'Orontes' bound for Suez. The battalion spent an unpleasant time bivouacking without cover, but eventually formed up for embarkation on river transport. This regiment was formed in 1881 by amalgamating the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot and the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot. There was the odd troublesome one, but mostly its own muleteer learned how to control it and to keep it in line. He was R.M.O. A total of 13,167 of the regiment were killed in action. It was air-dropped on Arnhem the following month and suffered such heavy casualties during Operation Market Garden that it saw no further action for the rest of the conflict. Cartwright John. The Special Reserve reverted to its militia designation in 1921, then to the Supplementary Reserve in 1924; however, its battalions were effectively placed in 'suspended animation'. It was the only British Division of infantry in the Middle East at the time. We spent a day or two in a transit area before being taken by guides up to the perimeter defences. But then at night, the Australian artillery returned the compliment tenfold! All this was in support of the civil police and little or no force was required. This was carried out by C Company. The result was that out of a battalion of some 950 strong, we had, in just under a year, 1,500 hospital admissions, mainly from malaria and relapses despite full anti-malaria precautions which, by and large, were rigorously carried out. So, all the units of the 70th Division were glad to take the airfield. As the war progressed and further horsed regiments were . Meanwhile, 2nd Battalion had moved from England to Ireland shortly after the regiments formation. The 1st Battalion 7th Infantry Regiment and the 4th Battalion 7th Infantry Regiment (from Aschaffenburg, Germany) patrolled the Czechoslovakia border with Germany for years in preparation for war with The Soviet Union (USSR . During the few days that we were assembling at Mariani, word came through that Gen. Wingate had been killed in an air accident. column from 8th Army arrived but was quickly cut off by the enemy and had to remain in Tobruk. The regiment's territorial components formed duplicate second and third line battalions. Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. 1940 1945 H.W.W. Platoon killed 30 Japanese and wounded 10 more and suffered two casualties only. It continued in British Army service until 2006, when it was merged into The Duke of Lancasters Regiment. Sadly he died on 6th. public. I will try to have it completed for contribution in advance of the imminent closure. Subsequently, in March 1941, the men of the 4th Battalion, The Border Regiment left on the troopship H.M.T. In 1982, 4 SAI converted to a mechanised infantry battalion mainly consisting of Ratel-20 IFVs. Between 1809 and 1814, 11 battle honours were won by the regiment. (d.5th December 1943) Hutchinson J. Pte. The Durham Light Infantry Bn. During the training period from October the only time the Bn. Both predecessor regiments were affiliated with counties just south of the English-Scottish border, in what is now Cumbria, and so the new unit was named The Border Regiment. The Burma Star Memorial Fund10 A High StreetPewseySN9 5AQ. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please click here. Here a lot of the time was spent in processing Greek refugees, who had travelled from German-occupied Greece through Turkey to Syria, and were being sorted out for referral to the Greek authorities, in exile, in Egypt. The Border Regiment fielded 18 battalions [7] and lost almost 7,000 [8] officers and other ranks during the course of the war. Thoroughly enjoyed it. The 8th Army then got involved in very heavy fighting at Sidi Resegh, south of Tobruk, and our battalion was ordered to make a frontal assault from our side. Moving off into the town street fighting began. was established in a school and detachments were sent out to areas north of here, right up to the Nepalese border. We carried out our diversionary attacks but the 8th Army never appeared. The BBC is not responsible for the content of any external sites Bangalore was a fine town and the climate was temperate for India. Our whole Brigade embarked on the Mauritania and so began the next phase of our travels, this time much further east. GOOD, T.D., R.A.M.C. I am aware WW2 Peoples War is soon to close for contributions. They were small, around 5 ft. in height, but wiry and capable of running up and down hills with heavy loads. 1947-1959. After that it was Suez, Egypt, and a transit camp, until we entrained for the Western Desert. Here in the Basse Fort d'Eu, supported by the artillery of the 51st Highland Division. After a week or two of rest at railhead, during which malaria began to take its toll, we once more entrained for the long journey back to our old haunt Bangalore. WO 169 / 1705 4th Battalion, The Border Regiment Men of the 4th Battalion, Border Regiment travel in the back of a lorry, France, May 1940. On the night of 19th March, the Bn. Occupying the village of Kiam in the central sector, the battalion were engaged in patrolling. So, once again, we moved from Bangalore to the Jhansi-Sangor area of Central India. Just before Christmas we again moved, this time to Malvern, in the neighbouring county of Worcester, the home of a famous English school. The disorders soon settled down and we returned to Ranchi, but were shortly called upon again to assist the civil power, this time at Gaya, south of Patna. At 3pm Orders received for the 4th and 5th Battalions Northumberland Fusiliers to move from huts they are at present occupying to bivouac in H2g - HQ to Hopital Farm. On July 12th the Bn. and A.E.R. Orders soon arrived for us to move south towards the area of the Japanese L. of C. Our first objective was Mokokchung in the Naga Hills, east of Kohima. Usually relief of the pack enabled the casualty to finish the days march to the rest area, but we had a small number of ponies in the column on which we transported the more serious casualties. 1 Kings Own later fought in Italy with the 10th Indian Div. We subsequently moved across the Ganges to Muzzaffapur, where H.Q. The casualties were mainly exhaustion with malaria. This would have prevented later train traffic. had come out with the withdrawal from Europe, not through Dunkirk but further west through Cherbourg and Brest. However I have been to Rennes, visited his grave and spoke to some local people. The Territorial Force (later Territorial Army) was formed in 1908, which the volunteer battalions joined, while the militia battalions transferred to the "Special Reserve". No escort could be provided but all casualties evacuated by these means arrived safely at Brigade H.Q.. As I am a volunteer story-gatherer, and no doubt because I have done some research about the war in France, I was asked to type it out and post it to the website. Men of 1st Battalion, The Border Regiment, at Arnhem, 20 September 1944. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not As the training took place from October to April, it was not in the heat of summer, nor during the monsoon period, so we did not suffer those discomforts. The 2nd Bn The Kings Own formed 41 and 46 Columns in 111 Bde in the Chindits; 2nd 13n The Border Regt in 20th Indian Division; 4th Bn The Border Regt in 23 Brigade forming 34 and 55 Columns; and the 9th Bn The Border Regt in 17th Indian Division. Instead of being flown by glider into Burma to remain during the monsoon period, whilst the other brigades of Special Force were withdrawn, 23rd Brigade was put under the operational command of 14th Army to harass the Japanese L. of C. from the Chindwin to the Imphal/Kohima area, the former town now having been infested by the enemy and the main supply road from railhead to Dimapore cut between the two towns. Recognition of the corps by the authorities brought regulation and as the war continued the small corps were formed into battalion sized units of the county Volunteer Regiment. In the immediate post-war period, the army was significantly reduced: nearly all infantry regiments had their first and second battalions amalgamated and the Supplementary Reserve disbanded. The following article has been submitted to the BBC "People's War" website on behalf of Mr Hutchinson. Timeline of WW2 Raiders EXPLORE THE TIMELINES BELOW . They became part of Brigadier Orde Wingates Chindit Long Range Penetration (LRP) groups. Cpl. 1st Battalion spent the 1920s in India, Aden, England and Shanghai, prior to postings in Belfast and Palestine during the 1930s. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. By 1920, all of the regiment's war-raised battalions had disbanded. If I get a better reply I've got your e-mail and I will send a message to you that way. By then, they were surrounded. Between the wars the regiment was to serve in Ireland, India including the North West Frontier, Burma, China, Egypt and Palestine where Border and Kings Own were involved in the Arab Revolt of 1938-39. Thank you for your detailed reply to my query and I await any further information. When the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot amalgamated with the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot, to become The Border Regiment in 1881 under the Cardwell-Childers reforms of the British Armed Forces, four pre-existent militia and volunteer battalions of Cumberland and Westmorland were integrated into the structure of the regiment. It was after the last battle that the enemy finally broke and made for the . In 1756, the 4th and 34th were both included in the small garrison on the island of Minorca. On this day in 1944 Captain D.V. A.E.F. Regards, As an example, the three-line battalions of the 4th Borderers were numbered as the 1/4th, 2/4th, and 3/4th respectively. I finished my army career, excepting for T.A. As I had always feared, I had an attack of malaria that morning, but, on taking Mepacrine, and on having my pack carried on a vehicle, I managed to march to the station and duly arrived at Bombay Docks, where we embarked on the Queen of Bermuda. In August 1945 when Japan surrendered, the 9th was stationed at Waw, west of Sittang River. Our force consisted of two platoons and a headquarters platoon. After Dunkirk, 1 Border were converted to gliderborne troops. Copyright 2023. This is a list of battalions of the Border Regiment, which existed as an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1959. The only change to the regiment's structure during the period of 18811908 occurred in 1900, when a new volunteer battalion was raised, namely the 3rd (Cumberland) Volunteer Battalion. As winter was approaching the Bn. We duly set sail from Calcutta in a British India ship, the Ethiopia, and arrived at the port of Chittagong in East Bengal (now Bangladesh). Gaya is supposed to be the birthplace of Buddha and there is an interesting Buddhist temple there, although India was at that time largely Hindu/Moslem and Buddhism associated more with Ceylon and countries further east. An uncle of mine was killed along with more than 800 others in an air attack on trains in Rennes, Monday 17th June. The programme in Tobruk perimeter until November 18th, this being early October, was as follows: At early morning and again in the evening, we were subjected to periods of artillery fire in Bn. Pte. I've left a message for Jemma, the co-ordinator for the Radio Cumbria volunteer story gatherers, asking for your question to be passed on to Mr Hutchinson, and if he has further details. The following year, 2nd Battalion returned to Britain, while 1st Battalion was sent to occupy Trieste. It was then sent to South Africa in 1899, where it fought throughout the Boer War (1899-1902). This story has been placed in the following categories.