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6th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment
The 6th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment was a unit of the Territorial Force with HQ the Drill Hall, Thorpe Street, Birmingham (next to the Birmingham Hippodrome) serving with the Warwickshire Brigade, South Midland Division. The units of the Division had just departed for their annual summer camp when war broke out in August 1914 and they were at once recalled. They mobilised for war service on 5 August 1914 and moved to concentrate in the Chelmsford area by the second week of August 1914 and commenced training. They proceeded to France, from Southampton, landing at le Havre on the 22nd of March 1915. The Division concentrated near Cassel. on the 13th of May 1915 the formation was renamed 143rd Brigade, 48th (South Midland) Division. In 1916 They were in action in the Battle of the Somme, suffering hevy casualties on the 1st of July in assaulting the Quadrilateral (Heidenkopf). They were also in action at The Battle of Bazentin Ridge, capturing Ovillers, The Battle of Pozieres Ridge, The Battle of the Ancre Heights and The Battle of the Ancre. In 1917 the Division occupied Peronne during the The German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line and were in action in the Third Battles of Ypres. On the 21st of November 1917 they entrained for Italy. In 1918 they were involved in The fighting on the Asiago Plateau and The Battle of the Vittoria Veneto in the Val d'Assa area. At the Armistice the Division had withdrawn and was at Granezza. Demobilisation began in early 1919.
5th Aug 1914 Warwickshire Territorials Mobilise At 6am on Wednesday, the Territorial Battalions of the Warwickshire Brigade paraded before leaving their home towns. The 5th and 6th Btn shared Thorp St Barracks, which was not big enough for both battalions to parade together. So Col Parkes and Col Martineau tossed a coin. The Mayor won and whilst the 6th Battalion paraded at the barracks, the 5th Btn held their parade in the railway sheds of the Midland Railway.
The 8th paraded as a Battlion in Aston and the 7th at their various drill halls across the county.
In the evening the four battalions boarded trains and departed for Weymouth.
16th Aug 1914 Warwickshire Territorials on the March The Warwickshire Brigade broke camp in Leighton Buzzard and set out on a staged route march to Essex
28th Aug 1914 Volunteers Required The Warwickshire Brigade received the official request for the Territorials to volunteer for service overseas. For many it would be a difficult decision, many of the men were skilled working-class with young families, a direct result of the drive to get companies to support the TF, often their work pay exceeded the army rate of pay. Those men who felt unable to consent, were subsequently posted to the reserve second line unit of their battalions which were being formed at home, the 2/5th, 2/6th, 2/7th and 2/8th Warwicks.
1st Mar 1915 Brigade at Country House The headquarters of the Warwickshire Brigade was stationed at Felix Hall, Kelvedon, Essex. The 6th Btn Royal Warwicks were also stationed at Kelvedon, with the 5th being at Braintree, the 7th at Witham and the 8th Battalion also at Braintree.
19th Mar 1915 Notice to Deploy The Warwickshire Brigade received the order from London on the 19th of March, giving them 3 days' notice of their transfer to the front. The men were issued with webbing and had to quickly learn how to use it. There was, still no sign of Lee Enfield rifles or Vickers machine guns to replace their out of date weaponry, Lee Metford rifles and the Maxims.
22nd Mar 1915 Warwickshire Territorials on the Move The Warwickshire Brigade make their move from Essex, travelling in 9 trains to Southampton docks to board ships. 123 officers and 4065 other ranks made the journey. The 5th Bn, consisted of 30 Officers and 1002 Other Ranks; 6th Bn, 29 and 997; 7th Bn, 30 and 1003 and 8th Bn, 30 and 1005. It was not just the men with their rifles and personal kit which boarded the trains, also travelling were 336 horses, 8 machine guns, 26 general service wagons, 55 general service limbered wagons, 14 other vehicles, 44 bicycles, 612 picks and 1032 shovels.
Half of the 6th Btn Royal Warwicks departed from Kelvedon station at 01.50, to arrive at Southampton at 08.00. The other half were to follow at 03.50 arriving at 10.00.
Half of the 5th Btn Royal Warwick left Braintree at 04.35, arriving at 11.00. The remainder of the 5th were to leave Braintree at 06.35, arriving at 13.00. The Brigade HQ and the signallers were to leave Kelvedon at 05.50, arriving in Southampton at noon.
At Witham station half of the 7th were to depart at 07.35, arriving at 13.30. The remainder of the 7th were to leave Witham at 09.35, arriving at 15.50. At Braintree the first half of the 8th were to depart at 08.35, arriving at 15.00 and the remainder of the 8th were to leave Braintree at 10.35, arriving at 17.00.
At Southampton Docks, the men, horses and equipment transferred from the trains to transport ships for the channel crossing. Brigade HQ sailed on the Empress Queen along with the 6th Bn at 18.00. 5th Bn sailed on the Marguerite, 7th Btn were split between the Copenhagen and the City of Lucknow, sailing at 17.30. 8th Bn were split between the Brighton, City of Lucknow, the Marguerite and the City of Dunkirk which sailed at 19.30.
23rd Mar 1915 Warwickshire Territorials arrive in France The ships carrying The Warwickshire Brigade arrive off Le Havre Between 02.00 and 03.00 in the morning. They wait for daylight before docking and the troops disembark beginning at 7am. Interpreters join the battalions and they march through the town to No.6 Rest Camp at Graville. The transport sections being the last to arrive at 21.00.
24th Mar 1915 Warwickshire Territorials on the Move
25th Mar 1915 Warwickshire Territorials on the Move
27th Mar 1915 Route March
28th Mar 1915 Warwickshire Territorials on the March
29th Mar 1915 Under Instruction 
30th Mar 1915 Digging Trenches
31st Mar 1915 Digging Trenches
1st Apr 1915 On the March
2nd Apr 1915 Under Instruction
3rd Apr 1915 Territorials Under Instruction
4th Apr 1915 Territorials Under Instruction
5th Apr 1915 Warwcks return to Billets
6th Apr 1915 Warwcks on the March
7th Apr 1915 In Billets
8th Apr 1915 Specialist Courses
9th Apr 1915 Route March & Bomb Throwing
11th Apr 1915 Route March & Bomb Throwing
12th Apr 1915 Into the Trenches
13th Apr 1915 In the Trenches
14th Apr 1915 Trench Work
15th Apr 1915 Trench Work
16th Apr 1915 Reliefs
17th Apr 1915 Trench Work
18th Apr 1915 Quiet Day
19th Apr 1915 Encounter with the Enemy
20th Apr 1915 Reliefs
21st Apr 1915 Farms Searched
22nd Apr 1915 Noxious Gases
23rd Apr 1915 Noxious Gases
24th Apr 1915 Reliefs
25th Apr 1915 Working Parties and Shelling
26th Apr 1915 Working Parties
27th Apr 1915 Situation Normal
28th Apr 1915 Reliefs Completed
29th Apr 1915 Warwicks provide Instruction
30th Apr 1915 Communications Trenches Completed
30th Apr 1915 Enemy Trench Located
8th May 1915 Situation Normal
24th May 1915 Gunfire at Ypres
28th May 1915 Enemy Attack
7th Jun 1915 Reliefs
8th Jun 1915 Brigade Conference
15th Jun 1915 Reliefs
16th Jun 1915 All Quiet
18th Jun 1915 Sniping and Rifle Grenades
19th Jun 1915 Reliefs
19th Jun 1915 Reliefs
27 Jul 1915 Front Line Inspected
3rd Apr 1916 Attempted Rescue
27th of November 1916 On the March
20th Dec 1916 Reliefs
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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| Want to know more about 6th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment? There are:5288 items tagged 6th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire 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 with6th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment during the Great War 1914-1918. - Allsopp Thomas. Pte.
- Bates Lewis George. 2nd Lt. (d.24th May 1916)
- Evans Ernest V.. L/Cpl.
- Fountain Richard. Pte. (d.22th May 1916)
- Kaye Lister Walter. Sgt. (d.21st Mar 1918)
- Lisseter Charles. Pte (d.4th Oct 1917)
- Parker George. L/Cpl. (d.1st July 1916)
- Shaw Frederick. Pte (d.5th Sep 1917)
- Shotton Bernard Louis. Pte.
- Webb Albert. Pte.
- Wier Albert. Cpl. (d.14th Oct 1916)
- Williams Bertram Thomas. Pte. (d.1st July 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 6th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment from other sources.
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L/Cpl. Ernest V. Evans 6th Btn. Warwickshire Regiment Ernest Evans was hospitalized for treatment of influenza from 24th to 29th of March 1916.
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L/Cpl. George Parker 1/6th Battalion- Royal Warwickshire Regiment (d.1st July 1916) George Parker served with the 6th Royal Warwickshires and was killed on the 1st of July 1916. he was my Granddad's brother.
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Sgt. Lister Walter Kaye 2nd/6th Btn. Royal Warwickshire Regiment (d.21st Mar 1918) My son was given the task of researching a family member who had been involved in either the First or Second World War. We knew that we had a relative who had fought in World War One so we started digging.
Lister Kaye was born in Workington in 1893. His mother died when he was 10. His father remarried and had three further children, the youngest of which was my grandfather, Ernest Graham Kaye. Ernest remembers, at the age of four, his half-brother swinging him up onto his shoulders. This would have been 1914, the year Lister enlisted.
He served for four years. On 21st of March 1918, while he fought with the2nd/6th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment, he was involved in the first day of the massive German offensive, Operation Michael. He was killed at the Battle of St Quentin.
He was 25 years old.
Perhaps as a direct result of losing his half-brother, my grandfather became a conscientious objector in WW2. He had to go before a panel to explain his choice.
If we learnt one thing from what he recounted, it was that life as a conscientious objector was miserable.
Two very different, but equally heartbreaking stories.
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2nd Lt. Lewis George Bates 6th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment (d.24th May 1916) Lewis Bates was the eldest son of George Edwin and Annie Emma Bates of Dartmouth, Devon Born 1896. He died of his wounds on 24th May 1916 aged 21. He is buried at Baghdad's North Gate Cemetery. He is listed on the Dartmouth War memorial, which is located in the Royal Avenue Gardens in Dartmouth. He is also listed within St Saviour's Church, Dartmouth on The War Memorial Board therein & again on the Torquay secondary school 1914 - 1918 war memorial plaque where he had been a student. Sadly I do not have any more information to give about my Great Uncle.
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Pte. Thomas Allsopp 6th Btn. Royal Warwickshire Regiment Thomas Allsopp was born in 1892 at Berners Street, Birmingham. He served with the 6th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment (a territorial unit). The regiment mobilised on 5th August 1914 and was deployed on 19th March 1915. The regiment arrived in Le Havre on 22nd March 1915.
Thomas experienced a gas attack on 22nd and 23rd April 1915, was again under gunfire and gas attack at Ypres on 24th May 1915 and enemy attack on 28th May 1915.
On 17th July 1915 Thomas was in hospital. He was discharged from hospital to duty on 22nd July 1915.
He subsequently died of a brain tumour on 26th November 1929, aged 37.
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Pte Frederick Shaw 6th Btn Royal Warwickshire Regiment (d.5th Sep 1917) Recently found a medal whilst clearing out my dads house, I googled the number that was on it and found out it was for my great uncle, Frederick Shaw who served with 2nd and 6th Battalions, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, brave chap, he ended up being killed on the 5th of September 1917 by the Germans dropping a bomb on the hospital that he was recovering in.
R.I.P Fred
Thanks for giving your life so that others can live.
I wish I had a photograph to put up
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Pte. Albert Webb 6th Btn. Warwickshire Regiment Albert Webb was on board a ship which transported soldiers during WW1. Unsure of the region or any more details.
He died in Canberra Australia, from a illness related to working on these ships. A strong Yorkshire man, who left a wife and two sons, too early.
Sadly missed father, grandad and husband who saw too much.
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Cpl. Albert Wier 6th Btn. Royal Warwickshire Regiment (d.14th Oct 1916) I have Albert Wier's World War 1 medal trio, Death Plaque and a silver plated teapot, which Albert won in August 1906, while serving with the 1st Volunteer Brigade, Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
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Pte. Bernard Louis Shotton 6th Btn. Royal Warwickshire Regiment Bernard Shotton served as a signaller with the 6th Warwicks.
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Pte. Richard Fountain 1st/6th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment (d.22th May 1916) Richard Fountain arrived in France on 22nd March 1915. He was wounded and died of his wounds at the CSS at Gezaincourt on 22nd May 1916.
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