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6th (Carnarvonshire & Anglesey) Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers
6th (Carnarvonshire & Anglesey) Btn, Royal Welsh Fusiliers was a unit of the Territorial Force with their HQ in Carnarvon, at the outbreak of war in 1914, they were part of the North Wales Infantry Brigade, Welsh Division.
C Coy had their Drill Hall at County Hall, Penygroes.
E Coy were based in Llandudno with their Drill Hall being in Argyll Rd.
When war broke out in August 1914, they had just set out for their for annual summer camp, they were at once recalled and were mobilised for war. At the end of August they went to Northampton to join the rest of the Diviison and to prepare for deployment to overseas. On the 18th of November orders were recieved to prepare for a move to India, but this was withdrawn. They moved to Cambridge in December and to Bedford in May 1915, when the formation was renamed 158th Brigade, 53rd (Welsh) Division.
On the 2nd of July orders arrived to re-equip for service in the Mediterranean. Leaving the artillery and train behind, the rest of the Division left 14-19 July and they embarked at Devonport on the 19th of July to Imbros. The Division made a landing at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli on the 9th of August 1915 and were involved in operations in the Suvla Bay area suffering heavy losses. By the time they were evacuated to Mudros on the 11th of December the Division stood at just 162 officers and 2428 men (approx 15%). From Mudros they went on to Alexandria and to Wardan, where the the divisional artillery rejoined between the 11th and 22nd of February 1916. They were in action at The Battle of Romani in the Palestine campaign and in 1917 158th Brigade fought at The First Battle of Gaza and the whole Division were in action during The Second Battle of Gaza, The Third Battle of Gaza when they were involved in capture of Beersheba, Tell Khuweilfe, and The Capture of Jerusalem. In December they were in action in The Defence of Jerusalem. In March 1918 they fought at The Battle of Tell'Asur. Between the beginning of June and the end of August,many of the units were ordered to France, being replaced by Indian units, the artillery remained with the Division. On the 3rd of August 1918 the battalion amalgamated with 1/5th btn to form the 5/6th Battalion.
6th Jul 1915 Equipment
8th Jul 1915 Inspection
13th Jul 1915 On the Move
14th Jul 1915 Embarkation
31st Jul 1915 Repairs
8th Aug 1915 On the Move
9th Aug 1915 Landings
9th Aug 1915 Shelling
10th Aug 1915 In Action
10th Aug 1915 Attack Made
11th Aug 1915 Consolidation
16th Aug 1915 Information
23rd Aug 1915 Relief
27th Aug 1915 Relief
6th Nov 1917 Brave Actions
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2Lt. John Herbert Morris 6th (Carnarvonshire & Anglesey) Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers (d.21st September 1916) John Morris was commissioned into the 6th (Glamorgan) Battalion, Welsh Regiment as a Second Lieutenant and in charge of the Territorial Unit. He arrived in France on 27th of May 1916 and died of wounds on 21st of September 1916.
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2nd Lt. Walter Frank Vernon Anson 1/6 Btn. Royal Welch Fusiliers (d.6th Nov 1917) Walter Anson was Killed in Action on 6th of November 1917 at the Third Battle of Gaza.
He is buried in the CWGC cemetery at Beersheba.
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Pte. William Owen Hughes 1st Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers (d.2nd October 1917) William Hughes, aged 26 years and 5 months, was enlisted into the 1/6th (Territorial) Battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers at Caernarfon on the 16th of October 1914.
On the 3rd of July 1915 William was diagnosed as suffering with appendicitis and admitted into the Divisional Reception Hospital in Bedford, seven days later he was transferred to the 1st Southern General Hospital in the Selly Oak suburb of Birmingham.
On the 19th of July 1915, whilst William was still convalescing from his operation, the 1/6th Battalion became part of the 158th Brigade, 53rd (Welsh) Division and sailed from Devonport for Gallipoli without him. Following his discharge from hospital on the 2nd of September 1915, William was transferred to the 2/6th (Territorial) Battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, who had moved from Northampton to Bedford in July 1915.
At some point in 1916 William was then posted from Bedford to an Agricultural Company based at the RWF Depot in Wrexham (possibly to help with the harvest); during this time his Regimental service number was changed from 2395 to 265802. William remained at the RWF Depot for the rest of 1916 until warned early in 1917 that he was to be posted once again.
On the 1st May 1917 William embarked for France to join the 1st Battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers (part of the 7th Division). On the 30th September the Battalion relieved the 56th Australian Infantry Battalion, who occupied Jetty Trench to the east of the northern part of Polygon Wood.
At 5.15am on the morning of the 1st October 1917, the Germans launched a counter attack consisting of 3 Battalions and 3 Sturm-truppe of the 46th Reserve Battalion. The attack fell on the area of Polygon Wood covered by the 1st Battalion RWF and the 8th Battalion the Leicestershire Regiment.
The Regimental diary of the 1st Battalion RWF states that a message had been received from B Company, reporting that by 7.20am all was clear apart from heavy sniping. Sadly, it was probably during this action that William was shot, the round entered his back and penetrated through his chest. This may have occurred as elements of the RWF advanced forward to finish off the attack, only to have isolated pockets of the enemy pop from shell holes and snipe at them from behind. William would have first been taken to a field dressing station just behind the front line where morphine would have been administered and his wound dressed, from there he was evacuated to No. 3 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station at Poperinge where he finally succumbed to his wounds on the 2nd of October 1917.
There was some confusion following his death regarding his identity, the telegram that the War Office received from No. 3 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station informing them of his death, gave his Regimental Number as 68366. This highlighted the fact that a mistake had been made during Williams's time at the RWF Depot in Wrexham in 1916. This mistake had been noticed quickly at the time and he was then allocated his correct number of 265802.
William Owen Hughes obituary was published in the November 1917 issue of the Llandudno and District Advertiser, :The deceased was the first of the Llanrhos young men to join up, and is, we understand, the first to fall". There was a poem quite possibly written by one of the family also in the article: "We do not know what pains he bore; we did not see him die, all we know is that he has gone, and never said good-bye".
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Pte. William Henry Elliott 6th Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers Henry Elliott served with the 6th Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He was involved in the building of the Pen y Clip tunnels on the A55 in North Wales during the 1930s. He was originally from Coventry
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Cpl. Norman Barber 6th Btn. Royal Welsh Fusiliers (d.28th Nov 1915) Norman Barber died on the 28th of November 1915 aged 22. He is commemorated on Sp. Mem. A. 2 in the Lala Baba Cemetery, Gallipoli, Turkey and on Caernarvon War Memorial.
Son of Richard Gibson Barber and Jane Agnes Barber. of 3, Marine Terrace, Waterloo Port, Carnarvon, he was born on the 6/8/1891 in Darlington.
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Pte. Robert Owen Davies 6th Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers My granddad, Robert Davies hardly ever talked about the War. But, I do remember him saying he had been to Mesopotamia, Egypt and Palestine and I was always fascinated by these names. He did say that he was known for darning the soldiers' socks, and, as a reward was given tins of condensed milk.
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Capt. John Fox Russell VC, MC. att. 1st/6th Bn. Royal Welsh Fusiliers Royal Army Medical Corps (d.6th Nov 1917) Captain John Fox Russell VC MC served in the Royal Army Medical Corps and was attached to the 1/6th Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers when he was killed in action on the 6th November 1917, age 24. He is buried in Beersheba War Cemetery in Israel. He was the son of William Fox Russell and Ethel Maria Fox Russell, of 5, Victoria Terrace, Holyhead.
An extract from The London Gazette (No. 30491), dated 8th Jan., 1918, records the following:-
For most conspicuous bravery displayed in action until he was killed. Capt. Russell repeatedly went out to attend the wounded under murderous fire from snipers and machine guns, and, in many cases where no other means were at hand, carried them in himself although almost exhausted. He showed the highest possible degree of valour.
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L/Cpl Edward Owen Burnell 1/6th (Carnarvonshire & Anglesey) Bn 6th Royal Welsh Fusiliers Edward Owen Burnell was my great-uncle (Owen possibly was the name of his unknown father who had already died); Edward and my grandfather, John Rich, both of Holyhead, Anglesey, were mobilised in August 1914 and moved to Quebec Bks, Northampton. At this point, Edward was caught up by a lady named Marion Williams, also of Anglesey, whom Edward hastily married. She then returned to Anglesey and he moved on, possibly to Cambridge. On 19 July 1915, along with the 1/5th Flintshire Bn, he sailed to Gallipolli. He was apparently wounded there, was invalided out of the Army and returned to Anglesey by December 1915. For this he was awarded the Silver War Badge. He died peacefully in 1962.
Silver War Badge [KR 392 (XVI)]
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Pte. Thomas Humphreys Humphreys 1st/6th battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers (d.6th November 1917) Private Thomas Humphreys was my uncle. He died on 6/11/1917 just a few days before the war ended, at the Third Battle of Gaza.
"On the 6th November at 4am in the light of approaching dawn, the artillery barrage opened. Two water bottles, and 170 rounds of ammunition,also the unconsumed portion of the days rations were carried. The whole attack went like clockwork,and all objectives were occupied just as dawn was breaking. The enemy, cowed by the creeping barrage were bayonetted in large numbers,but the treacherous morning fog visited them again and robbed them of an important capture,and general confusion ensued.The 7th Royal Welch Fusiliers mistook advancing troops of the 6th Royal Welch and The Herefords,for Turks, and called for artillary fire, and it is uncertain whether some died from their own artillary fire. But for this unhappy accident, the whole position would have been captured in one and a half hours.
During the day, the Turks made five separate attacks on the hill,but spent themselves in vain. By dusk that day, the casualties had been 36 officers and 584 other ranks."
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Pte. Mathias Oliver 6th Btn. Royal Welsh Fusiliers My great grandad, Mathias Oliver served with the Welsh Fusiliers during WW1. He was a miner before the war and joined up at the age of 25 we think. He was a private in the Fusiliers and ended up going to fight the Turks in Palastine. He was gased and captured by the Turks and we think he spent 2 yrs in a POW camp.He was released after the war but died 1 or 2 yrs later from gas poising leaving 3 children and a wife. On his death bed he asked his best mate to look after his family.That he did as a lot of folk did in those days. He has a plaque in Manchester (screen wall 1839) Philips Park Cemetery. I would love to find out more about him and the battles the brave men fought on the campaign. I'm sure there's more to his story but it's quite hard to find out being it was so long ago. If anyone has any info on his Regiment and photos I would love to hear more, thanks.
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