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The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers
The Northumberland Fusiliers were formed during the reoranisation of the British Army which took place in 1881, with "Royal" being added to their title in 1935. The history of the regiment can be traced back to The Irish Regiment raised in 1674 which became the 5th Regiment of Foot in 1751.
Throughout the Second World War The Northumberland Fusiliers were involved in action including:
Defence of Escaut, Arras Counter Attack, St. Omer-La Bassée, Dunkirk 1940, Odon, Caen, Cagny, Falaise, Nederrijn, Rhineland, North-West Europe 1940 '44-45, Sidi Barrani, Defence of Tobruk, Tobruk 1941, Belhamed, Cauldron, Ruweisat Ridge, El Alamein, Advance on Tripoli, Medenine, North Africa 1940-43, Salerno, Volturno Crossing, Monte Camino, Garigliano Crossing, Cassino II, Italy 1943-45, Singapore Island
At the outbreak of War the 1st Battalion were in the Middle East. They were part of the Desert Rats as machine gunners and saw action at Tobruk, where they were attached to the 18th Brigade of the 7th Australian Division. In September 1943 they were sent to Italy, They returned to the Middle East in 1945.
The 2nd Battalion were in France with the BEF and were evacuated from Dunkirk and became part of the 4 Inf Div. Home forces. In July 1943 they were sent to Tunisia and in March 1944 to Italy and then in January 1945 they were sent to Greece.
The 9th Btn was formed as an offshoot of the 7th Battalion in early 1939. They saw action in France with the BEF, upon returning to Britain they were reequiped with Vickers machine guns moved to Crown Hill Barracks in Plymouth engaing in the defense of the Devon coast.
In August the Battalion 1940 the 9th became part of the 18th Division and moved to Norfolk to defend the coast line from Wells to Great Yarmouth.
The Battalion moved to the Scottish Borders in January 1941 for intensive training, with the HQ was at Bowhill House. In June 1941 they transfered to Cheshire, Desert Kit was issued and teh vehicles repainted in desert sand colours. Following embarkation leave, on the 24th October,the 9th Btn. sailed for Halifax aboard the 'Warwick Castle' from Liverpool. Arriving in Halifax they re-embarked on the American troopship the 'USS Orizaba' After a long hot journey via the Port of Spain in Trinidad and Capetown they arrived in Bombay for training before setting sail again for Singapore in late January 1942 to join the 11th Indian Division.
In 1968 The Royal Northumberland Fusliers were amalgamated with other fuslier regiments to become The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers Museum is located at The Abbot's Tower, Alnwick Castle
in Northumberland.
Battalions during the Second World War.
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On our 12th Anniversary we would like to thank all those who have contributed to this project.
Research your own Family History.
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June 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.
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List of those who served with The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers during The Second World War
Select a story link or scoll down to browse those stories hosted on this website
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Pte. Matthew McLeod Douglass My father Matt Douglas, died when I was fifteen, he talked very little about his time as a POW in WW2, so any info I have is scanty. He was wounded and captured just outside Dunkirk in 1940 and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp. When liberation came, he refused to go to a hospital for assessment choosing to return home as his father was dying, so he never received a war pension or his medals. Talking to local old comrades at his funeral, they say my Dad decided to stop for a cigarette and some chocolate on a bridge and they were all captured there! |
Fus. John Naisbitt 7th Btn Royal Northumberland Fusiliers My father Jackie Nasibitt was taken prisoner at Rouen, France on 09/06/1940 and was taken to Stalag 21b on 04/07/1940 where he was held until 11/01/1941 and then transferred to Stalag 24c where he spent the rest of the war. I believe they were liberated by the Russians in January 1945 and returned home where he served for a time in the Royal Enginneers clearing mines from the beaches in the south of England. He never spoke much about the war. I know he had a very difficult time as when he came home both of his parents were dead and he came to live in Newcastle where he married my mother. I have a photo of 8 POWs taken at Stalag 4c with 7 other soldiers. Any information about any of these camps would be appreciated. |
Matthew McLeod Douglass Northumberland Fusiliers My Dad, Matt Douglass, was a POW at Stalag V111B/344 at Lamsdorf, He was a Northumberland Fusilier captured at Dunkirk His POW No was 36812. He died when I was 15 so I knew very little about his military time. The little I knew was he was wounded in his head and legs, captured and interred until the end of the War. I recently received a copy of a letter my grandmother wrote to family in Australia dated February 18th 1945, in which she wrote that my father's camp had been relieved by the Russians and they were awaiting his return home. My dad was small man only 5' 2" born in Northumberland, at home he was always known as little Matty or Matt. I would love to hear from anyone who knew him. |
Cpl. John Robert "Breck" Percy 9th Battalion Royal Northumberland Fusiliers My Father, John Robert Percy, never gave me much detail of his time in the Northumberland Fusiliers and never told me which actual unit he was in so there are many gaps in my knowledge which I would like to fill if possible.
I am assuming he was in the 9th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers because that fits with the stories I have. For a long time as a child I was told that he was wounded at Dunkirk but in the 1970's he finally told me, (citing the 30 year rule as by then he was a civil servant in the MOD and a signatory to the Official Secrets act) that he was actually wounded in a friendly fire accident in England while the unit was dug in on the south coast. Because of this he was in hospital when they were sent to Singapore and he fortunately missed becoming a POW
His tale is that he joined the Territorial Army prior to the war because as a coal miner he got no holidays and this was a way for himself and his mates to get a paid holiday away from the pit. When he was called up in 1938 (Munich Crisis) at the age of 19 he had actually moved away to the south taking his whole family with him but his call up papers took some time to catch him up as they went to the old address in Bedlington. By the time he did report to his unit he had been posted AWOL and was promptly jailed. Fortunately his unit passed the hat round and collected his fine to get him out again.
He also said that before going to France the they were all given the option of going back to the pit. They all turned it down preferring the Army. He said that when they arrived in France they had no firing pins for the machine guns. Looking at other information it seems they were light on lots of other equipment too. Stories of France are very thin, almost non existent and the only one I can recite completely is of his unit being in Arras where they had been told there were no Germans. So, they went sightseeing having left all their equipment in a cul de sac. In the process they met a group of Germans doing the same thing. While the Brits ran back to their guns, the Germans went to their tanks and were entering the Cul de sac as the Brits were moving up the road. My Father said the Commanding Officer was killed in this action and actually said it was the Duke of Northumberland!? The 9th Duke is on record as having died in 1940 but i have no other information.
He never said anything about Dunkirk itself and that is all I have, apart from his cap badge. I would be grateful if anybody can fill the gaps. He died in 1998 and would be 90 now.
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Pte. James Thomas Inglis Royal Northumberland Fusiliers My Grandfather died before I was born and I Know that his family came from Gretna in Dumfrieshire, have been searching his army records for several years. Recently I have found that he joined the Blackwatch in 1939 and was then transferred to the Royal Fusiliers with whom he was sent on the British Expedition to France, he was posted from there back to England and then to Iceland where he was posted for two years before being sent back to Kingston in the UK for a further two years before being posted on the British North African Force.
My grandfather was in the army for a total 7 years.
In 1952 he emigrated to America and settled in New Jersey where he passed away in 1964 aged just 46. I would love to hear first hand accounts from anyone who may have served in the same Regiments or who served in the same places as my grandfather |
Fus. Terence "Sonny" Hurst 2nd Battalion Royal Northumberland Fusiliers My grandfather, Terence Hurst, was a fusilier in the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, 2nd battalion. My grandfather wasn't with the Battalion at Dunkirk. I believe he joined them as they went to Tunisia in July 1943. He then went to Italy in 1944, then on to Greece in 1945. My grandfather is now deceased but was a great man who always talked of his time with the Battalion with pride. While in Italy in Capri, he told a story of Gracie Fields putting on a performance for them. She asked if any soldiers were from Rochdale, my Grandad spoke up, and Gracie claimed all men from Littleborough (near Rochdale) were as good looking as my Grandad, this was his favourite tale to tell anyone(can't imagine why?).
It would be great to hear from anybody who knew my Grandad, or even just any details about the 2nd Battalion, as I am trying to write down all details to pass on to my children. Thank you for taking the time to read this. |
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My Dad, Martin Collins, was born and bred in East London and joined the Northumberland Fusiliers. He was with the BEF at Dunkirk where he was captured at Arras and spent the rest of the war at Stalag XXB. I know that my Dad had to work on farms as part of the labour groups and that he took part in a long march as the allies neared their camp and when he arrived back in England he had lost over 5 stones in weight.
I would be extremely grateful if anyone has any information about my dad so that the missing links to his past could be joined.
Tracy Sturgess
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My Grandfather served with the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers during WW2. His name was Corporal Henry Cowan who died aged 34 in Tunis, and is comemmorated on the Medjel el bab cemetery. I would love to see some photos or share some memories of anyone who has any knowledge of him thankyou
Pip
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