1st Durham Engineers, First World War
When the TF was mobilised on the outbreak of war in August 1914, the Durham Fortress Engineers took up their places in the North Eastern Coastal Defences. At first they were employed on constructing field defences, erecting hutted camps, etc. By the summer of 1915 there were three strong lines of entrenchments, bomb-proof shelters and dug-outs linking strongpoints and gun positions along the coast as well as the fixed defences at Tynemouth and Hartlepool. In August 1916 the Durham Fortress Engineers overcame shifting sand dunes to construct Link House Battery to defend Blyth Harbour.


1st Durham Engineers, First World War
Although the coastal towns of NE England were bombarded by the German Navy on 16 December 1914 (Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby) and by Zeppelins in January and June 1915, it became clear that a fullscale German invasion of Britain was unlikely, while the armies in the field required large numbers of engineers. The Fortress Engineer units therefore began organising field companies for overseas service.


1st Durham Engineers, First World War
The Durham Fortress Engineers found three field companies, while the remainder of the unit continued to be employed around the Tyne Garrison. These companies were numbered 1st to 3rd (or formally 1/1st to 1/3rd, since they were composed of '1st-Line' Territorials who had volunteered for overseas service) and went to France in September 1915. A 530th (Durham) Reserve Field Company was also formed, from 2nd or even 3rd Line Territorials. This did not proceed overseas, and was probably quickly absorbed into the central training organisation.


1st Durham Engineers, First World War, 1st Durham Field Company
1st Durham Field Company joined 4th Division in France on 20 September 1915 and served with it on the Western Front to the end of the war. It was renumbered 526th (Durham) Field Company, RE, in February 1917.


1st Durham Engineers, First World War, 2nd  Durham Field Company
2nd Durham Field Company joined 5th Division in France on 20 September 1915 and served with it on the Western Front until November 1917, when the division was transferred to the Italian Front. 5th Division returned to the Western Front in April 1918 and fought there until the end of the war. It was renumbered 527th (Durham) Field Company, RE, in February 1917.


1st Durham Engineers, First World War, 3rd Durham Field Company
3rd Durham Field Company landed at Le Havre on 18 September 1915 and joined 51st (Highland) Division on 19 September, during the latter part of the Battle of the Somme. On 30 January 1916 it transferred to 7th Division (in exchange for a Highland Field Company) and served with it on the Western Front until November 1917 when the division was transferred to the Italian front. 7th Division then served in Italy until the end of the war. It was renumbered 528th (Durham) Field Company, RE, in February 1917.


1st Durham Engineers, Inter-War period
When the TF was reconstituted (as the Territorial Army (TA)) in 1920, the Durham Fortress Engineers was not reformed, but was absorbed into the Tyne Electrical Engineers.


1st Durham Engineers, Post-Second World War
When the TA was reconstituted again in 1947, no less than seven units were reformed in the Tyne Electrical Engineers' lineage. These included 132 Field Engineer Regiment, RE, which was considered to be the successor of the Durham Fortress Engineers, with the following organisation:


1st Durham Engineers, Post-Second World War
The unit formed part of 22 Engineer Group in North East England, which was composed of units derived from the Tyne Electrical Engineers.


1st Durham Engineers, Post-Second World War
On 31 October the regiment was joined by a new field squadron formed by conversion of 426th (Durham) Coast Regiment, Royal Artillery. It was numbered 336 Fd Sqn and absorbed the existing 336 Fd Park Sqn; it was redesignated 336 (Durham Coast) Crane Operating Squadron by 31 December 1956.


1st Durham Engineers, Post-Second World War
The regiment was redesignated 132 Corps Engineer Regiment in 1957, but was disbanded in 1961. 336 Crane Operating Sqn had left the regiment in 1957; in 1965 it transferred to the Royal Corps of Transport. The regiment was disbanded in 1961, 608 Sqn disbanding and 334 Fd Sqn being absorbed into the Sunderland-based 233 Field Squadron of 105 Construction Regiment (Tyne Electrical Engineers).


1st Durham Engineers, Memorials
A memorial plaque was set up in Jarrow Town Hall to honour the two service sections of the 1st Durham RE who went to South Africa during the 2nd Boer War.


1st Durham Engineers, Memorials
A war memorial to the men of the Durham Fortress Engineers and the three field companies who served in the First World War was unveiled in Jarrow Drill Hall in 1928. An additional inscription to 233 Field Company, RE, was added after the Second World War. The memorial is now in the RE TA Centre at Debdon Gardens, Gateshead.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers
The 1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, later the 5th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry (5th DLI), was a part-time unit of the British Army from 1860 to the 1950s. Beginning from small independent corps of the Volunteer Force recruited in County Durham and Teesside, it became part of the Territorial Force and served as infantry in some of the bloodiest actions of the First World War. Later it was converted to anti-aircraft units that served during the Second World War both in Home Defence and in North-West Europe. Its successor units continued in the air defence role in the postwar Territorial Army until 1975.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Volunteer Force
An invasion scare in 1859 led to the emergence of the Volunteer Movement, and Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs) began to be organised throughout Great Britain eager to supplement the Regular British Army in case of need. The Stockton Volunteers, soon afterwards numbered as the  1st (Stockton) Durham RVC was formed with two companies on 2 February 1860 at Stockton-on-Tees. At first it formed part of the 2nd Administrative Battalion, but on 1 February 1862 it moved to a new 4th Administrative Battalion, Durham RVCs, which had its headquarters (HQ) at Stockton and including the following units:


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Volunteer Force
The Stockton Volunteers had a band that competed in regional brass band competitions from 1867 to 1898.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Volunteer Force
Under the scheme of 'localisation' introduced by the Cardwell Reforms in 1873, the Durham RVCs, together with the Durham Militia and the two Regular battalions (68th Light Infantry and 106th Light Infantry) that later formed the Durham Light Infantry (DLI), constituted Brigade No 3, based at Sunderland in the Durham sub-district of Northern District. While the sub-districts were referred to as 'brigades', they were purely administrative organisations and the Volunteers were excluded from the 'mobilisation' part of the Cardwell system, though they carried out joint manoeuvres. The Teesside industrialist Samuel Sadler was appointed Commanding Officer (CO) of the battalion with the rank of lieutenant-colonel on 16 August 1876.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Volunteer Force
When the Rifle Volunteer units were consolidated on 16 March 1880, the 4th Durham Admin Battalion became the new 1st Durham (1st Durham and North Riding of York) RVC, with the following composition:


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Volunteer Force
After the Childers Reforms the RVCs became Volunteer Battalions of their affiliated  Regular Army regiment on 1 July 1881, and the 1st Durham RVC formally changed its title to 1st Volunteer Battalion, Durham Light Infantry on 1 December 1887. It already wore the same red coat with white facings as the DLI. The Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 proposed a more comprehensive Mobilisation Scheme for Volunteer units, which would assemble in their own brigades at key points in case of war. In peacetime these brigades provided a structure for collective training. Under this scheme the Volunteer Battalions of the DLI and the Northumberland Fusiliers formed the Tyne and Tees Brigade until a separate Durham Light Infantry Brigade was formed in 1902.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Volunteer Force
The 1st VB contributed detachments to three successive service companies who served alongside the Regular DLI in the Second Boer War, which gained the battalion its first battle honour: South Africa 1900–1902.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Territorial Force
When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908, the 1st VB became 5th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry. Unlike the rest of the DLI battalions of the TF, which continued as the Durham Light Infantry Brigade, the 5th Bn in south Durham joined the York and Durham Brigade in the TF's Northumbrian Division.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, Mobilisation
In late July 1914 the units of the Northumbrian Division were at their annual training camp in North Wales. On 3 August they were ordered to return to their respective headquarters, where at 17.00 next day they received orders to mobilise. The 5th DLI mobilised at the Drill Hall, Stockton, under the command of Lt-Col G.O. Spence and went to its war station at the Hartlepools on the coast, where there were numerous alerts. On 5 September the York & Durham Bde went into camp at Ravensworth, near Gateshead, and in October the Northumbrian Division became part of Central Force in Home Defence, manning the Tyne Defences.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, Mobilisation
On the outbreak of war, TF units were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service. The large majority of the Northumbrian Division accepted. On 15 August the War Office (WO) issued instructions to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units. On 31 August, the formation of a reserve or 2nd Line unit was authorised for each 1st Line unit where 60 per cent or more of the men had volunteered for Overseas Service. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix. In this way duplicate battalions, brigades and divisions were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Ypres
The Northumbrian Division trained hard while manning the Tyne Defences, and was ordered to proceed to France to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front early in 1915. The 1/5th DLI landed at Boulogne on 18 April and the division completed its concentration in the area of Steenvoorde on 23 April. It went straight into action the next day in the Battle of St Julien (part of the Second Battle of Ypres). The York and Durham Brigade went by bus to Poperinghe, where they debussed and marched to camp at Vlamertinghe.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Ypres
They were turned out at 01.00 on 24 April and marched to take over trenches astride Yser Canal, where they came under shellfire at first light. While other battalions made counter-attacks in support of the Canadian Division, 1/5th DLI moved to support trenches. A fresh counter-attack was ordered for 25 April, with 1/5th DLI and 1/5th Green Howards attacking beside 10th Brigade. The battalion reached its allotted position at 05.00, but found its flanks 'in the air' and returned to its former position; it had not been informed of a change to Zero hour.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Ypres
While 10th Bde made a gallant attack, 1/5th DLI remained in trenches along the St Jean–St Julien road under shellfire, sending forward patrols, but out of touch with Brigade HQ. Other battalions of the division were heavily engaged, but 1/5th DLI remained in position until the night of 26/27 April, when it moved up into the front line to relieve another unit. They were themselves relieved two nights later. The Ypres Salient was now a dangerous position, and on 2 and 3 May the division was involved in a general withdrawal to a more defensible line.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Ypres
Apart from providing working parties, the infantry of the Northumbrian Division was barely engaged in the Battle of Frezenberg Ridge (8–13 May). On 14 May the division officially became the 50th (Northumbrian) Division and the York and Durham Brigade became 150th (York and Durham) Brigade. For the next 10 days the situation was quiet but on 24 May the Germans launched another serious attack accompanied with gas (the Battle of Bellewaarde Ridge). The 50th Division had been split up to reinforce other formations and the 1/5th DLI was with 2nd Cavalry Brigade on the north-east side of Sanctuary Wood, where some companies were gassed, suffering many casualties.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Ypres
Over the following month the division was concentrated and took over its own section of the line south of Sanctuary Wood, 1/5th DLI relieving the Liverpool Scottish at Mount Sorrel on 6 June. 150th Brigade supported an attack at Bellwaarde on 16 June with rifle fire, but the spell in the line was relatively quiet. By the end of July the division had moved to the Armentières sector. The division stayed in this quiet sector until mid-November, when it moved to Merris.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Ypres
In December 1915 the division returned to the Ypres Salient, in the Hill 60–Mount Sorrel sector, in appalling conditions. In January 1916 the battalion machine-gun sections were withdrawn to form brigade machine gun companies of the Machine Gun Corps, but Lewis guns began to be issued to the infantry battalions. There was almost constant low-level fighting: on 14 February the enemy began a heavy bombardment of 150th Bde's trenches opposite Hill 60 and its rear areas, where 1/5th DLI was in brigade reserve, followed by blowing of mines.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Ypres
On 2 March an attack to recover The Bluff near Hill 60 was supported by intense fire from 50th Division's line. 150th Brigade was relieved at the end of March 1916 and the division moved to the Wytschaete sector. Here there were regular casualties from enemy shellfire and gas attacks, while the division carried out a number of raids on enemy lines. The division was withdrawn from the Wytschaete Sector in August 1916.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Somme
50th (Northumbrian) Division was not involved in the Somme Offensive until its third phase (the Battle of Flers–Courcelette). The division took over  trenches west of High Wood facing the German Hook Trench on 10 September, in preparation for the attack on 15 September. 1/5th DLI was the reserve battalion for 150th Bde's attack, which was delivered on 15 September,  behind a creeping barrage for the first time and quickly took Hook Trench. Despite flanking fire the brigade continued onto its second and third objectives.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Somme
The attack was continued the following morning after a short bombardment, this time with 1/5th DLI in the lead and its CO, Lt-Col Spence, controlling the brigade attack. The battalion formed up in Martin Trench and advanced the 400 yards (370 m) towards the objectives, Prue Trench, Starfish Line and The Crescent, supported by bombing parties from the 1/4th and 1/5th Green Howards. The leading companies came under enfilade fire and took heavy casualties, losing direction, and only captured the western half of Prue Trench.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Somme
The bombers tried to work along the Starfish Line but were driven back, and the small gains were consolidated, while Martin Trench in their rear was heavily bombarded. Further attempts were made that evening and the following afternoon and eventually the reinforced bombers cleared Prue and Starfish but could not take the Crescent, though German counter-attacks were driven back with Lewis gun fire. When the brigade was relieved on 19 September only four officers and 88 other ranks of 1/5th DLI answered roll-call, though many others were only slightly wounded or mixed up with other units and returned over the following days.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Somme
The division made further piecemeal advances during the Battle of Morval (25–28 September), with 1/5th DLI pushing out posts from Prue Trench down Crescent Alley on the morning of 25 September. It then supported an attack by the rest of the brigade from this outpost line on the night of 26/27 September. The night attack failed, but at noon the following day a battle patrol from 1/5th DLI gained the objective. That evening the battalion extended the line towards Flers, though D Company found that reports of the village being clear of the enemy were incorrect. 150th Brigade was relieved on 28 September and was in reserve when 50th Division made another setpiece attack at the Battle of the Transloy Ridges on 1 October.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Somme
The division's infantry returned to the line on 24 October for an attack on the Butte de Warlencourt, with 1/5th DLI in the valley north of Bazentin-le-Grand. The weather and mud were so bad that the attack was several times delayed, and 150th Bde was exhausted before the date was finally settled for 5 November, and was replaced. The attack was made by 151st (Durham Light Infantry) Brigade and was a muddy failure, with 1/5th DLI having to relieve the exhausted attackers afterwards. Further lodgements made in the enemy positions by 149th (Northumberland) Brigade on 14 November were also driven back.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Arras
After a winter spent trench-holding, 50th Division was moved to the Arras sector for the forthcoming offensive (the Battle of Arras). This opened on 9 April and on 12/13 April 50th Division took over some of the captured ground. 150th Brigade remained in reserve during the attack on 14 April. However, it was in the lead when the advance was renewed on 23 April in the Second Battle of the Scarpe. It attacked towards Wancourt Tower, supported by tanks and a heavy rolling artillery barrage.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Arras
1/5th DLI was in brigade reserve, instructed to set off at Zero plus 15 minutes (05.00) onto the hillside north of the Tower. The barrage moved too slowly, and the assaulting infantry suffered casualties by advancing into it. They took their early objectives, but got into difficulties. 1/5th DLI sent up D Company at 06.30 carrying spare ammunition and to fill the gap that had opened between the two attacking battalions. They reached the railway line but could not contact one of the battalions and their flank was left in the air. B Company then followed up.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Arras
By 08.10 the remnants of the attackers and their DLI supports were back in the British front line fighting off a counter-attack. The division attacked with a fresh brigade in the afternoon, preceded by another barrage and with 1/5th DLI once more in support; this succeeded and they held their objectives by nightfall. The casualties amongst 1/5th DLI that day were four officers and 23 other ranks killed, three officers and  137 other ranks wounded, and one officer and 96 other ranks missing.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Arras
During the summer of 1917 the division held a section of the line, with frequent raids and exchanges of artillery fire. On the night of 25/26 June 1/5th DLI and 1/5th Green Howards led a brigade-scale raid. The battalion had A and B Companies engaged, and captured all but a small section of their objective, establishing a new strongpoint in the captured trench near 'Rotten Row'. The battalion only suffered about 10 casualties in this action. On 27 July the battalion attempted a small raid of two officers and 20 other ranks. After advancing without seeing any enemy, they were attacked with a show of stick-grenades and had to withdraw, carrying their wounded.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Passchendaele
In October 50th Division returned to the Ypres Salient to take part in the last and worst phase of the Third Ypres Offensive, the Second Battle of Passchendaele. 149th Brigade attacked at 05.40 on 26 October, but from the first the infantry struggling through the mud could not keep up with the creeping barrage, which had no effect on the concrete pillboxes. The suffered appalling casualties and gained almost no ground. 150th Brigade relieved them that night, with 1/5th DLI at Pascal Farm in support. Some advances were made on 30 and 31 October, and the division was finally withdrawn for rest and training on 9 November.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Passchendaele
By February 1918 the BEF was suffering a severe manpower crisis and infantry brigades were reorganised on a three-battalion establishment. 1/5th DLI moved to 151st (DLI) Bde on 12 February, replacing two battalions that had been transferred.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Rosières
50th (Northumbrian) Division was 20–25 miles behind the lines in GHQ Reserve when the German spring offensive opened on 21 March 1918 (the Battle of St Quentin). The infantry of the division marched across the River Somme and were deployed for action on the 'Green Line' by 08.00 that morning. There they attempted to improve the partially-dug defences before the troops retreating from the German advance passed through them. 1/5th DLI was sent forward on loan to 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division, taking up a position near Nobescourt Farm to stop the enemy debouching from Roisel.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Rosières
Once 66th Division had passed through, the battalion retired to the Green Line, taking up its position on the right of 151st Bde, but part of the battalion was almost cut off at Nobescourt Farm, where it held out until ordered to withdraw. Although the attack ceased at nightfall, the division was ordered to pull back towards the Somme Canal, which it carried out covered by darkness and next morning's mist.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Rosières
Most of 50th Division played little part in the Battle of the Somme Crossings on 24 March, but 1/5th DLI was still detached with 66th Division at Foucaucourt. As the Germans began crossing the canal, companies of the battalion were sent forward ready to counter-attack. At 18.00 D Company joined 2/8th Bn Lancashire Fusiliers attacking the bridgehead at Péronne; the DLI made two attempts, but the task was too great for a single company.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Rosières
At dawn on 25 March A and B Companies were in bivouacs near Villers-Carbonnel, D Company was in the front line with 66th Division, and C Company was in support about 500 yards (460 m) south of La Maisonette. A violent enemy bombardment began at 09.00 and strong German forces crossed the canal. 1/5th DLI was ordered to counter-attack and A and B Companies set off, under attack by German aircraft, and occupied the high ground overlooking the valley leading from the Somme to Barleux.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Rosières
They were joined by the other companies and by part of 1/7th DLI (50th Division's pioneer battalion), which had been driven back from the canal. They were positioned in a well-wired old trench, with 1/7th DLI on the left, but with their right flank in the air. From this commanding position the battalion caused heavy casualties to the advancing Germans. Just before dusk the Germans massed for an attack, but the DLI were able to signal back to Brigade HQ, and a battery of field guns dispersed the attack with rapid fire.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Rosières
By now the DLI were isolated: orders to withdraw during the night failed to reach the battalion, but fortuitously they made contact with a small party of Northumberland Fusiliers who had been sent to cover their withdrawal, and eventually the 1/5th and /17th DLI got away to be attached to 149th Bde.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Rosières
On the morning of 26 March the Germans renewed their attacks, bringing on the Battle of Rosières. 66th Division was forced back, uncovering the flank of 149th Bde, which had to withdraw to the Rosières–Vauvillers line. The following morning, A and D Companies of 1/5th DLI were covering Rosières station, while the rest of the battalion (about 5 officers and 120–140 men) were at Vauvillers in support of 149th Bde.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Rosières
The enemy attacked the new line about 08.00, and at 11.00 A and D Companies were ordered to withdraw to the railway bridge between Rosières and Guillaucourt, covered by a counter-attack by C Company when the battalion on the left withdrew too soon. The withdrawal and a subsequent counter-attack along with 1/7th DLI were carried out under attack by 8–9 enemy aircraft, shellfire and machine gun fire: 'After a while it became very exciting as we could see the enemy halt and turn back through the trees near Vauvillers. Our men gave a sort of grunt and advanced ten times as quickly as before'. By the end of 27 March the battalion was back at Rosières station, tired and short of ammunition, where it came under the orders of 8th Division.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Rosières
On the morning of 28 March 149th Bde (including 1/5th DLI) moved back to the Caix–Guillaucourt line, where it received yet another attack. By the end of the day the exhausted brigade had retired across the River Luce to Moreuil on the Avre. On 29 March the brigade came under the command of 20th (Light) Division and was ordered to advance in support of an attack by that formation, which failed. The consequent retirement of 20th Division uncovered the flank of 149th Bde, which launched a second counter-attack, 1/5th DLI attacking a wood immediately north of Villers.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Rosières
This gave the 20th time to reform. On 31 March the Germans attacked yet again, pushing 20th and 50th Divisions back, apart from 1/5th DLI and 6th Northumberland Fusiliers, who held their ground covering Hangard, only to be attacked by the British 18th (Eastern) Division under the impression that the Germans held Hangard. The remnants of 50th Division were relieved on 1 April.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Estaires
Out of the line the 50th Division reorganised, absorbing large numbers of inexperienced reinforcements, and 1/5th DLI returned to 151st Bde. On the night of 9/10 April it was due to relieve the 2nd Portuguese Division in front of Estaires, but the second phase of the German Spring Offensive (Operation Georgette) was launched on 9 April (the Battle of Estaires) and broke through the Portuguese positions.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Estaires
50th Division was 'stood to' as soon as the German bombardment began, and the regimental band played as the 1/5th DLI marched off to its assigned battle position covering the bridgeheads across the River Lys at La Gorgue, Nouveau Monde (Pont Levis) and Pont de la Meuse. Estaires was already under shellfire and becoming impassable for transport, and the battalion suffered casualties before it had cleared the town. As the Portuguese retreated, the positions taken up by the battalion became the Allied front line.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Estaires
The first German column reached the Lys at Nouveau Monde some time before 15.00 and 1/5th DLI was ordered to hold Pont Levis at all costs and to counter-attack with a reserve company towards Laventie to improve the position. By 18.00 the situation was becoming serious, and 1/5th DLI had used up all its reserves. The Pont Levis bridgehead was lost but recaptured in a counter-attack by the men of 151st Brigade Trench Mortar Battery.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Estaires
German troops supported by artillery, mortars and machine guns, pushed the garrison back again and looked as if they would hold the bridge, but it was recaptured by a rushed led by Privates T. Tweddle and E. Dean. By 19.00 enemy field guns had been brought up to smash the bridgeheads and machine guns in Nouveau Monde had enfiladed the garrisons, and it was decided to blow up the bridges. 1/5th DLI was ordered back across the river; Pont de la Mueuse and the bridge at La Gorgue were destroyed, but two attempts to blow up Pont Levis failed to destroy it completely. 1/5th Durham Light Infantry were relieved by 149th Bde.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Estaires
The battalion endured heavy fighting around Estaires the next day, and were withdrawn at 20.00 to positions south-east of Vierhouck, where it took up positions in some old trenches running from the Estaires–Neuf-Berquin road to a bend in the Lys Canal. It was attacked at daybreak on 11 April, with enemy mortars and field guns brought up to close range, and snipers operating behind iron shields. The German infantry advanced from Estaires and La Gorgue and penetrated a 1,000 yards (910 m) gap between the 1/5th and 1/6th DLI, threatening to envelop C Company of 1/5th.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Estaires
The battalion fell back slowly to a line east of Neuf-Berquin that had been prepared by the Royal Engineers with an excellent field of fire. Here they caused heavy casualties until driven out by close-range artillery and concentrated machine gun fire, losing their CO (Lt-Col G.O. Spence) wounded. ' The line was now composed of small groups of men utterly worn out with continuous fighting and isolated from one another'. But the German troops discovered liquor stores at Estaires and Neuf-Berquin and their officers lost control of them.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Estaires
1/5th Durham Light Infantry was able to withdraw unmolested and dig in on a new line. The Germans renewed the attack on 12 April (the Battle of Hazebrouck), but by now 50th Division was being pulled out. 4th Guards Brigade relieved 1/5th DLI, whose survivors went to reinforce the line opposite Merville. Fortunately, the enemy pressure was not great, and 151st Bde was fully relieved at 03.00 on 13 April.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Aisne
Once again the thinned ranks of the battalions were brought up to strength with inexperienced reinforcements, and in late May 1918 50th Division was moved to a 'quiet' sector on the Chemin des Dames to relieve French troops. However, intelligence warned of impending attack, and on 26 May 1/5th DLI was moved up from reserve. The following day the next phase of the German Offensive opened on the Chemin des Dames ridge (the Third Battle of the Aisne). The front line was flattened by German artillery, and the attack was led by tanks.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Aisne
C and D Companies of 1/5th DLI were sent to garrison 'International Line', followed by A and B Companies. C and D Companies held up the advance for a while, but found the enemy behind them in Pontavert and they withdrew to a line near the dressing station in that village. A and B Companies were simply surrounded and captured. 149th and 151st Brigades combined to hold Hill 233 on 28 May, and by 29 May the whole division had been reduced to the strength of a single composite battalion, which fought on for several days as the German offensive was eventually stopped.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 1/5th Battalion, Aisne
On 15 July 1918, the battalions of the DLI Bde were reduced to training cadres and moved to Dieppe on the lines of communication. On 18 August the battalion cadres joined 117th Bde of 39th Division at Rouen, where they were used to train American troops. 1/5th Durham Light Infantry was demobilised on 9 November 1918 as the war was drawing to a close.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 2/5th Battalion
The 2/5th DLI was formed on 2 January 1915 at Stockton and in May was at Longbenton, near Newcastle upon Tyne where 2nd Northumbrian Divisional HQ had opened in January 1915. By now all the division's Home Service men had been transferred to separate units and thenceforth the 2nd Line units had the role of training drafts for the 1st Line serving in France. While under training they were responsible for defending the coast of North East England from Seaham Harbour through Sunderland to Newcastle, with 2/5th DLI at Cramlington. The division officially became the 63rd (2nd Northumbrian) Division on 16 August, when the 2nd York and Durham Brigade was numbered 189th. In November 1915 the division moved into winter quarters with 2/5th DLI at Retford.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 2/5th Battalion
The 63rd Division never reached its intended establishment, and the continuous demand from the Western Front for reinforcements meant that it could never take the field. In July 1916 189th Bde furnished another large draft for 1st Line units overseas, after which the division was broken up. The brigades remained in existence as draft-finding units, the 189th moving to Catterick Camp after the disbandment of the division. On 31 October 1916 the 2/5th DLI left 189th Bde and went via Le Havre and Marseilles to Salonika to be a garrison battalion. On arrival on 15 November it was assigned to XVI Corps Troops.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 2/5th Battalion
On 1 March 1917 the battalion joined 228th Bde. Although an independent formation, 228 Bde was always associated with 28th Division. The brigade was formed of garrison battalions, which were not normally expected to serve in the front line due to the men's age or low medical category. One staff officer wrote: 'Physically the brigade was in a terrible state. They were splendid crocks ... Some were almost blind, some almost deaf, and [one battalion] ... had more than sixty men over sixty years old'. Because of its slow rate of marching, the 228th became known as the 'Too Too Late Brigade'.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 2/5th Battalion
On 30 September 1918, during the final Allied offensive on the Salonika Front, 228 Bde came under the command of the Greek Crete Division, before being broken up on 4 October 1918. However, 2/5th DLI continued its garrison duties after the war ended, finally being disbanded at Constantinople on 20 October 1919.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 3/5th Battalion
The 3/5th Bn was formed at Stockton on 25 March 1915 and then moved to Catterick, where its role was to train drafts for the 1st and 2nd Line battalions. On 8 April 1916 it was renamed the 5th Reserve Bn DLI and on 1 September it absorbed the Reserve battalions of the other DLI TF battalions as part of the Northumbrian Reserve Brigade. In October it moved to Redcar and then back to Catterick in December. In the summer of 1917 it moved to Hornsea, and then in the spring of 1918 to Sutton-on-Sea where it remained as part of the Humber Garrison for the rest of the war. It was disbanded on 17 April 1919.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 27th Battalion
In 1915 the Home Service men of the 5th DLI and 4th East Yorkshire Regiment were combined into the 25th Provisional Battalion at York, where they were joined by the unfit men from the 2nd and 3rd Line TF battalions. The battalion served in home defence with 2nd Provisional Brigade, under the orders of Southern Army, and was billeted in  St Osyth in Essex .


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, First World War, 27th Battalion
The Military Service Act 1916 swept away the Home/Foreign service distinction, and all TF soldiers became liable for overseas service, if medically fit. The Provisional Brigades thus became anomalous, and on 1 January 1917 the remaining battalions became numbered battalions of their parent units: 25th Provisional Bn became 27th Battalion DLI and 2nd Provisional Brigade became the 222nd Brigade. Part of these units' role was physical conditioning to render men fit for drafting overseas, alongside units of the Training Reserve. The brigade moved to the Isle of Thanet in April 1917 but never served overseas, and 27th DLI was demobilised at Canterbury on 4 July 1919.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Interwar
The TF was reconstituted on 7 February 1920 and tth Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, was reformed at Stockton. The TF was reorganised as the Territorial Army (TA) the following year. Once again the battalion formed part of 150th (York and Durham) Brigade in 50th (Northumbrian) Division.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Interwar
During the late 1930s the increasing need for anti-aircraft (AA) defence for Britain's cities was addressed by converting a number of TA infantry battalions into AA units. 5th Battalion DLI was converted to the searchlight (S/L) role in 1938 as 54th Searchlight Regiment. Immediately afterwards the TA was expanded following the Munich Crisis, with 5th DLI forming a duplicate unit in early 1939, leading to the following organisation:


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, Mobilisation
In February 1939 the UK's AA defences came under the control of a new Anti- Aircraft Command. In June 1939 a partial mobilisation of TA units was begun in a process known as 'couverture', whereby each AA unit did a month's tour of duty in rotation to man selected AA and searchlight positions. On 24 August, ahead of the declaration of war, AA Command was fully mobilised at its war stations. Both DLI units were in 43 AA Brigade of  7 AA Division, which was still being formed in North East England when war was declared.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 54th Searchlight Regiment
Equipment was critically short at the outbreak of war. Luckily, the months of the Phoney War that followed mobilisation allowed AA Command to address its equipment shortages and a Gun Defence Area (GDA) with heavy AA (HAA) guns supported by S/Ls was established by 43 AA Bde around Teesside including Middlesbrough and Billingham.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 54th Searchlight Regiment, Blitz
On 1 August 1940 all the infantry units converted to the S/L role became part of the Royal Artillery (RA), so the 1/5th DLI became 54th (Durham Light Infantry) Searchlight Regiment, RA. By the time the Luftwaffe's night Blitz against British cities began, 54th S/L Rgt had transferred to 31 (North Midland) AA Bde responsible for S/L defence of the West Yorkshire towns and cities. This became part of a new 10 AA Division on 1 November 1940.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 54th Searchlight Regiment, Blitz
The S/L layouts had been based on a spacing of 3,500 yards (3,200 m), but due to equipment shortages this had been extended to 6,000 yards (5,500 m). As the Luftwaffe switched to night raids against London and other cities the S/L layout was changed in November to clusters of three lights to improve illumination, but this meant that the clusters had to be spaced 10,400 yards (9,500 m) apart. The cluster system was an attempt to improve the chances of picking up enemy bombers and keeping them illuminated for engagement by AA guns or RAF Night fighters. Eventually, one light in each cluster was to be equipped with searchlight control (SLC or 'Elsie') radar and act as 'master light', but the radar equipment was still in short supply. The number of raiders shot down steadily increased until mid-May 1941, when the Luftwaffe scaled down its attacks.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 54th Searchlight Regiment, Mid-War
54th (DLI) Searchlight Rgt supplied a cadre of experienced officers and men to 235th S/L Training Rgt at Ayr where it provided the basis for a new 530 S/L Bty formed on 14 November 1940. This battery later joined 55th (DLI) S/L Rgt (see below). Meanwhile 547 S/L Bty was formed on 16 January 1941 at 232nd S/L Training Rgt at Devizes from a cadre provided by 40th (Sherwood Foresters) S/L Rgt. This battery was regimented with 54th S/L Rgt on 5 May 1941.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 54th Searchlight Regiment, Mid-War
It established its HQ at Otley where it was temporarily joined by a few officers from 411, 412 and 413 Btys, and its men 'double-banked' S/L sites operated by 370 Bty of 43rd (Duke of Wellington's Regiment) S/L Rgt. After this familiarisation period, 370 S/L Bty left and the new battery took over the sites at places all across Yorkshire, such as Adel, Killinghall, and Tickhill. Occasional night raids continue to pass over on their way to attack the West Yorkshire towns.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 54th Searchlight Regiment, Mid-War
By the Summer of 1941 AA Command began to receive purpose-built SLC radar in sufficient numbers to allow some S/Ls to be 'declustered' into single-light sites. These were redeployed into 'Indicator Belts' of radar-controlled S/L clusters covering approaches to the RAF's night-fighter sectors, repeated by similar belts covering AA Command's GDAs. Inside each belt was a 20-mile deep 'Killer Belt' of single S/Ls spaced at 6,000 yards (5,500 m) intervals, cooperating with night-fighters patrolling defined 'boxes'.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 54th Searchlight Regiment, Mid-War
The pattern was designed to ensure that raids penetrating deeply towards the GDAs would cross more than one belt, and the GDAs had more S/Ls at close spacing. 54th S/L Rgt established a regimental school at Huttons Ambo where the Master Detachments for each indicator belt cluster were trained. In July it provided 12 'Scarecrow' S/L detachments supporting a Heavy AA Regiment deployed along the Yorkshire Coast, and it deployed mobile detachments each with a 90 cm S/L, sound detector and Light machine gun (LMG) at positions around RAF Church Fenton.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 54th Searchlight Regiment, Mid-War
547 S/L Battery left the regiment in January 1942, and the following month it was converted into 413 Light AA (LAA) Bty in 124th LAA Rgt, itself formed from 51st (Highland) S/L Rgt. In September 1942, 413 LAA Bty left 124th LAA Rgt and joined 140th LAA Rgt in Essex, and afterwards moved to 143rd LAA Rgt; it remained in the UK for the rest of the war.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 54th Searchlight Regiment, Mid-War
On 30 September 1942 the AA Divisions and Corps were dissolved and a new 5 AA Group assumed responsibility for North-East England, including 31 AA Bde. The regiment remained part of this organisation for the next two years.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 54th Searchlight Regiment, North West Europe
Early in 1944, 31 AA Bde and its S/L units were earmarked for overseas service with 21st Army Group in Operation Overlord. The regiments re-equipped their AA LMG sections with twin Browning machine guns and carried out 'Bullseye' S/L exercises over North East England with the Night fighters of No. 264 Squadron RAF. Between training, field force AA units were loaned back to AA Command, and 31 AA Bde retained its responsibilities under 5 AA Group.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 54th Searchlight Regiment, North West Europe
The 'Overlord' planners envisaged searchlight-assisted night-fighter cover of the whole Normandy beachhead and bases once the landings had been made. A detailed plan was made in advance to have a belt of S/L positions deployed from Caen to the Cherbourg peninsula. This required nine S/L batteries of 24 lights, spaced at 6,000 yards (5,500 m) intervals, six rows deep. Each battery area was to have an orbit beacon, around which up to four fighters would be positioned at varying heights.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 54th Searchlight Regiment, North West Europe
These would be allocated by fighter controllers, and the S/Ls would  assist by illuminating targets and indicating raid  approaches, while area boundaries would be marked by vertical S/Ls. 54th (DLI) was one of six S/L regiments specially trained for this work under 31 and 50 AA Bdes. In practice, most of this was never implemented, liaison with the US Army units around Cherbourg having proved problematical. In the end, only one of the S/L regiments was actually deployed and came under US command.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 54th Searchlight Regiment, North West Europe
Even though assigned to GHQ AA Troops for 21st Army Group, 31 AA Bde remained in England under AA Command while the Normandy campaign was fought. 54th S/L Regiment moved to its concentration area on 23 June, but when the break-out from the beachhead began in early September it was still in England. 31 Brigade HQ finally landed at Arromanches on 2 October, but 54 S/L Rgt remained in England, training round Shaftesbury in Dorset into late October.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 54th Searchlight Regiment, North West Europe
Brussels was liberated from the Germans in September 1944, and in October it came under  bombardment by V-1 flying bombs (codenamed 'Divers'). To deal with this menace, an integrated system ('Brussels X' ) was developed with warning stations and observation posts, supported by radar and searchlights under the operational command of 101st AA Brigade. 54th S/L Regiment was despatched from England to join this layout, arriving between 10 and 19 November.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 54th Searchlight Regiment, North West Europe
The vital supply port of Antwerp was also under Diver attack, while the approaches up the Scheldt estuary to Antwerp Docks and the Ghent canal were menaced by torpedo boats, midget submarines and aircraft dropping Parachute mines. These were covered by LAA guns, but they needed more S/L coverage at night, and in December 54th S/L Rgt was brought across from 'Brussels X' to join 5th Royal Marines AA Bde at Antwerp. These forces, with various changes in brigade responsibilities, remained in action until April 1945. At the end of the month, just before hostilities ended on VE Day, 411 S/L Bty was detached with 50 AA Bde on the Scheldt.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 54th Searchlight Regiment, North West Europe
On 12 May all AA positions in 21st Army Group were ordered to stand down, but this did not at first apply to those in coastal positions such as the Scheldt, because of uncertainty about the intentions of German naval units still at sea when the surrender was signed. 54th (DLI) S/L regiment passed into suspended animation on 4 February 1946.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 55th Searchlight Regiment
As with the 1/5th DLI, the 2/5th Bn was transferred to the RA in August 1940 as 55th (Durham Light Infantry) Searchlight Regiment, RA. It remained in 43 AA Bde in 7 AA Division covering North East England during the Blitz. 530 Searchlight Bty formed by a cadre from 54th (DLI) S/L Rgt (see above) was regimented on 11 February 1941. Meanwhile 55th (DLI) S/L Rgt itself supplied a cadre to 234th S/L Training Rgt at Carlisle to form a new 557 S/L Bty on 13 February. This battery later joined a new 92nd S/L Rgt.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 55th Searchlight Regiment
In the autumn of 1941, 57 LAA Bde assumed responsibility for all the S/L units in 7 AA Division. At the end of 1941 AA Command was still critically short of LAA units, and began a programme of converting S/L regiments to that role. 55th (DLI) S/L Regiment was one of those selected, and in January 1942 it became 113th  (Durham Light Infantry) Light Anti- Aircraft Regiment.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment
The new regiment was organised with 368, 369, 370, 371 LAA Btys, and at the beginning of April 1942 it took its place in 41 (London) AA Bde, defending East Anglia as part of 2 AA Division (5 AA Group from October 1942).


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment
371 LAA Battery was transferred to 20th LAA Rgt on 12 July 1942. In June 1943 371 LAA Bty became independent as AA Command Operational Trials Battery at Minster on the Isle of Sheppey and at gunsite TS21 by the Thames Estuary, which was used by the scientists of AA Command's Operational Research Group under Patrick Blackett ('Blackett's Circus').


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment
55th Searchlight Rgt left 41 AA Bde at the beginning of December 1942, and early in 1943 it left AA Command entirely to join 21st Army Group as a mobile regiment equipped with Bofors 40 mm guns.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Normandy
When Operation Overlord was launched on D-Day, 6 June 1944, 113th LAA Rgt was in 100 AA Bde waiting to cross to Normandy. Some of the brigade's units, including 113th LA Rgt less one of its batteries, were sent on ahead to operate under 80 AA Bde. On arrival on 25 June, the regiment's CO was ordered to deploy his guns at three Vital Points (VPs) along the Caen Canal and take over as AA Defence Commander (AADC) for these sites.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Normandy
On 15 July the CO and brigadier reconnoitred new gunsites to cover a new bridge the Royal Engineers were to build across the Caen Canal in connection with the forthcoming offensive (Operation Goodwood). 370 S/L Battery arrived and took over this new VP. Because of 'friendly fire' incidents most AA guns in the bridgehead were forbidden to fire during daylight hours, but this restriction did not apply to the four VPs at the canal bridges, where day and night engagements against Luftwaffe raiders were frequent and intense.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Normandy
113th LAA Regiment was withdrawn from 80 AA Bde on 13 August and left the canal to rejoin 100 AA Bde, which had arrived in stages over the previous few weeks. When 21st Army Group broke out from the Normandy beachhead in the last days of August and crossed the Seine, 100 AA Bde followed up to provide LAA defence for the bridges. As the advance continued, it carried out the same procedure at the Somme crossings on 30 August.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Normandy
When the leading motorised groups of XII Corps and XXX Corps reached the outskirts of Antwerp on 5 September, the reconnaissance parties, tactical HQs and leading batteries of 100 and 106 AA Bdes were close on their heels. 113th LAA Rgt entered the city as the LAA component of 106 AA Bde


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Low Countries
This rapid advance was followed by the attempt to seize all the bridges to the Nederrijn at Arnhem (Operation Market Garden). The operation was a failure overall, but XXX Corps got over the Waal at Nijmegen. 113th LAA Regiment was back under 100 AA Bde, the leading parties of which arrived on 20 September while fighting for the bridges was still going on, an advance from the Seine of 320 miles (510 km) carried out in 21 days.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Low Countries
The follow-up columns travelling the last stage of the journey up the single road were several times interrupted by air attacks and by tank fire. On 27 September 368 LAA Battery got up to the bridges, where there were frequent air attacks by day and night, and the bridgehead was under continuous shellfire. The following day, 113th LAA Rgt (less one battery) was deployed north of the bridges on AA and ground defence, while another troop of the regiment with 474th


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Low Countries
Independent S/L Bty became responsible for defending the bridges against attack from the river, by mines, assault craft or torpedo boats. On 29 September, German Frogmen succeeded in placing explosive charges on the bridge piers. Nevertheless, the bridges remained serviceable or repairable. This deployment continued until 10 November, when 100 AA Bde was finally relieved of its fighting garrison responsibilities and moved to join VIII Corps to prepare for future operations.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Low Countries
By late December, 100 AA Bde was with VIII Corps in southern Holland  around Weert, Helmond and Deurne, preparing to cross the Meuse (Dutch: Maas). Luftwaffe air activity had been slight for several weeks, but on 17 December it carried out hundreds of sorties over 21st Army Group in support of the Ardennes Offensive (the Battle of the Bulge).


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Low Countries
These attacks by groups of Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Fighter-bombers against the Maas and Waal bridges and on artillery positions were carried out at low level to avoid radar detection and the fighters of 2nd Tactical Air Force, and so the primary defences were the LAA guns. Further waves of low-level attacks were made on 24 December and culminated on New Year's Day with Operation Bodenplatte. In 100 AA Bde's area about 50 enemy aircraft were active on 1 January, of which eight were shot down. The LAA batteries noticed that well-concerted fire dissuaded many pilots from pressing home their attacks. The LAA batteries were now able to fire effective radar-controlled barrages at night, and practised combining LAA fire with S/L dazzle.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Across the Rhine
21st Army Group resumed its offensive in February 1945 with the three-week Operation Veritable to clear the Rhineland, in which 113th LAA Rgt was with 100 AA Bde supporting VIII Corps across the Meuse (Dutch: Maas) towards Venlo. This was followed by the set-piece assault crossing of the Rhine (Operation Plunder), in which 100 AA Bde supported XII Corps. The huge build-up of equipment and supplies represented a major AA defence task. Then 48 hours before Zero, the regiment was one of those that moved into concealed positions close up to the river bank. The operation.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Across the Rhine
began on XII Corps' front at 22.00 on the night of 23/24 March. The Luftwaffe appeared the following night, with scattered attacks on bridging sites, artillery areas and supply routes, but there were few in 100 AA Bde's area. On D+1 (25 March) 113th LAA Rgt moved forward to defend the west bank bridgehead while 112th (DLI) LAA Rgt began taking up positions across the river. That night there were larger numbers of  attacks by Junkers Ju 88 bombers, but 112th and 113th


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Across the Rhine
LAA Rgts dealt with these by firing 'radial zone' Bofors barrages using radar data; three enemy aircraft were shot down and others took evasive action. The following night was again busy, with disjointed raiding, but the night of 27 March was the last of any significant action. By 28 March XII Corps' bridges at Xanten were complete and the armoured divisions were beginning to advance across Germany.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Across the Rhine
The regiments of 100 AA Bde advanced with VIII and XII Corps towards the Weser, which was crossed between 9 and 11 April. There were brisk actions against dive-bombers and fighter-bombers. German resistance diminished once the Weser was crossed, and a number of AA units handed in their equipment and were employed on occupation duties. On 24 April, 113th LAA Rgt was ordered to join 103 AA Bde operating as infantry in the Fallingbostel area. The regiment's duties included ameliorating the horrors of the newly-liberated Belsen concentration camp. When the German surrender at Lüneburg Heath was signed on 5 May the occupation troops were fully engaged in collecting, controlling and repatriating Displaced persons, released Prisoners of war, and surrendered German troops.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Second World War, 113th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Across the Rhine
113th (DLI) LAA Regiment went into suspended animation between 1 February and 18 March 1946.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Postwar
When the TA was reformed on 1 January 1947, 54th S/L Rgt was reconstituted at Stockton as 589 (The Durham Light Infantry) Searchlight Regiment, RA, and 113th LAA Rgt as 590 (The Durham Light Infantry) Light Anti- Aircraft Regiment, RA, both in 56 (Northumbrian) AA Bde based at Sunderland as part of 3 AA Group. Both were redesignated as Light Anti- Aircraft/Searchlight regiments on 16 March 1949, 589 becoming a 'Mixed' regiment including members of the Women's Royal Army Corps.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Postwar
AA Command was disbanded in 1955 and there were wholesale mergers among its TA regiments. The two DLI units amalgamated with 485 (Tees) Heavy AA Rgt at Middlesbrough to form 437 Light Anti- Aircraft Rgt with the following organisation:


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Postwar
In this reorganisation some of 590 LAA/SL Rgt's personnel also formed 508 Field Squadron, Royal Engineers, in 105 (Tyne Electrical Engineers) Engineer Rgt, transferring in 1961 to 118 (Tees) Corps Engineer Regiment and disbanding in 1967.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Postwar
In 1961, 437 LAA Rgt, together with 885 Locating Battery at Darlington, was amalgamated into 463 (7th Durham Light Infantry) LAA/SL Rgt at Sunderland. The newly merged regiment was going to take the subtitle 'Durham', but this was quickly changed to 'Durham Light Infantry'. RHQ and R Btys came from 463 LAA, P and Q Btys from 437 LAA. In 1964 the LAA designation was updated to 'Light Air Defence'.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Postwar, County of Durham Regiment
When the TA was reduced to the Territorial Army and Volunteer Reserve (TAVR) in 1967, 463 (Durham Light Infantry) LAD Rgt became the bulk of the County of Durham Regiment, RA, with the following organisation:


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Postwar, County of Durham Regiment
However, many TAVR units were reduced to cadres in 1969, including the County of Durham Rgt. The DLI parts of the regiment joined 72 Engineer Rgt, RE, in which part of R Bty formed a Troop of 118 Field Squadron at Sunderland.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Postwar, County of Durham Regiment
The TAVR was expanded again in 1971, and the cadre of the County of Durham Rgt formed  A (Durham Royal Artillery) Battery at Hordern in a new regiment, the Northumbrian Volunteers. This battalion in turn was broken up in 1975, with A (Durham Royal Artillery) and E (6th/8th DLI) Companies transferring to 7th Battalion, The Light Infantry, thus reuniting four out of five of the former Volunteer units of the DLI in one battalion (the 9th battalion became a parachute unit).


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Insignia
In 1941, 55th (DLI) S/L Rgt sought permission to add the subtitle 'Palatine' and to adopt as their regimental arm badge the coat of arms of the Bishopric of Durham (a blue shield bearing a gold cross and a gold lion rampant in each quarter). Copies of the badge were printed and worn but permission for the title and badge was refused. After the Second World War, sergeants and above of 590 LAA Rgt wore a green lanyard to symbolise their DLI heritage.


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Honorary Colonels
The following officers served as Honorary Colonel of the battalion:


1st Durham Rifle Volunteers, Memorials
A wooden plaque bearing the battle honours of the 5th DLI was erected in St Thomas's Church, Stockton, after the First World War.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery
The 1st Durham Volunteer Artillery was a unit of Britain's Volunteer Force and Territorial Army from 1860 to 1956. During World War I, it was the only coastal defence unit to engage the enemy, and it also trained siege gunners for service on the Western Front. It continued its coast defence role in World War II, after which it was converted into air defence and engineer units.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Volunteer Force
An invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Volunteer units composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need. Four Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVCs) were raised in County Durham, with their officers' commissions being issued on 14 March 1860:


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Volunteer Force
The first Captain Commandant of the 1st Durham AVC at Sunderland was the local politician Sir Hedworth Williamson, Bt (1827–1900). He commanded it for 28 years and was appointed its Honorary Colonel in 1888 after command of the unit passed to Lt-Col Edwin Vaux.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Volunteer Force
The 2nd (Seaham) Corps was initially the largest of the four Durham AVCs, and the other three were attached to it for administrative purposes from August 1863. However, the attachment of the 1st Durham AVC was changed to the 1st Administrative Brigade of Northumberland Artillery Volunteers in November 1873. When that brigade was consolidated on 23 July 1880 to form the 1st Northumberland and Durham AVs (renamed the 1st Northumberland (Northumberland and Sunderland) from April 1882), the 1st Durham AVC provided Nos 13–15 Btys, later renumbered as Nos 7–9 Btys when another corps left the brigade.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Volunteer Force
The 1st Northumberland Brigade became part of the Northern Division of the Royal Artillery, on 1 April 1882. A reorganisation of the divisions on 1 July 1887 saw the 1st Durham AVC regain its independence, with HQ at Sunderland and eight batteries, attached to the Western Division, with the subtitle '(Western Division Royal Artillery)' added to its designation.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Volunteer Force
As well as manning fixed coast defence artillery, some of the early Artillery Volunteers  manned semi-mobile 'position batteries' of smooth-bore field guns pulled by agricultural horses. But the War Office refused to pay for the upkeep of field guns for Volunteers and they had largely died out in the 1870s. In 1888 the 'position artillery' concept was  revived and some Volunteer artillery companies were reorganised as position batteries to work alongside the Volunteer infantry brigades. On 14 July 1892 the 1st Durham Volunteer Artillery were reorganised as one position battery and six companies (seven companies by 1894). The HQ was in Sunderland, except No 6 Company at Southwick.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Volunteer Force
On 1 June 1899 all the Volunteer artillery units became part of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) and with the abolition of the RA's divisional organisation  on 1 January 1902, the unit became the 1st Durham RGA (Volunteers). ' Position batteries' were redesignated 'heavy batteries' in May 1902.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Volunteer Force, The Vaux connection
Edwin Vaux (1844–1908), who commanded the 1st Durham AVC from 1888, and was Hon Col from 1906, was a member of the prominent Vaux brewing family of Sunderland, and the family name frequently appears among the lists of Durham Volunteer Artillery officers. Among them was Major Ernest Vaux, who volunteered for the Imperial Yeomanry during the 2nd Boer War and commanded the Maxim gun detachment of the 5th Imperial Yeomanry, winning a Distinguished Service Order (DSO). The family brewery introduced Double Maxim brown ale in 1901 to celebrate the detachment's return and the beer is still brewed in Sunderland. Ernest Vaux later commanded the 7th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry (TF) (known as 'Vaux's Own') from 1911 and throughout World War I.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Territorial Force
Under the Haldane Reforms, the Volunteer Force was subsumed into the new Territorial Force. In the original 1908 plans for the TF, the 1st Durham RGA was to combine with the Tynemouth Volunteer Artillery to form a Northumberland and Durham RGA (and spin off a battery and ammunition column for the local Royal Field Artillery (RFA) brigade), while the 4th Durham RGA in West Hartlepool was to combine with the 1st East Riding of Yorkshire RGA to form a Durham and Yorkshire RGA, the two new units covering the whole NE coast of England.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Territorial Force
These plans were radically changed, so that by 1910 the Tynemouth and East Riding elements had formed their own units, while the 1st and 4th Durham merged to form a new Durham RGA as a 'defended ports unit' (the 4th had also spun off a battery and ammunition column to the III Northumbrian Brigade RFA).


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Territorial Force
The companies were responsible for manning the batteries of fixed coastal guns of the Tees (4 x 6-inch guns, 2 x 4.7-inch guns) and at Hartlepool (3 x 6-inch), while the heavy battery was mobile and responsible for the landward defence of the batteries (heavy batteries were usually armed with obsolescent 4.7-inch guns). The commanding officer was Lt-Col Lancelot Robson, a doctor and former mayor of Hartlepool, who had first been commissioned into the 4th Durham RGA in 1893.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, Mobilisation
On the outbreak of war, TF units were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service and on 15 August 1914, the War Office (WO) issued instructions to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units. On 31 August, the formation of a reserve or 2nd Line unit was authorised for each 1st Line unit where 60 per cent or more of the men had volunteered for Overseas Service. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix. In this way duplicate brigades, companies and batteries were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, Mobilisation
By the autumn of 1914, the campaign on the Western Front was bogging down into Trench warfare and there was an urgent need for batteries of heavy and siege artillery to be sent to France. The WO decided that the TF coastal gunners were well enough trained to take over many of the duties in the coastal defences, releasing Regular RGA gunners for service in the field, and 1st line TF RGA companies that had volunteered for overseas service had been authorised to increase their strength by 50 per cent. Although complete defended ports units never went overseas, they did supply trained gunners to RGA units serving overseas. They also provided cadres to form complete units for front line service. The Durham RGA is known to have raised 142nd Heavy Bty and 94th and 149th Siege Btys in 1915–16.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, Raid on Hartlepool
On the morning of 16 December 1914, a German naval force under Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper approached the coast of North East England to mount a Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby. The battle cruisers SMS Seydlitz and SMS Moltke, with the armoured cruiser SMS Blücher, concentrated on Hartlepool, which was a base for light Royal Navy warships. The port was defended by two batteries. On the day in question, 11 officers and 155 other ranks of the Durham RGA were manning Heugh Battery (two 6-inch guns manned by No 4 Company) and Lighthouse Battery (one 6-inch gun).


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, Raid on Hartlepool
As was normal practice, the gunners 'stood to' at 06.30 and so were ready for action when the German warships approached. The Germans planned to bombard the batteries for 15 minutes to suppress them before turning the attention to the town. The Seydlitz opened fire at 08.10 and Lt-Col Robson rushed from his home to take up his post as Fire Commander and Battery Medical Officer at Heugh Battery. The first shell cut the Fire Commander's telephone lines, so the whole action was fought by the Battery Commanders on their own under standing orders.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, Raid on Hartlepool
At ranges of 4000 to 5000 yards the German shells fell round the batteries without scoring a direct hit. Heugh Battery engaged first the Seydlitz and then the Moltke until they passed out of its arc of fire, and then concentrated on the stationary Blucher which was firing at Lighthouse Battery. Lighthouse Battery scored a direct hit on Blucher's forebridge, disabling two guns of the secondary armament, but suffered a number of misfires due to an electrical fault.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, Raid on Hartlepool
The action ended at 08.52 when the batteries fired their last rounds at 9200 yards' range at the withdrawing warships. The Germans had fired 1150 shells, killing 112 and wounding over 200 civilians and doing extensive damage to the town and docks. The Durham RGA suffered two killed, and in firing a total of 123 rounds had inflicted at least seven direct hits, killing 8 German seamen and wounding four.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, Raid on Hartlepool
The bombardment of civilian targets caused great outrage among the British public at the time. The commanding officer and three gun captains of the Durham RGA were later decorated, Lt-Col Robson receiving a Distinguished Service Order, Sgt T. Douthwaite a Distinguished Conduct Medal for extracting a live cartridge from the breech of the Lighthouse Battery gun after a misfire, and Acting Bombardier J.J. Hope and Bombardier F.W. Mallin each received the Military Medal. These were the first two MMs to be gazetted after the institution of the award in April 1916. Hope's medal was the first MM minted, and the first to be presented. In 1920, all members of the Durham RGA in action that day were made eligible for the British War Medal, normally only awarded to those who saw active service overseas.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, Raid on Hartlepool
Although the unit never went overseas, the Durham RGA did supply trained gunners for RGA batteries and other units on active fronts (by 1916, for example, Sgt Douthwaite was with a siege battery and Bdr Mallin was a sergeant with an infantry battalion).


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 142nd (Durham) Heavy Battery
Authorised on 31 October 1915, this 4-gun battery was formed from 1/1st and 2/1st Heavy Batteries of the Durham RGA. It embarked for the Western Front on 21 March 1916 and joined Second Army in the Ypres Salient. On 31 July the battery transferred to Fifth Army fighting the Battle of the Somme, where the 60-pounder guns of the heavy batteries were called upon for counter-battery (CB) fire. On 5 October 1916 142nd Heavy Bty was brought up to a strength of six guns when it was joined by a section from 176th Heavy Bty.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 142nd (Durham) Heavy Battery
In April 1917 142nd Heavy Bty supported the Canadian Corps' successful attack on Vimy Ridge as part of the Arras Offensive. Maximum use was made of observation balloons and aircraft to pinpoint opposing batteries for the heavies' CB fire. The battery rejoined Fifth Army on 1 September in time for the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge and subsequent battles Flanders Offensive. By the final Second Battle of Passchendaele conditions for the British artillery were very bad: batteries were clearly observable and suffered badly from CB fire, while their own guns sank into the mud and became difficult to aim and fire.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 142nd (Durham) Heavy Battery
Having been moved from one heavy artillery group (HAG) to another, 142nd Heavy Bty joined 79th HAG on 18 December 1917. By now HAG allocations were becoming fixed, and on 1 February 1918 they were converted into permanent RGA brigades. 142nd Heavy Bty remained with 79th Bde until the end of the war. 79th Brigade was with Second Army in April during the second phase of the German spring offensive, the Battle of the Lys. The heaviest guns were sent to the rear but the 60-pdrs remained with the field artillery firing in support of the hard-pressed infantry. On 28 June 79th Bde supported XI Corps in a limited counter-attack on La Becque, which was described as 'a model operation' for artillery cooperation.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 142nd (Durham) Heavy Battery
79th Brigade joined Fourth Army on 18 August, soon after the beginning of the final Allied Hundred Days Offensive. It was among the mass of artillery supporting IX Corps' assault crossing of the St Quentin Canal on 29 September, and continued with it at the Battle of the Selle on 17 October, when one German counter-attack was broken up when all available guns were turned onto it. 79th Brigade was part of IX Corps' artillery reserve for the advance to the River Sambre on 23 October.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 142nd (Durham) Heavy Battery
As the regimental historian relates, 'The guns of Fourth Army demonstrated, on 23 October, the crushing effect of well co-ordinated massed artillery. they simply swept away the opposition'. IX Corps stormed across the canal on 4 November (the Battle of the Sambre), after which the campaign became a pursuit of a beaten enemy, in which the slow-moving heavy guns could play little part. The war ended with the Armistice with Germany on 11 November.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 142nd (Durham) Heavy Battery
On return to the UK the battery was disbanded at Sandling in Kent on 11 October 1919.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 94th Siege Battery
Formed on 16 December 1915 at Tynemouth under War Office Instruction No 181 of December 1915, which laid down that it was to follow the establishment for 'New Army' (Kitchener's Army) units, this battery had  a cadre of three officers and 78 men from the Durham RGA; the rest of the men would be Regulars and New Army recruits from the Tynemouth Garrison. The Nominal Rolls of the battery show large numbers of men with home addresses in Hartlepool and the surrounding area.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 94th Siege Battery
Commanded by Major Daniel Sandford, 94th Siege Battery landed in France on 30 May 1916 equipped with four BL 9.2-inch howitzers Mark I and immediately began preparing to support Third Army's Attack on the Gommecourt Salient on the First day on the Somme. The bombardment programme was extended to seven days before Z day (1 July). On Z Day 94th Siege Bty succeeded in firing 100 rounds per gun in the 65 minutes preceding the attack, a remarkable feat that caused significant damage to the howitzers' buffers and recuperators due to overheating. However, the attack was a failure.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 94th Siege Battery
94th Siege Bty then moved to Fifth Army for the later stages of the Somme offensive, which finally died down in November. The battery took part in minor operations on the Ancre in early 1917, including CB fire for II Corps' attack on Miraumont on 17 February. Shortly afterwards the Germans began their planned withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line (Operation Alberich). Following up was especially difficult for the heavy artillery, with all the roads forwards having been destroyed, and 94th Siege Bty had to haul its howitzers across the devastated countryside.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 94th Siege Battery
The battery came back into action during the Arras offensive, supporting the First attack on Bullecourt (11 April). It joined Second Army for the Battle of Messines, being involved in exchanges of CB fire with Germans batteries before the explosion of huge mines launched the successful assault on 7 June. The battery then spent the summer with Fourth Army on the Flanders coast awaiting a breakthrough at Ypres that never came. However, the battery received its heaviest casualties of the war from CB fire. It was rested in late 1917.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 94th Siege Battery
In 6 December 94th Siege Bty joined 23rd HAG, which became 23rd Brigade, RGA, in February 1918. 94th Siege Bty remained with this brigade until the Armistice. It was increased to six guns when a section joined on 15 January from 190th Siege Bty.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 94th Siege Battery
When the German Spring Offensive opened, 94th Siege Bty was supporting Fifth Army. After firing its SOS tasks in support of the infantry, the battery had to withdraw under fire. During the 'Great Retreat' the battery moved 85 miles (137 km) by road, prepared 13 positions, firing from nine of them, and had fired over 1500 rounds. Casualties had been light.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 94th Siege Battery
In the summer of 1918, the battery supported Australian Corps' surprise attack on Hamel on 4 July, then III Corps at the Battle of Amiens. During the advance in late August 1918, the battery's forward observation officer, Capt R.A.E. Somerville, found two abandoned German 7.7 cm field guns near Marincourt. With the assistance of his telephonists, he turned one gun round and fired over 100 rounds at the retreating enemy, for which he was awarded a Military Cross. The two guns were sent home as trophies, one to the Durham RGA and one to the town of Sunderland.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 94th Siege Battery
The battery then took part in several of the set-piece battles of the Hundred Days Offensive including the Australian–US attack at the St Quentin Canal. However the 9.2-inch howitzers were too clumsy to be much use in the pursuit. The battery's last action was at the assault crossing of the Sambre on 4 November.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 94th Siege Battery
94th Siege Bty was intended to form 144th Bty, RGA, in the interim order of battle for the postwar army, but this was rescinded after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles and it disbanded at Dover on 24 June 1919.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 149th Siege Battery
149th Siege Bty was formed at Hartlepool on 22 May 1916 under Army Council Instruction 1091 of 29 May 1916, which laid down that it was to follow the establishment for New Army units, with a cadre of four officers and 78 men from the Durham RGA. It went out to the Western Front on 21 August and joined 3rd HAG with Fourth Army on 28 August at the height of the Battle of the Somme. It transferred to 14th HAG on 16 October.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 149th Siege Battery
Once the Somme offensive was over, 149th Siege Bty went back to 3rd HAG on 2 December. This group was now with Fifth Army but transferred to Fourth on 22 December. However, on 24 December149th Siege Bty was ordered to 35th HAG with Third Army, which it joined on 31 December.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 149th Siege Battery
While Canadian Corps with First Army attacked Vimy Ridge on 9 April 1917 (see above), VII Corps with Third Army simultaneously assaulted the Hindenburg Line south of Arras. 39th Heavy Artillery Group, which 149th Siege Bty had joined on 11 February, supported this attack. Preliminary bombardment began on 4 April, with VII Corps assigning a range of tasks to its 6-inch howitzer batteries: cutting the barbed wire in the distant second and third German trench lines; targeting the trench systems themselves; and CB work.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 149th Siege Battery
At night, the 6-inch howitzers might be called on to supplement the 60-pdrs for distant HF tasks, mainly to prevent the Germans from repairing the damage. Most of 8 April (hich should have been the day of the attack) was devoted to CB fire to neutralise every known enemy gun position and observation post (OP), and to complete the wire-cutting.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 149th Siege Battery
When the infantry divisions went over the top on 9 April, the 6-inch howitzers laid a standing barrage on the support line of the German front trench system, then, when the creeping barrage fired by field guns ahead of the infantry reached this line, the standing barrage was shifted onto the second objective.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 149th Siege Battery
VII Corps' two right-hand divisions were held up in front of the Hindenburg Line, where the distant wire had not been cut, but the two on the left penetrated as much as 2 miles (3.2 km) into the German positions, with relatively light casualties, largely thanks to the artillery support. Bitter fighting, with progressively less success, went on along the Arras front for several more weeks before the offensive was called off in mid-May.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 149th Siege Battery
149th Siege Bty moved back to 35th HAG on 30 May, then to 58th HAG on 9 June, while minor operations continued against the Hindenburg Line, then it returned to 39th HAG on 16 June. There was then a quiet phase on Third Army's front while attention moved elsewhere.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 149th Siege Battery
149th Siege Bty came under 59th HAG from 9 August, but then it was called upon to move north to the Ypres sector to join 81st HAG with Fifth Army on 31 August. This was the period of the battles of the Menin Ridge Road and Polygon Wood. When Second Army took over the lead in the offensive, the battery joined it and came under 72nd HAG on 4 October for the final battles of Passchendaele.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 149th Siege Battery
149th Siege Bty joined 67th HAG (67th Bde, RGA) with First Army on 15 December 1917 and remained with it until the Armistice. 67th was a 'Mixed' brigade with a variety of different heavy guns and howitzers. The battery was at rest from 3 February 1918 when it was joined by section of 448th Siege Bty on 22 February to bring it up to six guns. The battery served with First Army through the battles of 1918.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, 149th Siege Battery
In the postwar 'interim army' plans, 149th Siege Bty was intended to become C Bty in 55th Bde, RGA, but was disbanded in 1919 after the Treaty of Versailles.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, Home defence
After so many TF coast gunners had departed to units in the field, the remaining companies of the defended ports units were consolidated in April 1917. In the case of the Durham RGA this meant reorganising the seven remaining companies (1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 2/1, 2/2, 2/3, 2/4) into Nos 1–3 Companies in the Tees and Hartlepool Garrison of Northern Command. By April 1918 the Tees and Hartlepool guns were organised as follows:


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War I, Home defence
After the Armistice with Germany, the TF was demobilised and the Durham RGA placed in suspended animation in 1919.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Interwar
When the TF was reconstituted on 7 February 1920 the Durham RGA reformed at West Hartlepool, with one battery (later numbered 186) from Nos 1–3 Companies and one battery (later 187) from No 4 Company at Hartlepool. In 1921 the TF was reorganised as the Territorial Army (TA) and the unit was desigated as the Durham Coast Brigade, RGA. The RGA was subsumed into the Royal Artillery on 1 June 1924 and the unit was redesignated again as the Durham Heavy Brigade, RA. It fell within the 50th (Northumbrian) Divisional Area.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Interwar
The HQ was still at The Armoury in West Hartlepool, which was shared with the 3rd (Durham) Battery, RFA, and the 5th Battalion Durham Light Infantry. The commanding officer was Major Leonard Ropner (1895–1977), who was a director of a local shipping firm and had won a MC commanding a battery in France during the war. His younger brother, William Guy Ropner, was also a major in the Durham Heavy Brigade. Leonard Ropner later became an MP and was created a baronet.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Interwar
In 1926 it was decided that the coast defences of the UK would be manned by the TA alone. In 1932, HQ of the Durham Heavy Bde moved to the Drill Hall in Ward Street, Hartlepool and on 1 October 186 Battery was converted to a Medium Battery and transferred to the 54th (Durham and West Riding) Medium Bde RA. The unit raised a new battery numbered 174 in October 1937. In line with the RA"s modernisation of its terminology, the unit was entitled the Durham Heavy Regiment on 1 November 1938.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War II
At the outbreak of war in September 1939, the Durham Heavy Rgt was under the orders of Northern Command. The coast artillery branch was greatly expanded after the Dunkirk evacuation, when the UK was in imminent danger of invasion. On 14 July 1940 the Durham Heavy Rgt was reorganised as 511 (Durham) and 526 (Durham) Coast Regiments.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War II, 511th (Durham) Coast Regiment
The regiment was formed mainly from 174 Hvy Bty, reorganised as A and B Btys. In the autumn of 1940 it was guarding Hartlepool, manning one 9.2-inch gun and four 6-inch guns. 315 Coast Bty, formed on 10 June 1940 at Seaton Carew (2 x 6-inch guns), was regimented with 511th Coast Rgt on 31 December 1940.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War II, 511th (Durham) Coast Regiment
A and B Btys were numbered 267 and 268 on 1 April 1941. At this point 267 was manning the guns at Heugh Lighthouse, 268 at Hartlepool Old Pier. On 3 June 1941 268 Bty went to the Orkneys, joining 534th (Orkney) Coast Rgt, being replaced on 5 June by 139 Bty from 533rd (Orkney) Coast Rgt.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War II, 511th (Durham) Coast Regiment
At their height in September 1941, the Tees/Hartlepool defences manned by 511th and 526th Coast Rgts comprised 1 x 9.2-inch gun, 6 x 6-inch, and 2 x 12-pounders. RHQ of 511th Coast Rgt was at Hartlepool, part of Hartlepool Fire Command. In early 1942 the two regiments came under command of IX Corps, changing to Corps Coast Artillery, Northumbrian District, when IX Corps went to North Africa in Operation Torch at the end of the year.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War II, 511th (Durham) Coast Regiment
In January 1942, 267 Coast Bty had 21 (Static) Defence Troop, RA, attached to it for local protection. On 11 June 1942, 397 Bty was attached to 511th from 536th Coast Rgt, but it left at the end of the month to join 509th (Tynemouth) Coast Rgt.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War II, 511th (Durham) Coast Regiment
From late 1942, with the danger of invasion having passed and with demands on manpower from other theatres, the UK's coast defences began to be reduced. On 11 March 1943 RHQ of 511th (Durham ) Coast Rgt was ordered to begin the process of going into suspended animation. The three batteries (139, 267 and 315) transferred to 526th (Durham) Coast Rgt on 1 April, and RHQ completed the process on 21 April.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War II, 526th (Durham) Coast Regiment
The regiment was formed mainly from 187 Hvy Bty, reorganised as A and B Btys, which were numbered 116 and 117 on 1 April 1941. At this time 116 was at Pasley, and 117 at South Gare, both near Coatham. By late 1941 RHQ was at Pasley Battery in Pasley Fire Command. In the summer of 1941 the regiment was joined by the newly-formed 67 Coast Observer Detachment. In April 1942, 316 Bty at Whitby and 317 Bty at Scarborough (2 x 6-inch guns each) were incorporated from 544th Coast Rgt, and in July 526th Rgt took over 29 Coast Observer Detachment from the same regiment.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War II, 526th (Durham) Coast Regiment
When the regiment took over the batteries from 511th (Durham) Coast Rgt on 1 April 1943, command of 316 and 317 Btys was in turn transferred to 513th (East Riding) Coast Rgt. This left 526th Rgt in control of 116, 117, 139, 267 and 315 Btys. 513th Coast Rgt also took over 29 Coast Observer Detachment from 526th by November 1943. Early in 1944 the Northumbrian District coastal artillery HQ was scrapped and the CA units came directly under Northern Command.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War II, 526th (Durham) Coast Regiment
The manpower requirements for the forthcoming Allied invasion of Normandy (Operation Overlord) led to further reductions in coast defences in April 1944. By this stage of the war many of the coast battery positions were manned by Home Guard detachments or were in the hands of care and maintenance parties. 513th (East Riding) Coast Rgt was disbanded and 316, 317 and 320 Btys joined 526th; later in April both 29 and 67 Coast Observer Detachments were disbanded.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War II, 526th (Durham) Coast Regiment
With the war in Europe coming to an end, this process was accelerated at the end of 1944. 508th (Tynemouth) and 512th (East Riding) Coast Rgts had both been converted into garrison units for service in North West Europe, and on 15 February 1945 the remnants of their batteries joined 526th (Durham) Coast Rgt (259, 260, 262, 263, 264, 266, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 348 from 508th; 100, 269, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 319 from 512th).


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, World War II, 526th (Durham) Coast Regiment
Finally, on 1 June 1945 RHQ of 526th (Durham) Coast Rgt began to enter suspended animation at Redcar, completing the process on 22 June. Of its subunits, the TA batteries (those numbered up to 300) passed into suspended animation, the war-formed batteries (numbered above 300) were disbanded. That left just 273 and 348 Coast Btys in existence under Northern Command. 273 Coast Bty entered suspended animation between 19 October and 1 November 1945, while 348 Bty later joined 4 Coast Training Rgt, RA.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Postwar
Both regiments were reformed in the TA in 1947, 511 becoming 426 (Durham) Coast Regiment and 526 becoming 427 (Durham) Coast Regiment, both still based at West Hartlepool. Both regiments were subordinated to 103 Coast Brigade, based at Darlington.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Postwar
However, it was soon afterwards decided to reduce the number of TA coast regiments, and on 1 September 1948, 427 Regiment was converted into an air defence unit as 427 (Durham) Heavy Anti- Aircraft Regiment It became a 'Mixed' regiment (indicating that members of the Women's Royal Army Corps were integrated into the unit) on 1 January 1949. On 1 January 1954, this unit merged into 485 (Tees) HAA Regiment at Middlesbrough.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Postwar
The coast artillery branch was disbanded in 1956, and on 31 October 426 Regiment was converted to Royal Engineers (RE) as 336 (Durham Coast) Field Squadron, RE as part of 132 Field Engineer Regiment (formerly part of the Tyne Electrical Engineers). Shortly afterwards, it was redesignated 336 (Durham Coast) Crane Operating Squadron. 132 Regiment was disbanded in 1961; 336 Sqn transferred to the Royal Corps of Transport in 1965.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Honorary Colonels
The following served as Honorary Colonels of the unit and its predecessors:


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Memorials
A memorial plaque was placed at Heugh Battery to mark the spot 'where the first shell from the leading German battle cruiser fell at 8.10 am on 16 December 1914 and also records the place where during the bombardment the first British soldier was killed on British soil by enemy action during the Great War 1914–1918'.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Memorials
There is also a memorial window at St Hilda's Church, Hartlepool, 'in memory of the officers, non-commissioned officers and gunners of the Durham Royal Garrison Artillery who fell in the Great War 1914–1918'.


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Memorials
The parade ground of the former Durham RGA HQ at The Armoury became the site of the West Hartlepool War Memorial


1st Durham Volunteer Artillery, Museums
The medals of Lt-Col Lancelot Robson, who commanded the Durham RGA during the Raid on Hartlepool, are held by Hartlepool Borough Council Museums Service.


1st ECO Summit
The 1992 ECO summit was the first Economic Cooperation Organization summit, held 16–17 February in Tehran, Iran. The summit welcomed the admission of new members Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan as well as allowing limited participation in economic, cultural and technical activities of Northern Cyprus.


1st EU–Brazil summit
The first summit meeting between the European Union (EU) and Brazil took place in Lisbon on 4 July 2007. At the summit, Brazil was granted special partnership status with the EU.


1st EU–Brazil summit, Location
This summit took place in Lisbon, at the Pavilhão Atlântico. The dinner was offered by the Portuguese President Aníbal Cavaco Silva, at Belém Cultural Center.


1st EU–Brazil summit, Discussions
The summit aimed to establish closer relations between the European Union and Brazil. Portugal formally invited its former colony, Brazil, to be a strategic partner of the EU, along with India, Russia and China, meaning that all the BRIC countries now had special partnership status.


1st EU–Brazil summit, Discussions
Issues concerned with a proposed trade agreement between the EU and the Mercosur group of South American countries including Brazil were also discussed.


1st EU–Brazil summit, Discussions
Associated with the summit, the oil and energy corporations Galp Energia of Portugal and Petrobras of Brazil signed an agreement on production of vegetable oils in Brazil.


1st East Anglian Regiment
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by PohranicniStraze (talk | contribs) at 03:45, 24 November 2019 (removed honorific per WP:HON). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


1st East Anglian Regiment
The 1st East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk) was an infantry regiment of the British Army.


1st East Anglian Regiment, History
As a result of the Defence Review, the 1st Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment and the 1st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment amalgamated on 29 August 1959 to form the 1st Battalion, 1st East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk).


1st East Anglian Regiment, History
On formation the regiment was based in West Berlin (the location of the 1st Royal Norfolks). In 1961 the Regiment was posted to the United Kingdom for the first since its creation, being based in Harwich. The following year the 1st East Anglians deployed to the South American colony of British Guiana (now the state of Guyana) after violence erupted between the African and Indian ethnic groups there. The Regiment returned to the UK later that year.


1st East Anglian Regiment, History
In February 1964 the Regiment arrived in Aden as part of the Aden Brigade, seeing active service in the Radfan on the border with South Yemen as part of Radforce, fighting Egyptian-supported guerillas, losing a number of its soldiers in the process.


1st East Anglian Regiment, History
In September that year, while still based there, the Regiment amalgamated with the three other remaining regiments of the East Anglian Brigade (2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Own Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire), 3rd East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot) and the Royal Leicestershire Regiment) on 1 September 1964 to form one of the new 'large' regiments, the Royal Anglian Regiment; the 1st East Anglians became the 1st Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk).


1st East Anglian Regiment, Associated Cadet Forces
The Army sections of some contingents of the Combined Cadet Force were associated with the Regiment, as follows:


1st East Riding Artillery Volunteers
The 1st East Yorkshire Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in the East Riding of Yorkshire, which also contained sub-units from the North and West Ridings. Created during an invasion scare in 1859–1860, it survived to supply units to the later Territorial Force of the 20th century.


1st East Riding Artillery Volunteers, Early history
At times of national crisis volunteers were regularly called upon to defend the vulnerable harbours on the coast of East Yorkshire. At the time of the Jacobite rising of 1745, the Wardens and Brethren of Hull Trinity House formed four volunteer artillery companies, equipped with 20 nine-pounder cannon from a ship lying in Hull Roads. These were the first volunteer artillery units formed in Yorkshire, though there may have been others manning the cannon in the fort covering Bridlington harbour. The companies were stood down after the Jacobite defeat at Culloden.


1st East Riding Artillery Volunteers, Early history
During the French Revolutionary Wars, a mixed unit of infantry and artillery manned the fort at Bridlington harbour from 1794 until the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, and reformed when the peace broke down in 1803. The Bridlington Volunteer Artillery disbanded in 1814.


1st East Riding Artillery Volunteers, Volunteer Force
A number of new Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVCs) were formed in the East Riding during the first enthusiasm for the Volunteer Movement in 1859. The 1st Company East Yorkshire Artillery Volunteers formed at 'Burlington' (an alternative name for Bridlington) under Captain Benjamin Blaydes Haworth of Haworth Hall, Dunswell, on 9 December 1859, and the 2nd Company at Hunmanby under Captain Cortis on 9 February 1860.


1st East Riding Artillery Volunteers, Volunteer Force
On 11 May the following year the 1st and 2nd Companies  combined to form the 1st Administrative Brigade of Yorkshire (East Riding) Artillery Volunteers, under the command of Haworth (promoted to Major), with companies at Bridlington, Filey, Flamborough, Withernsea and Hornsea. The 2nd and 3rd North Riding AVCs, based on the coast at Whitby and Scarborough, and the 3rd West Riding AVC, based inland at York, were also included in the brigade, which had its headquarters at Scarborough. By 1872 it had assumed the following organisation:


1st East Riding Artillery Volunteers, Volunteer Force
The Commanding Officer (CO) of the brigade, Major Haworth (who changed his name to Haworth-Booth in 1869) was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel on 3 July 1861. Harcourt Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone (later 1st Baron Derwent), a former lieutenant in the 2nd Life Guards, was commissioned as Major of the brigade on 22 January 1863. The Adjutant, appointed on 15 January 1862, was Captain George Symons, who had won a Victoria Cross as a Sergeant in the Royal Artillery during the Crimean War.