5 July

Lonsdale Battalion events that took place on 5 July.
For events that took place elsewhere, see 5 July on The Great War wiki.

1916 (Wednesday)

Battalion situated in the line at Nieuport-Lombardzyde Sector; moves back to dug outs in New Parade & Walk (Reserve).
11:24pm: (4 July) Battalion launches a raid on the enemy line, consisting of 2nd Lieuts. Sykes, MC (wounded), Fernie and Pigott along with 35 other ranks.
12:15am: (5 July) a Bangalore torpedo is fired; the raiding party are met with a heavy barrage of bombs from the enemy.
Finding the trench held too strongly and the party weakened by casualties, they withdraw. This is done successfully, all the party returns except one killed and one missing (believed killed).
Our artillery opens up a covering barrage at 12:26am, one and a quarter minutes after asking for support.
Communications to Battery is by lamps (Lucas Daylight) from Font line to OP and then by phone.
Battalion in Reserve. 3 Companies and 3 Platoons on work forward at 10pm. 1 Platoon on garrison.

Battalion training continues with 1st Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment (33rd American Division) at Ailly-le-Haut-Clocher.^{[note 1]}

Notes

↑ The Lonsdales were in their final month before being disbanded. Where training is concerned, this was done alongside the American infantry. It was during this period that they moved to several different locations in the eventual run up to the disbandment papers being approved. On 29 July, 1918, the war diary states: “orders received for WO's, NCO's and men of the cadres to proceed to join the 1/5th Border Regiment (A.G. letter C.R. 5/9054/30 G.) and for battalion to be disbanded from date of departure.” The Lonsdale are disbanded two days later on 31 July.

References

Acknowledgements

Various sources contemporary to the war have been used to compile The Lonsdale Battalion On This Day. The majority of the events shown on this day (5 July), including any supplementary notes, enlistments and statistical data etc., have been primarily sourced from the Lonsdale Battalion War Diary (November 1915 to June 1918), Record of the XIth (Service) Battalion (Lonsdale) and abridged material from Timeline and Chronology of the Lonsdale Battalion (September 1914 - May 1915), which are sourced from the original DLONS/L/13/13 Lowther Estate Archives. Events from that chronology are reproduced here with kind permission of Jim Lowther (2016). They are identified and referenced separately by their unique DLONS numbers. Please do not publish these events without prior permission from the Lowther Estate. All casualty names, numbers, ranks, date of deaths and places of burial/commemoration have been sourced from Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-19, Volume 39, The Border Regiment and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database respectively.