50th (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. The division was numbered as 50th Division in 1915 and served on the Western Front throughout the First World War. Due to losses suffered in the Ludendorf Offensive in March 1918 it had to be comprehensively reorganized. It was once again reformed in the Territorial Army as the Northumbrian Division in 1920.
Formation
The Territorial Force was formed on 1 April 1908 following the enactment of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 which combined and re-organised the old Volunteer Force, the Honourable Artillery Company and the Yeomanry. On formation, the TF contained 14 infantry divisions and 14 mounted yeomanry brigades. One of the divisions was the Northumbrian Division.The divisions were intended to be replicas of the regular army divisions of approximately 18,000 men on mobilisation including infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineer, medical, supply and signal units. The Northumbrian Division was typical, consisting of three infantry brigades, the 'Northumberland', 'York and Durham' and 'Durham Light Infantry ' Brigades. Each brigade was composed of four infantry battalions, descendants of the local Volunteer corps. In 1907 Lieutenant General Robert Baden-Powell was appointed to command the division; he held command from April 1908 to 1910. In peacetime, the divisional headquarters was at Richmond Castle in Richmond, North Yorkshire.
The terms of the Territorial Force soldiers were for home service only; they were to be used to garrison the country when the regulars left for overseas. In the summer of 1914 the division was at its annual summer training camp in North Wales when, on 3 August, it received orders to return to the North East. Receiving mobilisation orders the next day, the division arrived at its war station of the coastal defences, railways and dockyards of the Tyne and Wear area. After preparing these defences and undertaking more training, the Territorials volunteered to serve overseas in September. After more training the division was the fourth to be declared fit for service, embarking for France between 16 and 19 April 1915 with orders to concentrate around Steenvoorde.
World War I
A new division arriving in France would normally expect a period of additional training to teach the men about Trench warfare, however on the evening of the arrival of the last unit on 22 April, the division was ordered to have all units stand by.Second Battle of Ypres
St Julien
In the early stages of this battle, the separate brigades and even battalions were to come under command of other divisions, the 4th, 5th, 27th and 28th British divisions and the 1st Canadian Division. The brigades were committed piecemeal to the battle with the York and Durham brigade the first to come under fire at first light on 24 April, before moving into the GHQ line. Two battalions of the brigade were the first of the division to attack the Germans, attempting to take St Julien in the afternoon, but being beaten back and returning to Potijze in the dark. The Northumbrian and DLI brigades were moved up to Potijze that evening. The 6th DLI was sent to the GHQ line, and the 8th battalion began a long trek in the rain via Zonnebeke to relieve the 8th Canadian battalion at Boetleer's Farm on the Gravenstafel ridge, arriving in the early hours of 25 April.The Northumbrian and York and Durham Brigades were to be the Corps reserve for an attack on St Julien on 25 April. Two battalions of the York and Durham Brigade and the four of the Northumbrian Brigade supported the attacks of the 10th Brigade, but, due to poor communications and timing errors, gained little but casualties from artillery. The 8th D.L.I. at Boetleer's Farm, suffered almost constant shelling throughout the day, some of it from the rear from the southern end of the salient, but held on to repulse a German attack in the evening. Early the next morning the exposed position, North of the Gravenstafel—Koorsaelaere road, was flanked and the battalion suffered from machine-gun fire in enfilade, and was forced to fall back by sections, even then stopping the German advance with rifle fire, reaching a more established line and the reinforcements that had been promised earlier, late in the day. The battalion was reduced to 146 officers and men. The 6th and 7th D.L.I. were used to support the 85th Brigade around Zevenkote and Zonnebeke, and were shelled throughout the day.
The Northumberland Brigade was to suffer once more from poor communications on 26 April. Concentrated around Wieltje, the brigade was designated the reserve for the 1st Canadian Division. In the morning the 5th N.F. was ordered to reconnoitre and block a possible German attack from Fortuin, reaching the village, it came under artillery fire and dug in. At 1:30 pm orders were received for the rest of the Brigade to attack St. Julien in cooperation with the Lahore Division and 10th Brigade, this was the first attack by a territorial brigade in the war. With only 35 minutes in which to prepare before the start of the attack, no artillery support was obtained and the routes through the wire of the GHQ line were unknown, as a result the troops were slow in leaving and presented targets for the Germans. On reaching the front line the 10th Brigade could not be found, its orders had been changed. Advancing from here the 6th N.F. took some trenches the Germans had retired from, the 4th and 7th battalions were unable to leave the front line. Under artillery fire the 6th battalion dug in and withdrew during the night. The Northumberland Brigade lost 1,954 officers and men, over 2/3 of its strength, during the day.
The next few days were spent preparing the new line to which the allies were to fall back to, and alternately holding the front line, often reinforcing other units in company strength, all the while under fire. The infantry of this novice and unacclimatised Division was withdrawn from the salient during the night of 2–3 May, having lost 3764 men killed, wounded and missing since 24 April. On 5 May the 5th Battalion of the Border Regiment joined the Northumbrian Brigade to reinforce it.
Frezenberg Ridge
The next German attack, on the Frezenberg Ridge, began on 8 May and for the first time involved the division's artillery under the control of the other British Divisions in the area. The Howitzers firing from positions West and North of Ypres and the field guns from south of Potijze revealed the age and limitations of the 4.7-inch guns, and 15-pounders. The infantry would be used to provide working parties, with the Durham Light Infantry Brigade moving into the 2nd line trenches on 11 May astride the Menin Road, and the 5th Green Howards and the 5th D.L.I. being split into companies and attached to Regular battalions near Sanctuary and Hooge Woods. None of the infantry was involved in fighting. On 12 May the division HQ was informed that it was now to be known as the 50th Division, and its infantry Brigades numbered as the 149th, 150th and 151st, and artillery Brigades 250th, 251st, 252nd and 253rd. The artillery would remain attached to other divisions in action around Ypres until the end of the month.Bellewaarde
The infantry of the division continued its dispersed existence to the extent that some battalions were split into companies and attached to different battalions of other divisions in the line, even the division history admits difficulty in following them. The brigades of the division were used to reinforce the regular units in the line, the 149th brigade with the 4th Division around Verlorenhoek, the 151st with the 28th Division, West of Bellewaarde, and the 150th with the Cavalry Corps near Bellewaarde lake and the Menin Road.In the early morning of 24 May the Germans launched an intense artillery and gas attack on the British lines, even those units not in the front line suffered from the gas. In some areas of 4th Division's line the German trenches were only 30 yards away, for example at Mouse Trap Farm, and surprise was gained, forcing the British back to reserve lines. Here the 5th Borderers and 5th N.F. were very much distributed among 10th and 12th Brigades. The 5th Northumberland Fusiliers lost 24 dead, 90 wounded and 170 missing, while the 5th Borderers simply state in their history that they had heavy casualties to gas but difficulty in numbering them due to the dispersion. The trenches in the line held by 85th Brigade were in a poor state due to the weather, and here the Germans broke through the front line between the Potijze—Verlorenheok road and the Ypres—Roulers railway. Two companies of the 9th D.L.I., attached to the 2nd East Surreys, found themselves of the North shoulder of the breakthrough, with two companies of the 7th D.L.I., attached to the 3rd Royal Fusiliers, on the Southern, which was attacked again and forced back to rear lines. The 8th D.L.I. was ordered to reinforce this Southern section and close the gap and after being shelled moving up through the GHQ line, succeeded in surprising the Germans and rushing 200 yards of open ground without loss to do so.
Holding the Line
On 1 June the division HQ learned that it was to take over a section of the line as a whole division, the first time since 22 April. It first had to reassemble, which was completed on 5 June, concentrating at Abele. On 7 June, the 150th Brigade took over from 9th Brigade in the trenches West of Zillebeke. They were joined by the 149th Brigade on 10 June to their North up to the Menin Road, with the trenches separated at Hooge by only 15 yards. There began the never-ending task of trench repair and strengthening, shared by 151st Brigade in the reserve lines around Maple Copse, "...notorious for being the meeting place for half the stray bullets in the district.". Due to losses sustained by the 8th Durham Light Infantry in April and May, it had been merged with the 6th battalion to form the composite 6th/8th Battalion on 8 June, and on 11 June the 1/5th Battalion of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment was attached to the brigade to bring it up to strength. On 16 June the division's artillery supported an attack by 3rd Division on the German lines at Bellewaarde, with the infantry also supporting with rifle fire from their lines. The 7th Northumberland Fusiliers were trench mortared in their trenches which were too close to the Germans for artillery support.Between 21 and 24 June the division transferred to the line around Messines and Wytschaete, all three brigades would be in the line, in order from South to North, with two battalions in the front line. Part of the 149 and 150th Brigades' lines near the River Douve were breastworks. This part of the line was considered to be quiet compared with the Ypres salient, but still included artillery duels, trench mortaring, grenades, sniping, mining and patrolling no-mans-land. The division still considered it a rest.
After a month the division was sent to the Armentieres sector, another relatively "quiet" sector, arriving between 17—18 July. On 7 August the 6th/8th Battalion Durham Light Infantry was separated back into two battalions, coming under separate command on 11 August. In September the division's artillery supported the opening of the Battle of Loos, the infantry also demonstrated on the front line to deceive the Germans. In early November the old 15-pounders of the artillery were replaced with new 18-pounders, and the worn out 4.7-inch guns replaced with new 4.5-inch howitzers.
On 12 November the division was taken out of the line for training and concentrated in the Merris—La Crèche area. On 16 December the 7th Durham Light Infantry was converted into the division's pioneer battalion, with the 5th Borderers transferring from the now replenished 149th Brigade into the 151st Brigade, the 5th North Lancashire Regiment was to leave the division for the 55th Division in late December.