Home > Army Organisation > Infantry > The East Lancashire Regiment
To trace the movements and actions of any battalion, click on the Divisions with which it served
Battalions of the regular army
1st Battalion:
August 1914 : in Colchester and part of 11th Brigade, 4th
Division. Moved to Harrow on 18 August and landed at Le Havre 22
August 1914.
1 February
1918 : transferred to 103rd Brigade, 34th Division.
26 May 1918 : transferred to 183rd Brigade, 61st
Division.
2nd Battalion:
August 1914 : in Wijnberg, South Africa.
Returned to England, landing at Southampton 30 October 1914.
30 October
1914 : attached to 24th Brigade, 8th Division
at Hursley Park. Landed at Le Havre 6 November 1914.
18 October 1915 : moved with the Brigade to 23rd
Division.
15 June 1916 : moved with the Brigade to 8th
Division.
3 February 1918 : transferred to 25th Brigade, 8th
Division.
3rd (Reserve) Battalion:
August 1914 : in Preston. A depot/training unit, it remained in UK
throughout the war. Moved on mobilisation
to Plymouth and on to Saltburn and Marske on 1 June 1917 for duty with
Tees Garrison.
Battalions of the Territorial Force
1/4th Battalion:
August 1914 : in Blackburn.
Part of East Lancashire Brigade, East Lancs Division. Moved
on mobilisation to Chesham Fold Camp (Bury) but sailed on 10 September
1914 from Southampton for Egypt.
26 May 1915 : formation
became 126th Brigade, 42nd Division.
14 February
1918 : transferred to 198th Brigade, 66th Division,
and absorbed 2/4th Bn. Renamed 4th Bn.
7 April 1918 : reduced to cadre
strength.
16 August 1918 : transferred to 118th Brigade, 39th
Division on Lines of Communication work.
2/4th Battalion:
Formed at Blackburn in
September 1914 as a home service ("second
line")
unit.
November 1914 : moved to Southport and attached to 198th Brigade, 66th
Division.
Moved to Burgess Hill in May 1915 but next month to Pease Pottage. Moved
to Crowborough in October 1915 and on to Colchester in March 1916. Landed
at Le Havre 2 March 1917.
19 February 1918 : absorbed by
1/4th Bn.
1/5th Battalion:
August 1914 : in Burnley.
Part of East Lancashire Brigade, East Lancs Division. Moved
on mobilisation to Chesham Fold Camp (Bury) but sailed on 10 September
1914 from Southampton for Egypt.
26 May 1915 : formation became 126th Brigade, 42nd
Division.
2/4th Battalion:
Formed at Burnley in September
1914 as a home service ("second line")
unit.
November 1914 : moved to Southport and attached to 198th Brigade, 66th
Division.
Moved to Burgess Hill in May 1915 but next month to Pease Pottage. Moved
to Crowborough in October 1915 and on to Colchester in March 1916. Landed
at Le Havre 2 March 1917.
April 1918 : reduced to cadre strength.
31 July 1918 : disbanded in
France.
3/4th and 3/5th Battalions:
Formed at Blackburn and Burnley
respectively in March 1915 as depot/training ("third line")
units. Moved to Witley (Surrey) in early 1916.
8 April 1916 : became Reserve Bns and 4th then absorbed
5th on 1 September 1916. Moved to Southport in October 1916, Ripon
in January 1917, Whitby in July 1917 and finally Scarborough in April 1918.
Battalions of the New Armies
6th (Service) Battalion:
Formed at Preston in August 1914 as part of K1 and attached to 38th Brigade, 13th (Western) Division. Moved to Lucknow Barracks, Tidworth but by January 1915 was in billets in Winchester. Moved to Alma Barracks, Blackdown (Aldershot) in February 1915. Sailed from Avonmouth on 16 June 1915 and landed on Gallipoli 7 July 1915.
7th (Service) Battalion:
Formed at Preston in September 1914
as part of K2 and attached to 56th Brigade, 19th
(Western) Division. Moved to Tidworth and was in billets in
Andover in December 1914. Moved to Clevedon in February 1915 and on to
Perham Down inlate March. Landed in France 18 July 1915.
22 February 1918 : disbanded in France .
8th (Service) Battalion:
Formed at Preston in September
1914 as part of K3 and attached to 74th
Brigade, 25th Division. Moved
to Codford and was in billets in Bournemouth in November 1914.
November 1914
: became Divisional Troops to 25th Division.
March 1915 : transferred to 112th Brigade, 37th Division
at Ludgershall. Landed at Bouogne in late July 1915.
21
February 1918 : disbanded in France.
9th (Service) Battalion:
Formed at Preston in September 1914 as part of K3 and attached to 65th Brigade, 22nd Division. Moved to Lewes, on to Seaford in November 1914, billets in Eastbourne in December 1914 and back to Seaford in April 1915. Moved to Aldershot area in June 1915. Landed at Bouogne 5 September 1915 but moved with Division to Salonika, arriving 5 November 1915.
10th (Reserve) Battalion:
Formed in Plymouth in October 1914
as Service Battalion of K4 and attached to 99th Brigade, original 33rd
Division. Moved to Teignmouth in December 1914.
10 April 1915 : became Reserve battalion. Moved to Swanage but by August
1915 was at Wareham.
1 September 1916 : converted into 47th Battalion of 10th Reserve
Brigade of Training Reserve.
11th (Service) Battalion (Accrington):
Formed in Accrington on
2 September 1914 by the Mayor and Town. Moved to billets in Carnarvon
in February 1915.
May 1915 : moved to Penkridge and attached to 94th
Brigade, 31st
Division. Moved to Ripon in July 1915. Adopted by War Office 5 August
1915. Moved to Salisbury Plain in September 1915. Sailed from Plymouth
for Egypt on 19 December 1915. Moved to France in March 1916.
11 February 1918 : transferred to 92nd Brigade, 31st
Division.
12th (Reserve) Battalion:
Formed
at Chadderton Camp (Oldham) in May 1915 as a Reserve Bn.
10 April 1915 : became Reserve battalion. Moved to Swanage but by August
1915 was at Prees Heath.
1 September 1916 : converted into 75th Battalion of 17th Reserve Brigade
of Training Reserve.
Other battalions raised by the regiment
13th (Service) Battalion:
Formed in France on 11
June 1918 as 8th Garrison Guard Bn became 13th (Garrison) Bn. Renamed
on 13 July 1918.
11 June 1918 : attached to 119th Brigade, 40th
Division.
| Did you know? The descendants of the regiment live on in the form of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment (the Red Rose Regiment). Its 1st Battalion is currently based in Germany but the regimental HQ is at Fulwood Barracks in Preston, the home of the East Lancs during WW1. |
This page is dedicated to the memory of Edwy Arthur Louis Luppi, a pre-war regular with 2nd Battalion who was discharged in 1915; Arthur Ashcroft, who enlisted into 2/5th Battalion in October 1914 and was wounded on 30 May 1917; John William Caine, a Kitchener volunteer who served with 7th (Service) Battalion until his discharge in 1917; Richard Whiteside, who died at the age of 33 on 31 July 1917 also with 7th Battalion; Richard Wolstenholme, who served with 1/5th Battalion, and finally Harold Wrigley of the Accrington Pals.