11th (Service) Battalion Border Regiment (Lonsdale): Difference between revisions
11th (Service) Battalion Border Regiment (Lonsdale) (view source)
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|transferred=66th Division [[13 May]] 1918
|disbanded=[[31 July]] 1918
|notes=Battalion was absorbed into the 1/5th Battalion Border Regiment}}The '''11th (Service) Battalion Border Regiment (Lonsdale)''', also known as the '''11th Border Regiment''' or simply the ''' Lonsdale Battalion''' was a service battalion formed of three detachments at Carlisle, Kendal and Workington by the [[Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale|Earl of Lonsdale]] and an Executive Committee. There were a total of four companies in the three detachments: A and B Companies from East and North Cumberland were based at [[Blackhall Racecourse]] (Headquarters), C Company from Westmorland was based at Kendal, and D Company from West Cumberland was based at Workington. Lord Lonsdale asked 52 year old retired colonial officer [[Percy Wilfred Machell]], C.M.G. if he would consider returning to a position of command after having spent over two decades of his military career in Egypt. The Battalion soon became a well-trained, disciplined unit of volunteers that answered Field Marshal Earl Kitchener's call to arms - to fight for King and Country. Men that had grown up together enlisted together and "during these formative days of the Battalion’s earliest history it became clear to everyone in the Border Counties that this really was a Battalion of 'Pals,' of comrades, and of Border men."<ref name="lons-booklet">[[The Lonsdale Battalion Border Regiment, September 1914 to June 1915]].</ref>
The camp at Blackhall remained central to the overall training of the men through the duration of the war. The first batch of Lonsdales moved to [[Glossary:Prees Heath Camp|Prees Health Camp]] in May 1915 and there was attached to the [[Glossary:Brigade, 97th|97th Brigade]] with the Glasgow men of the 15th, 16th and 17th Battalions of the [[Glossary:Highland Light Infantry|Highland Light Infantry]]. In June the Lonsdales moved to Wensleydale and shortly after to Salisbury Plain where they remained for a few months. The Battalion landed at Boulogne on [[23 November]] 1915 and spent the next two years and eight months in the trenches, fields and battle-torn villages of France and Flanders. On [[10 May]] 1918 the Battalion was reduced to cadre strength, with surplus personnel transferred to the Territorial Battalion – 1/5th Border Regiment. Three days later it was transferred to the 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division and on [[31 July]] 1918 the Battalion was eventually disbanded.
The Lonsdales actions were recorded for future generations to discover an interesting and diverse history. This is their story.
=A different kind of Service Battalion=
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