BY Capt. C. E. WURTZBURG, M.C. Adjutant, Nov. 1916-Nov. 1918 With a Foreword by Major-General Sir R. W. R. BARNES, k.c.b., d.s.o. Late G.O.C. 57th (West Lancs.) Division PRINTED FOR THE REGIMENTAL COMMITTEE BY GALE & POLDEN LIMITED Wellington Works, Aldershot 1920 [Pg iv] [Pg v] To the Memory OF LIEUT.-COL. W. A. L. FLETCHER, D.S.O. THE OFFICERS WARRANT OFFICERS NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND RIFLEMEN WHO LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY [Pg vi] [Pg vii]...

As I had the honour of commanding the 57th (West Lancashire) Division during the greater part of the time that the Division was fighting in France and Flanders in the Great War, included in which Division was the 2/6th Battalion "The King's" (Liverpool Regiment), I am very glad that the Author has given me the opportunity of recording in print my appreciation of the gallant and soldierly conduct of this fine battalion whilst under my command. Captain Wurtzburg's work in writing this history of t

Shortly after the Armistice Colonel Fletcher wrote to me asking if I would undertake to write a history of the battalion. All through the war I had cherished a vague idea of doing something of the kind, and with this view had devoted considerable care to the War Diary and to the preservation of other records. I was, therefore, only too pleased to accede to my old Commanding Officer's request, though I felt that I should experience—as, indeed, I have done—some considerable difficulty in dealing w

Owing to the rush in the early days of the war, when recruits were many and records few, the actual date of the formation of the 2/6th (Rifle) Battalion "The King's" (Liverpool Regiment) is obscure, but from general evidence we can assume the date to have been September 10th, 1914. Certain it is that recruiting for the Second Line opened on that date. Before going further it may be worth setting forth the reasons which prompted the War Office to create ours and similar battalions. The Territoria

On arrival at Aldershot we detrained at the military siding and marched off over the switchback road across the edge of Laffan's Plain to Bourley Bottom, some two miles from the town in the direction of Fleet. The camp, which was on the site of one of the usual summer camping grounds, was from the picturesque point of view delightfully situated. It lay in the centre of a ring of low, wooded hills which sheltered it from all wind, and the white tents stood out in pleasing contrast to the surround

February 13th. It seems impossible to believe that to-morrow the battalion really embarks for France; that the long period of training and waiting has at last come to an end, and that to-morrow we embark on the enterprise for which we all joined up, and for which some of us have now been waiting two and a half years. The sceptics of the battalion even now throw doubts on it. Admitted that the Transport and Lewis gunners have gone; admitted that the entraining orders are issued for to-night; admi

On April 19th we received orders to reconnoitre the Boutillerie sector, held by the 2/5th King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, with a view to early relief; and the Commanding Officer, Adjutant, and Company Commanders proceeded the same day to Foray House, the "King's Own" Headquarters. This sector was a combination of the old Boutillerie trenches, held by us in February, and the trenches on our immediate right. There had been several British and enemy raids since then, and the damage caused had

The disorganization in the Brigade resulting from the gas bombardment was naturally very great. The 2/5th K.L.R. and ourselves were reduced by 50 per cent, not including Battalion Headquarters, and the relief of the battalion for reorganization was therefore imperative. Accordingly, on the evening of July 31st Captain Bowring, the Acting Commanding Officer, was instructed to move out to Bac St. Maur, the 2/5th King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment taking the place of "A" and "B" Companies in the s

On December 16th, at 8.45 in the morning, the battalion moved off from camp to Proven Station, where we duly entrained for Boesinghe, the transport moving to Birbeck Camp, near Elverdinghe. On arrival at Boesinghe a dispute arose with the 2/5th K.L.R. as to the camp which each of us was to occupy, the orders being conflicting. Eventually we agreed to take Canal Bank Camp, and the 2/5th K.L.R. the more bleak and exposed Baboon Camp, which from our point of view was a satisfactory arrangement. As

On April 2nd, as we had expected, we entrained for the south, but not till our orders had been cancelled about three times. In fact, if rumour is to be believed, we were very nearly dispatched post haste to Ypres. At any rate, at 5 p.m. we received orders for one company to entrain at Merville at once, and the remainder at 8.5 p.m. The enemy very considerately refrained from shelling the station while we entrained, though he was more attentive to some of the other units of the Division. At 5.30

The move from the line to Ste. Catherine Camp was the beginning of a series of movements, some leisurely, some hasty, which eventually brought the battalion into position to take its part in the Battle of Bapaume and the second Battle of Cambrai. The breaking of the famous "Hindenburg Line," on which the enemy had lavished such skill and pains, and on which it was evident he placed such firm reliance, finally altered the method of warfare from the concentrated attack on an organized trench syste

On the evening of October 9th orders were received from Brigade that the Division was to "pull out of the line" the next day for a rest. This had been anticipated by all ranks, and the wildest speculations had been rife. "Three weeks at Calais," "A fortnight in the South of France," and other even more ridiculous prophecies had been uttered, each, of course, based on "inside information." After all, when the war really seemed to be nearing its end, any rumours, whether of a "rest" or of a fallen

With the cessation of hostilities began what was really the most difficult period of the war. Training, always irksome, had now lost its one stimulus—the prospect of battle. No one supposed for a moment that hostilities could ever be resumed. The question of demobilization immediately sprang to the front; and though most men realized clearly enough that the delay would necessarily be long, yet it was impossible not to chafe a little, and to feel that at the best you were merely killing time. It

1. Scouts. —The origin of the Scout Section can be traced from the earliest days at Liverpool, where the provision of civilian bicycles and the varied nature of their duties made that branch of training popular. With the move to Blackpool they came under the direction of 2nd-Lieutenant G. C. T. Giles, who served with us ungazetted for a time, but was subsequently gazetted to the Divisional Cyclist Company. From then onwards till the Upstreet days they still continued to exist in an unostentatiou

Note. —This Roll has been compiled from the battalion's Part II Orders, and though every effort has been taken to make it accurate, the author feels that for various reasons—in particular the somewhat scanty records of the early period of 1914-15—some errors of fact and date may be present. It is hoped that, as some 4,000 names are recorded, those who suffer from inaccuracies will accept in extenuation the magnitude of the task. It had been intended to give, where applicable, some record of serv

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