Birth of a Battalion - 9BORDER 1914

In August 1914 The Border Regiment had five battalions. By September it had nine. The new battalions were raised under Lord Kitchener’s plan to create an army that could handle the unprecedented demands of modern Continental warfare.

The autumn of 1914 saw the Ninth Battalion billeted in Sussex, part of 66th Infantry Brigade, 22nd Division; a member of the third of Kitchener’s New armies.

The Battalion’s War Diary only starts in August 1915 and so we are dependent on one personal diary, that of Captain Stott, newspapers and other personal records for descriptions of the period before this.

Carlisle and Miners

 The battalion was raised at Carlisle in September 1914 . It contained a mix of men from Cumberland and Westmorland, and County Durham, where there were too many volunteers that the Durham Light Infantry could handle. In 1914 the loss of coal exports to Germany led to many pits in Durham being shut and men laid-off. Patriotism was certainly a factor for miners to enlist, but it was combined with a need for employment.

One miner, Private Walton enlisted at Deaf Hill in County Durham. He was accepted for the Durham Light Infantry on Friday 4 September. The next day Walton was sent with others to Sunderland and then put on another train, before arriving in Carlisle that night.

“Hundreds of us were put on the train and arrived at Carlisle late on Saturday night. On Sunday we had a surprise when they told us we were in the Border Regiment.”

Shortages

Conditions for all of the new battalions were poor. The influx of recruits often with insufficient accommodation for them was combined with an acute shortage of officers and NCOs. Once men were in barracks there continued to be problems. Thomas Sloan, 9BORDER, sat down for breakfast the first time at Carlisle, to find one bowl was provided for 12 men to drink from.

“there was an old tramp at our table who got it first. We simply could not drink after him, but I must say it wasn’t long before we made sure that tramp was last.”

The shortage of officers and NCOs led to retired men being called back to the Colours. 9BORDER left Carlisle on 14th September for Lewes in the south of England with no officers. The men were under the command of Sergeant Major Cuthbertson. It was three days before Major George Browne, from Border Regiment Officers’ Reserve took command. But not all the officers were from the North, on 3 October 1914 the Eastbourne Chronicle reported that Alfred Hillman of 47 Enys Road Eastbourne had been:

 “appointed to a 2nd lieutenancy in the 9th Battalion, the Border Regiment”.

Ironically by Christmas 1914 the battalion would be billeted a few hundred yards from Enys Road .

Billeted in Lewes

Lewes was full of new soldiers. At one stage that Autumn the town held almost 10,000 new recruits. The men were billeted in the Town Hall, old Workhouse, school halls, drill halls as well as under canvas. Lewes was always intended to be a staging post for the battalions that would make up the new 22nd Division. Their permanent home was to be a new camp at Seaford, 10 miles away. The Eastbourne Chronicle :“The training of the 22nd division of Lord Kitchener ‘s Army now encamped at Seaford is progressing in a smooth and businesslike manner that reflects great credit upon all concerned. Every part of the complex military machine is running easily and reliably and the final outcome of which work cannot fail to be satisfactory.

“The greater part of the camp is situated in the large open spaces on each side of Sutton Avenue. Here about 10 battalions are located.

Five other battalions are quartered in the fields opposite the cemetery. Assuming that each battalion is at war strength namely about 1,000 number the total number of men is over 17,000. During the winter the men will be housed in huts. Several hundreds of the structures measuring 80' x 20' are being erected on Mr Gorringe’s land at Chyngton.”

The paper reported that many of the men were still in civilian clothes, whilst others were wearing blue serge suits, a little like Postmen, but with Glengarry caps. Khaki was still relatively rare.

First casualty

It was whilst at Seaford that the battalion suffered its first casualty. Private Jacob Higgins drowned whilst swimming in the sea at Seaford. Higgins was 39, he had enlisted on September 6 and arrived at Seaford on September 29. He had been a miner, employed Trimdon colliery, Durham, and left a wife and a child.

The coroner:

 “...on behalf of the jury and himself, expressed sympathy with the widow, and regretted the loss which the regiment as sustained by the death of one of its members, whose record was good and who is far as they knew at the making of a good soldier.”

Jacob Higgins was buried with military honours in Seaford Cemetery.

The Battalion were not to spend long at Seaford. Heavy rain made the tents uninhabitable. At the end of October the battalion marched across the wind and rain swept South Downs to Eastbourne to continue their basic training. The regimental headquarters was at Saffrons sports ground, with men billeted around the Meads area of the town. They joined Welsh and Lancashire units of Kitchener’s Army in Eastbourne, turning the rather up-market seaside resort into a garrison town.

The Chronicle reported that the men to be seen in Eastbourne were:

“Fine hardy man who certainly look none the worse for the unpleasant experiences on the canvas; in fact, appearances would seem to indicate that they have actually physically benefited in spite of the rain sodden ground which had been churned into a quagmire by the constant traffic.”

Stott’s description of their early days in Eastbourne is less rosy:

“Discipline soon began to show signs of wear and tear. Billets were in many cases far apart, which rendered it difficult to keep track of people off parade.”

 The answer was to send the defaulters back to Seaford to help complete the camp.

The identity and make-up of the Battalion caused the Eastbourne Chronicle difficulties.

“The regiment located at Meads is not as has been stated, the South Wales Borderers, but is the 34th The Borderer (sic) Regiment which consists of Northumbrians and Scotsmen.”

Bugle and Foxhound

The Eastbourne Gazette had no such problems. Under the headline “Interesting Presentations at the Saffrons” the Gazette for 16 December described the battalion being drawn up in front of the cricket pavilion. The square was of course roped off. The Gazette reported that the recruits came from:

 “...Durham Cumberland Lancashire and West Midlands. About 70% of the Durham men are miners.”

The Gazette then went on to describe Sergeant Drummer Seed, the Colonel’s bugler, being presented with a silver bugle by the wife of the Colonel. The bugle is on display at Cumbria's Museum of Military Life. A foxhound was then led forward by one of the men. Colonel Browne introduced the dog:

“...a foxhound which has been given as a mascot by Mr J E Rogerson master of the North Durham Foxhounds. There is a collar on the dog – a very handsome collar which has been presented by Miss Watson, a lady who is well known to men of Durham. This hound at present is looking rather sorry for himself, but I hope he will be happier when he gets to know us well. He will be led by the Bugler at the head of the Regiment and will, I hope, bring us luck.”

“The Border Regiment marched past to the quick step (sic) of John Peel, which was most appropriate.”

Sadly two months later Harlequin was run over by a motor car and killed. His grave is close to Compton Place Road on the edge of Compton Croquet Club.

Training

Throughout January and February local papers mention 9 Border in sporting contexts. The battalion won Brigade Cross Country races, football matches and took part in boxing tournaments. The Eastbourne Chronicle again:

“These Borders are distinguishing themselves in the way of sport. They are Champion Cross Country runners, the Champion Soccer footballers and I am told they are champions of a good many things besides.”

In March the Chronicle reported on a training course run for part of the Battalion in February:

“The value of observation in war

In it’s issue of the 13th inst, The Field published extracts from a lecture given by request by Mr Frederick G Cook, Assoc. Mech. Inst. C.E., to two platoons of the Border Regiment on the 16th ult. …”

Captain Stott’s diary

“...we drilled and marched and attacked anything and everything. The lighthouse on the cliffs was our chief enemy. It was assaulted in mass, in blob formation, not infrequently in no formation at all, from each and every side but the cliffs.”

Then in March the Battalion left Eastbourne for Maidstone, in Kent.

Pioneers

The Battalion had become the Divisional Pioneer battalion in February. Pioneers Battalions were elite units. Their men paid tuppence a day more than line infantry and expected to dig, demolish and build roads, as well as fight. The Battalion’s large number of former Durham Miners made them ideal for their new role The Regimental history describes them as being given the role because of the skill they showed at trenching whilst at Eastbourne.

At Maidstone the battalion practiced the creation of complex defences. From Wrotham north along the North Downs over-looking the River Medway, a system of strong points and permanent trenches was constructed both for training by new battalions and as a defence for London.

“In order to save the dashing smartness of the khaki we now had, we were served out with white canvas working suits . Such an opportunity was too good to be lost by the battalion wits. When the first company so to be dressed appeared on battalion parade, there were loud, resonant cries of “Milk oh!”

Seaford again

When their time in Kent was up the Battalion marched back from Maidstone. They took two days to cover the 45 miles. And when the battalion returned to Seaford they were pleased to find that the tents had been replaced by huts, though these were not necessarily of the highest quality.

“Forty men was the alleged capacity of each hut. But by the time folks had dodged the leaks in one and the draughts in another, the numbers daily showed fluctuations that departed very largely from that criterion.”

Aldershot

By June the Battalion had moved to Aldershot and were in tents on Watts Common. Now it was Divisional training. The Battalion marched, built bridges and on one occasion provided an honour guard for a visiting Royal party. Stott remembers them singing as they marched.

 “We are a sample of the Border Boys.

 We are the boys to make a row.

 We know our manners,

 Our threepenny-bits and tanners .

 We are respected wherever we may go.

 And when we march along the high-way road,

 Doors and windows open wide.

 We know how to use our feet!

 We are the Border Boys!

Indian Army Colonel

‘Pioneer Infantry’ battalions had been an Indian Army development. And the Battalion would go to France with a former Indian Army Pioneer officer as its Colonel. Lieutenant-Colonel H F Cooke, was a former officer in 32nd Bengal Infantry (Pioneers). He had served on the North West Frontier, including being present at the Relief of Chitral in 1898. He had also completed the Indian Army Staff Course. Later in the year, when the Division was in Salonika, he was promoted to command of the 67th Infantry Brigade.

Active Service

The Battalion were preparing to go to France, but the War was becoming more complicated with fighting spreading to Gallipoli and the Near East. The Battalion left for France in September, but spent less than two months there before being sent to Salonica in October. They would stay in Salonica until the end of the War.

Peter Green