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11th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers
11th (Service) Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was raised at Hounslow on the 6th of September 1914 as part of Kitchener's Second New Army and joined 54th Brigade, 18th (Eastern) Division. The Division initially concentrated in the Colchester area but moved to Salisbury Plain in May 1915. They proceeded to France in July, landing at Boulogne and concentrating near Flesselles. In 1916 they were in action on The Somme in The Battle of Albert capturing their objectives near Montauban, The Battle of Bazentin Ridge including the capture of Trones Wood, The Battle of Delville Wood, The Battle of Thiepval Ridge, The Battle of the Ancre Heights playing a part in the capture of the Schwaben Redoubt and Regina Trench and The Battle of the Ancre. In 1917 they took part in the Operations on the Ancre including Miraumont and the capture of Irles, the fought during The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line and in The Third Battle of the Scarpe before moving to Flanders. They were in action in The Battle of Pilkem Ridge, The Battle of Langemarck and The First and Second Battle of Passchendaele. In 1918 they saw action during The Battle of St Quentin, The Battle of the Avre, The actions of Villers-Brettoneux, The Battle of Amiens and The Battle of Albert where the Division captured the Tara and Usna hills near La Boisselle and once again captured Trones Wood. They fought in The Second Battle of Bapaume, The Battle of Epehy, The Battle of the St Quentin Canal, The Battle of the Selle and The Battle of the Sambre. At the Armistice the Division was in XIII Corps Reserve near Le Cateau and demobilisation began on the 10th of December 1918.
Jul 1915 Training Instruction
Jul 1915 Billets
2nd Aug 1915 Inspection 
13th August 1915 Instruction
13th of August 1915 Instruction
15th of August 1915 3 Salvos Fired
22nd of August 1915 Hostile Balloons
23rd of August 1915 Normal Situation
25th August 1915 Reliefs Complete
28th Aug 1915 Working Parties
7th Sep 1915 Under Fire
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
27th June 1916 Bombardment
1st July 1916 Attack
26th Sep 1916 In Action
1st Mar 1918 Zones
19th Mar 1918 Information
21st Mar 1918 In Defence
21st Mar 1918 Dispositions
21st Mar 1918 Attack Made
21st Mar 1918 Hard Fighting
21st Mar 1918 Critical Situation
21st Mar 1918 Counter Attack
21st Mar 1918 Withdrawal
21st Mar 1918 Gallant Actions
22nd Mar 1918 Enemy Attacks
22nd Mar 1918 The Fight for The Crozat Canal
22nd Mar 1918 Orders Issued
22nd Mar 1918 Bridges not Blown
23rd Mar 1918 Orders Received
23rd Mar 1918 Attack Made
23rd Mar 1918 Attack Made
23rd Mar 1918 Heavy Attacks
23rd Mar 1918 Heavy Attacks
23rd Mar 1918 Heavy Attacks
24th Mar 1918 New Line
2nd Apr 1918 Attack Made
3rd Apr 1918 Praise
11th Jun 1918 Reliefs Completed
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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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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Those known to have served with11th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers during the Great War 1914-1918. - Blackburn James. L/Cpl (d.17th February 1917)
- Brown Walter. Sgt. (d.10th Jun 1918)
- Cannon Albert. Sgt. (d.23rd Sep 1915)
- Cooper MM. William John. Sgt. (d.7th August 1918)
- Dunworth Edmond. Pte. (d.23rd Nov 1916)
- Fosbury William Alfred. Cpl. (d.26th September 1916)
- Francis William Joseph. 2nd Lt. (d.23rd March 1918)
- Freeth Stephen Thomas . Pte. (d.26th September 1916)
- Gosling Edward Roy. Pte.
- Gray Richard. Pte. (d.23rd April 1918)
- Hadlames Charles. Pte. (d.26th September 1916)
- Hagon John. Pte. (d.5th Dec 1917 )
- Hewish Thomas William. Pte. (d.26th Sep 1916)
- Howard MM Percy R. Pte
- Huxley Alfred. Pte. (d.15th Aug 1917)
- King Charles. Pte (d.1st July 1916)
- Lang Harry Edwin Julian. L/Sgt. (d.26th September 1916)
- Lloyd Henry. Pte. (d.1st Jul 1916)
- Lomax Horatio Nelson. Sgt. (d.10th Feb 1917)
- London James S.. Fus.
- Love Walter Shirley. Sgt. (d.2nd April 1918)
- Lovelock Frank Harold. Pte. (d.18th July 1916)
- Marden Charles. Sgt.
- Margrove Frederick George. Pte. (d.2nd Nov1917)
- Minter Edward Burden. Pte. (d.17th Feb 1917)
- Oastler Albert Edward Walter. Pte. (d.4th November 1918)
- Oram Davis J.. Pte. (d.10th Aug 1917)
- Osborne Albert. Pte.
- Reah Louis. Cpl. (d.22nd Mar 1918)
- Richmond Sidney William. Pte. (d.28th September 1918)
- Robinson Frederick Charles. Pte.
- Roffe Henry. Pte. (d.10th Aug 1917)
- Schultz Timothy Henry. Pte. (d.23rd October 1917)
- Stickley Herbert Thomas. Pte. (d.26th September 1916)
- Sutton Henry James. Pte. (d.29th March 1918)
- Wymond George Joseph. Pte. (d.10th August 1917)
- Young Stanley. Fus (d.26th 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 11th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers from other sources.
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Did you know? We also have a section on World War Two. and a
Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.
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Pte. Sidney William Richmond 11th Btn. Royal Fusiliers (d.28th September 1918) Sidney Richmond died on 28th September 1918 and is buried in the Unicorn Cemetery in France.
He had formerly served with East Surrey Regt.
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Pte. Edmond Dunworth 11th Btn. Royal Fusiliers (d.23rd Nov 1916) Edmond Dunworth served with the 11th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers. I wish that I could have known you or at least have a picture of you.
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Fus Stanley Young 11th Btn. Royal Fusiliers (d.26th September 1916) Stanley Young was my father's brother. My father was only 15 years old
at the time and never spoke much about the family. He was the youngest of
ten children and their father had died when he was only 2 years old
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L/Cpl James Blackburn 11th Btn Royal Fusiliers (d.17th February 1917) James Blackburn served with the 11th Battalion Royal Fusiliers in WW1. he died 17th of February 1917 aged 21 years and is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial in France. Son of John and Mary Blackburn of 44, Chester Buildings, Lomond Grove, Camberwell, London.
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Pte. Frederick Charles Robinson 11th Btn. Royal Fusiliers According to his records, my grandfather Frederick Robinson appears to have been caught in the middle of the army mixing him up with his brother and losing his identity papers, eventually he had to give the army his recollection of his record as he remembered it in order to get his medals and pension.
When I was a teenager in the sixties Fred suffered a nervous breakdown, which the psychiatrist, who treated him, said was the suppressed war memories coming to the surface. He recovered and was always an affable and loving grandfather.
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Sgt. Walter Shirley Love 11th Battalion Royal Fusiliers (d.2nd April 1918) Walter Love is my great uncle. Brother to my maternal grand mother Daisy Parkes (nee Love). He was born in Southwark, London on 30th January 1887.
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Sgt. Walter Brown 11th Btn. Royal Fusiliers (d.10th Jun 1918) Walter Brown is buried in Cologne Cemetery (South).
Details of injuries sustained in action are not known.
At the time of death he was aged 25.
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Pte. Edward Roy Gosling 11th Btn. Royal Fusiliers My Grandad, Roy" Gosling fought at Passchendale and was wounded during an horrific attack on a ridge S.E of Ypres on 10th of August 1917. The right flank was exposed as their supporting regiment on the right were a couple of hundred yards behind and the Germans were spread out in front and down the right side giving them easy undefended access to machine gun everyone down.
The war diary of this event is awful and virtually all officers and NCOs were killed or wounded and hundreds of the 11th Battalion lost in that one charge. Luckily my Grandad was wounded and recovered and ended up back in Kent eventually.
I often think if that bullet in his left arm had been a few inches further right I, and my children, wouldn't exist.
He lived a long life back in Sidmouth but never talked about his time in France.
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L/Sgt. Harry Edwin Julian Lang 11th Btn. Royal Fusiliers (d.26th September 1916) Harry Lang, born 4 September 1884, joined the 11th Battalion Royal Fusiliers on 6th of September 1914 and was later attached to the 54th Trench Mortar Battery, with which he was killed on the opening day of the Battle of Thiepval Ridge.
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Pte. Henry James Sutton 11th Btn. Royal Fusiliers (d.29th March 1918) Henry Sutton was injured between 1915 and 1917 and recouped before returning to unit. He was reported to have died whilst POW being transported by train from Origney to Guise.
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Pte. Charles Hadlames 11th Btn. Royal Fusiliers (d.26th September 1916) Charles Hadlames served with the 8th and 11th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.To Remember the Fallen.
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Pte. George Joseph Wymond 11th Battalion Royal Fusiliers (d.10th August 1917) George Wymond served as a volunteer in the Royal Fusiliers of the British Expeditionary Force during World War 1. He was born on October 15th, 1894 in Salem.
George travelled on a cattle boat inbound for England which was torpedoed by a German U-Boat in 1915. When he arrived in England, he and other survivors of the attack enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers and was later assigned to the 11th Battalion. Tragically, he was killed in action during the Battle of Langemarck in the Glencorse Woods of Belgium on 10th of August 1917. George is remembered on the Ypres Menin Gate Memorial in West Flanders, Belgium. His awards include the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. He was the son of George and Delia (Tobin) Wymond.
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Pte. Frank Harold Lovelock 11th Battalion Royal Fusiliers (d.18th July 1916) Frank Lovelock was born in 1897 in Hanwell, Middlesex, he was my great uncle through my mother's side of the family. I recently found a locket amongst my mother's possessions. I suspect it came from Frank's mother and was subsequently handed down to my mother, from her mother.
Frank was only 19 when he died in the Great War. I have no memories or stories passed to me other than this locket which we will continue to pass down to our own children and grandchildren as a memorial to a young life so tragically lost during that horrible war.
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Pte. Richard Gray 11th Btn. Royal Fusiliers (d.23rd April 1918) Richard Gray was born in Kensington about 1892, the third eldest of four sons of William Frederick and Sarah Gray. The 1901 census shows him living with his parents (aged 9) and three brothers Frederick (13), Albert (11) and William (4). His father was a horse keeper and his mother was a laundress. The 1911 census shows that he was a builder's labourer, living at home with his parents (aged 19) and brother Albert (20) and William (15) at 9 Nelson Place, The Steyne, Acton, London.
Richard served with the 11th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers. He died on the 23rd of April 1918, aged 26 years and is buried in St Pierre Cemetery, Amiens, Somme, France. He is remembered on the War Memorial, St Mary's Church, Acton, London.
It is possible that Richard died of his wounds whilst receiving treatment in hospital. Amiens was recaptured from the Germans by the French on the 13 September 1914 and then remained in Allied hands for the duration of the War. It became a Hospital base and the 42nd Stationary Hospital was based there from October 1917 to March 1919. The Commonwealth plot in St. Pierre Cemetery was first used in September 1915 and closed in October 1919, but shortly afterwards 33 graves of 1918 were brought in from positions in or near the city.
His older brother Frederick was the first of the Gray brothers to die serving his Country, on 28 April 1915. His younger brother William died on 28 May 1918 less than a month after his own death. Tragically his parents lost 3 of their 4 sons to the War, it is not known if their brother Albert saw military service.
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Pte. Stephen Thomas Freeth 11th Btn. Royal Fusiliers (d.26th September 1916) Stephen Freeth was born in Southall in 1882, son of Ellen Freeth. The 1901 census shows him living with his mother and siblings at 18 Wilmot Place, Hanwell; he is a general labourer. On the 12 June 1905 he married Fanny Bridges and they had two children, Charles and Arthur. The 1911 census shows his occupation as a bricklayer's labourer and the electoral register of 1914 lists his address as 23, Steyne Road, Acton.
He served with the 11th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers arriving in France on 17th August 1915. He was killed in action on the 26 September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme.
On the 26th September an attack by the Reserve Army succeeded in defeating the German Army to take control of Thiepval but at great cost. The 18th Division were heavily involved and the 54th Brigade were tasked with capturing the western part of Thiepval and the Schwaben Redoubt on top of the ridge.
Stephen has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval memorial, Somme, France. He is remembered on the War Memorial, St Mary's Church, Acton, London.
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Pte. Albert Edward Walter Oastler 11th Battalion Royal Fusiliers (d.4th November 1918) Albert Oastler was my Great Uncle. I know very little about him, except that he died at the age of 19 and is listed on the Vis-En-Artois memorial.
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2nd Lt. William Joseph Francis 11th Battalion Royal Fusiliers (d.23rd March 1918) William Francis attested 6 June 1916, and was initially in the Artists Rifles (28th London) as a private. In Jan 1917 he applied for a commission, listing his present address as "D 'Coy' Hut no.1, 2nd Artists Rifles OTC, Hare Hall Camp, Romford, Essex." OTC is "Officer Training Corps".
He initially served as a 2nd Lieutenant with the 12th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, but in Jan 1918 this battalion was "rationalized" as part of a move to reduce the number of under-sized battalions, and the men were dispersed to other battalions, Francis ending up in the 11th Battalion.
When the Germans launched their major offensive known as Operation Michael (March 21st 1918), the 11th Battalion found itself under heavy pressure, and made a fighting retreat to take up defensive positions just south of the town of Jussy, behind a canal, reaching their position about 10pm.
At dawn on the 22nd they reported having units of mixed detachments holding their left flank, and the 7th Bedfords on the right, with the 6th Northants in support. The bridges had not been effectively destroyed in the words of the unit diary of the 11th Battalion, and German attacks began at noon. A general assault began at 3pm, and the position held by the Bedfords was briefly taken before a counter attack by the Northants drove back the Germans and reestablished the front by 6pm. (The junction between the 11th Battalion and the Bedfords & Northants was the railway bridge.) The Germans made determined efforts to cross the canal in the night but were beaten back. Although they didn't know it at the time, by dawn the Germans had succeeded in forcing the canal at Jussy on their left flank. At 6am on the 23rd they came under flanking fire from Jussy, forcing them off the canal bank. By 8.30am it became obvious that their left flank had been left completely in the air. An officer scouting on his own reported that the enemy had penetrated to a depth of a mile on their left flank, and held Holnon Wood.
Recorded under the entry for 10am, the unit diary says This retirement from close contact with the enemy who was pressing the Battalion from front and left flank was a very difficult operation. In covering the withdrawal of Bedfords & Northants the right flank also became exposed. The enemy pressing closely in large numbers cut off many of our men and very few were enabled to get back under heavy MG fire from both flanks. Capt. Brookling was here wounded and cut off after behaving with the greatest gallantry throughout the action.
At some point on the 22nd or 23rd March 1918, William Francis lost his life. His body was never recovered, and his military file contains extensive documentation of attempts to determine the date and cause of death. It was initially ruled that he was killed on the 22nd, based on the testimony of a private John J Goodman hospitalized in London, who stated that Francis was his platoon commander and that he had seen the body blown up by artillery, but with the face clearly visible. He is commemorated at the Pozieres War Memorial as having died on the 22nd.
However, subsequent correspondence from Capt Brookling from his POW camp in Germany would cause a reassessment. The German Red Cross Evidence Form contained the following: Date and place of disappearance: 23rd Mar 1918 Jussy. In a shallow trench near the Canal bank at Jussy. Was he killed outright? Yes. And by whom was he buried? The enemy overran the position a few hours after his death consequently he was not buried by British troops at all. Can the witness (state the names) of other witnesses? Several men near must have seen but unfortunately I cannot state any names.
William Francis Snr (Lt. Francis father) then investigated further. Correspondence to the War Office from Francis Snr stated that he had visited Private Goodman in hospital, and after talking with him and showing him a photo of his son, was convinced that Goodman was mistaken about the identity of the officer he'd seen killed. He also stated that he'd spoken with his son's fellow officers in the hospital, and one (not named) stated he'd been sniping with Francis the morning of the 23rd and another (2nd Lt Spence) had spoken to him on the telephone that morning.
Captain Brookling's father would forward a letter from his son to Francis Snr stating I am sorry to say that 2/Lt Francis was killed about 2 hours before I was captured, he was shot through the head; Francis did splendidly that day, he was a fine & gallant officer and I liked him immensely. Give my deepest sympathies to his people.
Based on the above, it appears that William Francis was probably killed on the morning of the 23rd as the battalion tried to extricate itself from close contact with the enemy.
William Francis left a widow (E. Maud) and a baby daughter (Eleanor). On Jan 1st 1919, his elder sister Margaret would marry a New Zealand corporal, and shortly thereafter his entire family would move to New Zealand.
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Pte. Davis J. Oram 11th Btn. Royal Fusiliers (d.10th Aug 1917) Davis Oram was one of three great uncles of mine lost in the Great War.
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Pte. Henry Roffe 11th Batallion Royal Fusiliers (d.10th Aug 1917) All I know is that my grandfather, Henry Roffe was posted missing. I have no further details but if anyone else has I would be very interested to hear.
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Pte. Albert Osborne 11th Btn. Royal Fusiliers My grandfather Albert Osborne enlisted 3rd September 1914 served with the 11th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers during WW1. He transfered to the Army Reserve on 28th March 1919. His Certificate of Employment listed his Military Qualifications as Musketry Class 1.
He then served in Heavy Rescue from 1940 to 1946
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