1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, World War I, 2/III Home Counties (Cinque Ports) Brigade, Tigris
By 12.30 the following day 337th Bde was across the Little Zab and engaging enemy guns. Once again the position was outflanked by the mobile column, and early on 27 October patrols found the Turkish trenches empty. 53rd Indian Brigade, with A/337 Bty and the surviving section of 341 (H) Bty, was ordered forward to take up position opposite Sharqat on the west bank of the Tigris, later joined by C/337 Bty.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, World War I, 2/III Home Counties (Cinque Ports) Brigade, Tigris
At dawn on 28 October the Battle of Sharqat opened, with the guns on the east bank firing across the river, A/337 Bty later crossing the Tigris by a ford and galloping up to join in. The following morning C/337 Bty also crossed to the west bank where an afternoon attack made good progress, A/337 Bty supporting a charge by the 13th Hussars. The force on the west bank was about to attack Sharqat on the morning of 30 October, when the Turks in the town surrendered.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, World War I, 2/III Home Counties (Cinque Ports) Brigade, Tigris
The commander of 18th Indian Division, Maj-Gen Hew Fanshawe, was immediately sent on with a mobile column including A/337 Bty to destroy the remaining Turkish forces and capture Mosul. The column forded the Tigris, with artillery horses assisting the mule carts, and pushed on to the city which fell without a fight after news arrived of the signing of the Armistice of Mudros and the end of hostilities on 31 October.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, World War I, 2/III Home Counties (Cinque Ports) Brigade, Tigris
At the end of the war 18th Indian Division was selected to form part of the occupation force in Iraq and served during the Iraq Rebellion of 1920 before being broken up in 1921.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, Interwar, 59th (Home Counties) (Cinque Ports) Brigade
The 3rd Home Counties Brigade (now with 1st to 4th Kent Batteries) reformed on 7 February 1920. When the TF was reorganised as the Territorial Army in 1921 it was designated the 59th (Home Counties) Brigade, RFA, with the second subtitle 'Cinque Ports' added the following year:


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, Interwar, 59th (Home Counties) (Cinque Ports) Brigade
Its CO on re-formation was Brevet Lt-Col the Hon Hugh Scarlett, DSO. One of the officers was Major John Morley Stebbings, who as a young officer had won the Edward Medal leading a rescue party of eight men from his battery into the ruins of the Uplees explosives factory near Faversham after the Great Explosion on 2 April 1916. He had subsequently won a Military Cross (MC) on the Western Front. 1st Battalion The Buffs Cadet Corps was attached to the unit. The brigade was once again assigned as divisional artillery to 44th (Home Counties) Division. On 1 June 1924 the RFA was subsumed into the Royal Artillery and its brigades redesignated Field Brigades, RA.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, Interwar, 75th (Home Counties) (Cinque Ports) AA Regiment
In the 1930s the increasing need for anti-aircraft (AA) defence for Britain's cities was addressed by converting a number of TA units to the AA role. 59th Field Brigade was one of these. First, in February 1938, the howitzer battery (234) at Folkestone was detached to become 223 (Cinque Ports) Independent AA Battery; the numbering of the other batteries was changed, so that 236 Bty at Deal took the number 234. Then on 1 November 1938 the rest of the brigade was converted, becoming 75th (Home Counties) (Cinque Ports) Anti - Aircraft Brigade under the command of Lt-Col Stebbings, and 223 Bty rejoined. The RA's AA 'brigades' were redesignated 'regiments' on 1 January 1939.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, Interwar, 75th (Home Counties) (Cinque Ports) AA Regiment
With the expansion of the TA after the Munich Crisis, most units split to form duplicates. In the case of 75th, the CO, Lt-Col Stebbings, left with 234th and 235th Batteries on 1 April 1939 to form a new 89th (Cinque Ports) AA Regiment. The second-in-command, Major N.V. Sadler, was promoted to command the 75th AA Rgt and a new battery was raised at Ashford to give the following organisation:


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, Interwar, 75th (Home Counties) (Cinque Ports) AA Regiment
Both new regiments were under the command of 28th (Thames & Medway) AA Brigade in 6th AA Division of Anti- Aircraft Command.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, World War II, Mobilisation
In June 1939, as the international situation worsened, a partial mobilisation of the TA 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 gun positions. Full mobilisation of AA Command came in August 1939, ahead of the declaration of war on 3 September 1939.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, World War II, Mobilisation
306 AA Battery joined 89th HAA Rgt on 30 August, and then departed for training, returning to 75th HAA Rgt in May 1940.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, World War II, Mobilisation
From 1 June 1940 those AA units armed with 3-inch or the more modern 3.7-inch guns were termed 'Heavy AA' (HAA) to distinguish them for the Light AA units then being formed.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, World War II, Battle of Britain
The Luftwaffe began its bombing offensive against the British mainland with small-scale raids on coastal targets, then in July 1940 began heavy daylight raids against south coast ports and shipping: the guns at Dover were in action virtually every day. 205 Battery temporarily rejoined from 89th HAA Rgt to boost the numbers of guns at Dover. Lieutenant-Colonel N.V. Sadler of 75th HAA Rgt developed an effective system of HAA barrages over individual points in Dover Harbour and the shipping channels, underpinned by LAA fire. In one day the regiment shot down seven Junkers Ju 87 'Stukas' together with two Messerschmitt Bf 109s and a Dornier Do 215.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, World War II, Battle of Britain
Sadler, who had won a Distinguished Conduct Medal in the ranks during World War I, was commissioned into 59th Field Bde between the wars. At the end of 1940 he was promoted to Brigadier and sent to Malta as AA Defence Commander during the Siege.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, World War II, Battle of Britain
28th AA Brigade had responsibility for the 'Thames South' defences as well as Dover, and at times part of 75th HAA Rgt was transferred to 37th AA Bde responsible for 'Thames North' on the Essex bank of the Thames Estuary. These concentrations of HAA guns were in frequent action by day and night during the Battle of Britain and early part of The Blitz as Luftwaffe bombers came up the estuary to target London, Chatham, and the docks along the river.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, World War II, Blitz
On 24 November 1940, as the night-bombing 'Blitz' against British cities got under way, the regiment was shifted to strengthen the defences in Northern England, joining 62nd AA Bde in 10th AA Division, covering Leeds and Sheffield with one battery detached to Derby.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, World War II, Blitz
The regiment sent a cadre of experienced officers and other ranks to 211th HAA Training Rgt at Oswestry to provide the basis for a new 422 HAA Bty; this was formed on 10 April 1941 and joined the regiment on 7 July. The regiment sent another cadre to 206th HAA Training Rgt at Arborfield for 463 HAA Bty; this was formed on 7 August 1941 and later joined 133rd HAA Rgt. The regiment sent a final cadre to 207th HAA Training Rgt at Devizes for 542 (Mixed) HAA Bty, formed on 5 March 1942, which joined 159th (Mixed) HAA Rgt ('Mixed' units were those in which women from the Auxiliary Territorial Service were integrated).


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, World War II, Blitz
During the summer of 1941 the regiment moved back to 37th AA Bde in 6th AA Division. The brigade was being reorganised, and for a while in the winter of 1941-42 the 75th was the only unit under its command. 422 Bty was sometimes detached to 28th AA Bde in 'Thames South', and on 30 March 1942 it was permanently transferred to 127th HAA Rgt in that formation, leaving 75th HAA Rgt with the three-battery establishment required for overseas service. Later that month, 75th HAA Rgt left Anti- Aircraft Command in preparation for going overseas.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, World War II, Iraq
The regiment left the UK in August 1942 and joined GHQ Persia and Iraq Command (PAIFORCE) in Iraq in October. The role of PAIFORCE was to protect the vital oilfields of the Middle East against a potential German incursion through the Caucasus. The AA units had to cover oil installations, ports, rail lines and airfields, for which 75th HAA Rgt was placed under the command of the newly reconstituted 4th AA Brigade. In the event the Luftwaffe was never able to penetrate Iraq from its airfields in Russia, and PAIFORCE had a quiet war. As the Germans were pushed back on the Eastern Front there was a general run-down of British forces in PAIFORCE, but 75th HAA Rgt remained until May 1944, when it moved to Middle East Command with 4th AA Bde.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, World War II, Iraq
75th (Home Counties) (Cinque Ports) HAA Rgt with its three batteries (223, 233 and 306) was placed in suspended animation on 11 July 1944.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, Postwar
When the TA was reconstituted on 1 January 1947, 75th HAA Rgt was reformed as 259 (Mobile) HAA Rgt (Home Counties) (Cinque Ports), RA.The regiment came under the command of 53rd AA Brigade (the former 27th (Home Counties) AA Bde) based at Dover, part of 1 AA Group.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, Postwar
AA Command was disbanded on 1 March 1955 and there was a major reduction in AA units. 259 (Mobile) HAA Rgt was placed in suspended animation, and the following year merged with part of 11th AA (Mixed) Signal Regiment, Royal Corps of Signals (the signal unit for 1 AA Group). The merged unit was designated Home Counties District (Mixed) Signal Regiment with HQ at Shorncliffe. ('Mixed' indicated that members of the Women's Royal Army Corps were integrated into the unit.)


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, Postwar
The unit became 62 (Mixed) Signal Regiment in 1959, regained its 'Cinque Ports' subtitle in 1960, and merged with 44 (Home Counties) Signal Regiment in 1961. In 1967 the merged unit became 44 (Cinque Ports) Signal Squadron in 36 (Eastern) Signal Regiment, which was reduced to 844 Cinque Ports Signal Troop in 2010.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, Uniforms and Insignia
The full dress of the original artillery volunteers was based on that of the RA, but for ordinary parade the men wore a loose undress tunic and trousers of blue Baize. The 4th Battery of the 6th (Hastings) AVC, however, wore a naval uniform with sailors' caps until 1872. The badge of the Cinque Ports artillery volunteers was the Coat of arms of the Cinque Ports surrounded by a circlet. On officers' pouches the circlet carried the motto 'PRO ARIS ET FOCIS' (For hearth and home); on later tunic buttons and belt clasps shared with the rifle volunteers the circlet was inscribed 'CINQUE PORTS VOLUNTEERS'.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, Uniforms and Insignia
From 1953 to 1955, 259 HAA Rgt wore an embroidered arm badge with 'CINQUE PORTS' beneath 'ROYAL ARTILLERY' in red on a navy blue backing.


1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, Memorial
There is a WWII memorial plaque to the men of 75 (Cinque Ports) HAA Rgt in St Mary in Castro Church at Dover Castle.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers
The 1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers was a was a part-time unit of the British Army first raised from the Cinque Ports of Kent and Sussex in 1859. It later became the 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment. During World War I it served on the Western front as pioneers, seeing a great deal of action at Aubers Ridge, the Somme, Ypres, and in Italy. In World War II both the battalion and its duplicate served in the Battle of France and were evacuated from Dunkirk. The 5th Battalion then fought at the Second Battle of El Alamein while its duplicate unit served as an anti-aircraft regiment in the campaign in North West Europe. Neither unit was reformed after the war.


1st Cinque Ports 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. A number of these were formed in the Cinque Ports towns along the coast of Sussex and Kent. The 1st Cinque Ports RVC, commanded by Captain the Hon George Waldegrave, was raised out of the Hastings Rifle Club, which in all but name was the successor of the old Cinque Ports Volunteers of about 1789.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Volunteer Force
The volunteers drilled at the Market Hall in George Street and began rifle practice at Rock-a-Nore, where they shot at targets set at the base of the cliffs. Later that year, Lady Waldegrave allowed them to set up a range shooting across Ecclesbourne Glen, which they used for many years until a new rifle range was opened in Warren Glen in May 1901. Most of the volunteers provided their own rifles and the corps funded its own uniforms. By the middle of 1859 it had reached 70 members, and was officially adopted on 17 December 1859.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Volunteer Force
An Administrative Battalion to control the Cinque Ports RVCs was formed at Hastings in late 1860 under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon Henry Hall Gage of the Royal Sussex Light Infantry Militia:


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Volunteer Force
The 2nd Administrative Battalion, Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteer Corps formed at Dover in December 1861 took over the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th (disbanded 1863), 7th, and 8th Cinque Ports RVCs, later joined by:


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Volunteer Force
However, the 2nd Admin Bn was broken up in 1874, its corps being either absorbed into the 5th Kent RVC or added to the 4th Kent Admin Bn.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Volunteer Force
A drill hall was opened in Middle Street, Hastings, in 1861, to be used by the Cinque Ports Rifles and the 1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers. A replacement building was erected on the same site in 1895.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Volunteer Force
Under the 'Localisation of the Forces' scheme introduced by the Cardwell Reforms of 1872, Volunteers were grouped into county brigades with their local Regular and Militia battalions. This was in Sub-District No 43 in South Eastern District for the Cinque Ports Battalion, grouped with the 35th (Royal Sussex) and 107th Regiments of Foot, the Royal Sussex Light Infantry Militia and the 1st and 2nd Sussex RVCs.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Royal Sussex Regiment
When the RVCs were consolidated in 1880, the 1st Admin Bn became the 1st Cinque Ports (Cinque Ports and Sussex) Rifle Volunteers. The Childers Reforms of 1881 took Cardwell's reforms further, the linked battalions becoming county regiments to which the Volunteers were formally affiliated. The 35th and 107th became the Royal Sussex Regiment on 1 July 1881, the 1st Cinque Ports becoming its third volunteer battalion (VB), but without changing its title. The 1st Cinque Ports now had the following organisation:


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Royal Sussex Regiment
Arthur Montagu Brookfield, a former lieutenant in the 13th Hussars, took over as commanding officer (CO) with the rank of lieutenant-colonel on 13 September 1884. He found problems obtaining suitable officers: the local rural gentry were distrustful of military service and it was difficult to persuade busy professional men to take commissions. Brookfield was elected MP for Rye in 1885, and became secretary of the influential Service Members' Committee in the House of Commons, helping to counter the antipathy of senior army officers towards the volunteers.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Royal Sussex Regiment
While Cardwell's sub-districts were later referred to as 'brigades', they were purely administrative organisations and the Volunteers were excluded from the 'mobilisation' part of the scheme. 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 1st Cinque Ports formed part of the Dover Brigade, later entitled the South Eastern Brigade, before the Royal Sussex VBs formed their own Sussex Brigade at the end of the 1890s. This became the Sussex and Kent Brigade in the early 1900s.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Royal Sussex Regiment, Second Boer War
After Black Week in December 1899, the Volunteers were invited to send active service units to assist the Regulars in the Second Boer War. The War Office decided that one company 116 strong could be recruited from the volunteer battalions of any infantry regiment that had a regular battalion serving in South Africa. The Royal Sussex's VBs accordingly raised a service company that joined the 1st Battalion and earned the volunteer battalions their first Battle honour: South Africa 1900–02. The 1st Cinque Ports Rifles contingent left Hastings in February 1900, and a second contingent in February 1901.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Royal Sussex Regiment, Second Boer War
Meanwhile the 1st Cinque Ports' CO, Lt-Col Arthur Brookfield, commanded the 14th Battalion of the Imperial Yeomanry in South Africa. It is possible that some of his volunteers joined the 69th (Sussex) Company of this battalion, which was sponsored by the Sussex Yeomanry. Brookfield retired from the command of the Cinque Ports battalion in 1903 when he joined the Consular service, and was replaced by Brevet Colonel Charles Cafe, a retired regular officer.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Territorial Force
When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908, the battalion became the 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment:


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Territorial Force
The two TF battalions of the Royal Sussex (4th and 5th) were not included in the Home Counties Division, but were attached to it as 'Army Troops'.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Territorial Force
Before World War I the CO was Lt-Col Frederick George Langham, VD,  of the Hastings solicitors Young Coles & Langdon. He had been commissioned into the battalion on 13 March 1886, promoted to captain on 3 January 1891 and major on 4 November 1896. He was appointed Honorary Lt-Col on 28 July 1906, and promoted to Lt-Col in command in succession to Col Cafe on 21 October 1911. His younger brother Edward Hennah Langham was also commissioned into the battalion on 11 March 1896   and his son Cecil Richard on 19 August 1910. The Rev William Streatfeild, later Bishop of Lewes, was one of the battalion's chaplains, with the rank of Chaplain 4th Class (TF).


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, Mobilisation
5th (Cinque Ports) Bn assembled at Bordon Camp for its annual training on 26 July 1914, which included a four-day march to Salisbury, arriving on 3 August. Next day war was declared and the battalion returned to Hastings to mobilise before proceeding to its war station at Dover Castle.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, Mobilisation
TF units and formations were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service, and on 15 August 1914, the War Office 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. Later 3rd Line units were formed to train reinforcements for the others.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, Mobilisation
In September the Home Counties Division began to send battalions to Gibraltar to relieve the Regular garrison for active service with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front. Then at the end of October the whole division went to India to replace the Regulars. However the attached Royal Sussex battalions remained in England.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion
After mobilisation the battalion adopted the four-company organisation that was standard in the regulars:


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion
Later in 1914 the battalion was posted for duty at the Tower of London, where Lt-Col Langham had to arrange the execution by firing squad of the German spy Carl Hans Lody on 6 November. The selected spot, in the moat, turned out to be in public view, so Langham had to move the execution hurriedly to the indoor miniature rifle range. The firing party was from 3rd Bn Grenadier Guards.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion
In early 1915 the battalion was selected to go to France to reinforce the regulars with the BEF, and on 18 February it travelled from the Tower to Southampton  to embarked on the SS Pancras, landing at Boulogne under Lt-Col Langham next day. On 21 February it joined 2nd Brigade (in which 2nd Bn Sussex was serving) in 1st Division.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion
This formation had been badly cut up in the battles of 1914 and was still weak in numbers. On 10 March it was holding an exceptionally wet part of the front line, which was unsuitable for making an attack, so when the neighbouring formations launched the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, 1st Division's participation was limited to supporting rifle fire. 1/5th Sussex began sending working parties to the front and on 18 March it took over a section of frontline trenches near Festubert from 2nd Royal Sussex.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion
For the next few weeks it alternated with its regular battalion, working on improving trenches while in the line and suffering a trickle of casualties from the low-level Trench warfare. The battalion was bombed by German mortars on 29 April, and came under heavy bombardment on 1 May, suffering a number of casualties.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Aubers Ridge
1st Division was chosen to deliver the attack at the Battle of Aubers Ridge on 9 May; 1/5th Battalion was in support for 2nd Bde's assault. When the artillery bombardment entered its intense phase at 05.30 the leading battalions (including 2nd Sussex) clambered over their breastworks to establish themselves in No man's land about 80 yards (73 m) from the German defences.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Aubers Ridge
As soon as they went 'over the top' the leading waves were hit by heavy machine gun fire: many were killed on their own ladders and parapets, but the others went forward at the double and formed a general line; the supporting battalions followed up. When the guns lifted at 05.40, the leading waves dashed forwards, but were met by devastating machine gun and rifle fire. The  bombardment had failed to suppress the defenders, cut the barbed wire or make gaps in the German parapets.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Aubers Ridge
None of the assaulting wave got beyond the German parapet, and the 1/5th Sussex, following up, 'merely fell victims to German machine gun fire'. A renewed bombardment was begun at 06.15, but a second attempt to attack at 07.00 failed in the same way. For 1st Division the battle was over by 07.20; 1/5th Sussex had lost 11 officers and 191 other ranks (ORs) out of about 600 who went into action. After Aubers, 1st Division moved to the Cuinchy–Givenchy sector, which it defended while the next attack (the Battle of Festubert) was carried out nearby. During August the battalion was engaged in building a new camp at 'Garden City'.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Somme
On 20 August 1915 1/5th Royal Sussex moved to Hébuterne on the Somme where it transferred to a TF formation, the 48th (South Midland) Division, to serve as its pioneer battalion. The role of divisional pioneers was to provide working parties to assist the divisional Royal Engineers (RE) in tasks ranging from trench digging and wiring, to roadmaking and consolidating captured positions, while remaining fighting soldiers. In 1916 the CO's son, Capt Cecil Langham, formed the divisional Scout and Sniper Section, known as 'Langham's Scouts', with personnel drawn from the 1/5th Sussex.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Somme
The Somme was a quiet sector until the Spring of 1916, when preparations began for the 'Big Push' (the Battle of the Somme), involving huge amounts of engineering work, creating supply dumps and making roads, cable trenches, dugouts and shelters, sometimes under shellfire. Most of 48th (SM) Division was out of the line in corps reserve for the First day on the Somme (1 July) – the first time the battalion had been concentrated in one place for 11 months – but was ordered to repeat 29th Division's failed attack next day.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Somme
Two brigades prepared to attack, each with two battalions in line, and one company of 1/5th Royal Sussex to accompany each battalion. However, the attack was cancelled, and instead 1/5th Royal Sussex were set to help 29th Division's pioneers dig a new front line trench in No man's land, 350 yards (320 m) in front of the existing British front line and only 125–150 yards (114–137 m) from the German line; this was completed under heavy fire by 15 July.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Somme
During the Battle of Bazentin Ridge 48th (SM) Division was ordered to follow up 32nd Division's attack at Ovillers on 15 July. While B Company and half of C Company dug communication trenches at Crucifix Corner (including a tunnel that ended only 7 yards (6.4 m) from the German front line), the rest of the battalion paraded with tools to consolidate gains made by 143rd (Warwickshire) Bde on Usna Hill. The division pushed forward over succeeding days and attacked again during the Battle of Pozières on 23 July, while the 1/5th Bn worked on communication trenches. The division was relieved on 28 July and the battalion went by bus to rest in Domqueur.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Somme
After rest 1/5th Royal Sussex received training in  bridging techniques and then went to work on trenches and dugouts at Ovillers ahead of the arrival of the rest of the division on 12 August. The Battle of Pozières was still raging when the division took over the captured 'Skyline Trench'. Here it was heavily attacked and lost part of the trench, but recaptured it on 14/15 August. The shell-battered trench was difficult to consolidate, and the line consisted of a succession of posts. 1/5th Royal Sussex suffered severely from shelling while digging communication trenches.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Somme
It supplied Lewis gun teams to cover 144th (Gloucester & Worcester) Bde's attack on 21 August, dealing effectively with a counter attack. The division attacked again on 27 August. It was finally relieved next day, in mud and rain, and after rest 1/5th Bn's pioneers worked on tramways and light railways behind the lines. 48th (SM) Division had been transferred north to the Ancre sector, where 1/5th Bn rejoined it on 30 September.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Péronne
Low level fighting continued on the Ancre heights through the winter. 5th Royal Sussex constructed tracks and hutted camps – including its own 'Cinque Ports Camp' at Bazentin-le-Grand Wood. On 28 January 1917 the battalion moved by train with 144th Bde to relieve French troops at Cerisy-sur-Somme in front of Péronne. It worked on duckboarding communication trenches and maintaining observation posts (OPs) and signal lines. On 14 March the Germans began their retreat to the Hindenburg Line (Operation Alberich) and the divisional engineers had to bridge the River Somme before it could occupy Péronne while the pioneers worked on billets and advancing the roads and light railway towards the new front line.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Péronne
48th (SM) Division was relieved on 3 May, but the pioneers remained working in the front line until 11 May when they went back to Péronne. The divisional scouts were relieved on 7 May after three months' continuous work in the division's OPs. At the end of the month 5th Royal Sussex moved out to garrison the division's reserve line on the Cambrai road.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Péronne
At the end of the month it was rejoined by two officers and 87 ORs who had been doing duty with III Corps' light railway companies, bringing it almost back to full strength (39 officers and 10140 ORs). On the night of 7/ June No 1 Platoon quickly consolidated an enemy post captured by the 1/1st Buckinghamshire Battalion, completing the task before dawn, and next day completed the work left unfinished by the infantry. 5th Royal Sussex spent the rest of the month completing the defences in front of the Hindenburg Line.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Ypres
The battalion was relieved on 3 July as 48th (SM) Division moved north to join XVIII Corps in the Ypres Salient, where Fifth Army was preparing for the Third Ypres Offensive. The pioneers worked on light railways and in the Canal Bank sector, with the battalion having about 100 men sent to hospital with gas poisoning.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Ypres
48th (SM)  Division was not engaged in the first phase of the offensive (the Battle of Pilckem Ridge) on 31 July, but D Company of 5th Royal Sussex worked to open up 'Boundary Road' and 'Buffs Road' to allow the heavy artillery to move up. The division moved into the front line on 6 August to attack on 16 August on the resumption of the offensive (the Battle of Langemarck). The attacking brigade had hard fighting to capture a strongpoint in St Juien, and only got about 200 yards (180 m) beyond the Steenbee stream.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Ypres
Five platoons of 5th Royal Sussex had been sent up under Capt Langham to consolidate captured strongpoints but could do little, and Langham (the CO's son) was along those killed. The strongpoints were captured next day with the assistance of tanks, and the battalion spent the rest of the month on consolidation, after which it returned to work on Buffs Road.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Ypres
During September the battalion continued working on the roads, which were collapsing under the effects of the bad weather continuous fighting, and worked on one of the battlefield's notorious duckboard tracks. Casualties, particularly among C Company, were serious – on 12 October the battalion lost 4 ORs killed, 18 wounded, 47 horses killed and 18 wounded by one shell landing at 'Siege Camp'. Meanwhile the infantry of 48th (SM) Division had been fighting the Battles of Broodseinde (4 October) and Poelcappelle (9 October). 5th Royal Sussex was finally relieved from its duties on 7 November and moved south to the Vimy area.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Italy
On 10 November 1917 the 48th (SM) Division received orders to move to the Italian Front, where the Central Powers forces were threatening to break through after the Battle of Caporetto, and on 29 November 5th Royal Sussex detrained at Legnago on the Adige. It was then constantly on the move until 11 December when it reached Schiavon. By now the situation had been stabilised, so the division did not immediately go into the line, and 5th Royal Sussex spent December in training round Rubbio.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Italy
In January 1918 it was digging cable trenches and building camps around Marostica and the Valle San Floriana. On 17 January Lt-Col Langham was evacuated to hospital and Maj G.F. Eberle of the Rpyal Engineers took command, later being poroted to Lt-Col. At the end of the month it marched to Treviso and entrained for the GHQ training area round Trebaseleghe. Later detachments moved out to 5th Division's are to work on OPs for the heavy artillery, then moved to work in 7th Division's area.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Italy
On 1 March the rest of 48th (SM) Division arrived to relieve 7th Division in the front line of the Montello sector on the Piave Front, and held the line until 16 March. On 1 April it moved westward into reserve for the middle sector of the Asiago Plateau Front, where 5th Royal Sussex moved into 23rd Division's area to work on mountain roads before 48th (SM) Division took over the front on 23 April. The three British divisions then alternated in the line during the Spring.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Italy
On 15 June the Austro-Hungarian Army made what proved to be its last attack, known to the British participants as the Battle of Asiago. The 48th (SM) Division had been particularly hard-hit by the influenza epidemic (referred to as 'Mountain Fever' by the Royal Sussex), and its units came under heavy pressure before the positions were regained in a counter-attack. 5th Royal Sussex spent the day 'standing-to' in the Red Line until some fire, but was not required. After the battle it returned to erecting barbed wire and preparing heavy artillery positions and working under 7th and 23rd Divisions until mid-July.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Italy
On 23 July the battalion arrived at Granezza, near Asiago, where it worked on excavating dugouts and gun positions, establishing water points, and road repair in the forward area, hampered by the constant need to 'stand to' in the alarm posts and night time shelling by the enemy. At the end of August a detachment of 6 officers and 80 Ors was specially trained as guides for the forthcoming Allied offensive. This offensive, the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, was launched on 24 October.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Italy
Defeated on the Piave, the Austrians abandoned their positions on the Asiago Plateau on 29/30 October, and the 48th (SM) Division began a pursuit. 5th Royal Sussex sent forward special working parties that night to work on the roads leading from the British front line to Asiago, and this work was continued by relays of working parties. 48th (SM) Division attacked the Austrian Winterstellung (Winter position) on the morning of 1 November, and after breaking through it continued the pursuit down the gorge of the Val d'Assa. The pioneers repaired the road behind the advance, and provided patrols to deal with Austrian prisoners who had not yet been disarmed. C Company secured Fort Vezzena with only a few stray rifle shots fired.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Italy
By 15.00 on 4 November, when the Armistice of Villa Giusti came into force, the division had  pushed forward into the Trentino. After the conclusion of hostilities 5th Royal Sussex was engaged in clearing the battlefields, then the division was withdrawn to Italy for the winter. 5th Royal Sussex was billeted in Costa di Rovigo, assisting in repairing flood damage in January 1919. Demobilisation of 48th (SM) Division began in 1919 and was complete by 31 March. The cadre of the battalion returned to the UK in 1919 and was disembodied on 12 May.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 2/5th and 3/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalions
The 2/5th Battalion was formed at Hastings on 16 November 1914 and the 3/5th on 26 June 1915. The 2nd Home Counties Division had no requirement for the 2/5th Bn. On 7 September 1915 the 3/5th absorbed the 2/5th and six days later was itself redesignated as the 2/5th Bn. The combined battalion continued to provide reinforcement drafts for the 1/5th Bn on the Western Front. On 8 April 1916 it was redesignated the 5th (Reserve) Bn, and on 1 September it was absorbed into the 4th (Reserve) Bn at Horsham.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 2/5th and 3/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalions
After the 3rd Line TF battalions were formed in May 1915 the remaining Home Service and unfit men were separated  to form brigades of Coast Defence Battalions (termed Provisional Battalions from June 1915). The men from the 4th and 5th Royal Sussex were formed into 72nd Provisional 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. Part of these units' role was now physical conditioning to render men fit for drafting overseas.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 2/5th and 3/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalions
The Provisional Brigades thus became anomalous, and on 1 January 1917 the remaining battalions became numbered battalions of their parent units. 72nd Provisional Bn had disappeared, probably absorbed into 70th Provisional Bn originally formed from the men of 5th and 6th Bns, East Surrey Regiment, which became 15th Battalion, Royal Sussex. 70th Provisional Bn had been at Burnham-on-Sea as part of 8th Provisional Bde when that brigade was expanded into  72nd Division in November 1916. The battalion joined 215th Bde.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War I, 2/5th and 3/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalions
The division moved from Somerset to Eastern England, and 15th Sussex was stationed at Bedford by January 1917 and Ipswich by May. Early in 1918, 72nd Division began to be broken up: 15th Sussex moved to Cambridge where it was disbanded (sources give dates between 28 March and 19 August 1918).


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Interwar
The TF was reconstituted on 7 February 1920 and the 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion was reformed at Hastings. The following year the TF was reorganised as the Territorial Army (TA). The battalion was now in 133rd (Kent and Sussex) Brigade in the TA's 44th (Home Counties) Division.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Interwar
In the 1920s the Temple Grove School and Mayfield College cadet corps were affiliated to the battalion. The Middle Street Drill Hall was sold in 1933 and later demolished. By the outbreak of World War II the battalion's drill hall was at Bulverhythe, a suburb of Hastings.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Interwar
After the Munich Crisis the TA was rapidly doubled in size, with most units forming duplicates. This time the duplicate of the 5th Bn, formed at Hastings on 20 July 1939, was designated 7th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex. (There had been a previous 7th (Service) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment, in 1914–19; this was a Kitchener's Army unit that served in the original 12th (Eastern) Division.) 7th (Cinque Ports) Battalion was commanded by Lt-Col R. Gethen, with headquarters at Brighton.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, Mobilisation
The TA was mobilised on 1 September 1939. and when war was declared on 3 September the 44th (Home Counties) Division was in the process of organising its duplicate formation, the 12th (Eastern) Division: 7th Royal Sussex was assigned to 37th Brigade, the duplicate of 133rd. The two formations began their separate existence on 7 October 1939.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion
The battalion was initially employed guarding vulnerable points in Sussex. It then moved to Dorset to carry out training for deployment overseas. The HQ Wing seems to have been sent to Cattistock, with the other companies at Toller, Melbury and Evershot. On 7 October 133rd Bde re-assembled, and on 20 December the 4th and 5th Bns Royal Sussex were joined in the brigade by the regular 2nd Bn.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Battle of France
On 3 April 1940, the battalion left Cattistock for Southampton and was then shipped to Cherbourg on the night of the 8/9 April on board SS Amsterdam. The battalion's embarkation strength was 29 officers and 690 ORs. During the night of 9/10 April the battalion was moved on to Vivoin, and did some final training. It then moved to Belleuse, and then after two days marched to St. Pol, with the HQ being set up at Conteville, Somme, with the other companies at Eps, Pas-de-Calais and Hestrus.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Battle of France
When the German offensive in the west opened on 10 May, the BEF advanced into Belgium to the River Dyle in accordance with 'Plan D'. 44th (HC) Division moved up to the River Escaut in reserve. On 11 May the 5th Sussex went to Lillers to perform Line of Communication (LoC) guard duties. It then moved on to Vichtrat Peteghem (Belgium) by motor transport to take up defensive duties.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Battle of France
After arrival they were told to march back 17 miles into France, then after marching all night were ordered to turn round again and head straight back to where they had come from, so marched 35 miles in 24 hours. The German Army having broken through the Ardennes to the east, forcing the BEF to withdraw again, the whole force was now back across the Escaut. On 20 May the 5th Sussex went to Wortegem to take up defensive positions covering the Escaut, with trenches on the forward slopes.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Battle of France
Combat for 5th Bn began on 20 May when it came under shell and mortar fire. 44th (HC) Division was holding the most dangerous sector of the line, and despite its efforts the Germans established bridgeheads across the Escaut at dawn. That night the Germans had reached Petegem a mile across the river: an early-morning  counter-attack by 131st Bde (1/5th and 1/6th Queen's and 2nd Buffs) cleared them out.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Battle of France
But the following afternoon the enemy returned to the attack and 131st Bde was driven back; soon the Queen's could only raise a single composite company to join 5th Sussex in preventing further penetration. The attack was renewed on 22 May and there was bitter fighting on 44th (HC) Division's front. Although it  was badly chewed up, there had been no breakthrough: it was the deep penetration further east that forced the BEF to withdraw. 5th Sussex retreated to Courtrai, and then next day to the hospital for incurables at St Andre (near Lille), where 160 casualties were reported. Here the BEF was defending the 'Canal Line', with 44th (HC) Division in GHQ reserve.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Battle of France
On 24 May the battalion was sent to Vieux-Berquin, and next day to Strazeele where it encountered German tanks and took heavy fire. On the 25/26 the battalion moved on to Rouge Croix, taking a defensive position where 44th (HC) Division was covering Hazebrouck. On 26 May the decision was made to evacuate the BEF through Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo). Next day the battalion came under heavy fire from dive bombers and shells as 44th (HC) Division was attacked by German Panzer divisions.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Battle of France
The division fought on doggedly until ordered to withdraw, by which time the enemy's advanced columns had penetrated between its widely-spread units. With its flanks 'in the air' after neighbouring French formations retreated during the night of 28/29 May, the divisional commander decided to withdraw while a rearguard of divisional artillery and engineers held Mont des Cats. The 5th Sussex retreated via Poperinghe, to Bray Dunes from where they were eventually evacuated, landing in England on 1 June.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Home defence
On return to England 44th (HC) Division rejoined Southern Command, but before the end of June went to I Corps in Northern Command while reorganisation and re-equipment continued. In November 1940 44th (HC) Division was transferred to XII Corps in invasion-threatened South East England where it remained until early April 1942. Once the imminent danger of invasion had passed, training for offensive action began. For much of this training period 44th (HC) Division was commanded by Maj-Gen Brian Horrocks, in South-Eastern Command under Lt-Gen Bernard Montgomery, the two commanders under whom it would fight in the desert.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Home defence
44th (HC) Division came under War Office control on 3 April 1942, preparatory to overseas service, and on 29 May 1942 it embarked for Egypt, via Freetown, Cape Town and Aden.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Alam el Halfa
The division arrived at Suez in Egypt on 24 July, shortly after Eighth Army had retreated to the El Alamein position. At first it was in the Nile Delta defences in the rear, then on 14 August the division was called forward by Gen Montgomery and the following day assigned to XIII Corps under Lt-Gen Horrocks. The division was positioned with 133rd Bde on the vital Alam Halfa ridge, where Gen Rommel was expected to attack the El Alamein line, and its positions were protected by minefields and artillery, with armour on its flanks to counter-attack.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Alam el Halfa
When the attack came in on 30 August (the Battle of Alam el Halfa), the Panzers spent hours attempting to break through in the darkness and early morning. Over the next two days the Panzers made repeated attacks but 44th (HC) Division held its position and the Panzers suffered heavy casualties. By 3 September the division was counter-attacking.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Alam el Halfa
After Alam Halfa, 133rd Bde with 5th Sussex was detached from 44th (HC) Division on 8 September and joined first 8th Armoured Division briefly, and then, from 29 September, 10th Armoured Division, which was lacking a Lorried Infantry Brigade. Shortage of equipment meant that the conversion to 'lorried infantry' was only just completed in time for the Second Battle of El Alamein.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Alamein
This battle was launched with Operation Lightfoot on the night of 23/24 October. 10th Armoured Division lay up some 13–16 miles behind the starting line until after dark, when it advanced to the 'Springbok Track' and topped up with fuel. After the infantry divisions had advanced, it was the turn of the armoured divisions to pass through gaps made by the sappers in the enemy's minefields. 10th Armoured Division started promptly at 02.00 and its armour reached the Miteirya Ridge (the objective codenamed 'Oxalic') but could not get beyond that to its second objective ('Pierson'). 133rd Lorried Bde had still not left Springbok by dawn. The following night, the division  prepared to advance from 'Oxalic' to 'Pierson', with 133rd Bde acting as a pivot on Miteirya Ridge. Mines, air attacks and enemy gunfire slowed the advance from the congested minefield gaps.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Alamein
'Lightfoot' had failed to break through: there followed what Montgomery termed the 'Dogfight' part of the battle. On 27 October 1st Armoured Division failed again to break through, and the corps commander sent 133rd Bde up to reinforce 1st Armoured's 7th Motor Brigade holding the 'Snipe' and 'Woodcock' positions. Ground reconnaissance was impossible in daylight, and 133rd Bde HQ could not locate 7th Motor Bde's positions; after dark it was found that neither 'Snipe' nor 'Woodcock' was in British hands. 133rd Brigade therefore set off to capture them, with only a simple artillery fireplan in view of the confused situation. The attack was launched at 22.30; 4th Royal Sussex had its reserve company destroyed trying deal with heavy fire from the left. The rest of the battalion dug in, but at dawn was found to be isolated and was overrun by the enemy.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Alamein
The second phase of the offensive, Operation Supercharge, was launched on the night of 1/2 November. 133rd Bde attacked alongside the New Zealand 28th Maori Battalion, securing objectives that covered the flanks of the main attack. On 2 November, 5th (Cinque Ports) Bn with strong artillery support put in a successful attack on 'Snipe' as the Axis defences began to crumble. 133rd Brigade advanced through the 'February' minefield on 3 November, but got held up on the 'Avon' minefield until 5 November. However, by now the enemy was withdrawing. After the battle 133rd Bde was left behind to collect prisoners while Eighth Army pursued the beaten enemy westwards.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 4th/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion
133rd Bde was broken up on 31 December 1942, and on New Year's Day 1943 and 5th (Cinque Ports) Bn was combined with the survivors of 4th Royal Sussex as a single unit: 4th/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion. This became a permanent amalgamation. The battalion was sent from Egypt to Iraq, and on arrival on 1 February it came under the command of 27th Indian Infantry Brigade in 6th Indian Division. This formed part of Tenth Army, protecting the vital oilfields and lines of communication to the Soviet Union.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 4th/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion
The battalion spent the rest of the war moving around Middle East Command: it arrived in Persia on 17 April 1943, returning to Iraq on 26 September. It then moved to Palestine on 28 March 1944, back to Persia on 24 May, and finally returned to Iraq on 16 April 1945.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 4th/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion
After the war the battalion passed into suspended animation on 15 June 1946.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 7th (Cinque Ports) Battalion
During the Phoney War the 12th (E) Division was in Eastern Command, training and undertaking coast defence duties. However, the BEF required additional labour units, and the partly-trained infantry battalions (without the divisional artillery, etc) were sent to France, joining the BEF Lines of Communication (LoC) on 22 April 1940. The men were employed in building bases, airfields, raids and railways.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 7th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Battle of France
On 17 May the threat to the BEF's LoC was obvious, and the 2nd Line TA divisions working on labour projects were concentrated for possible action, 12th (E) Division gathering around Amiens. 37th Brigade, with only the 6th and 7th Sussex present, arrived at Amiens by train and was caught by a Luftwaffebombing raid that destroyed one of the trains. The troops were extricated and the two battalions moved out south of Amiens, with little more than their rifles to halt the German Panzers. On 20 May the 1st Panzer Division broke through at Albert and drove on to Amiens. Here the 7th (Cinque Ports) Battalion fought to a finish and was destroyed.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 7th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Home Defence
12th (Eastern) Division had been effectively destroyed during the Battle of France, and was not reformed after the survivors were evacuated. However, the 7th (Cinque Ports) Battalion was rebuilt, in what was now 37th (Independent) Brigade, operating directly under II Corps in Norfolk. In February 1941 the brigade transferred to XI Corps, but it was still guarding the Norfolk coast.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 7th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Home Defence
At the end of 1941 the battalion was selected to be retrained in the light anti-aircraft (LAA) role equipped with Bofors 40 mm guns. It left 37th Bde on 19 November, and on 1 January 1942 it transferred to the Royal Artillery (RA) as 109th (Royal Sussex) LAA Regiment, comprising Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) and 357, 358 and 339 LAA Batteries.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 109th (Royal Sussex) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment
The new regiment was originally part of Anti- Aircraft Command, but left in February before it was allocated to a brigade. Instead it joined the field force as the AA regiment in I Corps District.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 109th (Royal Sussex) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment
By early 1943 the regiment was in GHQ Reserve, organised as a mobile unit:


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 109th (Royal Sussex) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment
By the summer of 1943 the regiment had been assigned to 21st Army Group training for the planned Allied invasion of Normandy (Operation Overlord).


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 109th (Royal Sussex) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, North West Europe
Operation Overlord was launched on D Day, 6 June 1944. 109th LAA Regiment formed part of 106 AA Bde, which began arriving in Normandy on D + 4. It had been intended that the brigade would be deployed to protect 12 airfields, but because the beachhead was still so shallow the usable airfields were well within the cover of the existing AA defences. Eventually, eight airfields were active, four having one Heavy AA (HAA) battery and two LAA Troops, the others having two LAA troops only. The deployment was frustrating for the units, not only because there were surplus guns, but because Royal Air Force airfield commanders refused all permission to fire unless the places were actually being attacked.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 109th (Royal Sussex) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, North West Europe
With the breakout from the Normandy beachhead in late August, 106th AA Bde was freed from its commitments to RAF airfields. While the rest of the brigade followed 21st Army Group's advance, 109th LAA Rgt was sent to Cherbourg to reinforce 101 AA Bde, deployed to protect the port under US command. The regiment arrived on 25 August and remained there when 5 Royal Marines AA Bde took over on 4 September.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 109th (Royal Sussex) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, North West Europe
The British AA cover for Cherbourg was finally withdrawn on 5 October  and on 19 October the regiment arrived at Mook Bridge on the River Maas, which had been captured during Operation Market Garden and was an important link in XXX Corps' supply lines. At Mook the regiment relieved 71st LAA Rgt and came under command of 106 AA Bde once more. It continued with 106 AA Bde protecting river and canal crossings in XXX Corps' area through the winter months. and remained with XXX Corps during the operations in the Reichswald in February 1945 (Operation Veritable).


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 109th (Royal Sussex) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, North West Europe
106th AA Brigade was freed of its bridge defence commitments in March in order to support XXX Corps for Operation Plunder, the assault crossing of the Rhine. Together with 71st LAA, the regiment had to deal with Fighter-bomber attacks in the Uden–Weeze triangle where XXX Corps' major communication centres, artillery lines and dumps of engineering equipment. The regiments replied to these day and night attacks with high-power concentrations of fire and radar-controlled barrages. They also had to cope with a few 'snap' attacks by single aircraft at low level.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 109th (Royal Sussex) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, North West Europe
Immediately after the Rhine crossing had been launched on the night of 23/24 March, 71st and 109th LAA moved up to cover the bridging operations. Scattered attacks by the Luftwaffe began after nightfall on 24/25 March. 106th AA Brigade reported 20+ Junkers Ju 88s operating that night, often in medium- and low-level divebombing attacks. Some were illuminated by the searchlights (SLs) and were engaged by 109th and 71st LAA Rgts, with 343rd LAA Bty claiming two destroyed.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 109th (Royal Sussex) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, North West Europe
The following night the attacks were repeated by 30+ JU 88s at medium height, some of the attacks directed against the SLs supporting the crossings. The AA S/Ls were effective at picking up the attackers and a number were destroyed by the guns, while others were forced to take evasive action. The next night saw a similar level of activity, but thereafter 21st Army Group's advance pushed deeper into Germany and the last significant Luftwaffe activity over the Rhine was on the night of 27/28 March.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 109th (Royal Sussex) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, North West Europe
The regiment was transferred to 100 AA Bde for the crossing of the Weser, followed by the crossing of the Elbe (Operation Enterprise) on 29 April, with 109th covering field gun and marshalling areas under the Commander, RA, of VIII Corps. This led to a hot AA battle against last-ditch efforts by the Luftwaffe, 100 AA Bde engaging about 60 Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 single-engined fighters delivering bomb and machine gun attacks. Although the AA fire deterred many of the attacks, one bridge was briefly put out of action on 1 May, which did not prevent 21st Army Group breaking out of its bridgeheads and driving towards Hamburg.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 109th (Royal Sussex) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, North West Europe
As Germany collapsed, the AA guns were ordered to cease fire on 4 May, and hostilities ended with the German surrender at Lüneburg Heath on 7 May. Postwar, 100 AA Bde was employed as occupation troops in Hamburg.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, World War II, 109th (Royal Sussex) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, North West Europe
109th (Royal Sussex) LAA Rgt began entering 'suspended animation' in British Army of the Rhine on 23 February 1946, and completed the process by 9 March.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Postwar
After the TA was reconstituted on 1 January 1947, the 4th/5th (Cinque Ports) Bn, Royal Sussex, was reformed as a single unit at Worthing and the 5th Bn did not regain its independence. 109th (Royal Sussex) LAA Rgt was disbanded.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Postwar
The TA was reduced into the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve (TAVR) on 1 April 1967, when the 4th/5th (Cinque Ports) Bn was broken up to form two subunits, one of which was C (Cinque Ports) Company in 5th (Volunteer) Bn, Queen's Regiment, at St Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Postwar
The TAVR was reduced further on 1 April 1969, the TAVR III elements being reduced to cadres: 9th Queen's became a cadre under 5th Queen's, with some personnel at Eastbourne forming a platoon of C (Cinque Ports) Company. (Another platoon was formed in Sussex in June 1970, at Crawley, from elements of 8th (West Kent) Bn, Queen's.)


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Postwar
This company continued until 1 July 1999 when the 5th (V) Bn was merged into 3rd (V) Bn Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment and the Cinque Ports company at Hastings was disbanded.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Heritage and ceremonial, Uniforms & Insignia
When first formed, many of the RVCs adopted 'Volunteer' grey uniforms instead of the Regulars' scarlet. The 1st (Hastings) Cinque Ports RVC appears to have worn grey with red facings. Later the 1st Cinque Ports battalion wore grey with blue facings, only adopting the scarlet uniform with blue facings of the Royal Sussex in 1899. It was also allowed to bear the Coat of arms of the Cinque Ports on its appointments. As pioneers 1915–18, the men of 1/5th Bn wore a brass badge on each collar in the form of a crossed rifle and pick. As an established TA unit, the 7th Bn was allowed to retain its Royal Sussex cap badge and buttons when it transferred to the Royal Artillery in 1942.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Heritage and ceremonial, Memorials
There is a brass plaque in St Peter's Church, Brighton, to the seven men of 1st VB, Royal Sussex, who died on service in the Second Boer War. The Royal Sussex Regiment's main Boer War memorial stands in Regency Square, Brighton; it lists 160 names, including the casualties of the Volunteer Service Companies


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Heritage and ceremonial, Memorials
The Royal Sussex Regiment's Memorial Chapel (St George's Chapel) in Chichester Cathedral lists the regiment's World War I dead on a series of panels by battalion, with a memorial book for those of WWII. There are additional World War I memorials, to the men of the Cinque Ports at Lympne, Kent, and to the men of the Cinque Ports and the towns of Rye and Winchelsea at St Thomas the Martyr Church, Winchelsea. A memorial to E Company, 5th (Cinque Ports) Bn, originally in the Drill Hall at Rye, is now in the Ypres Tower Museum.


1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers, Heritage and ceremonial, Memorials
The memorial to the 7th (Cinque Ports) Bn and the men who died in the stand at Amiens in 1940 comprises a set of memorial gates in the Lady Chapel of St Nicholas of Myra Church in Brighton.


1st Civil Affairs Group
1st Civil Affairs Group (1st CAG) is a civil affairs (CA) unit of the United States Marine Corps based at Camp Pendleton, California. It is one of three civil affairs units in the Marine Corps, all of which are reserve units. 1st CAG tends to support I Marine Expeditionary Force activities.


1st Civil Affairs Group, Mission
Plan and execute civil military operations while serving as the liaison between military forces and civil authorities, the local population and non-governmental organizations. Conduct activities which enhance the relationship between the military and host nation personnel and organizations facilitated through application of civil affairs specialty skills in areas normally the responsibility of civil governments.


1st Civil Affairs Group, History
1st CAG was activated June 6, 1985, originally as 3d CAG, at Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center, Los Angeles. Between 1987 and 1988, the group recruited and trained Marines to fulfill its mission of providing civil affairs support to active forces in training exercises in the United States and overseas.


1st Civil Affairs Group, History, As the 3rd CAG
During mid-August 1990, a provisional CA detachment deployed to Saudi Arabia to support I MEF in Southwest Asia for Operation Desert Shield. CA teams worked with I MEF personnel to reduce the chemical threat posed by the extensive chemical storage facilities at the commercial port of Al Jubail. CA Marines assisted in formalizing relations with Saudi civil defense and police forces to coordinate civil and military traffic patterns. In late December the majority of 3rd CAG Marines returned to the United States. The entire 3rd CAG was activated and deployed to Saudi Arabia in January 1991 for Operation Desert Storm. In April 1991, 3rd CAG returned home from deployment and was released from active duty.


1st Civil Affairs Group, History, As the 3rd CAG
In addition to conducting civil affairs activities, 3rd CAG provided limited tactical psychological operations support for mission accomplishment. 3rd CAG also relocated from Los Angeles to Camp Pendleton, California. The unit began providing liaison officers to I MEF, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Logistics Group, Marine Expeditionary Units, and the I MEF MAGTF Pacific, increasing 3rd CAG's accessibility and support to fleet units. In the summer of 1994, 3rd CAG proposed a revised table of organization to Headquarters Marine Corps that added a psychological operations planning detachment. 3rd CAG responded to potential hostilities in Iraq in October 1994 by deploying two Marines to Saudi Arabia..


1st Civil Affairs Group, History, As the 3rd CAG
As a reserve unit, 3rd CAG developed programs to better support active duty units to include training and deployments with the 11th MEU, 13th MEU, 15th MEU, and 31st MEU. 3rd CAG assumed the mission of military support to civilian authorities, as a liaison for I MEF.


1st Civil Affairs Group, History, As the 3rd CAG
From November 1995 through February 1996, 3rd CAG operated a displaced civilian refugee camp in Guam for Kurdish refugees during Operation Pacific Haven. The unit supported Operation Joint Guard in Bosnia from June 1997 to January 1999.


1st Civil Affairs Group, History, As the 3rd CAG
In the late 1990s, 3rd CAG Marines and Sailors supported the active components of all branches of the U.S. military during exercises and operations in Thailand, Korea, Kenya, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Japan, and the United States.


1st Civil Affairs Group, History, As the 3rd CAG
In 2001, 3rd CAG supported civic action programs for United States Southern Command in Central and South America, relying heavily upon the bilingual capabilities of its many Spanish-speaking Marines. 3rd CAG also provided staff planning support to I MEF and its forward operating units engaged in Operation Enduring Freedom, as well as to III MEF in support of exercises in Thailand and Korea. In November 2001, 3rd CAG activated and deployed a detachment of ten Marines to Kosovo to support United Nations peacekeeping operations. In May 2002, a second detachment of ten Marines was deployed to Kosovo. From 2001 to 2003, 3rd CAG also deployed Marines to Kuwait as part of Combined Joint Task Force – Consequence Management (C/JTF-CM), to serve as the primary liaisons between the Task Force and the Kuwaiti national government during Operations Enduring Freedom and then Iraqi Freedom.


1st Civil Affairs Group, History, As the 3rd CAG, Iraq War
In January 2003, 3rd CAG mobilized for Operation Enduring Freedom and deployed to Kuwait in anticipation of combat operations in Iraq. With the commencement of the ground war in March 2003, 3rd CAG helped restore Iraq's infrastructure and government, concluding its first tour of Operation Iraqi Freedom in September 2003.


1st Civil Affairs Group, History, As the 3rd CAG, Iraq War
In January 2004, 3rd CAG mobilized and deployed for a second tour in Iraq to support I MEF in al-Anbar province and returned to Camp Pendleton in August.


1st Civil Affairs Group, History, As the 3rd CAG, Iraq War
A detachment from 3rd CAG mobilized and deployed to Iraq from January to October 2005 as part of provisional 5th CAG in support of II MEF in al-Anbar. Major Ricardo A. Crocker died on May 26, 2005, from a rocket propelled grenade explosion while conducting combat operations in Hadithah, Iraq.


1st Civil Affairs Group, History, As the 3rd CAG, Iraq War
In December 2005, 3rd CAG mobilized and deployed in March 2006 for a third tour in Iraq to support I MEF in al-Anbar and returned to Camp Pendleton in October 2006.


1st Civil Affairs Group, History, As the 3rd CAG, Afghanistan War
In 2008, a detachment from 3rd CAG deployed to Afghanistan in support of the Marines in Farah Province and Helmand Province. In 2010, another detachment deployed to Helmand Province in support of II MEF Forward.


1st Civil Affairs Group, History, 1st CAG
In 2012, 3d CAG was designated as 1st CAG, to recognize its geographical location complemented by its historical association and relationship with I MEF.


1st Civil Affairs Group, Unit awards
A unit citation or commendation is an award bestowed upon an organization for the action cited. Members of the unit who participated in said actions are allowed to wear on their uniforms the awarded unit citation. 3rd CAG has been presented with the following awards:


1st Class (album)
1st Class is the second full-length album that Large Professor released in 2002. It has a guest appearance from Large Professor's longtime friend Nas as well as Busta Rhymes, Akinyele and Q-Tip. In this album, Q-Tip  drops one of the best verse after years. Large Pro delivered a simple boom-bap beat with harmonizing gospel vocals that is turned down real low in the mix that affects a smoothly reflective mood.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia)
The 1st Close Health Battalion (1CHB) is a unit of the 17th Sustainment Brigade of the Australian Army. It is headquartered at the Robertson Army Barracks in Darwin, but has sub-units located in Darwin, Townsville and Brisbane. The unit traces its lineage back to the 1st Field Hospital, which was raised in the 1960s for service as part of Australia's contribution to the Vietnam War. Since then, the unit has changed names twice and personnel have been deployed on numerous peacekeeping and warlike operations throughout Africa, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Role
When the unit was first formed as a field hospital during the Vietnam War, it was organised as a "Level 3" (now described as "Role 3") health facility, tasked with provision of initial wound surgery (surgical resuscitation) for combat casualties and medium to high intensity nursing care in the area of operations, as well as a definitive diagnosis of the casualty's condition.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Role
Following the reorganisation of the Australian Army's health assets in late 2011, these functions were vested in the 2nd General Health and 3rd Health Support Battalions, and 1 CHB took over responsibility for provision of Role 1 medical support that was previously vested within the health companies that existed in the multi-functional combat service support battalions.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Role
1CHB now provides close health support to deployed land force elements through the provision of Role 1 medical support. This entails forward positioning of assets within a battlespace to provide a number of close health effects, "including collection from [point of injury], resuscitation, stabilisation and evacuation, and emergency diagnostics". The unit currently focuses primarily upon the following key tasks: "primary health care, first aid, triage, resuscitation, stabilization, evacuation, on-route care, casualty staging, ... [ and] ... patient holding". In addition, the battalion can also provide limited rehabilitation and reconditioning services to deployed forces, and is responsible for management of combat medical supplies, and provides uniformed personnel to support civilian health personnel within garrison medical facilities.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Raising the unit
1CHB's historical roots date back to Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. In April 1966, during the Vietnam War the 2nd Field Ambulance was raised at Vung Tau. A year later, 8th Field Ambulance took over from 2nd Field Ambulance. Another year on, 1 April 1968, 1st Australian Field Hospital was raised and took over the Australian military hospital at Vung Tau from 8th Field Ambulance.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Raising the unit
In December 1971, the unit returned to Australia and was located at Manunda Lines, Ingleburn in New South Wales. At this time, the unit name was changed to the 1st Field Hospital. The 1st Field Hospital was relocated to a purpose built medical facility at Holsworthy Army Barracks in Sydney, in January 1996. On 16 August 2000, the 1st Field Hospital was re-designated as the 1st Health Support Battalion (1HSB).


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Raising the unit
In November 2011, the unit was re-roled as part of a restructuring of Army health units. It was subsequently renamed the 1st Close Health Battalion, subsuming the health companies previously forming part of the combat service support battalions within the 1st, 3rd and 7th Brigades based in Darwin, Townsville and Brisbane. These companies were redesignated as the 2nd, 8th and 11th Close Health Companies, perpetuating the designations of various field ambulances that had service histories dating back to the First World War. The unit's headquarters was in Sydney, but they began moving to Robertson Barracks, in Darwin, in late 2018.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Call Sign Vampire
Radio operators in Vietnam allocated the Call Sign "Vampire" to all the Australian medical units at the Vung Tau base: 2nd Field Ambulance, 8th Field Ambulance and the 1st Australian Field Hospital. This resulted in the adoption of the fighting bat logo, which was originally used by the 2nd Field Ambulance. This was a different logo that which is currently used by 1 CHB. The current design of the bat logo was the result of a competition organised by the Commanding Officer of the 1st Field Hospital, then Lieutenant Colonel (later Major General) David Rossi, during 1977–1979. The criteria stipulated for the design was that it should be easily identified by the unit, involve the use of the Call Sign Vampire and represent a distinguishable piece of history from which to build upon.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Vietnam War (1966–1971)
Between April and June 1966, the 1st Australian Logistic Support Group (1ALSG) set up a logistics base on the coast of Vung Tau in Vietnam. This base was to support the 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF), who had set up an operational base at Nui Dat, approximately 20 miles inland from Vung Tau in the centre of Phuoc Tuy Province, south-east of Saigon.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Vietnam War (1966–1971)
At the logistics base at Vung Tau, a restricted Field Ambulance was set up comprising half a stretcher bearer company and a 50-bed hospital. It was raised on 1 April 1966 and known as the 2nd Field Ambulance. An Australian medical unit was now at war for the first time since 1945. The unit had approximately 100 personnel, a mixture of regular and conscripted soldiers. Prior to the raising of the 2nd Field Ambulance, medical support for the Australian troops was provided by the Americans.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Vietnam War (1966–1971)
In February 1967, mass casualties arrived at the hospital from three different incidents almost simultaneously. This exposed the limitations of the hospital's operating theatre with three operating tables in a single Kingstrand hut. The modern weapons used during the Vietnam War were producing severe, multiple contaminated wounds with massive tissue damage, much greater than had ever been experienced by Australian Army clinicians. Surgery was often performed at the same time as the initial resuscitation efforts.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Vietnam War (1966–1971)
On 1 April 1967, the 2nd Field Ambulance at Vung Tau was taken over by the 8th Field Ambulance. It was located in two areas with the main hospital element at the Vung Tau base and a detached forward company at Nui Dat. 171 battle casualties were admitted to the hospital over a period of six months (4 September 1967 to 3 March 1968). There was only one fatality during this period, but most severely injured soldiers with poor prognosis were treated at 36 Evacuation Hospital, the major United States medical facility in Vung Tau.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Vietnam War (1966–1971)
As Australia's military commitment to Vietnam increased, so did the medical services supporting it. On 1 April 1968 the 1st Australian Field Hospital (1 Aust FD Hosp) was raised. The word "Australian" was used in the unit name so as to differentiate it from the American Field Hospital. This unit became the main Australian medical unit in Vietnam. On the raising of the 1 Aust FD Hosp, 8th Field Ambulance moved to Nui Dat where it had already established a forward company.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Vietnam War (1966–1971)
The Australian military hospital at Vung Tau expanded from 50 beds to 106 beds, including a 50-bed surgical ward, a 50-bed medical war and a 6-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU).The hospital was fully functional with the necessary military hospital facilities and services including triage which could take up to six simultaneous casualties and could expand to 16 if necessary, Operating theatres with three operating tables, pathology, x-ray, dental, pharmacy, Regimental Aid Post (RAP), physiotherapy, and psychiatry. These services were supported by a Q Store, an orderly room, administration, messes and accommodation.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Vietnam War (1966–1971)
Personnel of 1 Aust FD Hosp consisted of regular and conscripted soldiers from the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps (RAAMC), Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps (RAANC), Royal New Zealand Nursing Corps (RNZNC), transport drivers of the Royal Australian Army Service Corps now known as Royal Australian Corps of Transport, Chaplains Department and the Catering Corps. The surgical capacity was maintained by the Citizens Military Force (CMF) specialists from the Australian Army, Navy and Air Force, today known as Reserves, plus civilian specialists who undertook three-month tours.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Vietnam War (1966–1971)
General Medical Officers were made up mainly of Australian Regular Army (ARA) and CMF full-time commissions. Also attached to the site were 33 Dental Unit, 1 Field Medical & Dental, 1 Field Hygiene Coy and a unit of the Red Cross. Most permanent medical personnel served in country for 12 months.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Vietnam War (1966–1971)
An increase in use of fragmentation weapons such as rocket-propelled grenades and mines resulted in a doubling of battle casualties from March to August 1969 compared with the previous six months with battle casualties accounting for 33.1% of all admissions in 1969. In October 1969, 36 Evacuation Hospital closed, requiring the surgical facilities of 1 Aust FD Hosp to cope with all casualties, including severe injuries previously treated by the US facility. As history has shown in most military conflicts, disease cases in the Vietnam War outnumbered battle casualties. Other presentations to 1 Aust FD Hosp included cases of malaria, scrub typhus and sexually transmitted diseases.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Vietnam War (1966–1971)
The high standard of para-medical services provided by 1 Aust FD Hosp was such that nearly 99% on patients who reached the hospital alive survived their injury or illness. This is a remarkable achievement, given that many of the casualties arrived at the hospital barely clinging to life with severe injuries. The use of medical evacuation ("Dustoff") helicopters enabled a soldier to be receive emergency treatment at the hospital within thirty minutes of being wounded or injured in the field. This was only possible due to the air superiority of the helicopters, which allowed mostly unimpeded, rapid access to combat zones.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Vietnam War (1966–1971)
Australia's combat role in Vietnam ended on 7 November 1971 with the withdrawal of most of the 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (4RAR) from Nui Dat. On 25 November, most of the medical personnel were withdrawn from 1 Aust FD Hosp. The hospital remained in operation until December 1971 when the bulk of Australian grounds forces returned to Australia. Meanwhile, the 8th Field Ambulance had reopened at Vung Tau on 20 November to support the residual Australian force that remained there, until it too was withdrawn to Australia in late February 1972.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Vietnam War (1966–1971)
From the time of the arrival of the first Australian military members in 1962, some 50,000 Australians, including ground troops and air force and navy personnel, served in Vietnam. 520 died as a result of the war and almost 2,400 were wounded.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Vietnam War (1966–1971)
The numbers of personnel serving in the medical units at Vung Tau were:


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Vietnam War (1966–1971)
Personnel deployed to Vietnam received the Vietnam Medal for recognition of service in the Vietnam War and the Australian Active Service Medal 1945–1975 for recognition of service in a warlike operation.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Namibia (1989–1990)
1 FD Hosp health service personnel were deployed to the then South West Africa in April 1989 until March 1990 as part of the Australian contingent of the United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG). UNTAG was deployed as a United Nations peacekeeping force to monitor the peace process, and ensure free and fair elections leading to Namibia's independence, and the ending of South Africa's occupation. The Australian contingent was largely made up of engineers from the 17th Construction Squadron.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Namibia (1989–1990)
Australian military personnel deployed to Namibia were awarded the Australian Service Medal (ASM) with the Namibia clasp for recognition of service in peacekeeping and non-warlike operations. Following a review in 2001, the ASM was upgraded to the Australian Active Service Medal (AASM) for recognition of service in a warlike operation. Personnel also received the United Nations UNTAG medal.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Gulf War (1990–1991)
The Gulf War commenced on 2 August 1990 when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Following an announcement on 10 August 1990 by Prime Minister Bob Hawke, the Australian contribution to the Gulf War centred around the ADF deploying a Naval Task Force to the Gulf area, named Operation Damask. This was part of a larger multinational response involving 34 nations in support of United Nations Security Council Resolutions.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Gulf War (1990–1991)
Australia's Naval Task Force included the ships HMAS Darwin, HMAS Adelaide and HMAS Success which were deployed in Operation Damask I, HMAS Brisbane, HMAS Sydney and HMAS Westralia deployed in Operation Damask II, and HMAS Darwin deployed again in Operation Damask III. A Clearance Diving Team and Task Group Medical Support Element (TGMSE) were also deployed.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Gulf War (1990–1991)
The ADF raised the TGMSE under Royal Australian Navy (RAN) medical command as a contribution to the coalition medical support requirement. The TGMSE's were assigned to the American hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH-20). The personnel were doctors, nurses and health administration personnel, predominantly from the RAN, supplemented with Army and Air Force personnel, including members of the Reserve forces. After USNS Comfort arrived in the Gulf in September 1990, the Australian TGMSE personnel undertook normal medical duties and participated in operational medical exercises and drills including training for the handling of casualties of biological and chemical warfare.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Gulf War (1990–1991)
Although large numbers of casualties did not occur, medical personnel were required to manage seriously injured and ill personnel including the casualties from the boiler room explosion on USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) on 30 October 1990. Ten sailors died, six at the scene and four on board USNS Comfort. USNS Comfort was also called upon on 25 February 1991 when a SCUD missile attack from Iraq destroyed a US Army barracks in Dharan, Saudi Arabia, killing 28 soldiers and wounding another 110.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Gulf War (1990–1991)
A total of 59 ADF personnel were involved in the TGMSE, including three personnel from 1 FD Hosp.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Peacekeeping operations and war fighting, 1990s–2000s
In the years since the Gulf War, ADF medical personnel have been deployed on numerous peacekeeping operations throughout the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region. The first of these came in May 1991, when a group of 75 ADF personnel, including two from 1 FD Hosp, were deployed to Kurdistan, in northern Iraq, on Operation Habitat, Australia's contribution to the multinational response known as Operation Provide Comfort. The goal of this mission was to defend approximately 4 million Kurdish people fleeing their homes in the aftermath of the Gulf War and supply them with humanitarian aid.


1st Close Health Battalion (Australia), Operational history, Peacekeeping operations and war fighting, 1990s–2000s
Further deployments were carried out throughout the 1990s. These included:  Cambodia (1992–1993), Operation Solace to Somalia (1992–1995), Operation Tamar which was part of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) in 1994–1995, the Solomon Islands (1995–1996), Operation Bel Isi to Bougainville (1997–2003), Operation Shaddock to Vanimo, in Papua New Guinea (1998), and as part of the International Force for East Timor in 1999–2000. Further deployments throughout the 2000s have included support to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations across the Asia Pacific region and in Australia. The battalion has also provided contingents of personnel on rotation to Australia's contributions to operational missions including those in Iraq and Afghanistan.


1st Coastal Division
The 1st Coastal Division, formerly known as the Brigade of the Chargers (Arabic: لواء العاديات), is a Syrian rebel group that is affiliated with the Free Syrian Army and has been vetted by the Friends of Syria Group. It received TOW missiles and operates in the Idlib and northern Latakia governorates. The group received training and funding from Qatar. It is a former member of the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades.


1st Coastal Division, History
The group participated in the 2014 Latakia offensive and the 2015 Jisr al-Shughur offensive with a wide array of Syrian opposition forces. As part of the Latakia offensive, the group briefly captured the Mediterranean town of Kasab, acquiring their name.


1st Coastal Division, History
1st Coastal Division is famous for including Free Syrian Army war hero Abo Hamza who became notable on social media for his many skillful BGM-71 TOW missile shots.


1st Coastal Division, History
In October 2015 the 1st Coastal Division's chief of staff, Captain Basil Zamo, was killed in a Russian airstrike on Jabal al-Akrad, Latakia.


1st Coastal Division, History
In April 2016, the group together with Ahrar al-Sham, Al-Nusra Front, and the Turkistan Islamic Party attacked Syrian government positions in northeastern Latakia Governorate, capturing the villages of Nakshaba, al-Bayyada and 50% of Mount Qamou'.


1st Coastal Division, History
On 30 June 2017, military commanders of the 21st Combined Force, the 23rd Division, the Central Division, and the 1st Coastal Division signed the Geneva Call's "Deed of Agreement" pledging to protect children in the war, prohibit sexual violence, and prevent sexism.


1st Coastal Division, History
In May 2018, along with 10 other rebel groups in northwestern Syria, the 1st Coastal Division formed the National Front for Liberation, which was officially announced on 28 May.


1st Colonial Infantry Division (France)
The 1st Colonial Infantry Division (French: 1e Division d'Infanterie Coloniale, 1e DIC) was a French Army formation prior to World War I and during World War II.


1st Colonial Infantry Division (France)
Prior to the start of World War I, the division was composed of:


1st Colonial Infantry Division (France)
However, in the re-organisation immediately prior to World War I, the division was disbanded, with the 5th and 6th Colonial Infantry Regiments going to the French 14th Corps, and the 21st and 23rd Colonial Infantry Regiments going to the French 1st Colonial Corps.


1st Colonial Infantry Division (France)
During the Battle of France in May 1940 the division was made up of the following units:


1st Colonial Infantry Division (France)
It was an active division which existed during peacetime. The Senegalese Tirailleurs Regiments contained  troops from French West Africa. The Colonial Infantry and Artillery Regiments were made up of French troops who had volunteered to serve overseas if needed.


1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment
The 1st Colorado Cavalry was formed in November 1862 by Territorial Governor John Evans, composed mostly of members of the 1st Colorado Infantry and of C and D Companies of the 2nd Colorado Infantry. It was formed both to protect Colorado against incursions from the Confederate forces and to fight the Native Americans who already inhabited the area.


1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment
Command of this unit was given Colonel John Chivington, who had distinguished himself at the Battle of Glorieta Pass in the New Mexico Territory early in 1862, against Confederate forces.


1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment, Sand Creek Massacre
In early 1864, the 1st Colorado Veteran Volunteers (aka the Veterans Battalion) appears to have initiated the Colorado War by attacking Cheyenne Indians at Fremont's Orchard. The resulting hostilities and Indian retaliations brought traffic on the wagon trails into Denver to a standstill.


1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment, Sand Creek Massacre
Peace negotiations were in progress, and encampments of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians on Sand Creek had been assured by the US government that they would not be attacked.


1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment, Sand Creek Massacre
Instead, in what is known as the Sand Creek Massacre, Chivington and his troops struck in November 1864, a dawn attack that massacred an estimated one-quarter of the Indian encampments, mostly old men, women, and children. Body parts were taken as souvenirs. The event was the basis of the slaughter of an Indian village in the movies Soldier Blue and Little Big Man. Initial reports of the battle were taken as a victory in the US, but as details came out, opinions changed. A subsequent Congressional investigation resulted in a scorching castigation of the event, Colonel John Chivington, and the 1st Colorado Cavalry.


1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment, Statue Controversy
In the night between June 24th and 25th, 2020, a group of Black Lives Matter protestors tore down the statue. The statue was designed by Captain Jack Howland, a member of the regiment and located in front of the Colorado State Capitol.


1st Colorado Infantry Regiment
The 1st Colorado Infantry (officially the 1st Regiment of Colorado Volunteers) was a volunteer infantry regiment of the United States Army formed in the Colorado Territory in 1861 and active in the American West in the late 19th century.


1st Colorado Infantry Regiment, History
The regiment was formed shortly after the outbreak of the American Civil War by order of William Gilpin, the first governor of the territory. Recruiters began enlisting men in August 1861, just six months after the organization of the territory. Known as "Gilpin's Pet Lambs" for the involvement of the governor in its formation, the regiment served in the Western Theater, at first serving in various detachments throughout the territory.


1st Colorado Infantry Regiment, History
The regiment's most notable service came in the New Mexico Campaign in the spring of 1862, in which they helped repulse the advance of the Army of New Mexico under Henry Hopkins Sibley at the battles of Glorieta Pass and Peralta.


1st Colorado Infantry Regiment, History
In November 1862, the unit was reorganized along with Companies C and D of the 2nd Colorado Infantry into the 1st Colorado Cavalry. (This was done since the US War Department believed cavalry would be better in protecting the Western trails and for fighting the various Indian tribes.)


1st Colorado Infantry Regiment, History
The first colonel of the regiment was John P. Slough, replaced in April 1862 by Major John Chivington, later chastised for his role as commander of the 3rd Colorado Cavalry in the November 1864 Sand Creek Massacre.


1st Colorado Infantry Regiment, History
There is an active group of living historians who portray the First Colorado (Company D) in Denver.


1st Combat Communications Squadron
The United States Air Forces in Europe's 1st Combat Communications Squadron is a unit located at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It is part of the 435th Air Ground Operations Wing.


1st Combat Communications Squadron
The 1st Combat Communications Squadron's mission is to rapidly provide deployable communications and air traffic control services throughout Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The unit also supports training exercises, deployments, contingencies, and special military projects for the United Nations, Joint Chiefs of Staff, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, United States European Command, and the Department of State as directed by United States Air Forces in Europe. In many cases, the unit's mission requires its members to be some of the first US forces to arrive at an operating location.


1st Combat Communications Squadron
Because of the nature of the operation and the services the unit provides, unit members are frequently among the last personnel to leave. Hence the motto, "First In--Last Out." 1st Combat Communications Squadron is the Air Force's Major General Harold M. McClelland Large Unit of the Year Award winner for 2017.


1st Combat Engineer Battalion
1st Combat Engineer Battalion is a combat engineer battalion of the United States Marine Corps. The unit, nicknamed "The Super Breed", is based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California and falls under the command of the 1st Marine Division and the I Marine Expeditionary Force.


1st Combat Engineer Battalion, Mission
Provide mobility, counter mobility, survivability, and limited general engineering support to the 1st Marine Division.


1st Combat Engineer Battalion, History, World War II
The battalion was formed on 24 February 1941 at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as the 1st Pioneer Battalion, 1st Marine Division to be a specialized unit to conduct shore party operations during amphibious assaults, and to provide close combat engineer support to the Marine infantry. The average age of the enlisted men was about 18, and they referred to themselves as "draft dodgers" because all were volunteers. They relocated during April 1941 to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina and again in September 1941 to "Tent City One" at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina


1st Combat Engineer Battalion, History, World War II
On 14 June 1942 the battalion traveled by a five-day train journey to San Francisco, with the final destination of Wellington, New Zealand which was not disclosed to personnel at the time. The sail to New Zealand was on the USAT John Ericsson (NY-307), a former Swedish deluxe cruise liner the S.S. Kungsholms, departing from the Oakland Naval Base. They were redesignated on 12 January 1943 as the 1st Battalion, 17th Marines and again on 30 June 1944 as the First Engineer Battalion


1st Combat Engineer Battalion, History, World War II
The battalion participated in combat during the Battle of Guadalcanal, Eastern New Guinea, Battle of New Britain, Battle of Peleliu and the Battle of Okinawa. Following the war they were sent to Tientsin, China in September 1945 as peacekeepers and returned to the United States during June 1947 to Camp Pendleton, California


1st Combat Engineer Battalion, History, Korean War
The battalion deployed during August 1950 to Kobe, Japan, joining the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade they were then sent in September 1950 to Inchon, Korea, and joined the 1st Marine Division.


1st Combat Engineer Battalion, History, Korean War
Following the armistice the battalion participated in the defense of the Korean Demilitarized Zone from August 1953 – April 1955. They returned to Camp Pendleton, California in April 1955 and were again redesignated on 1 May 1957 as the 1st Pioneer Battalion.


1st Combat Engineer Battalion, History, Vietnam War
The battalion was again redesignated on 1 May 1963 as the 1st Engineer Battalion and departed San Diego Harbor with the 7th Marine Regiment (RLT-7) on WW-II Troop Ships USS Pickaway (APA-222) and USS Renville (APA-227) on 23 May 1965 for Camp Hansen, Okinawa, with a brief stop-over at Pearl Harbor Hawaii. From Okinawa they deployed to Qui-Nhon SVN, landing there on 06-7 July 1965. On 10 November 1965 7th Marines re-deployed to Chu Lai in the Republic of Vietnam. One Marine was lost on the USS Renville while en route to Hawaii due to appendicitis which was misdiagnosed as sea-sickness.


1st Combat Engineer Battalion, History, Vietnam War
During the Vietnam War the 1st Engineer Battalion supported 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions of the 1st 5th and 7th Marines in combat operations from July 1965 through April 1971, operating from Qui-Nhon, Chu-Lai and Da-Nang, the most famous of which was Operation "Starlight" conducted August 1965 where Sgt. Robert E. O'Malley was awarded the first Marine Corps Medal of Honor of the Vietnam War.


1st Combat Engineer Battalion, History, 1980s and 1990s
The battalion participated in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Southwest Asia from August 1990 until March 1991. In May 1992, the unit was brought out to conduct riot control operations in the city and county of Los Angeles during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. They would later take part in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia from December 1992 – February 1993. Elements would participate in Fire-Fighting efforts in the Western United States during August and September 1994.