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The Border Regiment
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World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar greatThe Border Regiment
The Border Regiment can be traced back to 1702. During the Great War the Regiment was increased from two regular and two territorial Battalions, to thirteen Battalions.
Battalions during the Great War.
- 1st Battalion
- 2nd Battalion
- 3rd (Reserve) Battalion
- 4th (Cumberland and Westmoreland) Battalion
- 2/4th (Cumberland and Westmoreland) Battalion
- 3/4th Battalion
- 5th (Cumberland) Battalion
- 2/5th (Cumberland) Battalion
- 3/5th Battalion
- 6th (Service) Battalion
- 7th (Service) Battalion
- 8th (Service) Battalion
- 9th (Service) Battalion
- 10th (Reserve) Battalion
- 11th (Service) Battalion (Lonsdale)
- 12th (Reserve) Battalion
- 13th Battalion
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Dec 2011
Please note we currently have a large 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.
Those known to have served with The Border Regiment during the Great War.
Select a story link or scroll down to browse those stories hosted on this site.
- L/Cpl. Joseph Henry Bentley 6th Btn. (d.7th Jun 1917)
- Pte. Arthur Robert Coles 12th/13th Btn. (d.8th Oct 1918) Read their Story.
- Pte. Frederick William Gamage 2nd Battalion (d.1st July 1916) Read their Story.
- Cpl. Robert Robinson Heap 6th Btn. (d.7th Jun 1917)
- Pte. Christopher Edward Jones 2nd Btn. (d.26th Oct 1914) Read their Story.
- Pte D. H. Richards Read their Story.
- Pte. John Sim 6th Btn. (d.7th Jun 1917)
- Pte. Nicholas Welsh 2nd Battalion, B Company (d.16th May 1915) Read their Story.
If you have any names to add to this list, or any recollections or photos of those listed, please get in touch.
Pte. Christopher Edward Jones 2nd Btn. Border Regiment (d.26th Oct 1914)
My Grandad's brother Christopher Edward Jones also served in the Great War but sadly was killed 26th October 1914. He was with the 2nd Btn Border Regiment. His wife Rosina and son are in the picture also grandmother (wife of Alfred) and his 2 children. Christopher Edward Jones is remembered at the Ypres Menin Gate Memorial.
Pte D. H. Richards South Wales Borderers
I have found a silver George V "coin". It is the size of a crown (5 shillings)It has a horseman on the back armed with a sword and at his feet a skull and crossbones. It is dated 1914 - 1918. Around the rim is engraved 44473 PTE D. H. RICHARDS S WALES BORD. It looks commemorative and but has no value engraved on it. I just wondered if you could throw any light on this? It just turned up in my late father's random coin collection with a load of old pennies and half crowns.Editors Note:
What you have is a British War Medal, which was awarded to all ranks who rendered service to His Majesty's Forces between 5th of August 1914 and 11th November 1918 in a theatre of war.
Pte. Nicholas Welsh 2nd Battalion, B Company Border Regiment (d.16th May 1915)
My Great Grandfather, Nicholas Welsh lost his life during the Battle of Festubert, France, not far from Ypres. His body was never found and he is honoured at Le Touret Memorial on Panels 19 & 20. The Cockermouth Memorial in Cumberland also commemorates him.
Pte. Arthur Robert Coles 12th/13th Btn. Northumberland Fusiliers (d.8th Oct 1918)
Arthur Coles was my Grandmother's uncle. He was 19 when he fell, but I'm not sure how old he was when he enlisted, he was formerly 26590 Terr Res. 36098 Border Regt. I think he fell during the battle of Cambrai. He is buried in Naves Communal Cemetery extention.
Pte. Frederick William Gamage 2nd Battalion Border Regiment (d.1st July 1916)
Frederick William Gamage was born in November 1872 in Shoreditch Middlesex; he was the son of John Smith Gamage and Sarah Harriet (nee Arnold). At the age of 19 he enlisted in the Army and is described as 5ft 61/4 inches tall weighing 119 lbs, dark brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion. He was posted to Hamilton in Scotland to join the Cameroon’s (Scottish Rifles). He was soon struck down with bronchitis and was in hospital until Feb 1892. Soon after being released from hospital he was transferred to 2nd Border Regiment and became Pte. Gamage 3808. He soon embarked for India and was stationed in Mooltan but was again hospitalized. He was discharged from hospital and sent back to England and discharged from the Army as an invalid in 1894. He married Annie Law in London in 1896 and had 9 children.At the outbreak of war he enlisted again at the age of 37 years and was posted into his old battalion 2nd Border Regiment. He served in France at Neuve Chapelle but was he was invalided back to England once again in 1915. During this time he was granted leave to visit his family but overstayed his pass and became an absentee but no action was taken. There is also a note to say the he was claimed to have enlisted fraudulently” but a memorandum was sent to Preston saying that “he was serving with the expeditionary force” and no further action was taken once again.
We find him in trouble again when he is absent without leave in December 1915 and this time he had to forfeit 22 days pay and 14 days field punishment. During this punishment he escaped and went absent without leave again on 17 December 1915 until 16th January 1916 during which time he sold his uniform and equipment. This time when he was captured he was tried for being absent and losing his clothing and regimental necessaries and sentenced to 56 days detention.
On the 28th of April 1916 Private Gamage embarked on a troopship for France and by the end of June 1916 was billeted in the village of Morlancourt. On the 30th of June 1916 the battalion was moved up to the front line for the attack on the village of Mametz in what was to be the biggest battle the world had ever seen, the Battle of the Somme.
At 7.30 on the morning of 1st July 1916, the hottest day imaginable, after intense bombing all along the front, tens of thousands of British soldiers climbed out of their trenches to the shrilling sound of whistles and the sun glinting on their bayonets, advanced in a line.
Private Frederick Gamage was among the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 14 Platoon D company, of the Border Regiment 7th Division on the fateful day. They came under heavy machine gun fire from Hidden Wood. Sadly Pte Gamage was one of the casualties being posted as “wounded and missing” on the morning of the attack. His body was never recovered and he is now commemorated at the Theipval Memorial in France. I was lucky enough to go and see this for myself 2011
Recomended Reading.
Available at discounted prices.
H.C. Wylly
More information on:
Border Regiment in the Great War
Col. H. C. Wylly
Tightly written regimental history of the Border Regiment in the Great War, which blends the story of its 13 battalions in six theatres of war into one continuous narrative. lllustrated by 14 photographic plates and seven maps.More information on:
Border Regiment in the Great War
Reproduction of a book published before 1923More information on:
Diary of 2/4th Battalion the Border Regiment, 1914-19
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