The 1st Royal Naval Brigade was an infantry brigade of the Royal Navy which was formed from excess naval reserve personnel. The brigade was formed in August 1914 and assigned to the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division after that division's formation in September 1914 and served on the Western Front and during the Gallipoli campaign, until July 1916 when it was broken up. The brigade was formed once more for a few days, but once again disbanded following the division's absorption into the Army'sorder of battle.
Before the beginning of the First World War, plans for a 'naval land force' were drawn up on the recommendation of the Committee for Imperial Defence: "[in the event of war] a force of Royal Marines would be formed under the control of the Admiralty, to be known as the 'Advanced Base Force'". When war was declared, this project was put into operation, and a brigade of marines, known as the Royal Marine Brigade (later the 3rd (Royal Marine) Brigade) was established with its administrative headquarters based in London.[1][2]
Formation
Recruiting poster for the division, showing the "Benbow", "Collingwood", "Hawke", and "Drake" Battalions for the 1st Brigade.
By the time of mobilisation, the British Army could only muster six infantry divisions (of regulars) and two cavalry divisions. To meet this shortfall, troops were withdrawn from overseas postings and the Dominions as reinforcements for the expeditionary force sent to France. New volunteer units were also formed and trained, such as the local 'Pals battalions'. However, a new division of naval reservists and Marines surplus to the fleet would undoubtedly be a great help, with Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, stating during a meeting of the House of Lords that "... Their presence in the field will be very welcome, for their fighting qualities are well known.".[1]
In August 1914, as part of the mobilisation of the British Armed Forces following the German invasion of Belgium, the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Light Infantry, were organised into battalions and 'divisions'. These forces were organised along the same lines as their counterparts in the army, except for small details such as the rank of the commanding officer, and lack of bands, etc. The forces on long being organised into battalions were now organised into eight battalions, along with an artillery battalion and five battalions belonging to the Royal Marines, but were still sitting idly by. In addition, large numbers of naval reservists were available and much above those required for manning the fleet, so on 16 August 1914, the Admiralty decided to form two naval brigades, which were grouped with the Royal Marine Brigade into the 'Royal Naval Division'. The new division maintained an administrative headquarters at the Admiralty Building, but no operational headquarters was established until late August, after which it was based in Dover.[1][2]
In accordance with the expansion of the battalions, 1st Naval Brigade, was established on 20 August 1914 at the Plymouth Naval Base. The new brigade was initially organised with four battalions from local naval stations and ships, and named after according to where the majority of its personnel came from. Each was to comprise four battalions, each of 880 men and to be organised in 16 'double companies' of 220 men.[1][3][4][5]
The initial organisation, however, proved to be unmanageable, and each battalion was reorganised into the following structure: 28 x Petty Officers from the Royal Navy, 48 x Petty Officers from the Royal Fleet Reserve, 424 x Petty Officers, Leading Seamen, and Seamen from the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, 250 x 'Stokers' from the Royal Fleet Reserve, and 187 x Seamen under 30 years old from the Royal Naval Reserve. This left each battalion with personnel coming from across the navy, leaving a total of 937 sailors.[3]
Because of the quick formation of the naval brigades, a new camp ground was hastily constructed from 700 tents to supplement the 170 marine tents already at hand in Deal in Kent. Sailors from the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve were instructed to bring their own rifles, while arrangements were made to issue 4,000 rifles for the Royal Naval Reserve and Royal Fleet Reserve. These were of the old Lee–EnfieldBolt-action rifles, but orders were placed for the newer short type to be delivered at the earliest possible moment. Vickers received an order for 40 Maxim Machine-Guns, to be ready in 10 days; four would be issued to each battalion, with four kept in reserve. Each company therefore continued a machine-gun section, and each of the three brigades was to form a field ambulance column.[3]
Belgium
The "Race to the Sea" in September–October 1914; the final position of the front-line is west of Ostend. Antwerp is marked by a circle on the right.
On 4 October 1914, the two newly formed naval brigades received orders to embark at the Port of Dover for a move to France. On the morning of 5 October, the brigades arrived in Dunkirk. The brigade was embarked once more onboard two troop trains, and a shore train, arriving in Antwerp, Belgium at 02:30 in the morning on 6 October. Immediately upon arrival the brigade joined the Royal Marine Brigade at the Antwerp defensive line. The Siege of Antwerp had been raging since 28 September, and by 6 October the Belgian garrison was close to surrender. During the afternoon of the 6th, the brigade was detached to the right flank of the Royal Marine Brigade. This position however, was seen as untenable and during the night of 6–7 October, the (now organised) Royal Naval Division withdrew and occupied the 2nd line of trenches. The 1st Naval Brigade was dug in around the positions of Forts No. 1-8, with brigade holding the far left flank.[4][5]
At around midnight on 7–8 October, a heavy German artillery bombardment opened up on the forts, trenches, and now the centre of the city, and by 18:00 at night on the 8th, Forts No. 1, 2, and 4 had all fallen or been destroyed. The situation, looking increasingly hopeless, meant a retreat from Antwerp was not only possible, but not unavoidable. During the night of 8–9 October, the division crossed the Scheldt river and marched to Sint-Gillis-Waas.[4][5]
On 9 October, the division was once again embarked on trains, now heading for Ostend. However, around 1,500 men (almost all from the 1st Naval Brigade, including its commander), failed to break through and had to cross the Dutch frontier where, on the 9th, they were interned in accordance with that country's neutrality laws.[4][5]
Home Service
After a large amount of the 1st Naval Brigade had been captured trying to escape from Belgium, the division was embarked on ships in Ostend and reached Dover on 11 October. For a short time, the division was scattered around Kent and Sussex, finding accommodations wherever available, the Royal Marine battalions however returned to their various barracks.[4][5]
On 27 November 1914, the division began to once again consolidate, arriving at Blandford Camp, and by the end of January 1915 the move was complete, with the entire division now grouped at the camp and in the nearby town of Blandford Forum.[4][5]
Mediterranean
Map of Turkish forces at Gallipoli, April 1915: Bulair is on the top right.
In February 1915, the Royal Naval Division received orders to embark for an "operation in the Mediterranean". The Royal Marines Brigade left Devonport on 6 February, reaching the island of Lemnos on 24 February. The 1st and 2nd Naval Brigades however remained at Blandford for a short time for an inspection by King George V on 24 February. Right after the inspection, the two brigades were embarked on trains and arrived in Avonmouth. However, the 1st Naval 'Brigade' was now only the strength of one battalion, as the 2nd (Hawke), 3rd (Benbow), and 4th (Collingwood) Battalions, in addition to the recently joined 1st and 2nd Royal Naval Field Engineer Companies were left behind to finish their landing training.[6] On 1 March 1915, they were embarked at Avonmouth and arrived at Port Said in British Egypt on 29 March. Between the landing and 5 April, the brigade was redesignated as the 1st (Royal Naval) Brigade, though it later dropped the prefix '(Royal Naval)' on 2 August 1915. In addition, the brigade was reorganised with the 3rd (Benbow) Battalion, disbanded on 9 June; 4th (Collingwood) Battalion left on 30 May; 5th (Nelson) Battalion, joined by 5 April; and 12th (Deal) Battalion joining on 12 March.[4][5]
On 5 April 1915, the division began to re-embark on ships, and on 8 April left Egypt for Mudros, Kingdom of Greece. By 16 April, the division had concentrated around Trebuki Bay, Skyros and on 23 April the division sailed for the Gulf of Xeros. The division carried out feint landings at Bulair on 24 April, while the main body of the division landed near what would become known as Anzac Cove. On 27 April the entire division was disembarked and set up position at Cape Helles.[7]
The division was shipped to Egypt and fought at the Battle of Gallipoli at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles.[7] Casualties before the campaign began included Rupert Brooke, who died at sea from an infected mosquito bite on 23 April 1915.[8] The RND was one of two British divisions (the other being the regular 29th Division) at the Gallipoli landings. Eleven troopships and Canopus, Dartmouth and Doris, two destroyers and trawlers rendezvoused off Bulair before dawn and the warships began a day-long bombardment, just after daybreak. A destroyer made a close pass off the beach and later on, ships' boats were swung out from the troopships and lines of eight cutters pulled by a trawler made as if to land. In the late afternoon men began to embark on the boats, which headed for the shore just before dark and returned after night fell. During the night Lieutenant-Commander Bernard Freyberg swam ashore and lit flares along the beach, crept inland and observed the Ottoman defences. Freyberg found that the defences were dummies and returned safely to report. Just after dawn, the decoy force sailed south to join the main landings, coming ashore on 30 April.[9]
Finally, on 2 July 1916 the brigade HQ was redesignated as the 3rd (Royal Marine) Brigade, which on 7 July was itself redesignated as the 1st (Royal Naval) Brigade once again. On 19 July 1916, to bring the brigade in-line with the British Army, it became the 188th Brigade.[5]
Order of battle
The order of battle of the brigade during the war was as follows:[5]
The first appointed commander was designated as the 'Brigade Commodore', but held the rank of Captain.[lower-alpha 1] The first officer to hold this post was Wilfred Henderson.[2][3] Captain Henderson had previously been Royal Naval Attaché to the German Empire prior to the outbreak of the war. He was interned in Holland on 9 October 1914 following the brigade's escape into the Netherlands.[10][11]
At some point just before the end of the Siege of Antwerp, ColonelDavid MercerCBRM took command of the brigade.[12] Before this appointment, he had been Assistant Adjutant General of the Royal Marines (since September 1911). On 22 January 1914, Mercer was promoted as Temporary Major General.[13] Mercer remained in command of the brigade, as Assistant Adjutant General until the brigade's disbandment in July 1916. On 26 June 1916, Mercer was promoted to Adjutant General of the Royal Marines and subsequently promoted as a temporary Major General.[13][14][15][16][17]
Although supporting troops of the Royal Naval Division wore the anchor divisional sign, in a variety of combinations of colours, it was not worn by the infantry. They wore battle patches indicating the battalion, for example: Hawke, a black bird silhouette; Anson, a horizontal rectangle halved blue over light blue; Drake, a vertical rectangle halved blue (left) and light blue; Hood, a horizontal rectangle of light blue with a dark blue centre stripe; Royal Marines, a square of Corps ribbon; and Army units, either a title of a patch of regimental ribbon.[18]
Below this patch was worn a square company patch: A Company was red, B Company was blue, C Company was yellow, and D Company was green.[18]
The 10th (Irish) Division, was one of the first of Kitchener's New Army K1 Army Group divisions, authorized on 21 August 1914, after the outbreak of the Great War. It included battalions from the various provinces of Ireland. It was led by Irish General Bryan Mahon and fought at Gallipoli, Salonika and Palestine. It was the first of the Irish Divisions to take to the field and was the most travelled of the Irish formations. The division served as a formation of the United Kingdom's British Army during World War I.
The 11th (Northern) Division, was an infantry division of the British Army during the First World War, raised from men who had volunteered for Lord Kitchener's New Armies. The division fought in the Gallipoli Campaign and on the Western Front. The division's insignia was an ankh or ankhus.
The 63rd Division was a United Kingdom infantry division of the First World War. It was originally formed as the Royal Naval Division at the outbreak of the war, from Royal Navy and Royal Marine reservists and volunteers, who were not needed for service at sea. For RN personnel, the designation HMS Victory IV was used. The division fought at Antwerp in 1914 and at Gallipoli in 1915. In 1916, following many losses among the original naval volunteers, the division was transferred to the British Army as the 63rd Division, re-using the number from the disbanded second-line 63rd Division Territorial Force. As an Army formation, it fought on the Western Front for the remainder of the war.
The 54th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division was raised in 1908 following the creation of the Territorial Force (TF) as the East Anglian Division. During the First World War the division fought at Gallipoli and in the Middle East. The division was disbanded after the war but reformed in the Territorial Army in 1920. During the Second World War it was a home service division and did not see any combat service abroad and was disbanded in late 1943 but many of its component units went to see service in the Normandy Campaign and North-western Europe from June 1944 to May 1945.
The Manchester Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1958. The regiment was created during the 1881 Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 63rd Regiment of Foot and the 96th Regiment of Foot as the 1st and 2nd battalions; the 6th Royal Lancashire Militia became the 3rd (Reserve) and 4th battalions and the Volunteer battalions became the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th battalions.
The Lancashire Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that saw distinguished service through many years and wars, including the Second Boer War, and the First and Second World Wars. It had many different titles throughout its 280 years of existence.
The Welch Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1969. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 41st (Welch) Regiment of Foot and 69th Regiment of Foot to form the Welsh Regiment, by which it was known until 1920 when it was renamed the Welch Regiment. In 1969 the regiment was amalgamated with the South Wales Borderers to form the Royal Regiment of Wales.
A naval brigade is a body of sailors serving in a ground combat role to augment land forces.
The King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army. It served under various titles and fought in many wars and conflicts, including both the First and the Second World Wars, from 1680 to 1959. In 1959, the regiment was amalgamated with the Border Regiment to form the King's Own Royal Border Regiment.
The Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's) was an Irish line infantry (later changed to light infantry) regiment of the British Army, formed by the amalgamation of the 87th (Prince of Wales's Irish) Regiment of Foot and the 89th (Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot in 1881. The regiment's first title in 1881 was Princess Victoria's (Royal Irish Fusiliers), changed in 1920 to the Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's). Between the time of its formation and Irish independence, it was one of eight Irish regiments.
The history of the Royal Marines began on 28 October 1664 with the formation of the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot soon becoming known as the Admiral's Regiment. During the War of the Spanish Succession the most historic achievement of the Marines was the capture of the mole during the assault on Gibraltar in 1704. On 5 April 1755, His Majesty's Marine Forces, fifty Companies in three Divisions, headquartered at Portsmouth, Chatham and Plymouth, were formed by Order of Council under Admiralty control.
The Welsh Horse Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army that served in the First World War. The regiment was raised shortly after the outbreak of the war. Initially it served in East Anglia on anti-invasion duties, before being dismounted in 1915 and sent to take part in the Gallipoli Campaign. After withdrawal to Egypt, it was amalgamated with the 1/1st Montgomeryshire Yeomanry as the 25th Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers and served as such throughout the rest of the war. It took part in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in 1917 and 1918, before being transferred to the Western Front where it remained until the end of the war. The regiment formed 2nd and 3rd Lines in 1914, but these never left the United Kingdom before being disbanded in 1916 and early 1917, respectively. The 1st Line was disbanded in 1919.
The 2nd Brigade was an infantry brigade of the Royal Navy. It was assigned to the 63rd Division and served on the Western Front during the First World War.
The 2/1st London Brigade was a 2nd Line formation of the Territorial Force of the British Army. It was formed at the start of World War I and served in overseas garrisons in Malta and Egypt. Although it never saw action as a formation, its constituent battalions fought at Gallipoli and served against the Senussi tribesmen. The brigade was then sent to the Western Front where it was broken up to provide drafts for 1st Line units.
The 188th Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army which comprised several battalions provided by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The brigade was formed in July 1916 following the absorption of the Royal Naval Division into the British Army, thereby becoming the 63rd Division. The brigade itself was the direct successor to the 1st Brigade, and would serve until its disbandment in 1919.
The 142nd Brigade was an infantry brigade of the Territorial Army, part of the British Army, that served in the First and the Second World Wars, and remained in the United Kingdom throughout the latter.
The 190th Brigade was a 2nd Line Territorial Force formation of the British Army during World War I. Formed from battalions of the Durham Light Infantry, it served in home defence without ever going overseas as a complete formation.
The Royal Naval Division Memorial is a First World War memorial located on Horse Guards Parade in central London, and dedicated to members of the 63rd Division (RND) killed in that conflict. Sir Edwin Lutyens designed the memorial, which was unveiled on 25April 1925—ten years to the day after the Gallipoli landings, in which the division suffered heavy casualties. Shortly after the war, former members of the division established a committee, chaired by one of their leading officers, Brigadier-General Arthur Asquith, to raise funds for a memorial. Progress was initially slow. The committee planned to incorporate its memorial into a larger monument proposed by the Royal Navy for Trafalgar Square. When the navy abandoned that project, the RND's committee decided to proceed independently. They engaged Lutyens, who, after negotiation with the Office of Works, produced a design for a fountain connected to the balustrade of the Admiralty Extension building.
The 2nd Home Counties Division was a 2nd Line Territorial Force division of the British Army in World War I. The division was formed as a duplicate of the 44th Division in November 1914. As the name suggests, the division recruited in the Home Counties, particularly Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex. In August 1915, in common with all Territorial Force divisions, it was numbered as 67th Division. Between September 1917 and the end of the year, the division was extensively reorganized and lost its territorial identity; henceforth it was known as 67th Division.
Major General Sir David Mercer, was a Royal Marines officer who served as Adjutant-General Royal Marines.
References
Aspinall-Oglander, C. F. (1929). Military Operations Gallipoli: Inception of the Campaign to May 1915. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol.I (1sted.). London: Heinemann. OCLC464479053.
Chappell, Mike (1986). British Battle Insignia. Men-at-Arms Series. Vol.I: 1914–18. Grosvenor, London, United Kingdom: Osprey Military Publishing. ISBN978-0850457278. OCLC224419843.
Jerrold, D. (2009) [1923]. The Royal Naval Division (Imperial War Museum and N & M Pressed.). London: Hutchinson. ISBN978-1-84342-261-7.
Sellers, Leonard (2015). The Hood Battalion: Royal Naval Division: Antwerp, Gallipoli, France 1914–1918. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom: Pen & Sword Military Publishings. ISBN978-1783461684. OCLC910968711.
Watson, Graham E.; Rinaldi, Richard A. (2018). The Corps of Royal Engineers: Organization and Units 1889 – 2018. United Kingdom: Tiger Lilly Books. ISBN978-1717901804.
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