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8th Battalion, Rifle Brigade
8th (Service) Battalion, Rifle Brigade was raised at Winchester on the 21st of August 1914 as part of Kitchener's First New Army and joined 41st Brigade, 14th (Light) Division. They trained at Aldershot, moving to Grayshott in November, returning to Aldershot in March 1915 for final training. They proceeded to France, landing at Boulogne on the 19th of May 1915. They fought in the The Action of Hooge, being the first division to be attacked by flamethrowers. They were in action in The Second Attack on Bellewaarde. In 1916 they were on the Somme seeing action in The Battle of Delville Wood and The Battle of Flers-Courcelette. In 1917 they fought in The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line, The First and Third Battle of the Scarpe at Arras, The Battle of Langemark and The First and Second Battle of Passchendaele. On the 2nd of February 1918 they transferred to 43rd Brigade still with 14th (Light) Division. In 1918 they returned to the Somme and were in action during The Battle of St Quentin and The Battle of the Avre, suffering very heavy casualties with almost 6,000 men of the Division killed or injured. The Division was withdrawn from the front line and were engaged building a new defensive line to the rear. On the 27th of April, the battalion was reduced to a cadre and on the 16th of June 1918 they left the Division and the cadre was disbanded on the 3rd of August 1918.
18th Feb 1915 Training
2nd Jun 1915 Quiet
21st Jun 1915 Orders to Attack 
22nd Jun 1915 In Action
22nd of June 1915 Attacks ordered
29th of June 1915 Reliefs
30th Jul 1915 Liquid Fire
30th July 1915 Reliefs Complete
30th of July 1915 Stand to Arms
18th Sep 1915 Flanders Harvest
23rd September 1915 Order
25th Sep 1915 In Action
28th September 1915 Relieved from Trench Duty
6th October 1915 Reliefs
16th Oct 1915 The Derby Scheme
22nd November 1915 Reliefs
26th November 1915 Reliefs
30th November 1915 Reliefs
1st Dec 1915 Derby Scheme Armlets
4th December 1915 Reliefs
8th December 1915
11th Sep 1915 Last day of Derby Scheme Recruitment
12th December 1915
31st December 1915
8th January 1916
10th Jan 1916 Group System Reopens
12th January 1916
16th January 1916 Reliefs
21st January 1916 Reliefs
26th January 1916 Reliefs
1st February 1916 Reliefs
7th February 1916 Reliefs
9th February 1916 Reliefs Complete
9th February 1916 Call Ups
15th Feb 1916 Reorganisation
2nd Mar 1916 Objective Captured
5th March 1916
16th May 1916 Reliefs
20th May 1916 Posting
18th August 1916
15th and 16th September 1916
11th of April 1917 Reliefs
12th of April 1917 Reliefs
12th of April 1917 Very Cold West Day
24th of April 1917 Orders
19th August 1917 Amendment O.O.125
20th September 1917 Operational Order 131
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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| Want to know more about 8th Battalion, Rifle Brigade? There are:5277 items tagged 8th Battalion, Rifle Brigade 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 with8th Battalion, Rifle Brigade during the Great War 1914-1918. - Cooper John Edward. Rfmn. (d.17th June 1915)
- Franklin William. Pte. (d.4th April 1918)
- Hamer William Evan. Rflmn.
- Hobday DCM. William. 2Lt. (d.17th April 1917)
- Howarth Arthur. Rflmn (d.30th July 1915)
- Missen Henry Stanley. L/Cpl. (d.3rd May 1917)
- Mycock DCM. Harry.
- Shillibeer John William Laurance. Rflmn. (d.23rd March 1918)
- Timberlake Harry. Rflmn. (d.15th September 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 8th Battalion, Rifle Brigade from other sources.
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Rflmn. John William Laurance Shillibeer 8th Battalion Rifle Brigade (d.23rd March 1918) John Shillibeer was my great grandfather. All I know is that he died 23rd of March 1918 and is buried in Pozieres, France.
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Rflmn. Harry Timberlake 8th Battalion Rifle Brigade (d.15th September 1916) Harry Timberlake was my great uncle on my mother's side. He was killed in action 15 September 1916.
He is buried in the CWGC, Guards Cemetery at Lesboeufs. I located his grave on a visit to the battle fields in September 2012.
Lest We Forget
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Rfmn. John Edward Cooper No 3 Coy 8th Btn Rifle Brigade (d.17th June 1915) My Great Uncle John Cooper, joined the Army at Westminster Recruiting Office in September 1914. Jack served with the 8th Battalion, Rifle Brigade in WW1.
He was killed at the second attack on Bellewaard to the East of Ypres, Belgium, 17th of June 1915 age 22 years. He is remembered on the Menin Gate in Ypres.
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2Lt. William Hobday DCM. 8th Battalion Rifle Brigade (d.17th April 1917)  William Hobday, the son of Ann Maria Hollick of 33 Talbot St. Oldbury, worked at Accles & Pollock before enlisting at the start of war.
He received the DCM in 1915 for conspicuous bravery in July 1915 as a rifleman at Hooge & the clasp at Ypres in November after being promoted to Corporal.
In a letter to his mother, he wrote "I was awarded the DCM this morning. General Plumer pinned the medal on my chest in front of all the Battalion & I was proud too. After 3 parties failed to find a wounded officer, I volunteered & went with a guide & 2 officers & we succeeded in finding him about 30 yards from the German lines. Under heavy fire we got him in". His former work mates sent him a gold watch when he gained the DCM.
In September 1916, he was wounded in the shoulder, shortly after being promoted to the rank of sergeant. He was awarded a clasp to his DCM in March 1916 & the Chairman of Oldbury Urban District Council, John Round, presented the clasp to Sgt. Hobday at a meeting of the Oldbury Volunteers in the Town Hall in October 1916.
By 1917 he has received his commission as a Second Lieutenant. Soon afterwards, on 11th of March 1917, he was killed at Monchy le Preux, in France, the day the village was taken from the Germans. His Lieutenant Colonel described him as "a most promising officer, and performed his duties in the most gallant manner"
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L/Cpl. Henry Stanley Missen 8th Battalion Rifle Brigade (d.3rd May 1917) Lance Corporal Henry Missen of the 8th Battalion, the Rifle Brigade was killed on the 3rd of May 1917 during an attack on Cherisy Village. He was awarded the 1914/1915 Star.
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Rflmn. William Evan Hamer 10th Btn. Rifle Brigade My Grandfather William Hamer served in three Rifle Brigade Battalions, the 1st, 8th and finally 10th. This was probably due to him being wounded twice, once in 1916 and once again in 1917. He was medically discharged from 10th Battalion, Rifle Brigade on 4th of February 1918.
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Harry Mycock DCM. 8th Btn. Rifle Brigade My great uncle Harry Mycock was injured in the war. He lived into his 80s. He was with the 41st Brigade, 14th Division from 20th of May 1915. He never talked about his time there, so we do not know much about this. Also my grandad was with him and he never said anything either.
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