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The home of the 11th (Service) Battalion Border Regiment in the First World War Honi Soit Qui Mal y Pense — Evil Be To Him Who Evil Thinks

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  We Need You!

Do you have anything connected with the Lonsdale Battalion and the Border Regiment? If so, we are interested to learn more.

Here at the Lonsdale Battalion wiki we are firm believers that knowledge about our history should be shared freely, to better our understanding of a challenging and devastating period that affected hundreds of millions of people. We have included what little public domain information we have been lucky enough to find – information such as battalion histories, war diaries and newspaper articles. Other information has been kindly donated by enthusiasts and relatives of those who served during the war, such as photos and military background.

Your stories – Some men came back, many did not. For families who have stories to tell, we would very much like to hear about them, and how they may have impacted peoples' lives. We would like to provide a space for your stories, and the memory of your loved ones.

Your photos – We have an ongoing Roll of Honour project, where every soldier who fell has a remembrance page, dedicated to them and their families. We are interested in digital photographs of soldiers, military documents, paraphernalia and background histories to compliment the rolls we have already included, and for those we have yet to create.

Your information – Documents related to the Lonsdale Battalion and Border Regiment, no matter how small, will always have a home here so that the memories of individuals, and the larger units of soldiers, can be remembered for future generations. If you can assist in any way, please reach out to us here.

All photos and information remain the property of the original owner(s).

  The Lonsdale Battalion On This Day

A daily listing of movements, actions, events and political involvements of the Lonsdale Battalion that took place this day between 1914–1918. (This information refreshes daily.)

On this day in history (7 October)

1914 (Wednesday)

• Five men are recruited at Abbeytown.
• Enlistments: William Stirling Hunter (13300 Sgt.)
• List of clothing: 1000 greatcoats, 1000 stockingette jackets, 1000 kitbags, 900 pairs of socks, 300 pairs of puttees, 600 pairs woollen drawers, 300 caps, 440 flannel shirts, 144 pairs of boots and laces, 600 jackets and trousers.
• Letter of Major Binning to Carlisle Citizens’ League: “Will you please convey to the Members...who are supplying the daily papers to the Camp here the appreciation of the Officers and men for their gift.
• Letter of Major Binning to the R.A.C.: “I shall be much obliged if you have any members in Carlisle to know what arrangements could be made for the use of a Car to run between Carlisle and this Camp, which is upwards of 2 miles from the City.

1915 (Thursday)

• "All Officers are entitled to three blankets and should retain same in their possession."

1916 (Saturday)

• Battalion situated in the Cambrin Sector. The day is very quiet.
• At 3pm Major Moore (17th Highland Light Infantry) visits Battalion and inspects front line trenches with Commanding Officer.
• During morning Commanding Officer attends a conference conducted by Brigadier General Jardine.

1917 (Sunday)

• Battalion situated in Teteghem cleaning equipment and improving of billets.

References

Sources: Various sources contemporary to the war have been used to compile the Lonsdale Battalion on this day... (hover to read more)

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 (Main Page), 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.

  Featured Images

A Discussion

A discussion is taking place between the Commanding Officer and one of his men

Aiming Drill

"This is how you do it lads." An aiming drill staged for the photographer

Digging Entrenchments

Learning how to "dig-in" and the rigid training involved of digging entrenchments

Inspection

Inspection of the troops by Lord Lonsdale, the men standing to attention as he passes by

Bayonet Training

Close quarter bayonet training with sandbags

A Watchful Stroll

Officers out for a stroll through the grounds keeping a watchful eye on the training

Officers

Officers of the Lonsdale Battalion

New Recruits

A parade of new recruits, many without uniform until these could be supplied at a later date

Physical Drill

There is no getting away from the morning stretches!

The PT Instructor

The Commanding Officer, Percy Machell and other officers, watch the physical drill instructor

Off to France

A route march through the streets of Carlisle

Off to France

A route march through the streets of Carlisle, the fanfare of the lads marching off to war

‹ ›

  Helping Our Projects

Interested in helping out around here? There is always something to write, discover and learn about the Lonsdales and the regiment to which they belonged, The Border Regiment.

Our largest on-going projects are The Lonsdale Battalion On This Day and Lonsdale Battalion Roll of Honour. But every project, however, no matter how large or small is just as important as the next, which is why they are of equal value and interest. Currently, there are several other site projects on the go or waiting to be started, and this is where we need your help in making these available for everyone. Take a quick look at the recent changes made to the site to see what has been happening lately.

If you are interested in helping out you can reach out to us with any questions you may have about any of the projects. Alternatively, if you have spotted any errors and omissions, would like to create new pages or simply edit some existing ones, you can do so by creating a new account and off you go. We look forward to seeing you around.

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