51st Brigade Machine Gun Company

A Machine Gun Company was attached to each Infantry Brigade and their subsequent Division.

Brigade attached to:51st Brigade
Division attached to:17th (Northern) Division
Formed from the Machine Gun Sections of:7th Bn. Lincolnshire Regiment
7th Bn. Border Regiment
8th Bn. South Staffordshire Regiment
10th Bn. Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment)

The 51st M.G. Coy. disembarked at le Havre on 09 February 1916 and joined the 51st Brigade on 12 February 1916 at Reninghelst. It may have absorbed machine gunners from the Machine Gun Sections of the listed infantry battalions.

As a unit of the 17th (Northern) Division during this period, it may have taken part in the following battles and engagements.

1916
14 February and 02 MarchThe Bluff [V Corps, Second Army].
BATTLES OF THE SOMME
01 to 10 JulyBattle of Albert [XV Corps, Fourth Army].
02 JulyCapture of Fricourt.
01 to 12 AugustBattle of Delville Wood [XV Corps, Fourth Army].
1917
BATTLES OF ARRAS
12 to 14 AprilFirst Battle of the Scarpe [VI Corps, Third Army].
23 and 24 AprilSecond Battle of the Scarpe [VI Corps, Third Army].
13 to 16 MayCapture and Defence of Rouex [XVII Corps, Third Army].
BATTLES OF YPRES
12 OctoberFirst Battle of Passchendaele [XIV Corps, Fifth Army].
08 to 10 NovemberSecond Battle of Passchendaele [XIV Corps, Fifth Army].

On 24 February 1918, it was amalgamated with the 50th, 52nd, and 236th Machine Gun Companies to form No. 17 Battalion, Machine Gun Corps.


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