A Machine Gun Company was attached to each Infantry Brigade and their subsequent Division.
| Brigade attached to: | 53rd Brigade |
| Division attached to: | 18th (Eastern) Division |
| Formed from the Machine Gun Sections of: | 8th Bn. Norfolk Regiment 8th Bn. Suffolk Regiment 10th Bn. Essex Regiment 6th Bn. Royal Berkshire Regiment |
The 53rd M.G. Coy. disembarked at le Havre on 09 February 1916 and joined the 53rd Brigade on 13 February 1916 at Ribemont. It may have absorbed machine gunners from the Machine Gun Sections of the listed infantry battalions.
As a unit of the 18th (Eastern) Division during this period, it may have taken part in the following battles and engagements.
| 1916 | |
| BATTLES OF THE SOMME | |
| 01 to 08 July | Battle of Albert [XIII Corps, Fourth Army]. |
| 14 to 17 July | Battle of Bazentin Ridge [XIII Corps, Fourth Army]. |
| 14 July | Capture of Trones Wood (54th Bde.). |
| 19 to 21 July | Battle of Delville Wood (53rd Bde., under 9th Div.) [XIII Corps, Fourth Army]. |
| 26 to 28 September | Battle of Thiepval Ridge [II Corps, Reserve Army]. |
| 01 to 05 October; and 17 October to 11 November | Battle of the Ancre Heights [II Corps, Reserve Army – became Fifth Army on 30 October]. |
| 30 September to 05 October | Capture of the Schwaben Redoubt (55th Bde.). |
| 21 October | Capture of Regina Trench. |
| 13 to 18 November | Battle of the Ancre [II Corps, Fifth Army]. |
| 1917 | |
| 16 January to 13 March | Operations on the Ancre [II Corps, Fifth Army]. |
| 17 and 18 February | Miraumont. |
| 10 March | Capture of Irles (53rd Bde.). |
| 14 to 20 March | German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line [II Corps, Fifth Army]. |
| BATTLES OF ARRAS | |
| 03 and 04 May | Third Battle of the Scarpe [VII Corps, Third Army]. |
| BATTLES OF YPRES | |
| 31 July | Battle of Pilckem Ridge [II Corps, Fifth Army]. |
| 10 August | Inverness Copse [II Corps, Fifth Army]. |
| 16 and 17 August | Battle of Langemarck (53rd Bde., with 56th Div.) [II Corps, Fifth Army]. |
| 12 October | First Battle of Passchendaele [XVIII Corps, Fifth Army]. |
| 22 October | Capture of Poelcappelle [XVIII Corps, Fifth Army]. |
| 05 to 10 November | Second Battle of Passchendaele [XIX Corps, Fifth Army]. |
On 16 February 1918, it was amalgamated with the 54th and 55th Machine Gun Companies to form No. 18 Battalion, Machine Gun Corps.
