9th (2nd City of London) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers

The 9th (2nd City of London) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, was a Territorial Army (TA) unit of the British Army during World War II. It served in home defence and in Persia and Iraq before entering the Tunisian campaign early in 1943. It then took part in the Salerno landings and subsequent campaign in Italy, including several river crossing and the defence of the Anzio beachhead. The battalion ended the war by storming across the River Po.

Origin

The origin of the 2nd London Regiment lay in an invasion scare of 1859, when large numbers of Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs) were formed across Britain. Among these were the 46th (London and Westminster) Middlesex RVC (later the 23rd Middlesex RVC), which became the 2nd Volunteer Battalion of the Regular Army's Royal Fusiliers in 1883. When the Volunteer Force was subsumed into the Territorial Force in 1908, it became the 2nd Battalion of the new London Regiment while retaining its links with the Royal Fusiliers.Frederick, pp. 284–6.2nd Londons at Regiments.org.Westlake, p. 175.2nd Londons at Stepping Forward London.Drill halls in Tower Hamlets at Stepping Forward London.

The part-time Territorials were mobilised on the outbreak of World War I and the 2nd Londons served in Malta and then on the Western Front in 56th (1st London) Division. It formed 2nd and 3rd Line battalions that fought at Gallipoli and in Egypt as well as on the Western Front.James, pp. 114–5.

After the war the TF was reorganised as the Territorial Army (TA), and the battalion was reformed at its drill hall in Tufton Street, Westminster. The London Regiment had fallen into abeyance in 1916 and the battalions were treated as independent regiments affiliated to their previous parent regiments, so the battalion was now designated 2nd (City of London Battalion) London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), simplified in 1922 to 2nd City of London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers). The battalion was in 167th (1st London) Brigade in 56th (1st London) Division.War Office, Titles & Designations 1927. These became simply '1st London Bde' and '1st London Division' after 47th (2nd London) Division was disbanded in 1935.Joslen, pp. 37–8, 227–8.

The London Regiment was formally disbanded in 1938, the battalion having transferred to the Royal Fusiliers on 31 August 1937 as 9th (2nd City of London) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment).Money Barnes, Appendix IV. In that year the battalion moved its HQ from Tufton St to 213 Balham High Road in South London.Westminster Drill halls at Stepping Forward London.Wandsworth Drill Halls at Stepping Forward London.

World War II

Mobilisation After the Munich Crisis the TA was doubled in size, and 9th Royal Fusiliers formed a duplicate 2/9th Battalion at South Ruislip with its first officers being commissioned on 14 June; it was shortly afterwards designated as 12th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.Parkinson, p. 16.

Full mobilisation for the TA was ordered on 1 September 1939, two days before the declaration of war; 9th Royal Fusiliers mobilised next day at Balham High Road in 1st London Bde in 1st London Division.Joslen, pp. 37–8, 227–8.Joslen, p. 235.Parkinson, p. 101.London District 3 September 1939 at Patriot Files.

After mobilisation the battalion moved to Croydon on 12 September, and then to Nutley, East Sussex. Organised as a motor division, 1st London Division was designated a 'Julius Caesar' anti-invasion formation in Eastern Command but was only partially equipped. At the time of the Dunkirk evacuation in late May 1940 it was rushed to the threatened area of East Kent, with 9th Royal Fusiliers at Harbledown, Sturry and Bridge. The division was now reorganised as a conventional infantry division under XII Corps. On 18 November 1940 it regained its historic title of 56th (London) Division, and 10 days later 1st London Bde became 167 (1st London) Bde once more.Collier, pp. 84–5, 116, 125, Maps 5, 6 & 17.

During 1941, 9th Royal Fusiliers was also stationed at Ashford and New Romney in Kent. On 15 November 1941 56th (L) Division moved to XI Corps in East Anglia, with 9th Royal Fusiliers at Colchester in Essex, moving to Woodbridge, Suffolk, in early 1942, where it camped in a nearby wood. It was now regarded as a field division, and came under War Office control on 21 June, preparatory to moving overseas. 9th Royal Fusiliers was now commanded by Lt-Col E.H. Hillersdon.Collier, Map 27.Joslen, p. 376.

Iraq In August 1942 the division sailed for the Middle East, 9th Royal Fusiliers embarking on the transport New Holland at Liverpool, and the convoy carrying 56th (L) Division sailed on 25 August 1942. It called at Freetown in Sierra Leone, where the men were issued with tropical kit. It then proceeded via Cape Town to Bombay, where the tropical kit was withdrawn and the troops transshipped to smaller vessels. These sailed on to Basra in Iraq, where the men disembarked on 4 November. 9th Royal Fusiliers then entrained for Kirkuk, a journey via Baghdad. 56th (L) Division was intended to reinforce Persia and Iraq Command (PAIC), but by the time it arrived, the threat to the Persian oilfields had diminished with the British victory at El Alamein and the lack of German progress at Stalingrad. The troops in PAIC were therefore able to undergo intensive training for service elsewhere. 56th (L) Division was selected for the planned Allied invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky), and its brigades trained in amphibious assault or desert and hill warfare. 167 and 169 Brigades were selected for the latter, carried out in the Dharbund Badzian Pass, some from Kirkuk.Parkinson, pp. 102–4.Playfair, Vol III, pp. 365, 425.Playfair & Molony, Vol IV, p. 264.

Tunisia 56th (L) Division now had to move from Kirkuk via Palestine and Egypt to join Eighth Army in Tunisia, covering approximately 3200 miles between March and 19 April 1943. 9th Royal Fusiliers left on 28 March, some men going to Baghdad by rail, but thereafter the whole journey was by road using battalion transport supplemented by troop carrying vehicles (TCVs). Soon after they arrived and joined X Corps, 167 and 169 Bdes were thrown into the last stages of the Tunisian Campaign, because General Bernard Montgomery stated that he did not want to use an untried division in Husky. 169 Brigade took Djebel Terhouna during the night of 28/29 April, but was driven off the position the following morning, when Montgomery realised that the division needed time to learn battlecraft.Montgomery, p. 172.Parkinson, pp. 105–7.Playfair & Molony, Vol IV, pp. 441–3.

The division went into action again during the final advance on Tunis (Operation Vulcan), 167 Bde attacking 'Razorback Ridge' on the evening of 9 May with 8th and 9th Royal Fusiliers supported by Valentine tanks. Without adequate time for reconnaissance, both battalions moved off over the Djebel es Sourrah feature at 17.35 and advanced across the open valley of Wadi Rheribi covered by a smokescreen fired by the divisional artillery, which also put down concentrations of high explosive on the enemy positions. The advancing troops suffered severe casualties from incoming fire, particularly when the smoke began to clear. The leading companies of 9th Royal Fusiliers reached a wadi running across their front, but this was the line of the enemy defensive barrage, which came down with great accuracy. The men pressed on with mounting casualties; Lt-Col Hillersdon was badly wounded in the leg but carried on commanding the battalion from a tank until he was too weak from blood loss and had to be evacuated, when the command temporarily devolved on Maj J.G. Coleman. Eventually the battalion was ordered to withdraw in the early hours of the following morning. Successes on other fronts meant that X Corps' costly action did not need to be continued, and the remaining Axis troops in Tunisia surrendered on 13 May.Parkinson, pp. 107–12.Playfair & Molony, Vol IV, pp. 453–4, 459.

Salerno Because of Montgomery's doubts, 56th (L) Division was not in fact used in Operation Husky. Instead it moved back to Tripoli in Libya for further training in combined operations at Zuara, first 'dryshod', then with waterproofed vehicles and landing craft. While the Sicilian campaign continued, planning began for Operations Avalanche and Baytown, the assault landings on mainland Italy. 56th (London) Division was assigned to Avalanche, to land at Salerno. Loading began on 1 September and the assault troops of 56th (L) Division set sail from Tripoli aboard convoy TSS-1 on 3 September.Parkinson, pp. 113, 131–3.Molony, Vol V, p. 265.

H-Hour was at 03.30 on 9 September. 167 Bde's leading infantry landing craft touched down at 03.35 covered by naval gunfire, with 8th (right) and 9th (left) Battalions Royal Fusiliers landing either side of the Tusciano river. 9th Royal Fusiliers' objective was the town of Battipaglia. On landing they found that the covering rocket fire had not silenced a German 88mm gun battery, which continued to fire seawards until it was silenced by an Allied destroyer, the naval shells only just clearing the fusiliers. Apart from a position containing four machine guns, which was assaulted by D Company, there was little opposition. Using commandeered transport, including tractors, horses, farm carts and bicycles, the battalion pushed inland and established battalion HQ in Battipaglia by nightfall.Molony, Vol V, pp. 258–60, 276–8, 283–4.Parkinson, pp. 134–7.

However, because neighbouring units including 8th Royal Fusiliers had not made such good progress, the position at Battipaglia was dangerously isolated. Counter-attacks began at first light on 10 September: the town was almost surrounded and 88 mm guns began systematically destroying the buildings, wounding Lt-Col Hillersdon. German tanks approached and infantry infiltrated through the tall crops around the town. As the pressure grew the battalion was gradually forced out of the town, all its anti-tank guns being knocked out by 13.00, then the carriers and 3-inch mortars of Support Company. A field company of Royal Engineers became involved in the fighting, as well as the battalion's administrative staff, many of them armed with captured Italian and German weapons. By 16.00 Maj Cedric Delforce, in temporary command, had few troops left, and the brunt of the defence fell on D Company, who had linked up with 201 Guards Bde. 3rd Coldstream Guards tried to fight their way forward to hold or regain the town, but they failed, and the remnants of 9th Royal Fusiliers withdrew and joined them at the blocked bridge at Fosso. One 37-man platoon was cut off in the town and remained there for a couple of days, sniping at Germans during the confusion of British air raids on 13 and 14 September, otherwise staying quiet on the top floor of the building that became the German HQ. Most were eventually captured while searching for food and water. On 14 September 167 Bde was relieved and sent to 46th Division's supposedly quieter sector, but the remnant of 9th Royal Fusiliers with the Royal Engineers stayed to hold the Sta Lucia salient under the command of 23rd Armoured Bde. On 16 September it drove back an attack with the help of 64th (7th London) Field Regiment's 25-pounders. By 19 September, the battalion had extemporised new Support Company, armed with Italian Breda machine guns, an 81mm mortar and a 75mm infantry gun. The advancing Eighth Army was now approaching, and the Salerno beachhead was no longer isolated: the Germans withdrew abruptly.Molony, Vol V, pp. 284, 291, 296, 310, 314, Map 19.Parkinson, pp. 137–40.

Volturno to the Garigliano