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5th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment
The 5th (Earl of Chester's) Battalion, Cheshire Regiment had its HQ at Volunteer Street Chester. A Coy were from Altringhan and Knutsford, B Coy from Chester and Kelsall, C Coy from Sale and Cheadle, D Coy from Hartford, E Coy from Chester, F Coy from Frodsham and Lymm, G Coy from Runcorn and H Coy from Hartford.They were with the Cheshire Brigade, Welsh Division when war was declared in August 1914. They were immediately mobilised and moved to Shrewsbury and Church Stretton, by the end of August they moved to Northampton and then in December to Cambridge for final preparations. They proceeded to France on the 15th of February 1915, landing at at Le Havre to join 14th Brigade, 5th Division. They were in action in The Battle of Mons and the subsequent retreat, The Battle of Le Cateau, The Battle of the Marne, The Battle of the Aisne, The Battles of La Bassee and Messines and The First Battle of Ypres. In 1915 they were in action at The Second Battle of Ypres and the Capture of Hill 60. In autumn 1915, many units were exchanged with units from the newly arrived volunteer 32nd Division, to stiffen the inexperienced Division with regular army troops. On the 29th of November 1915 they became a Pioneer Battalion. On the 13th of February 1916 the 1/5th Chesters transferred to the newly reformed 56th (London) Division, in the Hallencourt area in February. In 1916 they were in action on The Somme taking part in the diversionary attack at Gommecourt on the 1st of July. Also The Battle of Ginchy, The Battle of Flers-Courcelette, The Battle of Morval in which the Division captured Combles and The Battle of the Transloy Ridges. In 1917 they were in action during The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line and the Battles of Arras in April, then The Battle of Langemarck in August, then the Cambrai Operations in November. In 1918 They were in action on The Somme, in the Second Battles of Arras, the Battles of the Hindenburg Line and the Final Advance in Picardy. At the Armistice the infantry were in a rest period, whilst the artillery were in action. The Division received orders to join the British force to occupy the Rhine bridgeheads, but these orders were cancelled on the 21st of November, when they were in the area of Harveng undertaking road and railway repairs. Demobilisation was completed on the 18th of May 1919.
18th Dec 1914 In the Trenches 
6th Feb 1915 Instruction
20th of February 1915 A Violent Explosion
2nd of March 1915 Machine Guns
13th of March 1915 Booby Trap
30th of March 1915 Hostile MG Damaged?
31st of March 1915 Staff
4th April 1915
17th of April 1915 Mines Exploded
24th of April 1915 A Quiet Night
26th of April 1915 Quiet Night
27th of April 1915 Reliefs
3rd of May 1915 New German Bombs
5th of May 1915 A Counter Attack
8th of May 1915 Heavy Shelling
11th May 1915 1st Devons relieve 5th Cheshires In the evening 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment left their bivouac and proceeded to relieve the 5th Bn Cheshire Regiment in the trenches near Oosthoek on the Yser canal.
18th of May 1915 Revenge Shelling
23rd of May 1915 Quiet Day
29th of May 1915 A Rumbling Explosion
31st of May 1915 "Careful Watch" Kept
2nd of June 1915 German Aeroplane Down
3rd of June 1916 Quiet Day
18th of June 1915 A Failed Test
1st of July 1915 Considerable Shelling
2nd of July 1915 A "Good Shoot"
8th of July 1915 Normal Situation
13th of July 1915 Enemy Active on Canal
15th of July 1915 Reliefs
18th of July 1915 Reconnaissance Made
26th of July 1915 Concentration Completed
30th of July 1915 Detrainment
2nd of August 1915 Trench Inspection
5th of August 1915 Quiet Day
8th of August 1915 Two Batteries Join Division
10th of August 1915 Relief of French
14th of August 1915 No Sausages
15th of August 1915 3 Salvos Fired
23rd of August 1915 Normal Situation
25th of August 1915 Hostile Marsh Patrol
29th of August 1915 Enemy Patrol Pursued
1st of September 1915 Enemy Periscopes Hit
1st Sep 1915 Mine Exploded
2nd of September 1915 Our Transport Shelled
3rd of September 1915 Mining Actions
10th of September 1915 Enemy Hit Dummy Battery
11th of September 1915 Changes of Command
17th of September 1915 German Post Hit
23rd of September 1915 Hostile Patrol Seen
24th of September 1915 Wet Weather
3rd of October 1915 Battalion Dispositions
4th of October 1915 New Biplane Spotted
7th of October 1915 German Field Guns Active
11th of October 1915 Promiscuous Whizzbangs
13th of October 1915 Reliefs
16th Oct 1915 The Derby Scheme
18th of October 1915 Noisy Germans
30th of October 1915 Suzanne Shelled
13th of November 1915 Sausages Fired
30th of November 1915 Grenade Attack Successful
1st Dec 1915 Derby Scheme Armlets
11th Sep 1915 Last day of Derby Scheme Recruitment
20th of December 1915 Deserter Taken
28th of December 1915 Retaliatory Firing
1st of January 1916 Night-time Shelling
2nd of January 1916 Direct Hits
10th Jan 1916 Group System Reopens
13th of January 1916 5th Division in Reserve
1st of February 1916
4th of February 1916
9th February 1916 Call Ups
11th of February 1916 A New Area
5th Mar 1917 Reliefs
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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| Want to know more about 5th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment? There are:5302 items tagged 5th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
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Those known to have served with5th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment during the Great War 1914-1918. - Armitage John William. Pte.
- Beswick Frederick. Pte. (d.28th March 1918)
- Clay James. Pte. (d.17th May 1918)
- Dean Frederick. Pte.
- Hopley Thomas. Pte. (d.28th March 1918)
- Lindop Edwin. Pte.
- Lloyd Harry. Pte.
- Maynard Samuel. Pte. (d.6th Jul 1915)
- Pate Henry. Pte (d.1st Dec 1917)
- Skillicorn MM William. Sgt
- Stout George William. Pte.
- Wilson Robert Sudbury.
- Yarwood Joseph. Pte (d.1st Jul 1916)
All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please Add a Name to this List
Records of 5th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment from other sources.
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Pte. Thomas Hopley 1/5th Battalion Cheshire Regiment (d.28th March 1918) Have recently just found out my great great uncle Thomas Hopley was killed in action. He was laid to rest in France. Any photos of the 1/5th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment would be appreciated. Or any info on the Battalion at all.
So nice to feel so connected to him and his brother Alfred who also died from pneumonia on the 12th of February 1919. He was a gunner in 4th Battalion 76th Brigade Royal Field Artillery. He is buried in Halle, Belgium.
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Pte. Edwin Lindop 5th Btn. Cheshire Regiment Edwin Lindop served with the 5th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment.
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Pte. James Clay 5th Btn. Cheshire Regiment (d.17th May 1918) James Clay, my uncle, was one of 4 brothers to serve, the other 3 all belonging to the KSLI. Sadly Jim was the only one of the 4 to be killed in action.
His other brothers survived the war but sadly Samuel died from pneumonia on his return home. Joseph and George both survived and had long rewarding lives.
James' name is on the war memorial in his home village of Cound in Shropshire. Gone but never forgotten.
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Pte. George William Stout 5th Battalion Cheshire Regiment George Stout's daughter was born on 15th Jul 1915 and he was shown on her birth certificate as being a private in the 5th Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment. I have information to suggest that he was attached to a Tunnelling Company from 26th Jun 1916 until 25th Aug 1916 and then to the 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company from 28th Oct 1916 until 2nd Mar 1916. He was then attached to VI Corps from 6th Jun 1917 until 22nd Jul 1917. He was admitted to hospital on 16th Mar 1918 and returned home on 31st Mar 1918.
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Pte Henry Pate 1/5 Battalion Cheshire Regiment (d.1st Dec 1917) My grandfather, Henry Pate, was killed with two others in a trench on the Somme close to Cambrai. A fourth man, Harry Lloyd, had gone to fetch tea to accompany their bacon sandwiches, when they were hit by a shell. He survived, badly injured, but still holding his bacon sandwich. The three soldiers are buried with headstones butted together in Louverval Military Cemetery. The other two soldiers being Harry Lees and Harry Golding, also of the Cheshires. This story is linked to Meg Goodrick's story.
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Pte. Harry Lloyd 1/5th Btn. Cheshire Regiment Harry Lloyd was wounded at Cambrai in November 1917 after going right through the war until then. He was a pioneer with 1/5th Cheshire Regiment. We have a copy of his regiment's war record with roll of honour in the back. It is very precious to us. He has written in the margins. It has trench maps and he marked were he was wounded. He was hit by shell fragments and coughed up a lump of shrapnel years later - I still have it in a glass phial. The three men with him were all killed. He lay in a trench left for dead until a retreating officer used him as a duckboard and he groaned out loud. He was picked up and run with, he was still holding a bacon sandwich in his hand the tendons were severed and his fist was clenched around it. He arrived back in Blighty on Christmas Eve and spent months in hospital before he recovered. The war was over by the time he did.
He was my Grandad and my hero
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Robert Sudbury Wilson 5th Btn. Cheshire Regiment  My grandfather, Bobby Wilson fought at The Somme, he was a stretcher bearer and band member - I still have his bugle. He told of the tedium of the trenches, but when he took a break he would hang his helmet on a foot that conveniently protruded from the wall of their trench. Nice.
One day their trench was shelled and a he was, luckily, standing in a 'passing place' (a recess in the trench) when one landed right in their trench. His sargeant, much bigger than he with a huge handlebar moustache, squeezed in with him to avoid the blast. So there they are, face to face, in a space probably half the size of a phonebox waiting for the smoke to clear. When he looked up, his sarge had clearly only just made it - because half his moustache had been blown off. As he sobbed with laughter his superior stomped off to attend to his pride and joy. We never found out whether he or his moustache ever recovered.
The most chilling story was of the day he 'went over the top'. He said that they only got a little way in the smoke and chaos and when the smoke cleared, he suddenly realised he was the only one alive. God only knows how any of them came back.
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