13th (Service) Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps

The 13th (Service) Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps, (13th KRRC) was an infantry unit recruited as part of 'Kitchener's Army' in World War I. It served on the Western Front from July 1915 until the Armistice, seeing action at the Somme and the Ancre, at Arras and Ypres, against the German spring offensive, and in the victorious Hundred Days Offensive. It was finally disbanded on the Rhine in August 1920.

Recruitment and training

On 6 August 1914, less than 48 hours after Britain's declaration of war, Parliament sanctioned an increase of 500,000 men for the Regular British Army. The newly appointed Secretary of State for War, Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, issued his famous call to arms: 'Your King and Country Need You', urging the first 100,000 volunteers to come forward. Men flooded into the recruiting offices and the 'first hundred thousand' were enlisted within days. This group of six divisions with supporting arms became known as Kitchener's First New Army, or 'K1'. K2 and K3 followed shortly afterwards.War Office Instructions No 32 (6 August) and No 37 (7 August).Becke, Pt 3a, pp. 2 & 8.

13th (Service) Battalion was formed as part of K3 at the Kings Royal Rifle Corps' regimental depot at Peninsula Barracks, Winchester, on 7 October 1914. It was designated as 'Army Troops', ie not assigned to a specific formation, but it was attached to 21st Division. After initial training at the crowded barracks at Winchester, the new battalion went by rail to 21st Division's tented camp at Halton Park, near Wendover in Buckinghamshire. In November the battalion moved out of tents into billets in nearby Amersham and Great Missenden.Frederick, p. 245.Hare, p. 94.James, p. 95.KRRC at Long, Long Trail.Becke, Pt 3a, p. 108.

In April 1915 it moved to Windmill Hill on Salisbury Plain to join the new 37th Division. As authorised in March, 37th Division consisted of Kitchener battalions that had originally been allocated as Army Troops to the New Armies. 13th KRRC was assigned to 111th Brigade in the new division; the brigade also included 10th (Stockbrokers) and 13th Battalions, Royal Fusiliers (RF), and 13th Bn Rifle Brigade (RB). By the time the division assembled, all its units had been training for some months, and it soon began final battle training.Becke, Pt 3b, pp. 71–9.37th Division at Long, Long Trail.

In July orders arrived for the division to move to France to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front. 13th KRRC landed at Boulogne on 3 July 1915 under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Chester-Master, a retired KRRC officer who had been Commandant-General of the British South Africa Police and was Chief Constable of Gloucestershire. By 2 August the division had completed its concentration by rail around Tilques, near Saint-Omer. It then began marching towards the front, where it went into billets in the rear area.Carter, pp. 85–6.Rowlands, pp. 30–6.Chester-Master at Christ Church Cathedral War Memorials.Chester-Master at CWGC Records.

Service

The battalions of 111th Bde began providing working parties and then in mid-August went up by companies to be attached to units of 12th (Eastern) Division near Armentières for their introduction to trench warfare. On 25 August they marched to Godewaersvelde and entrained for Doullens where the division took over a section of the Somme front from the French. The battalions of 111st Bde carried out their first spells in the trenches near Hannescamps, from the beginning of September, suffering a few casualties: 13th KRRC relieved 13th RB in the front line on 10 September. When not in the front line the battalions provided working parties. On the evening of 24 September the brigade was moved a few miles north and next day waited in full fighting order in case it was called upon to join in the Battle of Loos that began that day. However, it was not employed, and a few days later it returned to its previous trenches. The battalions settled into a routine of six days in the line, six in reserve and 12 at rest (though often providing working parties). When in the from line, they occasionally mounted trench raids, and there was a trickle of casualties. This routine continued until the end of January 1916, the trenches often being flooded during the winter.Carter, pp. 86–122.Rowlands, pp. 36–53.

In February the brigade went back into the line, taking over from the French some trenches at Le Gastineau, a few miles north of the Gommecourt Salient. Duty here was six days in the front line and six out of it; 13th KRRC and 10th RF took turns to man the line in their sector. It was quiet sector, apart from occasional artillery bombardments and raids, though the uneven nature of the ground meant that snipers could find good vantage points on the higher ground. On 19 March 41st Division was withdrawn and marched back to the Doullens area to undergo a month's training. It then returned to billets in Humbercamps, just behind the line, where the usual working parties were supplied to the REs until it took over the line again on 1 May. A working party of 13th KRRC heavily shelled one night while digging a new front line trench.Carter, pp. 122–34.Rowlands, pp. 54–61.

Somme 13th KRRC had been in France almost a year and had still not participated in any major action, but the BEF was now preparing for that summer's 'Big Push' (the Battle of the Somme). The artillery bombardment began on 23 June and 111th Bde supplied working parties to carry forward gas cylinders for release when the assault was launched on 1 July. Initially, 37th Division was not involved. Then 111th Bde was attached to 34th Division from 7 July as a temporary replacement for a brigade that had been shattered on the First day on the Somme. The fresh troops were immediately rushed to the front to assist with carrying and working parties. 13th RB and 13th RF went up to the line first, then on 10 July 111th Bde HQ, 13th KRRC and 10th RF took over the left sector of 34th Division's front due east of La Boisselle. The trenches were exposed and badly battered by shellfire and 13th RB suffered serious casualties in an attack towards Pozières. The Battle of Bazentin Ridge was launched before dawn on 14 July: 112th Bde attacked Pozières at 08.30 the following morning (15 July), supported by 111th Bde advancing up 'Sausage Valley' The leading waves of 112th Bde were held up short of Pozières by machine gun fire and the valley became full of bunched up battalions, which began to fall back to the cover of a sunken road. 10th RF gave new impetus to 112th Bde's attack but although fighting went on round the village all day it was not taken and the attacking brigades fell back to the remaining trenches. The brigades remained in the front and support lines until they were relieved on 18 August and rejoined their own division on 22 August.Becke, Pt 3b, pp. 41–9. 34th Division at Long, Long Trail.Carter, pp. 145–59.Miles, 1916, Vol II, pp. 13, 97–8.Rowlands, pp. 62–74.Shakespear, pp. 54–63.

37th Division moved to the Calonne sector, where it trained and held the line among the coal tips until the autumn. 13th KRRC usually alternated with 10th RF in the front trench, providing working parties when not in the line.Carter, pp. 172–6.Rowlands, pp. 76–8.

Ancre On 17 October 37th Division began a long march back to the Somme, arriving at Puchevillers behind Albert on 22 October. Training here and at Hem-Hardinval was restricted by bad weather and the need to clear muddy roads. On 13 November 111th Bde moved up and came under the command of 63rd (Royal Naval) Division for the continuation of the Battle of the Ancre. It went into the line after dark and 13th KRRC was immediately sent up to extend 190th Bde's position on 63rd (RN) Division's second objective. The battalion's bombing and scout sections made room for this by bombing the enemy out of their trench, extending the line left as far as the next communication trench, 'Redoubt Alley' and capturing 50 Germans in the process. C and D Companies then took over the front line, with A and B in support.Carter, pp. 176–8.Hare, pp. 176–7.Miles, 1916, Vol II, pp. 490–1.Rowlands, pp. 78–80.

Next day 10th RF mopped up a German redoubt that 63rd (RN) Division had bypassed the day before, then the rest of 111th Bde pushed on to Beaucourt and towards the objective of 'Muck Trench' (so named from its muddy condition). A number of casualties were caused by the British shrapnel barrage: just before the attack went in, a runner arrived at 13th KRRC's Battalion HQ from C Company reporting that all its three officers had become casualties: the battalion Lewis gun officer went up and commanded the company during the attack. 13th KRRC advanced on the right to take Beaucourt village: as it advanced through the village the enemy kept emerging from dugouts where they had been sheltering from the bombardment. These parties were engaged by the battalion bombers and forced to surrender – two officers and 40 men from one dugout alone. By 08.00 the battalion had taken the village, digging in beyond it under the command of the only remaining company commander. The rest of the brigade took Muck Trench without much opposition.Carter, pp. 178–9.Hare, pp. 178–9.Miles, 1916, Vol II, pp. 504–5, Sketch 47.Rowlands, pp. 81–3.

37th Division took over command of the sector on 15 November, and that night 10th RF was sent up to relieve 13th KRRC, discovering and capturing a party of Germans still in the trenches when they arrived. At dawn 10th RF attacked a group of trenches known as the 'Triangle', but was driven back by rifle fire. The two battalions were then ordered to occupy Muck Trench and Railway Trench and establish a chain of strongpoints. Although they reached Muck Trench it was under shellfire and the strongpoints could not be established in daylight; eventually two posts were set up after dark with the assistance of 152nd Field Company, Royal Engineers. At 06.10 on 18 November 111th Bde made another attempt on the Triangle in cooperation with an attack by the neighbouring 32nd Division. At Zero hour 13th KRRC pushed patrols north of Much Trench, meeting only slight opposition in Railway Trench, while 10th RF tried to secure the junction with 32nd Division, which had been held up. Strong patrols during the night also failed to enter the Triangle due to lack of promised artillery support. 10th RF made one last attack on 19 November, but nothing was gained. 111th Brigade was finally relieved from Muck Trench that night and returned to Puchevillers.Carter, pp. 179–81.Miles, 1916, Vol II, pp. 512, 520–1.Rowlands, p. 83.

After two weeks' training at Puchevillers, where it absorbed poorly trained reinforcements, 111th Bde marched northwards on 13 December, arriving in the trenches of the Neuve-Chapelle sector on 21 December. Here its battalions began a routine of alternating trench duty, the recent reinforcements being trained at Calonne. In early February the brigade shifted to the Hulluch sector, and then. in early March to the divisional training area at Roëllecourt, west of Arras, where it prepared in snowy weather for the forthcoming Battle of Arras.Carter, pp. 183–9.Rowlands, pp. 83–9.

Arras