18th (2nd City) Battalion, Kings Regiment (Liverpool)

   18th (2nd City) Battalion, The King's Regiment (Liverpool) was raised by Lord Derby at the old watch factory, Prescot, Liverpool on the 29th of August 1914. After training in the Liverpool areas, on the 30th of April they joined 89th Brigade, 30th Division which concentrated near Grantham. In the Autumn they moved to Larkhill, Salisbury and proceeded to France on the 7th of November 1915 landing Bologne, the division concentrating near Amiens. On the 25th of December 1915 they transferred to 21st Brigade, still with 30th Division.In 1916 they were in action during the Battle of the Somme, in which the Division captured Montauban. In 1917 they took part in the pursuit of the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line, the Arras Offensive and The Battle of Pilkem Ridge. On the 24th of September they absorbed 16 officers and 290 men from the 1/1st Lancashire Hussars and the 18th (2nd City) Battalion was renamed the 18th (Lancashire Hussars Yeomanry) Battalion. On the 11th of February 1918 they transferred to 89th Brigade still with 30th Division. They were in action on The Somme and in the Battles of the Lys suffering heavy lossed. On the 14th of May the battalion was reduced to cadre strength and on the 19th of June transferred to 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division. On the 13th of August they were brought up to strength by absorbing the 14th Kings Liverpool and on the 19 of September 1918 joined 199th Brigade 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division, returning to action in October in The Battle of Cambrai and The Pursuit to the Selle. They fought in The Battle of the Selle and on the 21st of October the Division was withdrawn for rest moving to the Serain area. On the 2nd of November they advanced through Le Cateau engaging in sharp fighting. On the 9th of November a number of units of the Division were selected to advance through Belgium to occupy the Rhone Bridgeheads and were placed under command of Bethell's Force. At the Armistice the advanced units of this Force were on the line of Pont de Republique through Grandrieu to Montbliart. They advanced into Germany and remained there until demobilised.

30th Apr 1915 18th Kings Liverpool move to Belton Park  The 18th (2nd Pals) Kings Liverpool did their basic training at Hooton Park Racecourse and on the 30th April 1915 moved to Belton Park. They went on to other parts of the UK for more advanced training.

1st of January 1916 Move

13th of January 1916 5th Division in Reserve

14th January 1916 Shelled fairly heavily, chiefly by 4.2 Howitzer H.E. and 5.9 H.E. schrapnel.

22nd January 1916 In same trenches in "C1".

1st Jul 1916 Montauban Captured

8th July 1916 British troops in action on The Somme  5-45am July 8th 1916, The 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment moved off up the valley by Talus Boisse to a position just west of Bernafay Wood with orders to attack and take the southern portion of Trones Wood. This accomplished the Wiltshires were to attack from Maltz Horn Alley their right joining up with the left of the French who were attacking at the same time. The 19th Manchesters were in trenches behind available for support and the 18th Kings Liverpools were detailed to provide carrying parties, battalion HQ was at the Briqueterie.
7-15am, "C" Company 2nd Btn Yorkshire Regiment under Capt Maude entered Bernafay Wood followed in succession by the bombing sections, "D" Company under Capt Belcher, "B" Company under 2nd Lt Hubbard and "A" Company under Capt Colley.
8-00am, Under severe shellfire which caused casualties before starting and added to some confusion caused by the passage through the wood. "C" Company 2nd Yorks emerged from the wood and commenced to cross the open space between it and Trones Wood. For about 80 yards rising ground gave some cover but immediately this was topped a very heavy machine gun and rifle fire was opened from the edge of Trones Wood and the front line was practically hit to a man. Some men got into Trones Alley a communication trench between the two woods and Lt Field with the battalion bombers made an attempt to bomb up it and get into the wood, snipers in trees defeated this and seeing that without further and more powerful artillery support a direct attack was hopeless and a withdrawal to Bernafay Wood was ordered at 8-30am The Germans now commenced a heavy and constant bombardment of Bernafay Wood with guns of every calibre. Cover was poor and for the rest of the day the battalion could do nothing but hold on under heavy punishment. Casualties were numerous and the removal of wounded was a matter of the greatest difficulty. Mens nerves were subjected to probably the greatest strain the battalion had yet to bear in this war and it was with great relief that at 7-00pm orders were received to withdraw. Casualties of the 2nd Yorks were: Officers; killed 3, wounded 4, Other ranks; killed 19, wounded 116, missing 17.

17th Sep 1916 Reliefs

31st Jul 1917 In Action

2nd Aug 1917 Message of Congratulation

21st Mar 1918 Attack

15th Apr 1918 Reliefs

18th Apr 1918 More Shelling  There was general shelling of the area. At midnight the 6th Battalion, West Riding Regt was relieved by the 18th. Kings Liverpool Regiment, 99th. Brigade, 30th. Division and, on relief, withdrew to the Army line at about map reference R29c & d, sheet 27.
Casualties of 6th West Riding on this day, including those that happened between 11/04/1918 and 18/04/1918 which had not been recorded, were 265113 Sergeant H. Driver (Wounded, between 11th & 18th.), 265552 Private J. Cobrey (Wounded, between 11th. & 18th.), 268239 Private W. Hartley (Killed in Action), 266049 Private J. Ireland (Wounded, between 11th & 18th.), 26691 Private R. Lizerbram (Wounded), 10527 Private L. McDonald (Wounded, between 11th. & 18th.), 266760 Private G. J. Raper (Wounded between 11th. & 18th.), 305335 Private J. Riley (Wounded, between 11th. & 18th.), 41195 Private C. Rigg (Wounded, between 11th. & 18th.), 41194 Private W. H. Robinson (Wounded, between 11th. & 18th.), 268542 Private J. A. Smith (Wounded), 266458 Private J. M. Spencer (Wounded, between 11th. & 18th.), 267750 Private J. T. Tate (Wounded, between 11th. & 18th.).

If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.

Want to know more about 18th (2nd City) Battalion, Kings Regiment (Liverpool)?

There are:5243 items tagged 18th (2nd City) Battalion, Kings Regiment (Liverpool) available in our Library

These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.

Those known to have served with
18th (2nd City) Battalion, Kings Regiment (Liverpool)
during the Great War 1914-1918.

Evans MM. Robert George. Sgt. (d.24th Oct 1918)
Hilditch Arthur Jackson. Pte. (d.18th Oct 1916)
Hilditch Arthur Jackson. Pte. (d.18 Oct 1916)
Hilditch Arthur Jackson. Pte (d.18th Oct 1916)
Jessop William James. Pte
Lloyd Harry. Pte. (d.6th Aug 1916)
McCabe Patrick. Pte. (d.22nd Sept 1917)
Preddy Frederick William. Pte. (d.16th June 1918)
Price Leslie. Pte. (d.26th Feb 1916)
Seiffert Frederick Francis. L/Cpl. (d.1st July 1916)
Turner Walter. L/Cpl. (d.1st Jul 1916)
Wright William. Pte. (d.1st Jul 1916)

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 18th (2nd City) Battalion, Kings Regiment (Liverpool) from other sources.

The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.

1st of September 2023 marks 24 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time.

Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the Great War? Our Library contains many many diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text.

Looking for help with Family History Research?
Please see Family History FAQ's

Please note: We are unable to provide individual research.

Can you help?
The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors.
If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web.
If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.

Announcements

18th April 2024
Please note we currently have a massive backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 263925 your submission is still in the queue, please do not resubmit.

Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to the Great War. If you have any unwanted photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted.

We are now on Facebook. Like this page to receive our updates, add a comment or ask a question.

If you have a general question please post it on our Facebook page.

World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great battalion regiment artillery
Did you know? We also have a section on World War Two. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.

L/Cpl. Walter Turner 18th (2nd City) Btn. Kings Liverpool Regiment (d.1st Jul 1916)

My Great Great Uncle Walter Turner enlisted on 31st of August 1914 with the 18th Service Battalion of the King's Liverpool Regiment, for the duration of the war. Walter was 21 years and 9 months old. At the time of enlistment he was working as a clerk in Liverpool. He may have joined up with at least one other friend, Walter Smithies, known as Wallie.
Arriving in France in November 1915, having just been promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal, Walter wrote a soldier's will in December 1915. In the spring of 1916 according to his service record he suffered from a bout of tonsilitis, then flu.
He was in action on the 1st of July 1916 at the Somme, and was then reported as missing, later presumed to have died. He has no known grave but is remembered at The Thiepval Memorial, the Roll of Honour at Bedford Road School, Bootle and from 2019 the Bootle War Memorial at King's Gardens on Stanley Road.
Pamela Turner

Add to this record.

Pte. Frederick William Preddy 18th (2nd City) Btn. Kings Regiment (Liverpool) (d.16th June 1918)

Fred Preddy was reported missing in action some time between 19th and 21st March 1918 by his sister Mrs Emily Whitchurch of St. James Place, Mangotsfield who wrote to the authorities in order to establish his whereabouts.
On 21st the Battalion's War Diary simply states “4:40 a.m. Enemy attacked. 4:45 a.m. “Man Battle Station received” yet no mention of men wounded or killed. It was eventually confirmed by the Red Cross that he had been taken as a Prisoner of War by the Germans on 25th March (presumably in the fighting on the same day?) while the German records show he was captured on 28th June at Ham in the province of Limburg, Belgium.
He was admitted to the German No. 3 War Hospital at Chapelle with an embolism caused by a 'ham shot' (a gun shot wound to his upper thigh) and after extensive treatment he died on 16th of June 1918 in the Limburg P.O.W. Camp, north west of Frankfurt. His body was brought in from the German extension of the Communal Cemetery (Soldatenfriedhof No.2) and re-interred in La Capelle–En-Theirache-Communal Cemetery in the small town of La Capelle in the Aisne Department of France. The German authorities wrote to Frederick's sister on 28th of September 1918 advising her of her brother's death. Frederick Preddy is commemorated on the Cenotaph in Clifton Park, Rotherham and also in the Rotherham Postal Sorting Office.
David Blackmore

Add to this record.

Pte. Leslie Price 18th Btn. The King's (Liverpool Regiment) (d.26th Feb 1916)

Aigburth Pal Killed.
Information has been received that Private Leslie Price, of the 18th Service Battalion (2nd Pals) King's (Liverpool Regiment) was killed by a sniper in France. Private Price was the only son of Mr. and Mrs. John Price of 3 Ashbourne-road, Aigburth, and was twenty-two years of age. He was educated at the Liverpool Institute, an had been in the employ of the Liverpool Gas company for about seven years, being in the treasurer's department.
He joined the Pals, on 31st of August 1914, and went to France with his regiment on November 7th last. Private Price was greatly liked by all who knew him, being popular with his comrades.
In a letter to his parents, Captain Brocklebank writes- "Your dear son fell at his post on duty. Death was practically instantaneous, and in any case he suffered no pain. He was shot through the head. It might console you to know how highly he was thought of by all the officers, N.C.O.'s, and men in his company. He was never the slightest trouble, always willing, cheerful, and ready to do any work that was wanted. No one had had any easy time in the trenches lately, and the weather has been bad, but I never heard your son once complain. We have lost a splendid soldier and a Christian gentleman".
A chum of Private Price's, Private John Irving of Mersey-road, Aigburth, who was with him when he was killed, was wounded the following night in the neck, and is now in hospital at Manchester.
During his training Private Price won the silver spoon of his battalion in a rifle competition at Salisbury Plain last October.
Article from Liverpool Echo on the 21st of March 1916
Tim Gillard-Stapleton

Add to this record.

L/Cpl. Frederick Francis Seiffert 18th Btn. King's (Liverpool) Regiment (d.1st July 1916)

Frederick Seiffert served with 18th Btn. King's (Liverpool) Regiment.
Mary Ryan

Add to this record.

Pte William James Jessop 18th Btn King's (Liverpool Regiment)

William Jessop served with the 18th Btn King's (Liverpool Regiment)
Alan Bennett

Add to this record.

Pte Arthur Jackson Hilditch 18th Btn. Kings (Liverpool Regiment) (d.18th Oct 1916)

Arthur Hilditch was the son of Mr & Mrs Henry Hilditch of Hunts Cross, Liverpool. He was killed in France in 1916 and was buried at Warlencourt Court British Cemetery.

Add to this record.

Sgt. Robert George Evans MM. 18th (2nd Liverpool Pals) Btn. Kings Liverpool Regiment (d.24th Oct 1918)

Robert Evans was born on the 3rd of April 1896. He enlisted on the 4th of September 1914. He was was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in action on 10th of October 1918 when he swam across a river to rescue a wounded friend despite heavy machine gunfire. On the 23rd of October 1918 he was hit in 3 places by shrapnel whilst attacking a village near La Foret. He died from wounds the following day and is buried in La Foret Communal Cemetery.
Robert's brother, Pte William Evans born on the 6th of January 1898, also fought during WW1 and survived. William enlisted on 19th of January 1916 and followed Robert into The King's Liverpool Regiment. He was mobilised on 2nd of August 1916 and sent to France. At the beginning of July 1917, he suffered a shrapnel wound to the head. A nurse in the casualty clearing station wrote to let his parents know that he was very ill. He had a metal plate inserted into his skull and was discharged as being no longer physically fit for war service on 19th of October 1917. He was sent to Boscombe Military Hospital to recuperate. William's total service was 1 year 96 days, 247 days were served in France. William married May Hearn on 29th of September 1934 and had a successful career in the Civil Service.
Mavis Peacock

Add to this record.

Pte. William Wright 18th Btn. King's Liverpool Regiment (d.1st Jul 1916)

William Wright was my Great-Uncle. He served with the 18th Battalion, King's Liverpool Regiment. He died, aged 26, on 1st July 1916 on the first day of the Battle of the Somme and is buried in Dantzig Alley Cemetery, near Mametz
A brave man, he deserves our enduring respect for his sacrifice. He will not be forgotten.
Philip Codd

Add to this record.

Pte. Patrick McCabe 18th Btn. Kings Liverpool Regiment (d.22nd Sept 1917)

Pat joined the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in 1914 and served in the Balkans and France. He deserted in January 1917, then re-enlisted under the name of James Conway in Feburary 1917 in the King's Liverpool. He was killed on the 22nd September 1917 whilst stringing wire with 7 others. He is buried at Torekien Farm no 1 Cemetery near Wijtschate.
H. W. Lindsay

Add to this record.

Recomended Reading.

Available at discounted prices.

The Wartime Memories Project
- 18th (2nd City) Battalion, Kings Regiment (Liverpool) during the Great War -

18th (2nd City) Battalion, Kings Regiment (Liverpool)

Want to know more about 18th (2nd City) Battalion, Kings Regiment (Liverpool)?

Those known to have served with
18th (2nd City) Battalion, Kings Regiment (Liverpool)
during the Great War 1914-1918.

Can you help?

If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.

Announcements

Recomended Reading.

Links

The Wartime Memories Project - 18th (2nd City) Battalion, Kings Regiment (Liverpool) during the Great War -

18th (2nd City) Battalion, Kings Regiment (Liverpool)

Want to know more about 18th (2nd City) Battalion, Kings Regiment (Liverpool)?

Those known to have served with18th (2nd City) Battalion, Kings Regiment (Liverpool)during the Great War 1914-1918.

Can you help?

If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.

Announcements

Recomended Reading.

Links

The Wartime Memories Project
- 18th (2nd City) Battalion, Kings Regiment (Liverpool) during the Great War -

Those known to have served with
18th (2nd City) Battalion, Kings Regiment (Liverpool)
during the Great War 1914-1918.