Lancashire Regiment. He died at 62nd Casualty Clearing Station on 14th of April 1918.
His widow, Elizabeth (nee Fletcher), and daughter Ivy Muriel Marjorie, lived at Chaingate Lane, Yate.
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Robert Fleming 1st Btn. Gloucestershire Regiment (d.9th May 1915) Robert Fleming enlisted in December 1903. He married Eleanor F. Wenham in Fulham London in 1914.
he was born in 1884 in Christchurch, Hants
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Pte. Francis Charles Biggs 1st Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment (d.14th January 1915) Francis Biggs served with 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment.
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Pte. A Hancock 1st Btn. Gloucester Regiment When I was a young soldier back in the early 70s, I would trawl around the pawn shops on the look out for old medals etc.
One of the medals I found was, Pte. Hancock's Mons Star, with date bar.
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Lt. Alexander Charles Holme 1attd. 3rd Bn. Nigeria Regiment, W.A.F.F. Gloucestershire Regiment, 1st Btn. (d.6th September 1914) Alexander Holme was the Son of Charles H. Holme, of Rawburn, Duns. His brother Second Lieut. R.H.P. Holme also fell.
He was 25 when he died and is commemorated on a special memorial in the Limbe Botanical Gardens Burial Grounds in the Cameroons.
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Pte. Tom Hardwell 11th Battalion Sherwood Foresters Tom Hardwell was my grandfather, it seems he was moved about from 2 other battalions 1st Gloucesters then to Sherwood Foresters cyclist division then to the 4th Cyclist Corps then to the 11th battalion, Sherwood Foresters. He survived the war returning to Bristol.
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Pte. William George Grange 1st Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment William Grange volunteered in June 1916 at the age of 33. He was posted to the Western Front six months later. During his service he took part in the battles of Arras, Ypres, Messines, Cambrai and St. Quentin. He also saw much severe fighting at Peronne and Albert and in the retreat and advance of 1918, being wounded in action in the Mons sector in November 1918. He was sent home and on his recovery was demobilised in January 1919 holding the General Service and Victory Medals
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Pte. Samuel Alfred Cork 6th Btn. Gloucestershire Regiment (d.22nd May 1915) Samuel Alfred Cork was a soilder in 'D' Coy. 1st/6th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment. He was 22 years old when he was killed in action during World War 1 (France and Flanders). He is buried in the Lancashire Cottage Military Cemetery, Ploegsteert situated on the right handside as you enter the cemetery first row. He was awarded three medals - the 1914-1915 Star, the British War medal and the British Victory medal. He was my father’s uncle (my father’s, sister’s brother).
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L/Cpl. George Walter Calder 1st Btn. Gloucestershire Regiment Lance Corporal George Walter Calder served with the 1st Battalion, the Gloucestershire Regiment during WW1.
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Pte Charles William Blackwell MM. 1st Btn. Gloucester Regiment My dad Charles Blackwell was just sixteen when he enlisted, lying about his age like so many others. He was in the 1/4th battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment. He was injured and sent to recover and when he returned he was in the 1st Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment and his service number was 201227.
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Pte. Thomas John Thompson 1st Battalion, B Coy. Gloucestershire Regiment (d.28th Oct 1918) Thomas John Thompson died aged 33 whilst serving with 1st Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, he had formerly served with the Royal Engineers.
Born in Penshaw Durham in 1885, son of William and Ellen Thompson (nee Aittis). In the 1911 Census he is listed as Thomas John Thompson, age 26, a Piano & Organ Commercial Traveller, living with his parents William & Ellen Thompson & siblings at 2, Oak Street, Jarrow-on-Tyne. He was the husband of Eleanor Barber Thompson (nee Stockman) of 42 Walter Street Jarrow. He enlisted in Aldershot.
Thomas is buried in Hebburn Cemetery and is commemorated on the Palmer Cenotaph Jarrow.
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