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2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment
2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment were in Alexandria, Egypt when war broke out in August 1914. They returned to England, in October and joined 24th Brigade, 8th Division at Hursley Park near Winchester. They proceeded to France landing at Le Harve on the
5th of November 1914, a much needed reinforcement to the BEF and remained on the Western Front throughout the war. In 1915 they were in action at The Battle of Neuve Chapelle, The Battle of Aubers and The action of Bois Grenier. On the 18th of October 1915 24th Brigade transferred to 23rd Division to instruct the inexperienced troops. In March 1916 23rd Division took over the front line between Boyau de l'Ersatz and the Souchez River in the Carency sector from the French 17th Division, an area exposed to heavy shelling. In mid April they withdrew to Bruay returning to the Carency sector in mid May just before the German attack on Vimy Ridge, in the sector to their right. On the 15th of June 1916 24th Brigade returned to 8th Division. In 1916 They were in action at the Battle of The Somme. In 1917 they fought in The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line and then moved to Flanders and were in action in The Battle of Pilkem and The Battle of Langemarck. In 1918 they saw action during The Battle of St Quentin, The actions at the Somme crossings, The Battle of Rosieres, The actions of Villers-Bretonneux, The Battle of the Aisne, The Battle of the Scarpe and The Final Advance in Artois including the capture of Douai.
19th Sep 1914 Divisional HQ Opens
2nd Oct 1914 Concentration
27th Oct 1914 Exercise
29th Oct 1914 Route March
30th Oct 1914 Concentration Complete
31st Oct 1914 Mud
4th Nov 1914 On the Move
5th Nov 1914 On the Move
6th Nov 1914 Delays
7th Nov 1914 Delays
8th Nov 1914 On the Move 
9th Nov 1914 Into Billets
14th Dec 1914 Relief Complete
30th Dec 1914 Message
8th Mar 1915 Orders
6th Apr 1915 Reliefs
9th May 1915 The Battle of Aubers Ridge: The Northern pincer 2.30am: all units in the North report that they are in position, having assembled at night.
4.06am: sunrise and all very quiet on this front.
5.00am: British bombardment opens with field guns firing shrapnel at the German wire and howitzers firing High Explosive shells onto front line. Many reports are received that British 4.7-inch shells are falling short, and even on and behind the British front line (Later it is agreed that this is due to faulty ammunition, as well as excessive wear to gun barrels).
5.30am: British bombardment intensifies, field guns switch to HE and also fire at breastworks. Two guns of 104th Battery, XXII Brigade RFA had been brought up into the 24th Brigade front and they now opened fire at point blank range against the enemy breastworks; they blow several gaps, although one of the guns is inaccurate due to the unstable ground on which it is located. The lead battalions of the two assaulting Brigades of 8th Division (24th Brigade has 2/Northants and 2/East Lancashire in front; 25th Brigade has 2/Rifle Brigade, 1/Royal Irish Rifles and 1/13 London Regiment (Kensingtons)) move out into the narrow No Man's Land (in this area it is only 100-200 yards across). German bayonets can be seen behind their parapet.
5.40am: On the further advance the 2nd East Lancs are hit by heavy machine-gun and rifle fire by the time they had progressed thirty yards from their own trench; the 2nd Northants, coming up ten minutes later, were similarly hit, but a party got through one of the gaps blown by the field guns, and into the German front trench. The attack of 25th Brigade is much more successful: the wire on the left had been well-cut and the infantry poured through, crossing the almost-undamaged breastworks and into the German fire trenches. They moved onto the first objective (a bend
in the Fromelles road), and the Rifle Brigade bombers extended the trench system they occupied to 250 yards broad. On the blowing of the two mines at 5.40am, the lead companies of the Kensingtons rushed to occupy the
craters, moved forward to capture Delangre Farm, and then formed a defensive flank as ordered.
6.10am: Brig.Gen. Oxley (24th Brigade) orders the support battalion, 1st Notts & Derbys, to support the attack of the Lancashires, but they are also held up with high losses, at almost unbroken wire. The front and communication trenches are by now very crowded and chaotic; German shelling adds to confusion. By now, the fire across No Man's Land was so intense that forward movement was all but impossible. The support battalion of the 25th Brigade, the 2nd Lincolns, was ordered forward, to cross by the craters; they did so, despite losing many men on the way. Men of the Brigade were at this time seen to be retiring to their front line, having apparently received a shouted order. German prisoners, making their way to the British lines, were mistaken for a counterattack and there was a great deal of confusion. Brig.Gen Lowry Cole, CO 25th Brigade, was mortally wounded when standing on the British parapet in an attempt to restore order.
8.30am: the attack had established three small lodgements in the enemy positions, but they were not in contact with each other and were under tremendous pressure. Otherwise the attack had come to a standstill and all movement into or out of the trench system had become impossible. The men in the German positions were cut off.
8.45am and again at 11.45am: Haig orders Rawlinson (CO, IV Corps) to vigorously press home the attack.
1.30pm: A renewed attack with 2nd Queens of 22nd Brigade in support, did not take place as the troops were heavily shelled in the assembly areas and many casualties were suffered even before the original support lines had been reached. Major-General Gough (CO, 7th Division, whose 21st Brigade had now also been ordered forward by Haig) reported that after a personal reconnaissance he was certain that forward movement was at the present time impossible.
5.00pm: General Haig, hearing of the continued failure of the Southern attack and the hold-up after initial success of the Northern attack, orders a bayonet attack at dusk, 8.00pm.
2nd Battalion Queens (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
9th May 1915 The Battle of Aubers Ridge: Evening and Night 2nd Battalion Queens (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
6.00pm: such chaos in the trench system and on the roads and tracks leading to it that it becomes clear that fresh units will not be ready for the 8pm attack. Haig cancels the attack and rides to Indian Corps HQ at Lestrem, to meet with all Corps commanders to consider the next moves.
7.30pm: the meeting breaks up having decided to renew the attack next day, taking advantage of night to reorganise. Efforts were made throughout the evening to reinforce the small garrisons of the lodgements in the enemy trenches. 26 men of the 2/Northants, of which 10 were wounded, returned to the British front.
2.30am 10 May: the 200 or so surviving Rifle Brigade and Royal Irish Rifles were withdrawn from their position, all efforts to reinforce them having been repulsed.
3.00am 10 May: the last few Kensingtons also returned from their position; all British troops were now out of the German lines. Around this time, First Army HQ, having by now got a good picture of the losses, failures and general conditions, called a Commanders conference for 9.00am, to take place at I Corps HQ on the Locon road, some 1.5 miles from Bethune.
9.00am 10 May: the Army and Corps commanders and staffs in attendance learned that there was insufficient artillery ammunition to continue two attacks. (The Secretary of State for War, Kitchener, had also just ordered a considerable portion of existing stocks to be sent to the Dardanelles); for example there were only some 3,000 18-lbr rounds left, and some of that was way behind the firing positions. They also heard that the 4.7-inch ammunition that had caused problems on IV Corps front was too defective for further use and that the fuzes on 15-inch heavy rounds were also defective and the shells simply did not burst on hitting the wet ground. All further orders for renewing the attack were cancelled at 1.20pm; the views of the conference were transmitted to GHQ. 7th
Division was ordered to move from it's position north of Neuve Chapelle to the south of it, with a view to strengthening a future offensive there.
British casualties from the 9 May attacks continued to move through the Field Ambulances for at least three days after the attack.
More than 11,000 British casualties were sustained on 9 May 1915, the vast majority within yards of their own front-line trench. Mile for mile, Division for Division, this was one of the highest rates of loss during the entire war.
There is no memorial to the attack at Aubers Ridge.
16th Oct 1915 The Derby Scheme
1st Dec 1915 Derby Scheme Armlets
11th Sep 1915 Last day of Derby Scheme Recruitment
14th of December 1915 A Relief
10th Jan 1916 Group System Reopens
9th February 1916 Call Ups
17th of May 1916 Practising Rearguard Action
20th of May 1916 A New Area
30th Jul 1916 Reliefs
31st Jul 1916 In the Fron Line
11th Sep 1917 Reliefs
27th Sep 1917 Reliefs
30th Dec 1917 Reliefs
22nd Feb 1918 Reliefs
23rd Mar 1918 Withdrawal
11th Apr 1918 Reliefs
13th Apr 1918 Reliefs
11th May 1918 Reliefs
16th May 1918 Recce
17th May 1918 Reliefs
22nd May 1918 Artillery Active
23rd May 1918 Orders
24th May 1918 Reliefs
28th May 1918 Hard Fighting
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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| Want to know more about 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment? There are:42 items tagged 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire 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 with2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment during the Great War 1914-1918. - Abbey Jack. Pte. (d.9th May 1915)
- Anderson Walter. Pte.
- Asplin H. C..
- Boswell James. Pte. (d.9th May 1915)
- Bull William Frederick. Pte. (d.14th Aug 1916)
- Burrows Harry. Pte. (d.9th May 1915)
- Capon Percy. Pte. (d.9th May 1915)
- Carritt MC William Harry. Capt. (d.8th July 1916)
- Colyer-Fergusson VC. Thomas Riversdale. Capt. (d.31st Jul 1917)
- Colyer-Fergusson VC. Thomas Riversdale. Capt. (d.31st Jul 1917)
- Harding Thomas Percy. (d.4th Aug 1916)
- Helps Edward. Pte. (d.29th Jan 1915)
- Horn Harry Thomas. Drmr.
- James Frank. Pte.
- Major William John. Pte. (d.9th May 1915 )
- Osman Stanley Victor. Pte.
- Sibley George. Pte. (d.6th Oct 1915)
- Thompson James B.. Pte. (d.17th Nov 1919)
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 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment from other sources.
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Pte. George Sibley 2nd Btn. Northamptonshire Regiment (d.6th Oct 1915) George Sibley was killed in action on the 6th of October 1915, aged 20. he was the son of Alfred W. and Avis A. Sibley, of New Lodge, Warkton, Kettering. Native of Stamford Hill, Kettering.
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Pte. James B. Thompson 2nd Btn. Northamptonshire Regiment (d.17th Nov 1919) James Thompson spent almost 2.5 years in Dulmen. Considering he died when he was just 26 that meant he lived as a PoW in Germany for almost 10% of his lifetime.
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Pte. Stanley Victor Osman 2nd Btn. Northamptonshire Regiment Understandably Stanley Osman never talked about his experiences. All I know is that he was shot in the elbow (somewhere in the Somme area), and was in the 4th London General Hospital from 30th April 1918 to 1st August 1918. The war diaries only state over 200 casualties in a four-day period. I still have an embroidered table runner made as part of his therapy.
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Pte. Percy Capon 2nd Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment (d.9th May 1915) Percy Capon died at the Battle of Aubers Ridge. He was never found and was reported as missing, presumed dead.
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Capt. William Harry Carritt MC 2nd Battalion, C Coy. Northamptonshire Regiment (d.8th July 1916) I research local history of expatriates here in Tianjin, North China and came across Harry Carritt's story in the magazine (College Echoes) of the school that he used to teach in here, Tientsin Anglo-Chinese College. A photograph and memorial to him are found in this magazine in School of Oriental and African Studies in London.
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Pte. William John Major 2nd Btn Northampton Regiment (d.9th May 1915 ) William John Major was the fifth child of 7 born to Timothy Humphrey Major and Anne Elizabeth Ayres, born in 1887 in Falcutt, Northamptonshire.
Around 1893 Anne, William's mother left the family and moved to Derbyshire and then Yorkshire with another man, leaving Timothy to bring up all the children with the help of the eldest daughter Charlotte.
In 1899 William got into trouble with the law and was arrested for larceny against Ann Franklin and consequently, because of the situation the family were in, was sent to Gem Street Industrial School in Birmingham. Following this he joined the British Army and in 1911 was serving with the Northamptonshire Regiment in Floriana Barracks in Malta. His service number was 9091.
William died on 9th May 1915. He is commemorated at the Ploegsteert Memorial in Belgium
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Pte. Walter Anderson 2nd Batt Northamptonshire Regiment Pte. Walter Anderson was my Grandfather. He served with the 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment and was stationed in Egypt at the outbreak of war. The battalion was transferred to France in November qualifying for the comptemptables bar of which he was very proud. What research I have been able to do shows he was injured early on but returned to the unit for the Battle of Aubers Ridge where he was shot through the throat going over and was treated by Indian doctors from the neighbouring Indian battalion. He was returned again to France and family history is that although on crutches was sent to the Egyptian front and was at the taking of Jerusalem. I have been unable to fill in gaps of his war service as records are patchy and he did not always return to the same battalion. Again family memories are that he was also on the Somme and Ypres salient
Having been a regular soldier for about eight years prior to the war he was discharged I believe in 1919 however his war experiences seemed to have affected him as I am told by his daughter my mum he was unable to speak for many months after.
I have few memories of my grandfather but those who knew him spoke of a kind gentle man well respected by all. He passed away in 1950 as a result of an accident at work.
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Capt. Thomas Riversdale Colyer-Fergusson VC. 2nd Btn. Northamptonshire Regiment (d.31st Jul 1917)  Captain Thomas Colyer-Fergusson served with the 2nd Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment during WW1. He was killed in action on the 31st July 1917 aged 21 and is buried in Menin Road South Military Cemetery in Belgium.
He was the son of Thomas Colyer Colyer-Fergusson and the late Beatrice Stanley Colyer-Fergusson, of Ightham Mote, Sevenoaks, Kent. Born in London. His brother Max Christian Hamilton Colyer-Fergusson fell in the 1939-1945 War
An extract from The London Gazette, No. 30272, dated 4th Sept., 1917; records the following:-
For most conspicuous bravery, skilful leading and determination in attack. The tactical situation having developed contrary to expectation, it was not possible for his company to adhere to the original plan of deployments, and owing to the difficulties of the ground and to enemy wire, Captain Colyer Fergusson found himself with a Serjeant and five men only. He carried out the attack nevertheless, and succeeded in capturing the enemy trench and disposing of the garrison. His party was then threatened by a heavy counter-attack from the left front, but this attack he successfully resisted. During this operation, assisted by his Orderly only, he attacked and captured an enemy machine gun and turned it on the assailants, many of whom were killed and a large number driven into the hands of an adjoining British unit. Later, assisted only by his Serjeant, he again attacked and captured a second enemy machine gun, by which time he had been joined by other portions of his company, and was enabled to consolidate his position. The conduct of this officer throughout forms an amazing record of dash, gallantry and skill, for which no reward can be too great, having regard to the importance of the position won. This gallant officer was shortly afterwards killed by a sniper.
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Pte. Frank James 2nd Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment Frank James was 18 when he joined the 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment as a volunteer at the outbreak of war in 1914.
He saw heavy fighting at the Battles of Neuve Chapelle, Aubers Ridge, Loos, The Somme, Flers-Courcelette, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, Cambrai and the Retreat & Advance of 1918. During that time he was wounded four times and only returned home to Northampton once.
However, he survived the war, joined the Gas Company in Northampton and lived in Kingsthorpe until his death aged 91. Surprisingly, his three brothers William, Fred and Arthur, and his father George, who were also involved in the war, all survived too and lived to a ripe old age.
Frank's nephew Ron James recorded his memoirs before he died and they have been published in a book called 'A Private's War', which contains a number of interesting photographs.
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Pte. William Frederick Bull 2nd Btn. Northamptonshire Regiment (d.14th Aug 1916) We know very little about Private William Frederick Bull except that he was my uncle. Anyone who would have known more is long dead. The certificate issued by The Commonwealth War Graves Commission says that his middle name is spelt as Fredrick and not Frederick, so I am not sure which is correct.
William was the son of Mr Albert Edward Bull and his wife Sophia Bull of Sutton Street, Flore, Weedon, Northants.
When William first enlisted it was into the 1st Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment but when he died, aged 19 on the 14th August 1916 in the Battle of the Somme, he was listed as a member of the 2nd Battalion. I checked this out with the Regimental Museum and they advised that this transfer was a fairly normal event.
William is buried in the Vermelles British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France.
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Capt. Thomas Riversdale Colyer-Fergusson VC. 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, (d.31st Jul 1917)  Thomas Riversdale Colyer-Fergusson was born in London in February 1896. He was awarded the Victoria Cross when he was 21 years old as an acting captain in the 2nd Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment. On 31 July 1917 at Bellewaarde, Belgium. "For most conspicuous bravery, skilful leading and determination in attack. The tactical situation having developed contrary to expectation, it was not possible for his company to adhere to the original plan of deployments, and owing to the difficulties of the ground and to enemy wire, Captain Colyer Fergusson found himself with a Sergeant and five men only. He carried out the attack nevertheless, and succeeded in capturing the enemy trench and disposing of the garrison. His party was then threatened by a heavy counter-attack from the left front, but this attack he successfully resisted. During this operation, assisted by his Orderly only, he attacked and captured an enemy machine gun and turned it on the assailants, many of whom were killed and a large number driven into the hands of an adjoining British unit. Later, assisted only by his Serjeant, he again attacked and captured a second enemy machine gun, by which time he had been joined by other portions of his company, and was enabled to consolidate his position. The conduct of this officer throughout forms an amazing record of dash, gallantry and skill, for which no reward can be too great, having regard to the importance of the position won. This gallant officer was shortly afterwards killed by a sniper."
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Museum of The Northamptonshire Regiment in Northampton. He is buried in Menin Road South Military Cemetery.
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