Old Hulmeians War Memorial 1914

20th (SERVICE) BATTALION ROYAL FUSILIERS (3rd PUBLIC SCHOOLS)

The Battalion was formed at Epsom on 11th September 1914 by the Public Schools and University Men's Force. On 26th June 1915 it came under the command of 98th Brigade, 33rd Division and moved to France in November 1915. On 27th November 1915 the Battalion was transferred to the 19th Brigade of the same Division. It was ultimately disbanded in France on 16th February 1918.

The majority of the Battalion landed in France on 15th November 1915, the transport having arrived the previous day as T E Dawson described in a letter to the School:

On the 16th the Battalion proceeded by rail to Thiennes and on the 19th marched to Bethune via L'Ecleme, arriving on the 20th. They were attached to the 19th Brigade for instruction and occupied trenches to the east of Cambrin, A and B Coys on the 21st and C and D Coys on the 22nd under the guidance of the Argyle & Sutherland Highlanders and the 5th Scottish Rifles. Here the first two casualties were suffered, while the Battalion remained in the trenches until the 26th when they moved to billets in Bethune. At the beginning of December the Battalion returned to the trenches until the 10th when they were relieved by the

7th East Surrey Regiment. Work was carried out on parapets, shelters, drainage and trench flooring. Snipers were active and although there were several casualties, fortunately there were no fatalities. On the 12th the Battalion marched from Bethune to Ham-en-Artois, some 17 kilometres to the west, where Company and Platoon training was carried out until the end of the month when they moved to Annequin as reserve Battalion of the 19th Brigade.

From January through to 9th July 1916 the Battalion remained in the Bethune area, spending time in the front line trenches in front of Cuinchy and in reserve, being billeted in Bethune, Beuvry, Le Quesnoy and Annequin at various different times. Although there were no major assaults by either side, the general attrition by snipers and shelling led to a further 64 fatal casualties and many more wounded.

Unfortunately Captain Robert Graves of 2nd Bn Royal Welch Fusiliers, also in 19th Bde, was highly critical of the battalion: "Their training had been continually interrupted by the large withdrawal of men needed to officer other regiments. The only men left, in fact, appeared to be those unfitted to hold commissions; or even to make good private soldiers". He claimed that the remaining battalion "proved a constant embarrassment to the brigade". One night he visited the front line when an apparent German raiding party was detected: after a flare and a few machine gun rounds had been fired over their heads the 'raiders' surrendered and turned out to be a large patrol from the public schools battalion that had been wandering aimlessly in No Man's Land.

In early July 1916, 33rd Division was sent south from First Army to reinforce Fourth Army fighting on the Somme. It began to move south by train on 10 July and was in Corps Reserve during the Battle of Albert (12–13 July) before part of the division was committed to action during the Battle of Bazentin Ridge on 14 July. 19th Brigade then took part in the Attacks on High Wood: at dawn on 20 July the brigade attacked with two battalions, who forced their way into the wood but came under machine gun fire. 20th Royal Fusiliers, following close behind, cleared the southern part of the objective, but the losses in senior officers led to confusion in the brigade. With fresh support, 20th Royal Fusiliers then reached the northern part after hard fighting, but were driven back to the southern half by high explosive and gas shelling before relief could arrive. Casualties suffered in holding the positions in High Wood under shellfire were heavy. The 20th Royal Fusiliers had 139 men killed on this day and of these men, the bodies of 104 of them would never be found.

Old Hulmeians War Memorial 1914 - 1918