A Machine Gun Battalion of the Machine Gun Corps was attached to each Infantry Division and was formed of four MG Companies.
The 1st Bn, MGC was formed on the 28 February 1918.
| Division attached to: | 1st Division |
| Formed from the: | 1st Machine Gun Company 2nd Machine Gun Company 3rd Machine Gun Company 216th Machine Gun Company |
As a unit of the 1st Division, it will have taken part in the following battles and engagements.
| 1918 | |
| BATTLES OF THE LYS | |
| 9 to 11 April | Battle of Estaires [I Corps, First Army] |
| 15 April | Battle of Hazebrouck (3rd Bde.) [under 55th Division, XI Corps, First Army] |
| 18 and 19 April | Battle of Bethune [I Corps, First Army] |
| THE ADVANCE TO VICTORY | |
| SECOND BATTLES OF ARRAS | |
| 2 and 3 September | Battle of the Drocourt-Queant Line [Cdn. Corps, First Army] |
| BATTLES OF THE HINDERBURG LINE | |
| 18 September | Battle of Epehy [IX Corps, Fourth Army] |
| 29 September to 2 October | Battle of the St. Quentin Canal [IX Corps, Fourth Army] |
| 3 to 5 October | Battle of the Beaurevoir Line [IX Corps, Fourth Army] |
| THE FINAL ADVANCE IN PICARDY | |
| 17 to 25 October | Battle of the Selle [IX Corps, Fourth Army] |
| 4 November | Battle of the Sambre [IX Corps, Fourth Army] |
| 4 November | Passage of the Sambre-Oise Canal |
On the 11th November the 1st Division was resting and training around Fresnoy le Grand and Wassigny. Ordered to the Rhine, the 1st Division began its advance on the 18th November, entered Germany on the 16th December, and on the 24th the division reached its destination, the vicinity of Bonn.
Hello, is there any way of finding out the names of the individuals shown in the photo?
I’m looking for any evidence pertaining to my grandfather, Pte John George Stackhouse 118145 1st Battalion MGC
Thanks Barnaby. I’m afraid this isn’t one of the named photographs. We do have some other 1 Bn photographs and we are gradually publishing all the photographs we hold on Patreon. It seems your grandfather isn’t currently listed on the MGC Database so if there is any information you can share with us, please email collections@vickersmg.org.