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8th Battalion, Kings Royal Rifle Corps    8th (Service) Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps was raised at Winchester on 21st of August 1914 as part of Kitchener's First New Army and joined 41st Brigade, 14th (Light) Division. They trained at Aldershot, moving to Grayshott in November and to Bordon in February 1915, returning to Aldershot in March 1915. They proceeded to France, landing at Boulogne on the 19th of May 1915. They fought in the The Action of Hooge, being the first division to be attacked by flamethrowers. They were in action in The Second Attack on Bellewaarde. In 1916 they were on the Somme seeing action in The Battle of Delville Wood and The Battle of Flers-Courcelette. In 1917 they fought in The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line, The First and Third Battle of the Scarpe at Arras, The Battle of Langemark and The First and Second Battle of Passchendaele. On the 2nd of February 1918 they transferred to 43rd Brigade still with 14th (Light) Division. In 1918 they returned to the Somme and were in action during The Battle of St Quentin and The Battle of the Avre, suffering very heavy casualties with almost 6,000 men of the Division killed or injured. The Division was withdrawn from the front line and were engaged building a new defensive line to the rear. On the 27th of April, the 8th KRRC was reduced to a cadre and on the 16th of June they transferred to 34th Division, on the 27th they joined 39th Division. The 8th KRRC was disbanded on the 3rd of August 1918. 18th Feb 1915 Training 2nd Jun 1915 Quiet 21st Jun 1915 Orders to Attack   22nd Jun 1915 In Action 22nd of June 1915 Attacks ordered 29th July 1915 Reliefs 30th Jul 1915 Swift return to the Fray 30th July 1915 Reliefs Complete 2nd August 1915 At Rest 30th August 1915 Reliefs 6th September 1915 Reliefs   23rd September 1915 Order 25th Sep 1915 In Action 3rd October 1915 Orders   4th October 1915 New Orders Received   19th November 1915 Reliefs 31st December 1915  8th January 1916  16th January 1916 Reliefs 26th January 1916 Reliefs 15th Feb 1916 Reorganisation 1st March 1916  2nd Mar 1916 Objective Captured 5th March 1916  12th March 1916  19th March 1916 Reliefs 25th March 1916 Reliefs 6th April 1916 Reliefs 12th April 1916 Reliefs Complete 13th to 18th April 1916 Training 24th April 1916 Reliefs Complete 30th April 1916 Reliefs 25th May 1916  9th June 1916  27th June 1916  9th July 1916  15th July 1916  21st July 1916  14th August 1916  17th August 1916  19th August 1916  24th August 1916 Reliefs 15th and 16th September 1916  11th of April 1917 Reliefs   12th of April 1917 Reliefs   12th of April 1917 Very Cold West Day 24th of April 1917 Orders 3rd May 1917 Assault Made 10th July 1917 Administrative Orders for move 19th August 1917 Operational Order 125   2nd Dec 1917 Attack Made   7th March 1918 Daily Activity  9th Btn. (North Irish Horse) the Royal Irish Fusiliers. 1800. Relieved 1st Royal Irish Fusiliers in line, with 2nd Royal Irish Rifles on left and 8 King's Royal Rifles on right. War Diaries 15th May 1918 Reorganisation If you can provide any additional information, please add it here. Want to know more about 8th Battalion, Kings Royal Rifle Corps? There are:5283 items tagged 8th Battalion, Kings Royal Rifle Corps 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 8th Battalion, Kings Royal Rifle Corps during the Great War 1914-1918. Baker Godfrey Richard. Pte. Booth John Partington. Pte. (d.6th Nov 1915) Brown Ernest. Rflmn. (d.6th August 1915) Butler Charles. Pte Cadreman Willie Earnest. Pte. Carter William. Pte. (d.30th March 1917) Davis William J.. Capt. (d.31st July 1915) Dean Frederick George. Rflmn. (d.29th September 1917) Edwards Joseph. Pte. (d.15th Sept 1916) Gaydon Edward Alfred. Graves John. Pte. (d.24th Aug 1917) Hart Jack. Pte. (d.4th December 1917) Haslam MM. William. L/Cpl. Hayden Thomas. Rflmn. (d.1st Aug 1915) Heaton John Henry. Rfmn. (d.21st Sep 1915) Hodge Percy Henry. Cpl. (d.24th August 1916) Hutchins Wilfred Arthur. L/Cpl. (d.5th Jul 1915) Kirk Ernest. Rflmn. (d.6th August 1915) Larkman Charles. Rfl. (d.5th April 1918) Law Frank Edger. Sgt. Longhurst Stephen George. Rifleman (d.24th Mar 1918) Marson Richard. Pte. Mayhew Ernest Edwin. Rflmn. (d.12th Oct 1917) McCarthy Albert Cornelius. Cpl. McIntosh MM. Robert. Rfn. Parsons John. Pte. (d.24th Aug 1916) Plumb Arthur Samuel. Pte. (d.30th Oct 1915) Podmore Samuel. L/Sgt. Podmore Samuel. L/Sgt. Ponder Richard. Rflmn. (d.21st March 1918) Read Albert Edward. Rfmn. (d.15th Sep 1916) Sheldon Arthur. Rflmn. (d.11th October 1917) Townend MM. John Alfred. L/Cpl. (d.25th Aug 1917) Walker MM John Joseph. Sgt (d.3rd May 1917) Whatley Henry A. Rfmn. (d.15th Oct 1917) Woodburn Ernest. Cpl. (d.8th Sept 1915) Woolbard George Henry. Sgt. (d.24th August 1917) 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 8th Battalion, Kings Royal Rifle Corps 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. 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We also have a section on World War Two. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.   Pte. John Partington Booth 8th Btn. King's Royal Rifle Corps (d.6th Nov 1915) Jack Booth was my grandma's favourite younger brother. He was 20 when he enlisted in May 1915 with the 8th King's Royal Rifles and died of his wounds on 6th November at Ypres, later that same year. I'm lucky in that I have a lot of information about him. My great grandmother and the eldest daughter traveled to Ypres to see his grave and brought back postcards and other souvenirs; a brass dogcart, an anvil formed from a shell casing. Probably the one and only time they traveled from their thoroughly working class home. The women of the family had gold pendants with his photo inside, so I grew up knowing what he looked like and the fact 'a trip' had been made. His records also survived and I have copies of the correspondence with his mother about his effects - a wristwatch (broken), purse, pipe, knife, gospel, letters and photos, and her grateful reply 'hoping if they get anything else as there is a few more things'. I also have the Btn's war diary and know that the working party he was with was shelled returning from repairing trenches and he was hit by shrapnel. I know where the Field Ambulance Station was where he died, where he was initially buried (an OS reference) and his final resting place in the Hop Store Cemetery just west of Ypres. A silk mourning token also found its way to us through a local newspaper story. RIP John Partington Booth. Gone but not forgotten. Gill Butterworth Add to this record.   Rfmn. Albert Edward Read 8th Btn Kings Royal Rifle Corps (d.15th Sep 1916) Albert Read enlisted on the 9th of November 1914 and embarked from on the Folkestone 20th of August 1915 with the 4th Reinforcement for France. He joined his Battalion on the 22nd or 23rd of August 1916 and was killed in action on the 15th of September 1916 at Delville Wood in the Battle of Flers Courcelette. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. Mike Read Add to this record.   Sgt. Frank Edger Law 8th Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps He was with his Battalion 8th K.R.R.C after transferring from the 1st Battalion K.R.R.C as an N.C.O through out WW1 right up until he was captured during the German attack on 21st March 1918. He was taken to Mannhiem and put in a prison of war camp there. During his time there he caught pneumonia, and managed to trick the Germans into believing it was tuberculosis which back then was contagious and a killer. The Germans did not want to have some one with this illness among them so they repatriated him back home via Switzerland. He was them looked after by his wife until he recovered and then was able to re join the K.R.R.C at Winchester later being demobbed in 1919. Geoffrey Law Add to this record.   Cpl. Ernest Woodburn 8th Btn. Kings Royal Rifle Corps (d.8th Sept 1915) Ernest Woodburn was in the 8th Battalion, Kings Royal Rifles and died on 8th of September 1915. His resting place is Potijze Burial Ground Cemetery in Belgium. His memorial is on the wall of the Harris Library, Preston, Lancashire. He was the son of the late William and Ellen Woodburn. Ann Moys Add to this record.   L/Cpl. William Haslam MM. 8th Btn. Kings Royal Rifle Corps Bill Haslam served with the KRRC. Lynn Harvey Add to this record.   Rfl. Charles Larkman 8th Btn. Kings Royal Rifle Corps (d.5th April 1918) Rifleman Charles Larkman is buried at Hautmont Communal Cemetery, France. He was the first husband of Ethel (nee) Wood (her later married surname is Hardy). Karl Love Add to this record.   Rflmn. Arthur Sheldon 8th Btn. King's Royal Rifle Corps (d.11th October 1917) Arthur Sheldon left for the front one last time, leaving behind him happy memories for a little girl who was his cousin. He spent as much time as he could with her, knowing all the while that this was the last time he would be home. His whole family always felt that though the chair was empty he was still there with them, something that that little girl always remembered and spoke of often. It is now a century on and that love is still felt. L A White Add to this record.   Pte. William Carter 8th Btn. Kings Royal Rifle Corps (d.30th March 1917) My great uncle William Carter died on the 30th of March 1917. After the Battle of the Somme memorial weekend I decided to finally trace William. He was courting my grandmother and they would have no doubt married if he had returned from the war. When he didn't, my grandfather who was in Gallipoli and won the DCM, swept her off her feet on his return to Blighty. They married in 1922. William survived the Somme and then got killed just before the Battle for Arras. The only casualty that day. It's been an emotional few days as he really did die for me. I wouldn't be here now ( or any of the Carter family) if it hadn't have been for William. I wonder if he knew his brother Francis fancied his girl? Dawn Vaughan Add to this record.   Pte. Willie Earnest Cadreman 8th Btn. Kings Royal Rifle Corps Billy Cadreman was a Lewis gunner. He was captured at the Battle of St Quentin on the 21st of March 1918. He lost a brother, Fredrick Cadreman of the 4th Royal Fusillers at the Battle of Bellewarrde in 1915. Add to this record.   Capt. William J. Davis 8th Btn. Kings Royal Rifles Corps (d.31st July 1915) Captain William J. Davis was Adjutant of the 8th Battalion KRRC He was the elder son of General Sir John Davis, K.C.B. and Gertrude his wife. He was born 13th june 1882 and killed in action at Hooge, near Ypres on the 31st of July 1915 and is buried in the Hooge Cemetery. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”. s flynn Add to this record.   Cpl. Albert Cornelius "Mac" McCarthy 8th Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps Albert McCarthy joined up on 24th of August 1914. He was wounded at the Somme, being blown up by a shell or mine; although not physically injured, could not speak for some time. He was discharged on the 22nd of August 1916. Relieved he was recuperating in a stately home used as a hospital, the home was owned my Marcus Samuel, owner of M Samuel Merchant Bank. Albert was employed by the bank and rose to be company secretary, before he retired in 1956. He died at the age of 92 in May 1985. James Tubbs Add to this record.   Rflmn. Ernest Edwin Mayhew 8th Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps (d.12th Oct 1917) Ted Mayhew served with the 8th Battalion, Kings Royal Rifle Corps. Tamsin Loftus Add to this record.   Rfn. Robert McIntosh MM. 7th Bn Kings Royal Rifle Corps My grandfather was Robbie McIntosh, a signaller in the 7th Battalion of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps. He joined up on the 1st Sep 1914 (under age) in Crystal Palace and survived until the end of the war. He won a Military Medal for gallantry on 2nd June 1917 which was awarded by Captain M.J. St. Aubyn. We believe the medal was given when he volunteered to keep the communication lines open and crawled for many days in the mud of No Man's Land. He ran out of food and was disorientated from the shelling. He was lucky to survive. I am in possession of his papers and the award notification. Robert McIntosh also had an older brother, Charles (Chas), who served in India (North West Frontier Expedition Medal) and France (the Retreat from Mons on the 15th July 1914, with Kitchener's Army). He became a Sgt Major, also won the Military Medal, and was apparently Mentioned in Despatches. I also have a copy of a sad poem, "Egypt Lost", that has both my grandfather's name and that of Rifleman J.C. Lapworth, 8th Battalion written on the paper. My grandfather did not write the poem and we concluded that Rfn. Lapworth wrote it, but are not certain. Tell me not in mournful numbers Egypt’s but an empty dream And the Staff that often blunders Is the washout that they seem. Mugs we are, as Mugs returning To the trenches as before With out hearts in anger burning We, the Scapegoats of the Corp. From the trenches, East of Ypres We returned and blessed the day And we mocked the Hunnish Snipers As we West-ward wound our way Off we went our hearts all joyous Going to a brighter land Where we hoped they’d soon employ us Digging trenches in the sand. Gladly did we send our spare kit To the Quartermasters store Full of Souvenirs we packed it For we hoped we’d see no more You; You land of Mud and Water And it made the fellows smile For they thought that Pharaoh’s daughter Called them to the Sunny Nile. But the shining vision vanished When the order came to stay And our fondest hopes were banished That we’d ever get away. Mugs we are, as Mugs returning To the trenches as before Doomed to rot in mud and water Till the Hun has Lost the War. Pamela Brunswick Add to this record.   Rfmn. John Henry Heaton 8th Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps (d.21st Sep 1915) I have no other information about my great great uncle John Henry Heaton but would like him to be remembered on this website. Marie Heaton Add to this record.   Pte. Richard Marson 8th Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps Richard Marson was my grandfather, he was bateman to Second Lieutenant Philip Henriques. Philip Henriques was killed 24/7/1915 and is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium. He was the son of Sir Philip and Lady Henriques. Sir Philip was then, I believe, The Lord Chief Justice of England. I was told by my father that my Grandfather retreived his body from no man's land and returned his belongings to his parents. I still have the letter sent to my grandfather from Sir Philip thanking him for the part he played, and for writing to him and telling him his son was a brave English Gentleman. Sir Philip asked my grandfather to visit him when he was home on leave so that he could give him a gift to show his thanks, but my grandfather never did visit him at his home. One thing I have never understood was why my grandfather did not receive the British Medal only the Victory Medal as he was obviously in Belgium and France in 1915 Frederick Burnett Add to this record.   L/Cpl. Wilfred Arthur Hutchins 8th Btn King's Royal Rifle Corps (d.5th Jul 1915) Given the day, 11th of November, my mind has been on the Great War rather than work. There is new access through the National Archives to some war diaries and I found this reference to Billy Hutchins - he died a day after that stated on the menin gate and it shows he was a machine gunner - killed by a shell. I just wanted to share this. July 1915 Ypres. July 1st Thursday. Battn remain in Ypres. Some shelling. Rfn Barnes killed & 1 man wounded both M/G section. More care about Aeroplane sentries. 2nd Friday. Battn remain in Ypres. Fatigue parties to clear up roads. 3rd Saturday. Battn remain in Ypres. Heavy shelling of Ecole. Then fire opened at Sally Port. One shell exploded in shelter in which A Coy were cooking Teas. 3 killed 15 wounded (2 subsequently died in hospital at Asylum). 4th Sunday. Battn remain in Ypres. Carrying parties each night. Btn also construct ? Dugouts. (7 wounded very slightly). Sgt Hughes poisoned from drinking from a bottle found in the Town. 5th Monday. Battn remain in Ypres. New method of spraying smoke helmets carried out. Bomb throwers under Danville go to trenches in morning. Rfn Hutchins & Rfn Freeman m/gunners killed by shell. Rfn Andrews & Rfn Fletcher wounded. 6th Tuesday. Battn remain in Ypres. Rfn Terry & Hawkin (?) C Coy killed on carrying party & six wounded (of whom Rfn Hodges & Harris subsequently died). 7th Wednesday. Battn remain in Ypres. Very quiet day as regards shells. The Prime Minister, Lord Kitchener & large party visit YPRES. Two sick men to Hospital. Several houses fell down owing to wind, & roads had to be cleared. Major Crum slightly wounded. John Hutchins Add to this record.   Pte. Arthur Samuel Plumb 8th Service Battalion The Rifle Brigade Kings Royal Rifle Corps (d.30th Oct 1915) Arthur was a volunteer Rifleman in an Infantry Unit the 8th Service Battalion the Rifle Brigade, The Kings Royal Rifle Corps (The Prince Consorts Own), formed as part of the 'First New Army' Kitchener's Volunteers or K1 (The first 100,000 volunteers), at Winchester 21st August 1914. Attached to the 41st Brigade a.k.a. the 14th Light Division. they were deemed ready for action and arrived in France in May 1915 (The 2nd Battle of Ypres ended on 24th May 1915. The recruits could not join the front because of a shortage of rifle and artillery ammunition). Arthur's division fought at Hooge on the 19th July 1915, 30th July 1915 and on the 9th August 1915, those who survived lived to fight again at Bellewaarde 25th and 26th September 1915. Arthur died on October 30th 1915 and is buried in a double grave at Le Treport Military Cemetery, Plot 1, Row M, Grave 3B. Arthur was 30 years old when he died and left a wife Edith aged 33 and 5 children, 2 boys and 3 girls one of whom was named May Plumb aged 9 years. May Plumb's eldest child Edward (Ted) Noble was one of the glider born Ox & Bucks who took part in the successful coup de main at Pegasus Bridge, Normandy in the early hours of D-Day in 1944 I'd be interested to hear from anyone with photo's or information of Arthur's unit. Mike Allsopp Add to this record.    Edward Alfred Gaydon 8th Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corp My great grandfather, Edward Alfred Gaydon, was in the 8th battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps. Mark Harmon Add to this record. Recomended Reading. Available at discounted prices.

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