A Machine Gun Battalion of the Machine Gun Corps was attached to each Infantry Division and was formed of four MG Companies.
No. 29 (or 29th) Battalion, MGC was formed on 15 February 1918.
| Division attached to: | 29th Division |
| Formed from the: | 86th Machine Gun Company 87th Machine Gun Company 88th Machine Gun Company 227th Machine Gun Company |
As a unit of the 29th Infantry Division, it will have taken part in the following battles and engagements.
| 1918 | |
| THE BATTLES OF THE LYS | |
| 10 and 11 April | Battle of Estaires (less 88th Inf. Bde.) [XV. Corps, First Army]. |
| 10 and 11 April | Battle of Messines (88th Inf. Bde., with 25th Div. on 10/4, and with 34th Div., 11/4) [IX. Corps, Second Army]. |
| 12 and 13 April | Battle of Hazebrouck (less 88th Inf. Bde.) [XV. Corps, Second Army]. |
| 13 and 14 April | Battle of Bailleul (88th Bde. with 34th Div.) [IX. Corps, Second Army]. |
| THE ADVANCE TO VICTORY | |
| 18 August | Capture of Outtersteene Ridge (87th Bde.) [XV. Corps, Second Army]. |
| 04 September | Capture of Ploegsteert and Hill 63 (86th and 88th Bdes.) [XV. Corps, Second Army]. |
| THE FINAL ADVANCE IN FLANDERS | |
| 28 September to 02 October | Battle of Ypres [II. Corps, Second Army]. |
| 14 to 19 October | Battle of Courtrai [II. Corps, Second Army]. |
The 29th Division was withdrawn to rest on the 24th October, and on the 7th November it was transferred to the X. Corps (via XV. Corps) and moved south into the Tourcoing area. On the night 7th/8th, the 88th Bde. took over part of the X. Corps Front Line along the Schelde (east of St. Genois), and on the next night the brigade established a line of posts on the right bank. On the 11th November the 88th Bde. was ordered to seize the Dendre crossings at Lessines. The Brigadier was at Flobecq at 9-30 a.m., and galloping forward from there with A. Sqdn., 7th Dragoon Guards (attached from 3rd Cavalry Division), the bridges at Lessines were captured and secured by 11 a.m., when the Armistice brought hostilities to an end.
The 29th Division was ordered to the Rhine and it began its march on the 18th November. During this advance the division crossed the fields of Waterloo (on the 23rd) and Ramillies (on the 27th). On the 4th December, the division entered Germany at Malmedy, and arrived on the 9th at Cologne. On Friday, the 13th December, the 29th Division crossed the Rhine by the Hohenzollern Bridge, and it completed its occupation of the bridgehead on the 16th.
On the 15th March, 1919, the 29th Division ceased to exist.
MGC Database
Click HERE to search Graham Sacker’s MGC database for related records.
War Diaries
- WO 95/2294/3 – February 1918 to October 1919 (France and Flanders).
- WO 95/152/2 – November 1919 to January 1920 (Germany).
