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26th (Bankers) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers
26th (Banker's) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was raised in London on the 17th of July 1915 by the Lord Mayor and City of London, from volunteers who were mainly bank clerks and accountants. After inital training close to home they joined 124th Brigade, 41st Division at Aldershot in November 1915. They proceeded to France on the 4th of May 1916, the division concentrating between Hazebrouck and Bailleul. In 1916 they were in action at The Battle of Flers-Courcelette and The Battle of the Transloy Ridges on the Somme. In 1917 they fought during The Battle of Messines, The Battle of Pilkem Ridge, The Battle of the Menin Road and took part in the Operations on the Flanders coast. In November the Division was ordered to Italy, moving by train to Mantua. The Division took the front line near the River Piave, north west of Treviso. In February they were summoned back to France and departed from Campo San Piero, travelling by train to concentrate near Doullens and Mondicourt. They were in action during The Battle of St Quentin, The Battle of Bapaume and The Battle of Arras before moving to Flanders for The Battles of the Lys. They were in action during the Final Advance in Flanders, at Courtrai and Ooteghem. At the Armistice the advanced units were at Nederbrakel, Tenbosch and the River Dender. 41st Division was chosen to join the Army of Occupation, and on the 12th of January 1919, the Division took over the left section of the Cologne bridgehead. Demobilisation began in March and the Division was renamed the London Division.
7th May 1915 On the Move
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
1st May 1916 On the Move
8th May 1916 Concentration
9th May 1916 Orders
10th May 1916 Orders
11th May 1916 Preparations
12th May 1916 School of Instruction
13th May 1916 Postponement
14th May 1916 Trench Raid
15th May 1916 Instruction
16th May 1916 Aircraft Active "I expect you will be wondering what has happened to me. I am quite fit and well. We have now another spell of delightful weather and I am walking around with just a shirt and trousers on and that seems too much. Your letters and parcels have come safely to hand. They come sometimes two together but are none the less appreciated for that. It was a glorious morning early today and aircraft of both sides were very active, a grand sight it was to see a Taube [aircraft] being chased by one of our ships with the shrapnel bursting all round them. The Taube passed over here and one of ours came up and waited for it to come back and when he did come back and saw ours he hurried towards home.
The artillery has been most active for the last day or two, especially at night time. I think I told you in my last letter not to send me any cigarettes at present. Yes some cakes occasionally would be acceptable. Your parcel containing biscuits, socks etc just to hand. Thanks awfully. The biscuits are a treat. The tins after use are in great demand among my pals. The food out here taken all round is better than in England, plenty of tinned stuff of course and not much bread. I should think some of the tin packing firms must be making their fortune." Pte. Harry Davison, 26th Royal Fusiliers in a letter home to his wife Olive.
17th May 1916 Gas Alert
18th May 1916 Orders 
25th May 1916 Requests "Don’t worry if you don’t get letters from me. I always will write as often as possible but it’s not always possible to get letters off regularly. The weather has been colder the last few days but fortunately the rain keeps away. I am so glad to hear that you are all keeping well. Things go on much the same out here, very little variety and to tell the truth it’s getting rather boring day after day. Of course we have plenty to keep us busy fortunately or I am afraid we should get tired of each others’ company. The war news doesn’t seem to tell us much does it ? Peace seems to occupy quite an important part of the news each day and shows which way the wind is blowing. In the next parcel you send will you please put one towel and some cocoa, coffee or tea cubes. Some cake would be acceptable too." Pte. Harry Davison, 26th Royal Fusiliers in a letter to his wife Olive.
10th Jun 1916 Bad Weather "I was delighted to get your letter at 4 am yesterday morning just as I was getting up. We moved yesterday and had a forced march here to another part of the country. It was a rotten day, heavy wind and rain the whole way and so cold. My poor feet were terribly sore long before the journey was ended and I was glad of the small medicine chest. We are now about seven miles behind the firing line and some of our signallers have gone to the trenches this morning. Our address is 26 Royal Fusiliers, B.E.F, France but we must not head our letters. I expect we shall shift on farther before long. We always get a few days’ rest between our long marches.
I am feeling very fit except for the feet and last night slept on a farm cart on some straw. Today is warm and the sun is lovely and hot and this life is more like a picnic if it were not for the rumbling of the guns. It is really astonishing how well everyone takes to the life out here because after all every comfort and luxury is gone. I hope you will send the cash for that cheque as I am very short now and we have to make purchases while we have the chance. Bread is the greatest luxury and if we get near a bread shop the shock is soon exhausted at 1 franc per loaf. Cigarettes when you can get them are cheaper than at home. Players 3d for 10. Goodbye for the present." Pte. Harry Davison, 26th Royal Fusiliers in a letter to his wife Olive.
Jun 1916 Reading Matter "Thursday.
Another green envelope and therefore an opportunity for a little more confidential letter. You must have all been very upset at the first news of the naval fight [Battle of Jutland, 31st May 1916] and very much relieved when further details came to hand. The first news we had came from the Germans over the trenches and was of course exaggerated. Since then we have had our own official news and after all we were at least victors, but what awful sacrifice of valuable lives. We moved up last Sunday and up to the present have fared more successfully than ever I expected.
We hope to got back for a rest about Monday. The rest billets however are to my mind more noisy than this spot. There is a persistent rumour going round that we are to be made into an O.T.C. How true it is I cannot say but jolly well know that I shall be darned glad to get out of this if only for a little peace and quietness which are two things unknown here. One’s whole mind is occupied minute after minute and every particle of reserve energy seems to be required. Do continue to send plenty of reading matter, it’s the only thing one has out here to do." Pte. Harry Davison, 26th Royal Fusiliers in a letter to his wife Olive.
20th Jun 1916 Bad Weather "At last another green envelope [for personal messages, exempt from censorship]. You have no idea how welcome they are as one can always say more and speak more freely when you know your letters are not going to be read by those who come in contact with one every day. The time does seem long out here away from you, and my very soul aches to be back home with you. I am so glad to read your cheery letters, be brave dear girl and keep a stout heart. Lately everything in the papers seems to point to an early peace and personally I think another two months will see us back in dear old England.
We expect to go on into the trenches very shortly but have no fear, it’s much safer in the trenches than just outside them. From accounts given by others who have been in our quarters they are fairly secure . . . Oh how I long for the time when we shall settle down in our own little house, we two together. How peace will always reign throughout the home, and happiness only be known.
The weather still keeps most gloriously fine. The sun shines all day long and it’s very, very hot. Will you please send me the following books: R H Benson: A Winnowing (Hutchinsons 7d novels). Mrs Baillie Reynolds: Her Point of View. Cosmo Hamilton: The Outpost of Eternity (Hurst & Blacketts 7d novels) We shall have more time for reading them when we get up to the front than we have now. Goodbye for the present. PS. Your letters are not even censored." Pte. Harry Davison, 26th Royal Fusiliers in a letter to his wife Olive.
12th Aug 1916 Too Hot "From all accounts this is the last Sunday we shall spend here. The King is coming down on Wednesday I think to inspect the battalion before they depart.
This turn in the trenches is very quiet indeed up to the present, I am pleased to say. The daytime I think has been too hot for either side to show much energy, although both sides let one another repeatedly know they are still there. The best and quietest time has been from about 6 to 10 at night. We generally get our pipes out and sit and chat to our hearts’ content. Gradually the heat of the day gives way to evening cool and calm. About nine the machine guns get busy and the Verey lights start going up. As we are sheltered behind about 40 layers of sandbags the guns do not worry us except for stopping the conversation. Later good nights are said and we retire to our respective dugouts to await another hopeless dawn.
Will you tell Dad to buy a copy of Today August 12 as Cope Cornford’s new book Contentious Consolation is reviewed on page 460. You might get me a copy of the book and send it along (Williams and Norgate 2/6). Will you please send me £1 for enclosed; if you can get more than 27.80 please send in French currency." Pte. Harry Davison, 26th Royal Fusiliers in a letter on headed notepaper, 26th (S) Battalion The Royal Fusiliers (Bankers) to his wife Olive.
25th Aug 1916 Salvage "Thursday.
The weather has shown a great improvement during the past week and has really been quite hot during the day. I think your last letter to me was forwarded to another part of my company by mistake as they thought I had gone away for a time on other work whereas I was only away for three days helping to get some of the used shells back to England. As a matter of fact I am writing this letter now at the dump as it is raining and I am lying down underneath some railway trucks for shelter. I return with our party each evening to our camp.
It seems absolutely years since we parted. I think some leave ought to be coming along soon, before Christmas anyway. It would help one to face the winter, a most unpleasant thing to have to look forward to. There has been some talk of commissions in the battalion. I have put a letter of request to the Colonel along with a lot of the others but have heard nothing further.
" Pte. Harry Davison, 26th Royal Fusiliers in a letter to his wife Olive.
9th Sep 1916 On the March "Wednesday.
After an eight-hour rail journey and a long march we arrived at our present abode and are continuing our rest. I think from your letter that your opinion of a rest hardly coincides with that of the army. We work considerably harder than in the trenches, but the rest is rest from the continual nerve strain of the trenches. On Sunday after securing a new pair of trousers I went over to,, a large town about 5k away. It is the first time I have been into a decent town since landing in France. After having a good tea and inspected the various places of interest we returned in the evening. It made a nice change from the perpetual surroundings of small villages and farms.
The harvest is in full swing here. I don’t think I saw more wheat in my life. It runs for miles here without a hedge. Unfortunately it has turned very wet the last three days and yesterday during a thunderstorm the rain was absolutely torrential.
You might send along a few pairs of socks in the next parcel and also one or two handkerchiefs. The news in the papers continues good doesn’t it? We may all have our Christmas dinner at home yet. I spent the franc last night on four coffees and rum after returning from a long route march very wet." Pte. Harry Davison, 26th Royal Fusiliers in a letter to his wife Olive.
13th Sep 1916 Instructions
15th Sep 1916 Orders
Sep 1916 Cartoons
17th Oct 1916 Hard Days "Poor old Love is back with us again after a few days in hospital. He had the misfortune to be buried alive under 5ft of earth and needless to say when dug out was not in the very best of health and temper. It has altered him a lot but I expect he will be himself again after a while. At the present moment he is sitting with me in my billet in a French chateau where we are resting for a few days whilst on the march to a fresh position. I am managing to keep in the best of health still.
Last week I was ordered two days’ rest as I had had two or three very hard days in the trenches with a very perilous return journey successfully accomplished. I kept up OK until it was all over and then broke down and had to see the doctor. I am alright again now, but don’t want a similar experience again I can assure you. I had two fellows come to me afterwards and thank me for the splendid way I had backed them up during the trip with cheery words and my water bottle. I felt extremely satisfied, although it was done practically in an unconscious way and I cannot remember it.
It is a long time since we have seen any of these green envelopes and we were surprised to have them issued today, as a matter of fact we had so few that they had to be raffled, and I was one of the lucky ones." Pte. Harry Davison, 26th Royal Fusiliers in a letter to his wife Olive.
Oct 1916 Envy "Tuesday.The weather has turned a little colder but before that the heat was intense and mosquitos etc have been very annoying. My arms are simply one mass of bites, but thanks to my medicine chest the pain has been relieved. I had a long chat yesterday with Love. He seems to be fairly happy and optimistic and we have arranged a little evening together when we go back to rest next time. I am afraid it takes very little to excite one out here and even the prospect of an evening in some shelled village with bacon and eggs and very very mild beer causes as much pleasure as a real bash at home. Streeter was the lucky recipient of the Military Medal and everybody envies him his bit of ribbon. He takes his honour most modestly, I assure you." Pte. Harry Davison, 26th Royal Fusiliers in a letter to his wife Olive.
26th Oct 1916 On the Move "I am afraid some of my letters to you have gone astray; several other fellows seem to have suffered likewise. We have been on the move now for practically three weeks and are now in another part of the line: thank goodness too as our last position was one not to be envied. Of course now we are safely out of it, it has been an experience never wanted again. Love is getting quite himself again. Our trip here has been very interesting through some of the most beautiful scenery in the country, and the fact that we were leaving Hell behind us also helped to cheer us up. I am afraid this battalion is ‘Bankers’ only in name now and all the strange faces make one’s surroundings very different from what they were." Pte. Harry Davison, 26th Royal Fusiliers in a letter to his wife Olive.
Oct 1916 Artillery "Saturday.
And yet another move. I am now one of those forming a prison guard just behind the lines. The captives are kept here until a sufficient number have arrived to march down to the internment camps. The position is not exactly an enviable one. Our artillery are all around us and Mr Fritz with his artillery keeps trying to find ours. Notwithstanding the noise, however, I managed to get a fair night’s sleep last night in a disused trench.
The weather today is very nice and bright but yesterday was very miserable and the mud made the roads very nearly impassable. It was very fortunate that you sent out my spare glasses as a short while ago I lost my other pair in the dark. Perhaps when next time you are sending along a parcel you had better send my third pair. I also had the misfortune to lose my wrist watch, but am waiting until I get into a town again to replace it. I took it off to wash and came away without it; needless to say when I returned it had gone. There is a cheap metal watch in my cash box, does it go? If it does you might send that along too.
I expect I have forgotten several birthdays of relatives since out here, I hope they will all forgive me. I shall not forget one date even if I am here for years: i.e. our wedding day. Love wishes to be kindly remembered to you. I have just been over to his dugout to borrow some cigarettes as I came away from camp yesterday and forgot to buy any. England seems to have succeeded at last in solving the Zeppelin problem. Now they have accounted for these perhaps the Zepps will not be such frequent visitors." Pte. Harry Davison, 26th Royal Fusiliers in a letter to his wife Olive.
6th Nov 1916 Winter Clothing "Ever so many thanks for the parcel to hand yesterday. The socks fit splendidly and are ever so comfortable. The tobacco is very good too: it’s a brand I have never heard of before but is an awfully good smoke. Will you please send a few more hankies. There is absolutely no chance of washing them and one has to last a long time. We are quite equipped for the winter now and you should see me in full war paint. Gum boots up to the waist and heavy leather jacket over tunic with cap comforter under tin hat.
We are in a wood just at present. The Hun fortunately doesn’t shell us much and we have some very decent dugouts. Mine in fact is one of the best I have I have had out here as you can stand up in it, the height of luxury I assure you. I won’t say anything about the mud as that is beyond description. One is very seldom able to keep on one’s feet for very long at a spell.
The only topic of conversation in the camp is England and our respective prospects of leave. Oh that this fearful war would end soon and let us be together as is our right. The more one sees the more hopeless and complicated things appear, yet everyone out here should be glad to be alive even as we see so many leaving us and all further earthly joys behind them just when they are beginning to enjoy life in early manhood: all for what purpose I cannot comprehend. How often I dream of you would be surprised, but to awake to realities is like a nightmare. Your loving hubby, Harry." Pte. Harry Davison, 26th Royal Fusiliers in a letter to his wife Olive.
8th Nov 1916 Trench Waders "Will you please send for a pair of Anderson’s trench waders as advertised in London Opinion (advert enclosed). The water is very bad indeed here, and I think they look as if they will combat the evil of trench feet. You might also send me two or three blank cheques and two 10/- notes for remainder of enclosed cheque. The mud and rain the last few days have been terrible. PS It’s just possible that the Rubber Co Palmerston Ltd might stock them but I want them to fit inside boots, not over" Pte. Harry Davison, 26th Royal Fusiliers in a letter to his wife Olive.
Nov 1916 Rabbits "Sunday. I am sorry you have had no letter from me for several days but it has been impossible to find time for sleep even, let alone letter-writing. Once more we are back at our rest camp for a few days which pass only too quickly. Your parcel came to hand safely and was much appreciated, also the papers. I am quite fit. The weather the whole time we were in the front line was very considerate to us, but the day we came away was wet in the extreme following a heavy thunderstorm the previous day.
Our period at the front would I suppose by the authorities be called ‘comparative quiet’. However I am not anxious to be there when it is really noisy. Taken from all points of view however we have been extremely lucky in every way since we have been out here and have far less reason to grumble than many. I think we shall all resemble first-class rabbits when we return as life is perpetually spent in most cramped positions, and we disappear into burrows in the earth just like our furry friends at the least sign of danger." Pte. Harry Davison, 26th Royal Fusiliers in a letter to his wife Olive.
Dec 1916 White Frost "Friday. Love still keeps most cheerful but at the same time he is not the same as before his terrible experiences. It seems to have affected his nerves. We had a very rough passage during our last turn in the trenches. The dear good Hun dropped two or three ‘rum jars’ [mortar bombs] just a few yards behind my dugout and left a few small holes in which a horse and cart could easily be lost.
When you are sending a parcel next will you please put in a small pair of folding nail scissors.
It’s very cold out here now and heavy white frosts are the order of the day. Half of our evenings are spent trying to get a fire going and the other half trying to get warm in front of it. It seems impossible to imagine Christmas so near. I’m afraid it won’t mean much to us out here this year.. The only topic that keeps one interested now is that of leave. But it does not do to pin any false hopes on getting it.
The various restrictions prevailing now in England must be hard. I am afraid there are too many fanatic reformers getting their own way. One thing I am certain they will have to climb down when the boys come home. We have fought the war and I think we shall say what is good for us and not leave it to others who haven’t been out." Pte. Harry Davison, 26th Royal Fusiliers in a letter to his wife Olive.
10th Dec 1916 Mud "My commission seems to be going along fairly successfully and given a fair amount of luck there is a possibility of my being in England for Christmas or very soon afterwards. Don’t pin any hopes on such glorious prospects. If I do get the commission I shall be in England for at least three months, or even longer if again I am fortunate in getting the job I am after. Home is really beginning to have a most sacred spot in my heart and I long for a sight of you every minute of the day. Things out here are very miserable lately. Rain, nothing but rain. The mud is simply appalling, knee deep in many places. Those waders have proved most useful and are really waterproof." Pte. Harry Davison, 26th Royal Fusiliers in a letter to his wife Olive.
24th Dec 1916 Christmas Hopes "The commission papers have gone through successfully and I anticipate an early return to Dear Old England. The old colonel signed them practically without a murmur. I should be in England by the end of January if all goes well. It seems impossible to think tomorrow is Christmas Day. The weather, well, ’nuff said. A terrific wind prevails, which fortunately prevents Fritz from getting accurate range, and the rain has been really appalling. The only item of real interest is the menu tomorrow, a few jolly good meals provided our smoke doesn’t attract too much attention. Bacon, tomatoes, and porridge for breakfast. Roast beef, veg and Xmas pudding with nuts, beer etc for dinner and a fair supply of rum all day and cigarettes ad lib.
I have not yet received the parcel but today’s post is not yet in. The papers still come regularly to hand. Now darling I must shut up. All the others in the dugout are asleep and its getting cold and my last candle is nearing its end and I must save some for tomorrow morning. My thoughts will be centred around you all day tomorrow. Your devoted hubby, Harry." Pte. Harry Davison, 26th Royal Fusiliers in a letter to his wife Olive.
23rd Mar 1918 Hard Fighting
30 Aug 1918 Patrols Push Forward
1st Sep 1918 Reliefs
1st Sep 1918 Advance Made
8th September 1918 Relieved unit in trenches
14th September 1918 Reliefs
7th Oct 1918 Reliefs
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 with26th (Bankers) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers during the Great War 1914-1918. - Adamson MSM. Joseph Edgar. Cpl
- Allum David. Pte. (d.7th Jun 1917)
- Ayres Albert. Pte. (d.7th Jun 1917)
- Baker William. Pte. (d.14th Aug 1918)
- Barnett Herbert William. 2nd Lt. (d.20th Sep 1917)
- Battley Horace. Pte. (d.14th Oct 1918)
- Caves Frank. Cpl. (d.2nd Dec 1916)
- Collard Edwin Lewis. Pte. (d.17th June 1917)
- Davies Thomas Stanley. L/Cpl. (d.16th Sep 1916)
- Davison Harry S.. Pte.
- Franks Ernest James. Pte. (d.7th Jun 1917)
- Grainger Albert Henry.
- Hadley Edgar William. Pte. (d.4th Oct 1916)
- Lewis Albert William.
- Moore George Alfred. Pte. (d.7th Jun 1917 )
- Moore George Alfred. Pte (d.7th June 1917)
- O'Dell Sidney Arthur. Cpl.
- O'Dell Sidney Arthur. Pte.
- Powell Ernest John. Fus.
- Riley William Arthur. Pte. (d.20th September 1917)
- Snape Richard. Pte. (d.7th June 1917)
- Wallace Donald Robert Keys. Pte. (d.19th Jun 1917)
- Wright Alfred Denner. Pte.
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 26th (Bankers) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers from other sources.
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Fus. Ernest John Powell 26th Btn. Royal Fusiliers  Fusilier Powell was my father. In 1953, he gave a short talk about his career to his Rotary Club (West Wickham, Kent). In this talk he referred to his Service in WW1, as follows: "I volunteered for the Army in 1914, but Head Office said we could not be released until sufficient women had been trained to replace us…. In September 1915 I volunteered at Ammanford, Carmarthenshire (being the nearest recruiting centre to Llandeilo where I was a Junior Clerk in the London and Provincial Bank). I was assigned to the 26th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (Bankers) raised by Col. Pitt of the London and South Western Bank, and we were 80% Bank chaps. We went to France in May 1916, supposed to be tough infantry men, which I rather doubt. I transferred to the Tank Corps in France".
The first photo shows Fusilier Powell as one of "The Boys of Tent No 7, High Beech, 1915". He is 2nd from right in back row, as you look at the photo.
The second photo is the All Ranks photo, 26th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (Bankers). Aldershot, 1915. Fusilier Powell is 2nd from the left in the fourth row of the photo. It was taken (presumably) before the Battalion embarked for France.
The third photo is of the 1936 Reunion of the Banker’s Battalion. My father attended these Reunions in London – at least until the mid 1950’s (excluding years of World War 2). He was then Manager, Barclays Bank, West Wickham, Kent, a London suburb. These reunions were always preceded by a Church Service at the Royal Fusiliers Church in the City. The cost of the Reunions (always at the Connaught Rooms) were reportedly heavily subsidized, so my father said, by a Maj. Clutterbuck, a Board Director of Martin’s (or was it District?) Bank. My father is the nearest person at the nearest side of the 2nd table from the right (looking over left shoulder and in a lighter colored jacket - probably as befits a suburban Manager, compared with all the "City types"!).
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Pte. Richard Snape 26th Btn. Royal Fusiliers (d.7th June 1917) Richard Snape was born in December 1896. He was only 20 yrs old when he died. He was a first cousin to my late father, John Richard Lawrence (born in 1920). Richard was an only son of Richard and Harriet Snape. Richard's father and my father's mother, Minnie Snape (maiden name), were brother and sister.
According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website, Richard served in B Coy., 26th Bttn, Royal Fusiliers. He was killed 7th June 1917, aged 20. He is buried at Voormezeele Enclosure No.3 (South of Ypres) in Belgium. This location is a mile or so to the West of St. Eloi.
In the early 1920s several of Richard's relatives visited his grave on a four day tour organised by Thomas Cook (I think), the travel agents.
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Pte. Alfred Denner Wright 3rd Battalion Royal Fusiliers Alfred Wright was wounded in action in France on 21st of June 1916. He was posted to Salonika with the 26th Battalion on 28th of November 2016. He was wounded again in action on 16th of May 1917 and transferred to hospital where he contracted malaria.
He was transferred to the Labour Corps on 11th of March 1918 prior to demobilisation on 16th of April 1919.
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Cpl Joseph Edgar Adamson MSM. 26th Battalion Royal Fusiliers Joseph Adamson was a soldier with the 26th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers. He was awarded the Meritorious Medal.
26th (Bankers) Battalion was formed of bank clerks and accountants in London by the Lord Mayor and the City of London, then moved to Marlow.
In Nov 1915 they moved to Aldershot and joined the 124th Brigade of the 41st Division.
They embarked for France in May 1916 and the Division was engaged in various action on the Western Front.
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Pte. Ernest James Franks 26th Btn. Royal Fusiliers (d.7th Jun 1917) Ernest Franks, is my great uncle, and until I started to research my family tree I knew nothing of him.
I was so upset to think that this young man, who gave his life at the age of 20 in such horrific circumstances, should be forgotten.
I will continue to find out about his journey through WW1 until his untimely death, and will always remember him.
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Pte. William Arthur Riley 26th Battalion Royal Fusiliers (d.20th September 1917) As a child I remember people talking in hushed tones about a relative who died in World War One, but never really understood who he was and what had happened to him. With the arrival of the centenary years I started thinking about him and wanted to find out more. I have managed to piece together quite a lot of his story but will continue searching for more information.
My Great Uncle Will Riley joined 26th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (Bankers Battalion) in July 1915 at the age of 29. A month after this his 26 year old wife died.
Will's service records were destroyed in WWII, but the Battalion's War Diary is available in the National Archives. In this I have been able to read about the battalions service in Flanders and at the Somme. What stands out is the privations, how rarely they got a bath, the excitement about getting clean underclothing and the weather, weeks of frozen snow, torrential rain. Their suffering is unimaginable.
For Will these privations ended on 20th of September 1917, at the Battle of Menin Road Ridge. He was killed in action that day. The entry in the war diary for this day is brief, unlike most entries almost as if the writer was in shock. It is as follows:
"The Battalion took part in an attack on Tower Hamlets Ridge. Zero hour being 5/50am. Lt Col G. Mcnickel DSO died of wounds received in action.
- Total casualties Officers other ranks
- Killed 6 27
- Died of wounds 2 15
- Wounded 14 246
- Missing 4 45
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Pte. Harry S. Davison 26th (Banker's) Battalion Royal Fusiliers  Harry Davison enlisted in late December 1915 in 26th (Banker's) Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers.
His decision to volunteer with bank colleagues as patriotic duty included a visit to wartime London.
From December 1915 to early December 1916 he trained at the School of Cookery, at Camberwell and sent letters home describing training as cook.
He then joined the Royal Fusiliers at the training camp, Aldershot, undertaking duties as company cook. Harry married shortly before embarkation. He continued to write home from the Western front, his letters cover the period of the Somme offensive, but without place names. Around Christmas 1916, Harry was under treatment for treatment for chest ailments and returned to England by hospital ship. Between January and March 1917 he was in two hospitals in Essex, the Military Hospital, Colchester followed by convalescence at Ardleigh Hospital.
In April 1917 Harry was in Ireland at the
Royal Fusiliers Depot, Tipperary, under medical supervision as convalescent and working as clerk to Depot Dental Surgeon. He was accepted for commission and posted to cadet school, and joined the Officer Cadet Battalion at Hertford College, Oxford as an Officer cadet.
After discharge from active service, it appears that 2nd Lieut Davison was transferred to the territorial battalion of the Suffolk Regiment. This regiment would have had a base near the Davison married home in Woodbridge, where he resumed his banking career and where his two sons were born.
The Rumbling Of The Guns.
When a Portsmouth Bank Clerk Went to War - An article in the Portsmouth News.
There is nothing heroic about my action. I am going away and if necessary I offer my life for my country, simply because it is the smallest thing I can do to exhibit my manhood and my patriotism.
In these words my father in November 1915 explained to his wife-to-be his motives for volunteering to enlist in the armed forces. As a clerk with Lloyds Bank in Portsea Harry Davison joined, with many of his colleagues, the Bankers’ Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers – one of the many Pals’ Battalions in which so many groups went to war with the camaraderie of their shared profession. The discovery of a collection of letters written by my father to my mother over the following two years has given me a fresh insight into the life of an ordinary soldier on the Western Front.
Bank staff were, it seems, eager recruits. In his November 1915 letter my father refers to fellow-volunteers named Love and Pierce, from the bank’s King’s Road branch: so you see it won’t be too horribly dull and I shan’t be quite on my own. Then again: another member of our staff joined up last week, leaving only two out of five now. Private Love was later to be the victim of a near-fatal incident alongside my father in the trenches.
A succession of letters between December 2015 and February 1916 describe three months of training with the Royal Fusiliers in Aldershot; then came news that required a rapid and important decision.
We have received orders to shift off abroad. We have no idea where we are going: France, Mesopotamia, Ireland . . . I have come to the conclusion that we must be married before I go to the Front . . . I am confident I shall return, let us hope uninjured.
After a hurried marriage to his sweetheart Olive, who also worked at Lloyds Bank, and a weekend honeymoon, Private Harry Davison in May 1916 proceeded to France with the Bankers’ Battalion, which saw action at the Battles of Flers-Courcellete and the Transloy Ridges on the Somme. From the Front, my father’s frequent letters tell a story in which descriptions of hardships in the trenches contrast with glimpses of everyday French country life not far behind the lines.
We are accustomed to images from the First World War that show the battleground as a quagmire of mud under ceaseless rain. It wasn’t like that all the time, however:
The weather keeps most gloriously fine. The sun shines all day long and it’s very, very hot, writes Private Harry Davison in June, 1916. We have another spell of delightful weather and I am walking around with just a shirt and trousers on, and even that seems too much . . . Today is warm and the sun is lovely and hot and this life is more like a picnic if it were not for the rumbling of the guns. The daytime has been too hot for either side to show much energy.
Gradually the heat of the day subsides. The best and quietest time has been about 6 to 9 at night, we generally get our pipes out and chat to our hearts’ content. During a period of rest from the trenches in the autumn there is even the opportunity to visit a nearby town, passing through open countryside on the way. The harvest is in full swing . . . I don’t think I ever saw more wheat in my life. It runs for miles without a hedge.
As winter comes on, the picture changes for the worse. The mud and rain the last few days have been terrible. . . Yesterday during a thunderstorm the rain was absolutely torrential, and the mud made the roads nearly impassable . . . Will you please send me a pair of Anderson’s trench waders as advertised in London Opinion; the water is very bad indeed, and I think they will combat the evil of trench feet. This request was quickly answered. The mud is simply appalling, knee deep in many places. Those waders have proved most useful and are really waterproof.
In October came the accident that befell my Father’s colleague from Portsmouth. Poor old Love is back with us again after a few days in hospital. He had the misfortune to be buried alive under 5ft of earth and needless to say when dug out was not in the best of health or temper. It has altered him a lot, but I expect he will be himself again after a while. At the present moment he is sitting with me in my billet in a French ‘chateau’ where we are resting for a few days while on the march to a fresh position. However, a few weeks later all is apparently not well. Love keeps most cheerful but at the same time he is not the same as before his terrible experience. It seems to have affected his nerves.
‘. . . . if it were not for the rumbling of the guns’. The ever-present background to these letters is the desperate struggle in progress, in this year of the terrible Battle of the Somme. A severe bombardment has been in progress for the past 12 hours on our left, so expect to hear of some gains in a day or two . . . Our period at the Front line would I suppose by the authorities be called comparatively quiet; however I am not anxious to be there when it is really noisy. About nine the machine guns get busy and the Very lights start going up. Our artillery are all around us and Mr Fritz with his artillery keeps trying to find ours.
In the intervals between spells in action there is a welcome normality about everyday life. After securing a new pair of trousers I went over to –––, a large town about 5km away. After having a good tea and inspecting the various places of interest we returned in the evening. . . I had the misfortune to lose my wrist watch, but am waiting to go into town to replace it.
The troops took what relief was afforded them when they could. It takes very little to excite one out here, and even the prospect of an evening in some shelled village with bacon and eggs and very mild beer causes as much pleasure as a real bash at home.
Parcels from home were eagerly awaited and seem to have arrived regularly. Your parcel containing biscuits, socks etc just to hand. Thanks awfully. The biscuits are a treat . . . It was fortunate you sent out my spare pair of glasses, as a short while ago I lost my other pair in the dark . . . In the next parcel will you send please one towel and some cocoa, coffee or tea cubes. Some cake would be acceptable too . . . You might send a few pairs of socks and one or two handkerchiefs.
With the parcels came news from the home front, and from other theatres of war, to which my father responded:
The various restrictions prevailing in England must be hard . . . England seems to have solved the Zeppelin problem, now perhaps the Zepps will not be such frequent visitors . . . What good work the Russians are doing. If we hold our own until they move up great events will take place, I think.
Of the naval Battle of Jutland [May 31, 1916], the first news we had came from the Germans over the trenches and was of course exaggerated. Since then we have had our own official news and after all we were victors, but what awful sacrifice of valuable lives. Clearly, though, the newspapers of 1916 erred on the side of optimism. Everything in the papers seems to point to an early peace, and personally I think another two months will see us back in dear old England.
Some upbeat messages were perhaps designed to cheer my mother in her lonely vigil at home, but knowing as we now do the conditions our troops suffered it is not hard to read between the lines. We are equipped for the winter now and you should see me in full war paint: gum boots up to the waist and heavy leather jacket over tunic with cap comforter under tin hat . . . I managed to get a fair night’s sleep last night in a disused trench . . . We expect to go into the trenches very shortly but have no fear, it’s much safer in the trenches than outside them . . . We have some very decent dugouts; mine in fact is one of the best I have ever had, as you can stand up in it.
The prospect of leave is a recurring theme. As Christmas 1916 approaches, the only topic of conversation in the camp is England and our prospects of leave. And then, hopefully, there is a possibility of my being in England for Christmas.
But it was not to be. On Christmas Eve my father writes: It seems impossible to think tomorrow is Christmas Day. The weather – well, ’nuff said. A terrific wind prevails, and the rain has been really appalling. Now I must shut up. All the others in the dugout are asleep. It’s getting cold and my last candle is nearing its end, and I must save some for tomorrow morning.
My father’s next letters are from a military hospital in Essex in February 1917. He had been invalided home – not wounded, it appears, but suffering from some acute respiratory complaint. Could it have been the effect of gas? We shall never know. Anyway, it rescued him from the trenches; he lived to the age of 60 and fathered two sons.
He never spoke to us of his war experiences. A century later I am at last beginning to understand why.
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Pte George Alfred Moore 26th Btn. Royal Fusiliers (d.7th June 1917) George Alfred Moore was my Grandfather. No other details are known.
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L/Cpl. Thomas Stanley Davies 26th Btn. Royal Fusiliers (d.16th Sep 1916) Thomas Stanley Davies was born in 1896, and was killed in action, aged 20 years. He was the son of Joseph and Mary Meadows Davies of 8 Woodlands, Birkenhead (1911) later, Winterbourne, Storeton Road, B'head, and the brother of Harold and Margaret. He is remembered with honour on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, Picardie, France. It is highly likely that Thomas knew or was friends with Wilfred Owen.
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Cpl. Frank Caves 26th Btn. 6th Platoon. Royal Fusiliers (d.2nd Dec 1916) Frank Caves enlisted as Pte. 2033, Bedfordshire Regiment and was later transferred to the Royal Fusiliers.
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Pte. Edgar William Hadley 26th (Bankers) Btn. Royal Fusiliers (d.4th Oct 1916) Edgar Hadley was my Great Uncle who served in the 26th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers. Edgar was born on the 9th January 1896 and he died during the Battle of the Somme sometime between 4th October and 5th November 1916 aged just 20 years old. It is most probable that he died at the Battle of Transloy Ridge.
The documentation from the war graves commission lists a number of different dates for his death during the Autumn of 1916.
He was the elder son of Clara and the late William Reece Hadley from Erdington in Birmingham. His Mother had the words "Thy will be done" placed on his gravestone which is situated at the AIF Burial Ground, Grass Lane, Flers.
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Albert William Lewis 26th Btn. Royal Fusiliers Albert William Lewis served with the 26th Royal Fusiliers
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2nd Lt. Herbert William Barnett 26th Btn. Royal Fusiliers (d.20th Sep 1917) 2nd Lieutenant Herbert William Barnett served with the 26th Battalion Royal Fusiliers during WW1 and was killed in action on the 20th September 1917. He is buried in Hooge Crater Cemetery in Belgium.
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Pte. William Baker 26th Btn. Royal Fusiliers (d.14th Aug 1918) William Baker was executed for desertion on 14/08/1918, and buried in Lussenthoek Military Cemetery in Belgium.
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Pte. George Alfred Moore 26th Btn. Royal Fusiliers (d.7th Jun 1917 ) George Moore was my Grandfather on my mothers side. I have no other information.
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Pte. Sidney Arthur O'Dell 26th Btn. Royal Fusiliers Sidney O'Dell was born in London in 1887, a printer by profession he married in April 1911 and had one daughter when WW1 broke out in September 1915. Initially he volunteered for Kitchener's army in 1915 but was rejected on account of his flat feet. He then served in the Army Pay Corp until mid to late 1916 when he was drafted to the 26th Royal Fusiliers after the Army relaxed their standards. He first went to France in early 1917 as reinforcements and took part in the Battle of Passendale. In December 1917 he went to northern Italy with the battalion for strengthening the Italians against the Austrians. In early March 1918 he returned to the Western Front and was engaged against the German advance at Valux-Vraucourt. At around the 24th March he was seriously wounded in the leg and evacuated to England to recuperate in hospital in Liverpool. He never returned to France but served as a musketry instructor with the battalion for the remainder of the war. After the end of the war he returned to the Army Pay Corp to assist with demobilisation and returned to civilian life in 1919. In 1922 he and his wife and three daughters emigrated to New Zealand.
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Cpl. Sidney Arthur O'Dell 26th Btn. Royal Fusiliers My grandfather, Sidney A. O'Dell of Walthamstow, London, served in the Army Pay Corps during the first years of WW1. After war broke out in 1914 he tried to enlist into Kitchener's Army but was rejected on account of his flat feet, and the fact that he was a married man with a child. Instead he served in the Army Pay Corps for around two years. Later in the war when they relaxed their standards he enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers 26th Battalion in early 1917 and went to France in July 1917 to take part in Passchendale. Later that year his Regiment was sent to North Italy to bolster the Italians against the Austrians, returning to France in February 1918. He was severely wounded in the leg in March 1918 resisting the German offensive and repatriated to England to recover but did not serve in France again.
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