This is a list of battalions of the Border Regiment, which existed as an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1959.
Original composition When the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot was amalgamated with the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot, to become The Border Regiment in 1881 under the Cardwell-Childers reforms of the British Armed Forces, four pre-existent militia and volunteer battalions of Cumberland and Westmorland were integrated into the structure of the regiment. Volunteer battalions had been created in reaction to a perceived threat of invasion by France in the late 1850s. Organised as "rifle volunteer corps", they were independent of the British Army and composed primarily of the middle class. The only change to the regiment's structure during the period of 1881–1908 occurred in 1900, when a new volunteer battalion was raised, namely the 3rd (Cumberland) Volunteer Battalion.
BattalionFormedFormerlyRegular1st17021st Battalion, 34th Regiment of Foot2nd17551st Battalion, 55th Regiment of FootMilitia3rd (Militia)1760Royal Cumberland Regiment of Militia4th (Militia)1759Royal Westmoreland Regiment of MilitiaVolunteers1st (Cumberland) Volunteer18591st Cumberland Rifle Volunteer Corps2nd (Westmorland) Volunteer18591st Westmorland Rifle Volunteer Corps
Reorganisation
The Territorial Force (later Territorial Army) was formed in 1908, which the volunteer battalions joined, while the militia battalions were transferred to the "Special Reserve". All volunteer battalions were renumbered to create a single sequential order. Alongside this, the 4th (Militia) Battalion was also disbanded in 1908.
BattalionFormerly4th (Cumberland and Westmorland)Amalgamation of the 1st (Cumberland) and 2nd (Westmorland) Volunteer Battalions5th (Cumberland)3rd (Cumberland) Volunteer Battalion
First World War
The Border Regiment fielded 18 battalions and lost almost 7,000 officers and other ranks during the course of the war. The regiment's territorial components formed second and third line battalions. As an example, the three-line battalions of the 4th Borderers were numbered as the 1/4th, 2/4th, and 3/4th respectively. Many battalions of the regiment were formed as part of Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener's appeal for an initial 100,000 men volunteers in 1914. They were referred to as the New Army or Kitchener's Army. The 11th and 12th Borderers, New Army "Service" battalions, were referred to as "Pals" Battalions because they were predominantly composed of colleagues. The Volunteer Training Corps were raised with overage or reserved occupation men early in the war, and were initially self-organised into many small corps, with a wide variety of names. Recognition of the corps by the authorities brought regulation and as the war continued the small corps were formed into battalion sized units of the county Volunteer Regiment. In 1918, these were linked to county regiments.
BattalionFormedServedFateRegular1st1702Gallipoli, Western Front2nd1755Western Front, ItalySpecial Reserve3rd (Reserve)1798BritainTerritorial Force1/4th (Cumberland and Westmorland)1908India1/5th (Cumberland)1900Western Front2/4th (Cumberland and Westmorland)Kendal, October 1914IndiaDisbanded in 19202/5th (Cumberland)Kendal, October 1914BritainAbsorbed into the 2/4th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers3/4th (Cumberland and Westmorland), 4th (Reserve) (Cumberland and Westmorland) from 8 April 1916March 1915BritainDisbanded in 19193/5th (Cumberland), 5th (Reserve) (Cumberland) from 8 April 1916March 1915BritainAbsorbed into the 4th (Reserve) (Cumberland and Westmorland) on 1 September 1916New Army6th (Service)Carlisle, August 1914Gallipoli, Suez Canal, Western FrontDisbanded on 9 February 19187th (Service), 7th (Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry) from 22 September 1917Carlisle, 7 September 1914Western FrontDisbanded in 19198th (Service)Carlisle, September 1914Western FrontDisbanded on 7 July 19189th (Service)Carlisle, September 1914SalonikaDisbanded in 191910th (Reserve)Southend, October 1914BritainAbsorbed into the Training Reserve Battalion of the 4th Reserve Brigade11th (Lonsdale) (Service)Carlisle, 17 September 1914Western FrontAbsorbed into the 1/5th (Cumberland) Battalion on 31 July 191812th (Reserve)Prees Heath, 1915BritainAbsorbed into the 75th Training Reserve BattalionOthers13thLowestoft, 1 June 1918BritainAbsorbed into 11th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment on 18 June 1918Volunteer Training CorpsWestlake pps. 117, 1251/1st Battalion Cumberland Volunteer Regimentlater 1/1st Battalion Cumberland and Westmoreland Volunteer Regimentlater the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Border RegimentCarlisleDisbanded post war2/1st Battalion Cumberland Volunteer RegimentWorkingtonAmalgamated with the 1st Battalion Westmoreland Volunteer Regiment February - August 19181st Battalion Westmoreland Volunteer Regimentlater the 2nd (Cumberland and Westmoreland) Volunteer Battalion, Border RegimentKendal, WorkingtonAmalgamated with the 2/1st Battalion Cumberland Volunteer Regiment February - August 1918, Disbanded post war
Inter-War By 1920, all of the regiment's war-raised battalions had been disbanded. The Special Reserve reverted to its militia designation in 1921, then to the Supplementary Reserve in 1924; however, its battalions were effectively placed in 'suspended animation'. As World War II approached, the Territorial Army was reorganised in the mid-1930s, many of its infantry battalions were converted to other roles, especially anti-aircraft.
Second World War The Border Regiment's expansion during the Second World War was modest compared to 1914–1918. National Defence Companies were combined to create a new "Home Defence" battalion. In addition, 12 battalions of the Home Guard were affiliated to the regiment, wearing its cap badge. A number of Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) troops were formed from the local battalions to defend specific points, such as factories.Whittaker p. 118 Due to the daytime (or shift working) occupations of the men in the LAA troops, the troops required eight times the manpower of an equivalent regular unit.Whittaker p. 23
BattalionFormedServedFateRegular1st1702France, Sicily, Italy, Western FrontSee Post-World War II2nd1755BurmaSee Post-World War IISupplementary Reserve3rd1798See Post-World War IITerritorial Army4th (Cumberland and Westmorland)1908France, North Africa, Burma (Chindits)See Post-World War II5th (Cumberland)1900France, BritainDisbanded in 19476th (East Cumberland)April 1939FranceSoldiers drafted to one of the nine battalions making up the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division, formally disbanded in 19477th (Cumberland)April 1939Disbanded in 19478th (Home Defence)1939BritainDisbanded 19429thOctober 1940, redesignation of the 50th (Holding) BattalionBritain, Burma, IndiaAmalgamated with the 4th (Cumberland and Westmorland) Battalion, taking on the name of the latter on 1 December 194530th1941Disbanded? 1942Others50th (Holding)June 1940BritainRedesignated as the 9th Battalion in October 194070th (Young Soldier)1940BritainDisbanded 1943
Home GuardBattalionHeadquartersFormation Sign (dark blue on khaki)BattalionHeadquartersFormation Sign (dark blue on khaki)Cumberland1st LongtownCUM 12nd Carlisle CityCUM 23rd CarlisleCUM 34th CockermouthCUM 45th WorkingtonCUM 56th WhitehavenCUM 67th MillomCUM 78th PenrithCUM 812thWarwick BridgeCUM 12Westmoreland9th "Lakes"KeswickWES 910th ApplebyWES 1011th KendalWES 11Home Guard Light Anti-Aircraft unitsFormation Sign (dark blue on khaki)Headquarters or LocationAA Formation and DesignationFormation Sign (dark blue on khaki)Headquarters or LocationAA Formation and DesignationCUM 5 Workington Workington Iron and Steel Co. LtdA and B Troops LAACUM 5 Distington High Duty Alloys LtdC Troop LAACUM 7 Drigg Royal Ordnance FactoryA and B Troops LAA
Post-World War II
In the immediate post-war period, the army was significantly reduced: nearly all infantry regiments had their first and second battalions amalgamated and the Supplementary Reserve disbanded.
BattalionFate1stAmalgamated with 2nd Battalion on the 28 October 1950, without a change in title2ndAmalgamated with 1st Battalion on the 28 October 1950
Amalgamation The 1957 Defence White Paper stated that the Border Regiment was due to amalgamated with The King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster), to form The King's Own Royal Border Regiment on the 1 October 1959.
BattalionFate1stAmalgamated with 1st Battalion, The King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster), to form 1st Battalion, The King's Own Royal Border Regiment4th (Cumberland and Westmorland)Transferred to the King's Own Royal Border Regiment, without a change in title
References