. Two soldiers of the 8th (Service) Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment examine captured machine guns outside a badly damaged German dugout at Beaucourt-sur-Ancre. The North Staffordshire Regiment was heavily committed to the fighting during the
First World War, and over the course of the conflict, was expanded to 18 battalions, some by duplication of the Territorial Force battalions and others, labelled "service" battalions raised as part of
Field Marshal Kitchener's New Army. These battalions saw service in a number of theatres including on the
Western Front, at
Gallipoli, in the
Middle East, and
India. The following list details the involvement of these battalions: • 1st Battalion – served in France from September 1914 until November 1918; • 2nd Battalion – served in India throughout the war; •
3rd (Reserve) Battalion – operated as a training battalion in the United Kingdom throughout the war; •
4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion – garrison battalion in Guernsey 1914–1916. Returned to United Kingdom in 1916. Served in France 1917–1918; • 1/5th Battalion Territorial Force (TF) – mobilised in 1914, and served in France from 1915 to 1918; • 1/6th Battalion TF – mobilised in 1914, served in France from 1915 to 1918; • 2/5th Battalion TF – formed in 1914, moved to Ireland in 1916 where it was involved in the
Easter Rising, served in France 1917–1918. Merged with 1/5th Battalion in February 1918; • 2/6th Battalion TF – formed in 1914, moved to Ireland in 1916 where it was involved in the Easter Rising, served in France 1917–1918. Merged with 1/6th Battalion in July 1918; • 3/5th Battalion TF – formed in 1915. Renamed 5th (Reserve) Battalion in April 1916. Served as a training battalion in England 1915–1918; • 3/6th Battalion TF – formed in 1915. Renamed 6th (Reserve) Battalion in April 1916. Merged with 5th (Reserve) Battalion in September 1916; • 7th (Service) Battalion – formed in 1914. Took part in Gallipoli Campaign July 1915 – January 1916. Evacuated to Egypt. Served in
Mesopotamia from February 1916. From July 1918 were part of North Persia Force (
Dunsterforce) and ended the war in
Baku, Azerbaijan. • 8th (Service) Battalion – formed in 1914. Served in France 1915–1918; • 9th (Service) Battalion (Pioneers) – formed as a service battalion in 1914. Became a
pioneer battalion in 1915. Served in France and Belgium 1915–1919; • 10th (Reserve) Battalion – formed as a service battalion in 1914. Became a reserve battalion in 1915. Renamed as 3rd Training Reserve Battalion of 1st Reserve Brigade in 1916; • 11th (Reserve) Battalion – formed as a service battalion in 1914. Became a reserve battalion in 1915. Renamed as 4th Training Reserve Battalion of 1st Reserve Brigade in 1916; •
12th (Garrison) Battalion – formed 1918 in France from 11th Garrison Guard Battalion. Renamed as a service battalion and continued to serve in France; • 1st (Garrison) Battalion – formed in 1916. Served in France 1916–1918. Renamed 13th (Garrison) Battalion in July 1918; • 2nd (Home Service Garrison) Battalion – formed in 1916. Became 17th Battalion
Royal Defence Corps in 1917. The numbering of the
Territorial Force battalions was laid down by
War Office instructions issued in 1914 and 1915. On joining the Territorial Force men were asked if they would serve overseas (foreign service) or just volunteered for service in the United Kingdom (home service) and their service records amended accordingly. At the declaration of war all Territorial battalions were mobilised and on 15 August 1914 the War Office issued instructions for those men who had volunteered for foreign service to be separated out into what were called first line battalions. Home service men were placed in second line battalions. Thus there would now be a first line 5th Battalion and a second line 5th Battalion. On 24 November 1914, as the first line battalions began to go overseas, additional instructions were issued allowing the raising of a third line battalion once the first line battalion was on foreign service. In January 1915 these designations were simplified and the battalions called the 1/5th, 2/5th and 3/5th battalions respectively. The battalions that served in France took part in many of the major actions of the war including the 1915
Battle of Neuve Chapelle, the 1915
Battle of Loos, the
Battle of the Somme in 1916, the
Third Battle of Ypres in 1917 and the
Battle of Amiens in 1918. ,
France, 5 August 1915.
Military service ;1st Battalion , who later commanded the battalion June 1917–March 1918 (back row, third from left). The 1st Battalion went to France in September 1914 as part of
17th Brigade in
6th Division. It took part in the
First Battle of Ypres being based in the Armentières sector on the southern flank of the battle. In December 1914 it was in trenches in the
Rue-du-Bois area (near
Fleurbaix), and participated in the
Christmas truce, where British and
German soldiers fraternised in
no man's land. In March 1915 it carried out a successful action in the
Battle of Neuve Chapelle, capturing the village of L'Epinette. In October 1915 17th Brigade was exchanged with
71st Brigade of
24th Division, as part of an official policy of mixing
Regular with
New Army units. Immediately on joining 24th Division, the battalion was moved to
72nd Brigade within the same division. It was to remain part of this formation until the end of the war. In April and June 1916 the battalion suffered casualties of well over 500 in
two serious gas attacks, on both occasions when in trenches north of
Wulverghem (near
Messines). In August–September 1916, the 24th Division participated in the
Battle of the Somme. The 1st Battalion was engaged in the fighting around
Guillemont and later the defence of
Delville Wood, suffering a total of more than 350 casualties. In June 1917, the battalion was involved (and suffered over 150 casualties) in the
assault on Messines Ridge, one of the most successful British offensives of the war. This battle formed a prelude to the
Third Battle of Ypres, when the battalion took part in the initial assault on 31 July 1917. Its objectives were to capture the German frontline trench called Jehovah trench, the second line trench called Jordan trench and the remains of Bulgar Wood. These three objectives were , and from the British front line. The battalion managed to capture both trenches and a platoon reached Bulgar Wood before events around them forced a retreat from Bulgar Wood and Jordan trench. The battalion dug in on the Jehovah trench line having lost 11 officers and 258 other ranks as casualties, almost 50% of the battalion strength. After the war, the anniversary of this attack became the main Regimental Day. On 21 March 1918, the 1st Battalion was in front-line trenches near
Saint-Quentin when the German Army launched
Operation Michael, the opening attack in their
Spring Offensive. The battalion was virtually wiped out, losing 19 officers and 662 men in the attack itself and the withdrawal which followed. The battalion was subsequently re-formed, and in the last weeks of the war in October 1918 took part in the
Battle of the Selle, in which it suffered nearly 200 casualties. ;2nd Battalion The 2nd Battalion was one of only eight regular battalions of the British Army to remain in India throughout the war. It took part in operations on the
North West Frontier in 1915, as a result of which the regiment was awarded the battle honour "North West Frontier, India, 1915". Amusingly, the
commanding officer at this time was
Major Fox and the
adjutant Captain Squirell. Although it was a Regular Army battalion, it received very few replacements during the war. After the 1915 North West Frontier campaign the battalion comprised only a HQ company and four rifle companies. By 1919 the strength of the regiment was reduced by a third compared to the pre-war establishment with 20 officers and 538 enlisted men on the regimental roll. Over 60% of the enlisted men had joined the battalion since the 1915 campaign and only five officers fought in both the 1915 campaign and the
Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919. ;1/5th and 1/6th Battalions The
1/5th and 1/6th battalions arrived in France in February 1915 as part of
137th (Staffordshire) Brigade of
46th (North Midland) Division. Among the first
Territorial Force units to go to France, these two battalions took part in the 1915
Battle of Loos, especially the battles around the
Hohenzollern Redoubt in 1915, and at Gommecourt on the northern flank of the Battle of the Somme. By September 1918 the 1/5th Battalion had been reduced to a
cadre and had been transferred away from 46th Division. The 1/6th remained and with the rest of 137th Brigade took part in the storming of the
St Quentin Canal. It was a company of the 1/6th Battalion, led by acting Captain A. H. Charlton, that seized the Riqueval Bridge over the St Quentin Canal on 29 September before the Germans could fire the explosive charges, an action for which Charlton was decorated with the
Distinguished Service Order. ;12th Battalion The 12th Battalion formed part of
40th Division and served in France on the River Lys during the advance in Flanders (18 August to 6 September 1918) and the
Fifth Battle of Ypres, and in France and Belgium during the final weeks of the war.
Awards and decorations Altogether, the regiment was awarded 52 battle honours, but it was ruled that only ten could be carried on the
colours.
Victoria Crosses Four
Victoria Crosses were awarded to men of the North Staffordshire Regiment during World War I: •
Sergeant John Carmichael, 9th Battalion; for gallantry on 8 September 1917 during the
Third Battle of Ypres; •
Lance-Corporal William Harold Coltman, 1/6th Battalion; for gallantry on the nights of 3 & 4 October 1918 near
Sequehart, France; • Acting
Lieutenant Colonel Edward Elers Delaval Henderson, 7th Battalion (attached 9th Battalion
Royal Warwickshire Regiment); for gallantry on 25 January 1917 in
Mesopotamia. This award was made posthumously; • Lance-Corporal
John Thomas, 2/5th Battalion for gallantry on 30 November 1917 during the
Battle of Cambrai.
Reputation for profanity Even by the standards of the British Army, the Regiment (and the 1st Battalion in particular) seems to have gained a reputation during the First World War for
profane language. When the 1st Battalion was relieved in the front line following its defence of
Delville Wood in September 1916, one of the advanced posts was missed out by mistake. The
Lance-Corporal in command, suspecting something was amiss, sent a man back to the front-line trench to investigate. The soldier realised he was at some risk of being shot by his own side, and so "when he had crawled within shouting distance he enquired politely but firmly what —— bastards were holding that —— trench. The 9th
East Surreys, who were the troops thus addressed, recognised the North Stafford idiom and let him in unhurt". Bernard Martin, who served as a
2nd Lieutenant with the 1st Battalion, records another incident which probably took place in 1917, when (very unusually) the battalion was addressed at a
church parade by a
general, who railed against "the disgusting word many of you utter every time you speak. ... I tell you again this indecent word is not to be used any longer. It is so common amongst you that it has become the shameful nickname by which your battalion is known throughout my Division". As the parade ended, one soldier was heard to ask, "What was that
bugger gassing about?"; to which another replied, "Buggered if I know, I was having a kip. Where's the old bugger gone now?". ==Interwar years (1918–1939)==