The Royal Welch Fusiliers consisted of Infantry Battalions that would have had an MG Section as part of its Battalion Headquarters.
The Great War
The MG Section would have been brigaded when the Machine Gun Corps was formed in 1915. The guns, and crews, would have been formed into a Machine Gun Company.
During the Great War, the Battalions were distributed as follows:
1st
The 1st Battalion was part of the 22nd Brigade, attached to the 7th Division. Its MG Section was transferred on 24 February 1916 to form the 22nd Bde. MG Coy..
As a unit of the 7th Infantry Division, its MG Section will have taken part in the following battles and engagements.
The division had no existence before the outbreak of War; it was gradually assembled at Lyndhurst between the 31st August and the 4th October, 1914. The 12 infantry battalions included the three remaining unallotted regular battalions left in England, as well as nine battalions brought back from various overseas stations, viz. – Guernsey (1), Gibraltar (2), Malta (2), Cairo (1), Natal (1), and the Transvaal (2). The mounted troops included an existing yeomanry regiment as well as a cyclist company, formed on mobilization. The Field Artillery was made up by one R.H.A. Brigade (XIV., of two batteries), and one R.F.A. Brigade (XXXV.) still left at home, together with one R.F.A. Brigade (XXII.) from the Transvaal. The two heavy batteries were new units formed at Woolwich after the outbreak of War, and the field companies came from Chatham and Pretoria. Three of the A.S.C. companies (30, 40 and 42) came from Gibraltar, Malta, and Pretoria, but the remaining company (86) was a new formation.
The 7th Division embarked at Southampton on the 4th and 5th October, and began disembarkation at Zeebrugge on the 6th October. The division moved to Bruges on the 7th October, and reached Ghent on the 9th October. During the night of 11/12 October, a retirement on Ypres was begun and the place was reached on the 14th. The 7th Division served on the Western Front in France and Belgium until the 17th November, 1917, when it began entraining for the Italian Front, on which it served for the remainder of the War. The 7th Division was engaged in the following operations:- |
|
1914 | |
09 and 10 October | Antwerp Operations [IV. Corps]. |
19 October to 05 November | BATTLES OF YPRES |
21 to 24 October | Battle of Langemarck [IV. Corps]. |
29 to 31 October | Battle of Gheluvelt [I. Corps]. |
|
|
18 December | Rouges Banes – Well Farm Attack [IV. Corps]. |
1915 | |
10 to 13 March | Battle of Neuve Chappelle [IV. Corps, First Army]. |
09 May | Battle of Aubers Ridge [In reserve, IV. Corps, First Army]. |
15 to 19 May | Battle of Festubert [I. Corps, First Army]. |
15 and 16 June | Givenchy [IV. Corps]. |
25 September and 08 October | Battle of Loos [I. Corps, First Army]. |
8th
The 8th Battalion was part of the 40th Brigade, attached to the 13th (Western) Division.
As a unit of the 13th (Western) Infantry Division, it will have taken part in the following battles and engagements.
This New Army Division had no existence before the outbreak of the Great War.A proclamation was issued on the 11th August, 1914 asking for an immediate addition of 100,000 men to the Regular Army (see Appendix). Army Order No. 324 of the 21st August (amended by Army Order No. 382 of the 11th September) authorized the addition of six divisions (9th to 14th) and Army Troops to the Regular Army. This augmentation formed the First New Army, and late in August, 1914 the 13th (Western) Division began to assemble.
The infantry brigades first assembled on Salisbury Plain. In September and October the 40th Brigade moved to Chiseldon and Cirencester; and in January 1915 the 39th Brigade moved to Basingstoke. By the end of February the 13th Division concentrated for its final intensive training at Blackdown, near Farnborough; equipment and arms were now practically complete and the artillery and engineers had joined the division. Divisional field manoeuvres were undertaken. On the 7th June, 1915 the Division received orders to prepare to move to the Mediterranean theatre of war. The motor bicycles and all mechanical transport (except 4 motor cars) were withdrawn; and, except in the artillery, engineers, and signal company, first reinforcements were not to proceed with the Division. On the 10th June embarkation orders were received and the first transports sailed on the 13th. Immediately before embarkation a third machine gun was issued to each infantry battalion). On the 16th June a message to the 13th Division was received from H.M. the King, and on the 18th Divisional Headquarters sailed from Avonmouth. Alexandria was reached on the 28th and headquarters landed at Mudros on the 4th July. Between the 6th and 16th July the infantry of the Division crossed to Helles and relieved the 29th Division on the left of the line. The infantry returned to Mudros at the end of the month, and between 3rd to 5th August the 13th Division landed at Anzac. Thereafter, and for the remainder of the Great War, the 13th (Western) Division served in Gallipoli, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, and was engaged in the following operations: |
|
1915 | |
BATTLES OF SUVLA | |
06 to 10 August | Battle of Sari Bair [Godley’s Force]. |
07 August | Russell’s Top (8/Ches. and 8/R.W.F.). |
27 and 28 August | Hill 60, Anzac (4/S.W.B.) [Cox’s Force]. |
After the evacuation of Suvla the 13th Division concentrated at Mudros, and between 27 and 31 December Divisional Headquarters and the infantry of the Division (less 38th Inf. Bde.) moved from Mudros to Helles and took over the Left Section of VIII Corps Front Line. | |
1916 | |
07 January | Last Turkish Attacks at Helles [VIII Corps]. |
Night, 08/09 January | Evacuation of Helles [VIII Corps]. |
After leaving Helles the 13th Division went to Mudros until 18 January 1916′ on this day the Division began to embark for Egypt, and by 31 January 1916 the whole Division concentrated at Port Said. The Division then held posts on the Suez Canal. On 08 February 1916 orders were received for the 13th Division to move to Mesopotamia, and on 12 February 1916 the Suez Canal posts were handed over to the Ayrshire Yeomanry and Lanarkshire Yeomanry. On the same day the first troops of 13th Division left Port Said by rail for Suez, embarked at Suez on the 13th, sailed on the 14th, and disembarked at Basra on the 27th February. On the 2nd March the Division began to move by river up the Tigris, on the 13th March divisional headquarters reached Shaikh Saad, and by the 27th March the whole Division had arrived at Shaikh Saad (less 7/Glouc., of 39th Bde. segregated for fever at Basra; 7/Glouc. rejoined 13th Division on 19 April 1916). On 02 April 1916, 13th Division took over a portion of Tigris Corps Front and became engaged in the third attempt to relieve Kut al Imara. From this time until the end of the Great War the 13th Division served in Mesopotamia and was engaged in the following operations: | |
THIRD ATTEMPT TO RELIEVE KUT AL IMARA | |
05 April | Capture of Hanna and Fallahiya [Tigris Corps]. |
09 April | Second Attack on Sanniyat [Tigris Corps]. |
17 and 18 April | Bait ‘Isa [Tigris Corps]. |
22 April | Third Attack on Sanniyat [Tigris Corps]. |
It’s MG Section was amalgamated with those of the other Battalions in the Brigade to form a Provisional Brigade MG Company on 23 May 1916. This was then amalgamated into the 40th MG Coy. which was formed on 24 October 1916 at Amara.
9th
The 9th Battalion was part of the 58th Brigade, attached to the 19th (Western) Division. It’s MG Section was likely to have been sent to Grantham for retraining and subsequently transferred into the 58th Bde. MG Coy. which disembarked at le Havre on 09 February 1816 and joined the Division on 14 February 1916.
As a unit of the 19th (Western) Infantry Division, it will have taken part in the following battles and engagements.
FORMATION, BATTLES, AND ENGAGEMENTS | |
This New Army Division has no existence before the outbreak of the Great War.Army Order No. 285 of the 11th September 1914 authorized the further addition of six divisions (15th to 20th) and Army Troops to the Regular Army. This augmentation formed the Second New Army, and during September 1914 the 19th (Western) Division began to assemble near Bulford.
At first the infantry brigades were camped at Tidworth, Ludgershall, and Grately. In December, the brigades went into comfortable billets at Andover and Whitchurch, Basingstoke, and Weston-Super-Mare. The early discomforts and difficulties were similar to those which were experienced by all the divisions of the New Armies, consequently a few D.P. rifles were received with enthusiasm. By March 1915 the Division was clothed in khaki and a great advance had been made in training. During March the Division concentrated around Tidworth to begin its final preparation for the field, and regimental training was completed by mid-May. On the 7th June the 19th Division first operated together as a complete division, and between the 12th and 18th June the 19th Division Artillery carried out its first gun-practice. On Wednesday, the 23rd June, the 19th Division was inspected by H.M. The King; and, at the end of the parade, His Majesty said to the General-Officer-Commanding: “Your Division is as good as anything I have seen in the New Army.” On the 11th July the advanced party of the 19th Division left for France, on the 16th the Division began to move, and by the 21st July it had crossed to France and completed its concentration near St. Omer. For the remainder of the Great War the 19th Division served on the Western Front in France and Belgium and was engaged in the following operations:- |
|
1915 | |
25 September to 02 October | Battle of Loos [Indian Corps, First Army]. |
25 September | Action of Pietre |
10th
The 10th Battalion was part of the 76th Brigade attached to the 3rd Division. It’s MG Section was transferred by 13 April 1916 to form the 76th Bde. MG Coy..
As a unit of the 3rd Infantry Division, it will have taken part in the following battles and engagements.
1914 | |
23 and 24 August | Battle of Mons [II. Corps]. |
24 August to 05 September | RETREAT FROM MONS [II. Corps]. |
26 August | Battle of le Cateau [II. Corps]. |
06 to 09 September | Battle of the Marne [II. Corps]. |
13 to 20 September | BATTLE OF THE AISNE [II. Corps]. |
13 September | Passage of the Aisne. |
20 September | Actions on the Aisne Heights. |
10 October to 02 November | Battle of La Bassee [II. Corps] (3rd Division (less 8th Brigade, left under Indian Corps) was relieved on 29 October) |
05 to 21 November | BATTLES OF YPRES [I. Corps]. |
11 November | Battle of Nonne Bosschen [I. Corps]. (In this battle the 3rd Division was formed of 7th, 9th, and 15th Brigades). |
14 December | Attack on Wytschaete. |
1915 | |
16 June | First Attack on Bellewaarde [V. Corps, Second Army]. |
19 July | Hooge [V. Corps, Second Army]. |
25 September | Second Attack on Bellewaarde [V. Corps, Second Army]. |
Inter-war Period
In 1922, the Machine Gun Corps was disbanded and the guns returned to the Infantry Battalion as a Machine Gun Platoon and then formed as a Machine Gun Company in the early 1930s.
Second World War
This remained until the formation of Divisional Machine Gun Battalions in 1936 where guns were brigaded once again.
Post-Second World War
Upon the disbandment of Divisional Machine Gun Battalions in the post-WW2 restructure of the British Army, the Vickers Machine Gun assets reverted to individual Battalions as part of the Support Company as a Machine Gun Platoon.