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4th Battalion, South Wales Borderers
4th (Service) Battalion, South Wales Borderers was raised at Brecon in August 1914 as part of Kitchener's Third New Army and joined
40th Brigade, 13th (Western) Division which assembled on Salisbury Plain. 40th Brigade moved to Chiseldon and Cirencester in September 1914. Near the end of February the Division concentrated at Blackdown in Hampshire. They moved to the Mediterranean from the 13th of June 1915 landing at Alexandria then moving to Mudros, by the 4th of July to prepare for a landing at Gallipoli. The infantry landed on Cape Helles between the 6th and 16th of July to relieve 29th Division. They returned to Mudros at the end of the month, and the entire Division landed at ANZAC Cove between the 3rd and 5th of August. They were in action in The Battle of Sari Bair, The Battle of Russell's Top and The Battle of Hill 60, at ANZAC. Soon afterwards they transferred from ANZAC to Suvla Bay. They were evacuated from Suvla on the 19th and 20th of December 1915, and after a weeks rest they moved to the Helles bridgehead. They were in action during The last Turkishh attacks at Helles on the 7th of January 1916 and were evacuated from Helles on the 8th and 9th. The Division concentrated at Port Said, holding forward posts in the Suez Canal defences. On the 12th of February 1916 they moved to Mesopotamia, to join the force being assembled near Sheikh Sa'ad for the relief of the besieged garrison at Kut al Amara. They joined the Tigris Corps on the 27th of March and were in action in the unsucessful attempts to relieve Kut. They were in action in The Battle of Kut al Amara, The capture of the Hai Salient, he capture of Dahra Bend and The passage of the Diyala, in the pursuit of the enemy towards Baghdad. Units of the Division were the first troops to enter Baghdad, when it fell on the 11 March 1917. The Division then joined \"Marshall's Column\" and pushed north across Iraq, fighting at Delli 'Abbas, Duqma, Nahr Kalis, crossing the 'Adhaim on the 18 April and fighting at Shatt al 'Adhaim. Later in the year they were in action in the Second and Third Actions of Jabal Hamrin and fought at Tuz Khurmatli the following April. By the 28th of May 1918, Divisional HQ had moved to Dawalib and remained there until the end of the war, enduring extreme summer temperatures.
18th Jul 1915 Recce
19th Jul 1915 Reliefs
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| Want to know more about 4th Battalion, South Wales Borderers? There are:5232 items tagged 4th Battalion, South Wales Borderers 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, South Wales Borderers during the Great War 1914-1918. - Armstrong William. Pte. (d.1st May 1917)
- Barber Alfred. Cpl.
- Bennett Frederick R.. Sgt. (d.9th Aug 1915)
- Bennett Frederick Christian Richard. Sgt. (d.9th Aug 1915)
- Davies Arthur Vernon. Pte. (d.21st Aug 1915)
- Dowding Frank Alfred. Pte (d.3rd March 1917)
- Duckworth Benjamin. Pte. (d.12th February 1917)
- Flynn VC. James Henry. Pte. (d.30th Mar 1917)
- Fox John E.. Pte. (d.12th August 1915)
- Fynn VC. James Henry. Pte. (d.30th March 1917)
- Gorman Thomas Henry. Pte. (d.21st Aug 1915)
- Jones Alfred Richard. Pte. (d.16th February 1917)
- King Harold Idris. Pte. (d.19/02/17)
- Kitchener Will. Pte. (d.30th Jan 1917)
- Lewis William Patrick. L/Cpl
- Matthews MiD. Cornelius. CSM.
- Rudge Anthony. Cpl. (d.9th August 1915)
- Rule Benjamin. Pte. (d.25th Jul 1915)
- Trevan Thomas Henwood. Cpl. (d.4th January 1918)
- Type Charles. Pte, (d.15th Feb 1917)
- Wildblood Joseph. Pte.
- Williams Sidney. Pte. (d.9th Aug 1915)
- Young Joseph. L/Cpl. (d.15th April 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 4th Battalion, South Wales Borderers from other sources.
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Pte. Alfred Richard Jones 4th Battalion South Wales Borderers (d.16th February 1917) My great grandfather, Alfred Jones, died from his wounds received in action on 16th of February 1917 during the campaign in Mesopotamia. He had been a coal miner in the south Wales valleys as stated on the 1911 census. Therefore, we must assume he volunteered to fight. He is buried in the Amara War Cemetery in modern day Iraq. Amara is a town on the left bank of the Tigris some 520 kilometres from the sea. The War Cemetery is a little east of the town between the left bank of the river and the Chahaila Canal.
Amara was occupied by the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force on 3rs of June 1915 and it immediately became a hospital centre. Amara War Cemetery contains 4,621 burials of the First World War, more than 3,000 of which were brought into the cemetery after the Armistice. 925 of the graves are unidentified.
In 1933, all of the headstones were removed from this cemetery when it was discovered that salts in the soil were causing them to deteriorate. Instead a screen wall was erected with the names of those buried in the cemetery engraved upon it. The cemetery is currently in a very bad state but the CWGC is unable to access it at this time.
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Pte. Joseph Wildblood 5th Btn. South Wales Borderers Joseph Wildblood served 1 year 9 months in France, then 1 year 9 months in Mesopotamia, 2 months in Egypt, 2 in months Salonica. Whilst in France Joseph also received a gun shot wound to his left eye 29th of July 1916 and a gun shot wound to his left shin on 6th Mar 1917.
He entered France with the 5th Battalion on 17 July 1915 and transferred to
the 4th Battalion on 22nd July 1917 in Mesopotamia.
He contracted malaria whilst in Salonica in Jan 1919.
He was classed as 30% disabled by the pensions board.
Joseph died aged 64 years old in 1964.
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CSM. Cornelius Matthews MiD. 10th (1st Gwent) Battalion South Wales Borderers Cornelius Matthews joined the 5th South Wales Borderers on 20th of August 1914. He was discharged three weeks later due to a toe injury incurred two years earlier in a mining accident.
He joined 10th South Wales Borderers on the 12th of November 1914, was promoted to Corporal in February and went to France early in 1915. He was promoted to Lance Sergeant in April and Sergeant in July 1915, he was promoted to CSM in July 1917. He fought at Mametz Wood, was injured and returned to UK. Then he went to Mesopotamia with the 10th Battalion and contracted Malaria. He was Mentioned in Dispatches on the 21st of February 1919 and demobilised in March 1919.
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Pte. William Armstrong 4th Battalion South Wales Borderers (d.1st May 1917) Myself and two colleagues have been researching William Armstrong from Carlisle, Cumberland (now Cumbria). His name is on a WW1 memorial at Our Lady and St Joseph's Church, Warwick Road, Carlisle.
We are publishing a book in the summer of 2019, Our Lady and St Joseph's Heroes Remembered.
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Pte. Harold Idris King 4th Btn. South Wales Borderers (d.19/02/17) Harold King is remembered on the Basra Memorial.
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Pte. Benjamin Rule 4th Btn. South Wales Borderers (d.25th Jul 1915) Benjamin Rule is remembered on the Helles memorial.
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Cpl. Alfred Barber 4th Btn. South Wales Borderers Alfred Barber served with 4th Battalion, South Wales Borderers.
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L/Cpl William Patrick Lewis 4th Btn. South Wales Borderers I never knew my grandfather William Lewis as he passed away in 1937 from illness. I only ever knew the story as told in the newspaper clipping about the death of his brother Thomas Frederick Lewis.
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L/Cpl. Joseph Young 4th Btn. South Wales Borderers (d.15th April 1917) Joseph Young died at sea. Sadly, I am unable to find any record of why he should have been at sea, as his battalion was in action in Mesopotamia (Iraq, Baghdad) at the time.
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Sgt. Frederick Christian Richard Bennett 4th Btn. South Wales Borderers (d.9th Aug 1915) Sgt Frederick Bennett is my wife's great grandfather.
He was originally in the 2nd Battalion, but had left by the time war had broken out. Consequently, he was recalled to service and allocated to the 4th Battalion. He was promoted to sergeant and was responsible for training new recruits.
Little is known of any further military service as his records were destroyed in WW2. However, we do know that on 9th August, two attacks on their position were made by the Turks and that in one of those he was killed.
We have photos of his gravestone in Hill 60 cemetery and a family member has been there this year (2015).
We know that somewhere in the family there is a photograph of him, but as yet it is untraced.
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Pte. James Henry Fynn VC. 4th Btn. South Wales Borderers (d.30th March 1917) James Fynn died on the 30th of March 1917, aged 23 and is commemorated on the Basra War Memorial in Iraq. He was the son of Mr. J. Fynn, of 19, Downing St., Bodmin, Cornwall.
An extract from The London Gazette, dated, 26th Sept., 1916, records the following:- "For most conspicuous bravery. After a night attack he was one of a small party which dug in in front of our advanced line and about 300 yards from the enemy's trenches. Seeing several wounded men lying out in front he went out and bandaged them all under heavy fire, making several journeys in order to do so. He then went back to our advanced trench for a stretcher and, being unable to get one, he himself carried on his back a badly wounded man into safety. He then returned and, aided by another man who was wounded during the act, carried in another badly wounded man. He was under continuous fire while performing this gallant work."
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Sgt. Frederick R. Bennett 4th Battalion South Wales Borderers (d.9th Aug 1915) Family records and information is sparse about Frederick R Bennett. I am currently researching him for my mother-in-law as he was her grandfather.
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Pte, Charles Type 4th Btn. South Wales Borderers (d.15th Feb 1917) Charles Type was killed in action 15th February 1917 and is commemorated on the Basra War Memorial in Iraq.
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Pte. James Henry Flynn VC. 4th Btn. South Wales Borderers (d.30th Mar 1917) Private James Henry Flynn VC served with the 4th Battalion, South Wales Borderers and died, age 23, on the 30th March 1917. He is remembered on the Basra War Memorial, Iraq.
Son of Mr. J. Flynn, of 19, Downing St., Bodmin, Cornwall.
An extract from The London Gazette, dated, 26th Sept., 1916, records the following;-
For most conspicuous bravery. After a night attack he was one of a small party which dug in in front of our advanced line and about 300 yards from the enemy trenches. Seeing several wounded men lying out in front he went out and bandaged them all under heavy fire, making several journeys in order to do so. He then went back to our advanced trench for a stretcher and, being unable to get one, he himself carried on his back a badly wounded man into safety. He then returned and, aided by another man who was wounded during the act, carried in another badly wounded man. He was under continuous fire while performing this gallant work.
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