54th Brigade Machine Gun Company

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

Brigade attached to:54th Brigade
Division attached to:18th (Eastern) Division
Formed from the Machine Gun Sections of:11th Bn. Royal Fusiliers
7th Bn. Bedfordshire Regiment
6th Bn. Northamptonshire Regiment
12th Bn. Middlesex Regiment

The 54th M.G. Coy. disembarked at le Havre on 09 February 1916 and joined the 54th 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 JulyBattle of Albert [XIII Corps, Fourth Army].
14 to 17 JulyBattle of Bazentin Ridge [XIII Corps, Fourth Army].
14 JulyCapture of Trones Wood (54th Bde.).
19 to 21 JulyBattle of Delville Wood (53rd Bde., under 9th Div.) [XIII Corps, Fourth Army].
26 to 28 SeptemberBattle of Thiepval Ridge [II Corps, Reserve Army].
01 to 05 October; and 17 October to 11 NovemberBattle of the Ancre Heights [II Corps, Reserve Army – became Fifth Army on 30 October].
30 September to 05 OctoberCapture of the Schwaben Redoubt (55th Bde.).
21 OctoberCapture of Regina Trench.
13 to 18 NovemberBattle of the Ancre [II Corps, Fifth Army].
1917
16 January to 13 MarchOperations on the Ancre [II Corps, Fifth Army].
17 and 18 FebruaryMiraumont.
10 MarchCapture of Irles (53rd Bde.).
14 to 20 MarchGerman Retreat to the Hindenburg Line [II Corps, Fifth Army].
BATTLES OF ARRAS
03 and 04 MayThird Battle of the Scarpe [VII Corps, Third Army].
BATTLES OF YPRES
31 JulyBattle of Pilckem Ridge [II Corps, Fifth Army].
10 AugustInverness Copse [II Corps, Fifth Army].
16 and 17 AugustBattle of Langemarck (53rd Bde., with 56th Div.) [II Corps, Fifth Army].
12 OctoberFirst Battle of Passchendaele [XVIII Corps, Fifth Army].
22 OctoberCapture of Poelcappelle [XVIII Corps, Fifth Army].
05 to 10 NovemberSecond Battle of Passchendaele [XIX Corps, Fifth Army].

On 16 February 1918, it was amalgamated with the 53rd and 55th Machine Gun Companies to form No. 18 Battalion, Machine Gun Corps.


Sources

Leave a Reply