Antecedents From being close allies in the
Crimean War (October 1853 – February 1856), Anglo-French relations had deteriorated to such an extent that by 1859 an invasion of Britain seemed a real possibility. An attempt to assassinate the French Emperor,
Napoleon III, by Italian nationaliststhe
Orsini affairhad been linked to Britain as the
bombs used in the attempt had been made and tested in England, coupled with the British Government's refusal to restrict the
right of asylum. With the
regular British Army stretched in the aftermath of the
Indian Mutiny (May 1857 – June 1858), a popular movement saw the creation of the
Volunteer Force. The first volunteer unit in
Huntingdonshire was raised in
Huntingdon in 1860 as the
1st Huntingdonshire Rifle Volunteer Corps. By June 1880, it had been reduced to
J Company, 1st Cambridgeshire Rifle Volunteer Corps, at
St Neots. J Company was disbanded in 1889. On 4 December 1900, the
4th Volunteer Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, was raised with
headquarters at Huntingdon and eight companies at Huntingdon,
St Ives,
Fletton, and St Neots. In April 1901, it was redesignated as the
4th (Huntingdonshire) Volunteer Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment. It was later reduced to six companies.
Formation ,
Suffolk, With the formation of the Territorial Force, Huntingdonshire was one of the few counties that did not have its own battalion. After protracted negotiations with the
War Office, agreement was reached in March 1913 that the
Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion could be formed. The battalion was raised on 27 February 1914; as such, it was the last battalion of the Territorial Force to be raised before the outbreak of the
First World War. Once established, men of the two Huntingdonshire companies of the 5th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, were allowed to transfer and almost all did so. It was to be used as mobile infantry, and for work on signals, scouting and similar activities.
First World War In accordance with the
Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (
7 Edw. 7, c.9) which brought the
Territorial Force into being, the TF was intended to be a home defence force for service during wartime and members could not be compelled to serve outside the country. However, on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, many members volunteered for
Imperial Service. Therefore, TF units were split in August and September 1914 into 1st Line (liable for overseas service) and 2nd Line (home service for those unable or unwilling to serve overseas) units. Later, 3rd Line units were formed to act as reserves, providing trained replacements for the 1st and 2nd Lines.
1/1st Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion The battalion was mobilised on 4 August 1914 at the outbreak of the
First World War and moved to its war station at
Grimsby. It remained in England throughout the war. In 1916 it was at
Scarborough and in June 1918 it was at
Whitby where it remained until the end of the war. The battalion was disembodied on 14 April 1919. In late July 1916, the battalion provided a draft of over six hundred men for the 1/8th Battalion,
Royal Warwickshire Regiment, on the
Western Front. One major change with the new Territorial Army had an effect on the number of infantry battalions. The original 14 divisions were reformed with the pre-war standard of three brigades of four battalions each, for a total of 168 battalions. Infantry were no longer to be included as Army Troops or part of the Coastal Defence Forces so the pre-war total of 208 battalions had to be reduced by 40. This was achieved by either converting certain battalions to other roles, usually artillery or engineers, or by amalgamating pairs of battalions within a regiment. However, the Huntingdonshire Battalion was converted to
infantry and on 7 February 1920 was reconstituted as
5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, with headquarters at Peterborough. The increasing need to defend against attack from the air led to a number of Territorial Army units being converted to the
anti-aircraft role in the 1930s and a major reorganisation in 1938 saw the TA divisions reduced from twelve to nine battalions. The combination of these factors led to the battalion being transferred, in 1938, to the
143rd (Warwickshire) Infantry Brigade,
48th (South Midland) Infantry Division, after the second of four battalions of the
Royal Warwickshire Regiment had been converted to the anti-aircraft role. By 1939 it became clear that a new European war was likely to break out and, as a direct result of the
German invasion of Czechoslovakia on 15 March, Consequently, the 5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion formed the 4th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment.
Second World War 5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment The 5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion mobilised on 1 September 1939 The battalion remained with 11th Infantry Brigade for the rest of the war, serving alongside the 2nd Battalion,
Lancashire Fusiliers, and the 1st Battalion,
East Surrey Regiment, both Regular formations. When the
Germans invaded France and the Low Countries on 10 May 1940, the BEF moved forward to occupy pre-planned positions in Belgium (the
Dyle Plan). The brigade took part in the
Battle of the Ypres-Comines Canal (2628 May) It spent the next two years in the United Kingdom on anti-invasion duties preparing for a possible
German invasion of the United Kingdom. near
Christchurch, Dorset, 12 March 1941 In June 1942, 4th Infantry Division was reorganised as a Mixed Division when
21st Tank Brigade was assigned. The 11th Brigade remained with the Battleaxe Division for the rest of the war. The battalion landed at Taranto and, with the division, advanced up the
Adriatic coast under the command of
V Corps. It took part in the crossing of
The Sangro (19 November3 December 1943) under the command of
V Corps. The division transferred to
XIII Corps and took part in the
First Battle of Monte Cassino (20 January20 March 1944), the
Second Battle of Monte Cassino (1118 May 1944), the advance up the
Liri Valley (1830 May) and the
Battle for the Trasimene Line (2030 June). , Italy, 25 May 1944 The battalion was transferred to Egypt on 17 July for rest and refitting, arriving back in Italy on 16 September. Again in V Corps, it took part in the
final offensive in Italy (codenamed Operation Grapeshot) with the crossing of
The Senio (912 April 1945) followed immediately by the
Battle of the Argenta Gap (1321 April). On 28 August 1944, it transferred to
115th Infantry Brigade and remained with the brigade for the rest of the war. This formation was the core of
Force 135 which was planning the liberation of the
Channel Islands. In the event, the plan did not go ahead and the brigade left Force 135 on 30 January 1945. On 12 February, the battalion moved with the brigade to
North West Europe where it remained until the end of the war The battalion was formally reconstituted on 1 January 1947 at Peterborough, absorbing its wartime duplicate 4th Battalion at the same time. On 1 May 1961, the battalion amalgamated with
R (The Northamptonshire Regiment) Battery, 438th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (the original 4th Battalion) to form 4th/5th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment. ==See also==