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17th (1st South East Lancashire) Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers
17th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers was raised as a Bantam Battalion (troops who were under the normal regulation minimum height of 5 feet 3 inches) in Bury on the 3rd of December 1914 by Lieut-Col. G. E. Wike and a Committee. After initial training close to home, they moved to Chadderton near Oldham on the 16th of March 1915. On the 21st of June they joined 104th Brigade, 35th Division at Masham, North Yorkshire. They moved to Cholderton, Salisbury Plain for final training in August and the Battalion was formally adopted by the War Office on the 27th. They were ordered to Egypt in late 1915, but the order was soon cancelled and they proceeded to France landing at Le Havre on the 29th of January 1916, the division concentrated east of St Omer. They were in action during the Battles of the Somme at Bazentin Ridge, Arrow Head Copse, Maltz Horn Farm and Falfemont Farm. The division received new drafts of men to replace losses suffered on the Somme, but the CO. soon discovered that these new recruits were not of the same physical standard as the original Bantams, being men of small stature from the towns, rather than the miners and farm workers who had joined up in 1915. A medical inspection was carried out and 1439 men were transferred to the Labour Corps. Their places being taken by men transferred from the disbanded yeomanry regiments, who underwent a quick training course in infantry methods at a Divisional depot set up specifically for that purpose. In 1917 they were in action during The pursuit to the Hindenburg Line, at Houthulst Forest and The Second Battle of Passchendaele.In 1918 they fought in the First Battle of Bapaume, and the Final Advance in Flanders including The Battle of Courtrai and The action of Tieghem. Hey crossed the River Scheldt near Berchem on the 9th of November and by the Armistice they had entered Grammont. They moved back to Eperlecques and many of the miners were demobilised in December. In January 1919, units of the Division were sent to Calais to quell rioting in the transit camps. The last of the Division were demobilised in April 1919.
16th Oct 1915 The Derby Scheme
1st Dec 1915 Derby Scheme Armlets
11th Sep 1915 Last day of Derby Scheme Recruitment
10th Jan 1916 Group System Reopens
9th February 1916 Call Ups
16th Jun 1916 Reliefs Completed
7th Mar 1918 Trench Raid 
23rd Mar 1918 On the Move
25th Mar 1918 Hard Fighting
26th Mar 1918 Fighting Withdrawal
27th Mar 1918 In Defence
28th Mar 1918 In Defence
29th Mar 1918 In Defence
14th of October 1918 A Busy Day
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These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
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Pte. James "Robbo" Robinson MM. 17th Btn. Lancashire Fusiliers James Robinson is my grandfather who I never met and I am currently researching his life. I would love to find out what he did to be awarded the Military Medal.
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Pte. Frederick Ward 17th (1st South East Lancashire) Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers (d.14th October 1918) Frederick Ward was the brother of our great, great grandmother. The family story was that he died on the last day of the Great War, but after searching the CWCG records, we found he died almost a month earlier.
It is possible the family received the telegram confirming his death on 11th of November 1918.
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Pte. William Crook 17th Btn. Lancashire Fusiliers (d.3rd Oct 1918) William is my Great Grandfather, he was a member of the Bantam Battalion because he was under the regulation height of 5ft 3". He was killed by a sniper and was buried in France in the Sauchy-Cauchy Communal Cemetery extension. Before the war he was a coal miner in Bolton Lancashire. He left behind a wife and four children.
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