The 2nd Northumberland Rifle Volunteer Corps, also referred to as the Tynemouth Rifles, was an infantry unit of Britain's part-time force, the Territorial Army. The corps was raised during the expansion of the Volunteer movement in the 1850s and then served with the Territorial Force during the First World War. It converted to an anti-aircraft role just prior to Second World War, and continued to serve until it was amalgamated in 1950.

Volunteer Force

The enthusiasm for the Volunteer movement following an invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs) composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need. One of these new corps was the 1st Northumberland RVC (also known as the Northumberland Rifles) formed in North Shields and

Tynemouth Tynemouth () is a coastal town in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, North East England. It is located on the north side of the mouth of the River Tyne, hence its name. It is 8 mi (13 km) east-northeast of Newcastle upon T ...

on 16 August 1859 by coal-owner Edward Potter of Cramlington. It took some moral courage to appear in the street in Volunteer uniform: members of the 1st Northumberland RVC were sneered at as 'noodles'. However, the movement continued to grow: in February 1860 the 1st absorbed the 2nd Northumberland RVC of three companies, also formed at Tynemouth on 4 January that year. In August 1861 it split to form the 1st (Tynemouth), 8th (three companies at

Walker-on-Tyne Walker is a residential suburb and electoral ward in the south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. History The place-name 'Walker' is first attested in 1242, where it appears as ''Waucre''. This means 'wall-carr', that is to say, 'the marsh ...

) and 9th (Cramlington) Northumberland RVCs, which were all placed in the 2nd Administrative Battalion of Northumberland Rifle Volunteers. The 1st disbanded in October 1862 and the 9th in December 1864, but the 8th (Walker) Northumberland RVC thrived. The HQ of the 2nd Admin Battalion moved to Walker after the disbandment of the 1st; it was disbanded in 1865 and the 8th continued as an independent corps with James Anderson, a former ensign in the

30th Foot 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

, as lieutenant-colonel in command. A number of its officers were drawn from the prominent Tyneside family of Swan.Westlake, ''Rifle Volunteers'', pp. 191–3.''Army List''.Frederick, Volume I, pp. 276-7.5th Battalion, The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers at Regiments.org, retrieved 15 February 2020.
/ref> During this period, the battalion was organised as; * Battalion Headquarters in

''– HQ moving to Newcastle upon Tyne in 1863'' * 1st (Tynemouth) Northumberland RVC – ''raised 16 August 1859: three coys separated Aug 1861 to form 8th RVC in Walker and one coy separated to form 9th RVC in Cramlington: disbanded Oct 1862'' * 8th (Walker) Northumberland RVC – ''formed Aug 1861 from three coys of the 1st RVC'' * 9th (Cramlington) Northumberland RVC – ''formed Aug 1861 from one coy of 1st RVC: disbanded Dec 1864'' Under the scheme of 'localisation' introduced by the

Cardwell Reforms The Cardwell Reforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874 with the support of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone paid little attention ...

in 1873, the Northumberland and Newcastle upon Tyne RVCs, together with the two Regular battalions of the Northumberland Fusiliers and the

Northumberland Militia The Militia and Volunteers of Northumberland are those military units raised in the County independent of the regular Army. The "modern" militia dates from legislation enacted during the Seven Years' War. The volunteers had several forms and separa ...

, constituted Brigade No 1, based at Newcastle in the County of Northumberland sub-district of Northern District. While the sub-districts were referred to as 'brigades', they were purely administrative organisations and the Volunteers were excluded from the 'mobilisation' part of the Cardwell system, though they carried out joint manoeuvres. Lieutenant-Colonel Anderson retired in 1875 and was appointed Honorary Colonel of the battalion; he was succeeded in command by Henry Swan who ran the Walker shipyard of Charles Mitchell and later Armstrong Whitworth. Swan remained in command until 1902. When the RVCs were consolidated nationwide on 3 September 1880, the 8th RVC was re-numbered as the 2nd Northumberland Rifle Volunteer Corps with companies designated as 'A' to 'F'. After the

Childers Reforms The Childers Reforms of 1881 reorganised the infantry regiments of the British Army. The reforms were done by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers during 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell Reforms. The reorganisation was ...

the RVCs became Volunteer Battalions of their affiliated Regular Army regiment and in 1883 the 2nd Northumberland RVC became the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers and wore a scarlet coat with Gosling green facings. The

Stanhope Memorandum The Stanhope Memorandum was a document written by Edward Stanhope, the Secretary of State for War of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, on 8 December 1888. It set out the overall strategic aims of the British Empire, and the way the Br ...

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 2nd and 3rd VBs of the Northumberland Fusiliers and the five Durham Light Infantry VBs formed the Tyne and Tees Brigade. In 1894, K Company from the 1st Volunteer Battalion at Newburn (formed in 1885) was transferred to the 2nd as G Company. The following year the 2nd VB formed a new company at Wallsend and by 1900 the battalion had grown to ten companies, at Walker (4), Newburn (2), Wallsend (2) and Gosforth (2). Between 1900–02, volunteers from the 2nd VB went to South Africa and participated with their Regular counterparts in the 1st and 2nd Battalions. As a reward for their service, the battalion was granted its first battle honour: ''South Africa 1900-02''. Engagements during this period included service in the Orange Free State, service in Transvaal, and later the Battle of Rustenburg.Westlake, ''Territorials'', p. 43.

Territorial Force

In 1907,

Secretary of State for War The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office and ...

Richard Haldane Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane, (; 30 July 1856 – 19 August 1928) was a British lawyer and philosopher and an influential Liberal and later Labour politician. He was Secretary of State for War between 1905 and 1912 during whi ...

announced a series of Army reforms, which would affect mostly the Volunteers and Yeomanry. These two groups were merged to form the Territorial Force on 1 April 1908. As part of these reforms, all of the volunteer battalions became numbered battalions of their parent regiments. The battalion was renamed as the 5th Battalion, The Northumberland Fusiliers and subsequently re-organised as follows: * Battalion Headquarters in Walker * A–C Companies in Walker * D–F Companies in Wallsend * G Company in Gosforth with detachments in West Moor and

Seaton Burn Seaton Burn is a village in Tyne and Wear, England to the north of Newcastle upon Tyne, and adjacent to Wideopen which is just south of it. The A1 used to pass through the village but now bypasses the village just to the west, where it meets the ...

* H Company in Gosforth Another organisational change of the reforms of 1908 was the creation in the TF of 14 divisions, 14 mounted brigades, and coastal defence troops. One of these new divisions was the

Northumbrian Division The Northumbrian Division was an infantry division of the British Army, formed in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force with units drawn from the north-east of England, notably Northumberland, Durham and the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire ...

(later the 50th), and in this division was the Northumbrian Brigade (later the 149th). The 5th Bn along with the 4th, 6th, and 7th bns of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers were all part of this brigade.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 93–100.50th (Northumbrian) Division at The Long, Long Trail, retrieved 16 February 2020.
/ref>Northumberland Fusiliers at The Long, Long Trail, retrieved 16 February 2020
/ref>

First World War

Mobilisation

In July 1914, as the international situation worsened, the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

were on high alert as the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...

moved towards the neutral nation of the

Kingdom of Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the ...

, of which the United Kingdom protected under the

Treaty of London The Treaty of London or London Convention or similar may refer to: *Treaty of London (1358), established a truce between England and France following the Battle of Poitiers *Treaty of London (1359), which ceded western France to England *Treaty of ...

. When German forces crossed into Belgium, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany and later the rest of the Central Powers. At the time the units of the Northumbrian Division were at their annual training camp in North Wales. On 3 August they were ordered to return to their respective headquarters, where at 17.00 next day they received orders to mobilise. The units went to their war stations along the coast, where there were numerous alerts. In October the division became part of Central Force in Home Defence and manned the

Tyne Tyne may refer to: __NOTOC__ Geography * River Tyne, England *Port of Tyne, the commercial docks in and around the River Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England *River Tyne, Scotland * River Tyne, a tributary of the South Esk River, Tasmania, Australia Peop ...

Defences. On the outbreak of war, TF units were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service. The large majority of the Northumbrian Division accepted. On 15 August the War Office (WO) issued instructions to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units. On 31 August, the formation of a reserve or 2nd Line unit was authorised for each 1st Line unit where 60 per cent or more of the men had volunteered for Overseas Service. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix. In this way duplicate battalions, brigades and divisions were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas.Becke, Pt 2b, pp. 49–54.63rd (2nd Northumbrian) Division at Long, Long Trail.
/ref>

1/5th Battalion

Northumberland Fusiliers at Thiepval Sept 1916 IWM Q 1349

In April 1915 the 1/5th Battalion moved to France and saw action during some notable battles including:Unit History: Royal Northumberland Fusiliers at Forces War Records, retrieved 16 February 2020.
/ref> * 1915: Battle of St Julien, Battle of Frezenburg, and Battle of Bellewaarde Ridge * 1916:

Battle of Flers-Courcelette A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

Battle of Morval The Battle of Morval, 25–28 September 1916, was an attack during the Battle of the Somme by the British Fourth Army (United Kingdom), Fourth Army on the villages of Morval, Pas-de-Calais, Morval, Gueudecourt and Lesboeufs, Lesbœufs held by th ...

, and Battle of the Transloy Ridges * 1917: First Battle of the Scarpe, Capture of Wancourt Ridge,

Second Battle of the Scarpe The Battle of Arras (also known as the Second Battle of Arras) was a British offensive on the Western Front during the First World War. From 9 April to 16 May 1917, British troops attacked German defences near the French city of Arras on the We ...

, and Second Battle of Passchendaele * 1918: Battle of St Quentin, Actions at the Somme Crossings,

Battle of Rosieres Operation Michael was a major German Army (German Empire), German Offensive (military), military offensive during the First World War that began the German Spring Offensive on 21 March 1918. It was launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vi ...

, Battle of Estaires,

Battle of Hazebrouck Hazebrouck (, nl, Hazebroek, , vls, Oazebroeke) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France. It was a small market town in Flanders until it became an important railway junction in the 1860s. West Flemish was the usual language until ...

, and

Battle of the Aisne The Battle of the Aisne is the name of three battles fought along the Aisne River in northern France during the First World War. * First Battle of the Aisne (12–15 September 1914), Anglo-French counter-offensive following the First Battle of the ...

Following the armistice on 11 November 1918, the battalion was reduced to a

cadre Cadre may refer to: *Cadre (military), a group of officers or NCOs around whom a unit is formed, or a training staff *Cadre (politics), a politically controlled appointment to an institution in order to circumvent the state and bring control to th ...

on 15 July and disembodied on 6 November 1918.

2/5th Battalion

The 2/5th Battalion was formed in Blyth along with the 2/4th on 22–23 November 1914 just before their respective first line battalions were preparing to go overseas. This new battalion joined the

188th (2/1st Northumberland) Brigade The 188th (2/1st Northumberland) Brigade was formed in 1915 as a 2nd Line infantry brigade of the British Army's Territorial Force. It commanded four battalions of the Northumberland Fusiliers in the Home Defence role. It was broken up in Novem ...

in the newly formed 2nd line 63rd (2nd Northumbrian) Division in January 1915. In July 1916 the division was divided, and the battalion became independent and eventually joined the 217th Brigade in the 72nd Division. Finally, on 6 December 1918 the battalion was disbanded while stationed in Ipswich and replaced by the 264th (Infantry) Battalion, Training Reserve.

5th (Reserve) Battalion

The 3/5th Battalion, later 5th (Reserve) Btn, was the last of the duplicates formed with the 3/4th, 3/6th, and 3/7th formed in June 1915. On 8 April 1916 the battalions were all redesignated as 'reserve', and became the 5th (Reserve) Battalion. On 1 September 1918 the battalion was absorbed into the 4th (Reserve) Battalion.

Interwar

When the Territorial Force was disembodied after the end of the First World War, the army was left with just the regulars, most of which were under-strength or just at

size. On 7 February 1920 the TF and most of its units were reconstituted, including the 5th Battalion, The Northumberland Fusiliers at Walker-on-Tyne with 'A', 'B', 'C', and 'D' Companies. Once again it formed part of 149th (Northumberland) Brigade in 50th (Northumbrian) Division. In 1921 the TF was reorganised as the Territorial Army. On 3 June 1935 as part of George V's silver jubilee celebrations the regiment was granted a Royal title along with three other Regiments and became the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, and the battalion was re-named likewise.

5th Battalion, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers (53rd Searchlight Regiment)

In the late 1930s the increasing need for anti-aircraft (AA) defence for Britain's cities was addressed by converting a number of TA infantry battalions into searchlight (S/L) units, which accelerated after the Munich Crisis. The 5th Battalion was one of those selected, and was converted on 1 November 1938 as 5th Battalion, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers (53rd Searchlight Regiment), organised as follows:Frederick, p. 869.The Monthly Army List,
August 1939
(pdf)'', London: His Majesty's Stationery Office (1939), Retrieved 16 February 2020. * Battalion Headquarters, Church Street Drill hall,

under

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

W H Leete, DFC, TD * 408th S/L Company under

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

G. M. I. Stanley * 409th S/L Company under

F. H. Phillips * 410th S/L Company under

A. E. B. Plummer, MC * Affiliation with Armstrong-Whitworth (Walker) Cadet Unit (placed under administrative command) Unlike some of the infantry battalions previously converted to the AA S/L role, which had transferred to the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

(RE), the 5th Bn remained part of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers for the time being. Following its change of role, the battalion was placed under the command of the

30th (Northumbrian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade The 30th (Northumbrian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army from 1936 until 1955, which defended Tyneside and Sunderland during the Second World War. Origins The formation was raised as 30th (Northumb ...

. This was subordinated to

3rd Anti-Aircraft Division The 3rd Anti-Aircraft Division was an air defence formation of the Territorial Army, part of the British Army, created in the period of tension before the outbreak of the Second World War. It defended Scotland and Northern Ireland during the ear ...

, but by the outbreak of war came under a newly-formed 7th AA Division tasked with covering

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authorit ...

.British Anti-Aircraft Command, TA on 3 September 1939
at th
Patriot Files
Retrieved 16 February 2020.

Second World War

Mobilisation

In February 1939 the existing AA defences came under the control of a new Anti-Aircraft Command. In June, 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 and S/L positions. On 24 August, ahead of the declaration of war, AA Command was fully mobilised at its war stations. The 5th Battalion was deployed to support the Newcastle Gun Defence Area (GDA). The S/L layouts had been planned on a spacing of , but due to equipment shortages this was extended to . On 1 August 1940 all of the RE and infantry AA units were brought under command of the Royal Artillery. Therefore the battalion was re-named as the 53rd (Royal Northumberland Fusiliers) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery with its companies (408, 409, and 410) becoming batteries.Litchfield, p. 195.Farndale, Annex M. During this re-organisation, Anti-Aircraft Command (AA Command) was also being overhauled, with many new brigades and divisions being formed, one of them being the 57th Light Anti-Aircraft Brigade formed on 25 August 1939 which initially only controlled the Light AA (LAA) units of the division. The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939-45 H35912

The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939-45 H35912

Newcastle Blitz

During the '' Luftwaffe'' night-bombing campaign against British cities in the winter of 1940–41 ( The Blitz) 30 AA Bde controlled the AA guns in the Newcastle GDA, while 57 AA Bde controlled the S/L layout, including 53rd S/L Regiment. The regiment served through the

Newcastle Blitz The Newcastle Blitz refers to the strategic bombing of Newcastle upon Tyne, England by the Nazi German ''Luftwaffe'' during the second world war. Close to 400 people were killed between July 1940 and December 1941 during bombing raids on the c ...

.Order of Battle of Non-Field Force Units in the United Kingdom, Part 27: AA Command, 12 May 1941, with amendments, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 212/79. In November 1940 AA Command changed its S/L layouts to clusters of three lights to improve illumination, but this meant that the clusters had to be spaced apart. The cluster system was an attempt to improve the chances of picking up enemy bombers and keeping them illuminated for engagement by AA guns or Royal Air Force (RAF) Night fighters. Eventually, one light in each cluster was to be equipped with Searchlight Control radar (SLC) and act as 'master light', but the radar equipment was still in short supply. On 17 April 1941, 565 S/L Bty was formed under the 236th Searchlight Training Rgt at

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads. The town was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of ...

from a

provided by 53rd S/L Regiment, and shortly joined, and regimented on 12 August 1941. On 18 February 1942, the regiment had a small name change, to become the 53rd Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery (Royal Northumberland Fusiliers).Frederick, Volume II, p. 862. By December 1941 the regiment had moved to 43 AA Bde, still in 7th AA Division but now deployed covering Wearside and Teesside. It remained under 43 AA Bde until August 1942 when it returned to 30 AA Bde

Operation Diver

By late 1943, AA Command was being forced to release manpower for overseas service, particularly

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

(the planned Allied invasion of Normandy) and most S/L regiments lost one of their four batteries. 565 S/L Battery began to disband on 25 February 1944, which it completed by 24 March.Routledge, pp. 408–10. In March 1944, 30 AA Bde HQ was transferred to the south of England; 53rd S/L Rgt also went south, but joined 47 AA Bde in 2 AA Group. 2 AA Group was responsible for defending the 'Overlord' assembly camps, depots and embarkation ports and was planning for the expected onslaught of V-1 flying bombs against London. Meanwhile, the group had to deal with a sharp increase in ''Luftwaffe'' air raids trying to reach London, which continued until May.Pile.
/ref>Order of Battle of AA Command, 27 April 1944, with amendments, TNA file WO 212/85. By mid-May 47 AA Bde was being disbanded and the regiment transferred to 44 AA Bde in 6 AA Group, which took over 2 AA Group's responsibilities for the 'Overlord' camps in the Solent– Portsmouth area. On 13 June, a week after the Overlord fleets had left to launch D Day, the first V-1s appeared over southern England. AA Command deployed its Light AA guns alongside S/L positions, hoping that the SLC could guide the LAA guns at night. By day, the S/L positions used their AA Light machine guns in an effort to bring down the fast-moving missiles. The early success rate was low, but later fighter aircraft and radar-directed Heavy AA guns achieved high rates of success against V-1s.

638th (Royal Northumberland Fusiliers) Infantry Regiment, RA

In January 1945, the diminishing threat of the Luftwaffe coupled with a manpower shortage in

21st Army Group The 21st Army Group was a British headquarters formation formed during the Second World War. It controlled two field armies and other supporting units, consisting primarily of the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army. Established in ...

, particularly in the infantry, led to the conversion of surplus anti-aircraft and coastal artillery regiments in the UK into infantry units. 53rd Searchlight Regiment was one of the regiments selected but it did not revert to its original title, instead becoming 638th (Royal Northumberland Fusiliers) Regiment, Royal Artillery on 23 January 1945.Frederick, Volume II, p. 883. The regiment was attached to 38 AA Bde, which was converting into 304 Infantry Brigade. After infantry training, including a short period attached to

55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Division The 55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army's Territorial Army (TA) that was formed in 1920 and existed through the Second World War, although it did not see combat. The division had originally be ...

, the brigade was moved into the War Office Reserve, and shipped to Norway, landing on 7 June 1945 and joining Norway Command following the liberation of that country ( Operation Doomsday). The regiment was still in Norway on 15 November 1945 when 638 Rgt began the process of entering suspended animation, completing the process on 13 December.

Postwar

Following the end of hostilities most territorial artillery regiments had been placed in suspended animation by late 1946. On 1 January 1947 most of these regiments were reconstituted and many new regiments were formed as part of the reformed and re-organised TA, with new numbers according to the renumbering plan for the complete re-designation of all RA units, both regular and territorial. In accordance with this, the light anti-aircraft (LAA) regiments were assigned numbers between 512 and 588. The 5th Btn was reformed as 588th (Royal Northumberland Fusiliers) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, and followed the new standard RA organisation, which consisted of RHQ, P, Q, and R Batteries, all of which were based in Walker on Tyne. The regiment provided the LAA component of the TA's

50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division The 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that saw distinguished service in the Second World War. Pre-war, the division was part of the Territorial Army (TA) and the two ''Ts'' in the divisional ins ...

.Litchfield, pp. 5-6.564–591 Rgts RA at British Army 1945 on.
/ref> On 1 September 1950 the regiment was converted back to infantry and simultaneously merged with the 4th Btn to form the 4th/5th Battalion, The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers. In 1967 the battalion's Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve (TAVR) successors were A (Royal Northumberland Fusiliers) Company, Fusilier Volunteers and the 4th/5th/6th (Territorial) Battalion, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers both of which were eventually expanded into the 6th (Northumberland) Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. The Northumberland TA successors are currently part of 'X' and 'Z' companies in the

5th (Volunteer) Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash that ...

Personalities

Commanding Officers The following served as commanding officers during the First World War I: ''1/5th Battalion'' *

David Ross MacDonald, 4 August 1914 > replaced * Colonel Arthur Horsman Coles, 25 November 1915 > replaced *

Hermann Luhrs, 26 November 1915 > replaced *

Francis Charles Turner, 14 March 1916 > replaced *

Nicholas Irwin Wright, 27 September 1916 > invalided *

Arnold Irwin, 17 March 1918 > wounded *

Ivan Marshall Tweedy 1 May 1918 > replaced *

Henry Robert Brown 13 July 1918 > remained CO ''2/5th Battalion'' *

David Ross MacDonald, 25 November 1914 > replaced *

Francis William Iles 28 August 1915 > replaced *

Lionel Grant Oliver, 16 May 1916 > replaced ''3/5th (5th Reserve) Battalion'' *

Thomas Joseph Carlile, 15 June 1915 > replaced Honorary Colonels The battalion's (later regiment's) Honorary Colonels included: * 1875–1900, Colonel James Anderson, former CO * 1900–1902, Vacant * 1902–1908,

Brevet Brevet may refer to: Military * Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay * Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college * Aircre ...

Colonel Henry Frederick Swan, CB, VD * 1908–1910, Vacant * 1910–1916, Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew White Ridley, 2nd Viscount Ridley, Northumberland Hussars * 1916–1928, Vacant * 1928–1938, Honorary Brigadier General Hubert Horatio Shirley Morant, DSO * 1938–1950, Colonel Bernard Peatfield,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, MC, TD, DL (continued 1950 into 4th/5th Btn)

Notes

References

* Maj A.F. Becke,''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2a: The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42–56)'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1935/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, . * Maj A.F. Becke,''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2b: The 2nd-Line Territorial Force Divisions (57th–69th), with the Home-Service Divisions (71st–73rd) and 74th and 75th Divisions,'' London: HM Stationery Office, 1937/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, . * Ian F.W. Beckett, ''Riflemen Form: A Study of the Rifle Volunteer Movement 1859–1908'', Aldershot: Ogilby Trusts, 1982, . * Col John K. Dunlop, ''The Development of the British Army 1899–1914'', London: Methuen, 1938. * Gen Sir Martin Farndale, ''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The Years of Defeat: Europe and North Africa, 1939–1941'', Woolwich, UK: Royal Artillery Institution, 1988/ London, UK: Brasseys, 1996, . * J.B.M. Frederick, ''Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660-1978'', Volume I, Wakefield, UK: Microform Academic Publishers, 1984, . * J.B.M. Frederick, ''Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660-1978'', Volume II, Wakefield, UK: Microform Academic Publishers, 1984 . * * Norman E. H. Litchfield, ''The Territorial Artillery 1908 - 1988'', Nottingham, UK: The Sherwood Press, 1992, . * Charles D. Pettibone, ''The Organization and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II'', Volume II, ''The British Commonwealth'', Victoria, Canada, Trafford Publishing, 2006, .
Gen Sir Frederick Pile's despatch: "The Anti-Aircraft Defence of the United Kingdom from 28th July, 1939, to 15th April, 1945" ''London Gazette'' 18 December 1947.
* Brigadier N. W. Routledge. ''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914-55''. (1994). London, UK: Brassey's Publishing. . * War Office, ''Titles and Designations of Formations and Units of the Territorial Army'', London, 7 November 1927. * Ray Westlake, ''Tracing the Rifle Volunteers 1859-1908: A Guide for Military and Family Historians'',

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

, UK: Pen & Sword Military, 2010, . * Ray Westlake, ''The Territorials 1908-1914: A Guide for Military and Family Historians'', Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword Military, 2011, . * Everard Wyrall, ''The Fiftieth Division 1914–1919'', 1939/Uckfield: Naval & Military, nd, . {{refend

External sources