The History of the Prince of Wales' Civil Service Rifles

The first step towards securing the future of the Battalion may be said to have been taken when friends of the Regiment in 1918 approached authority with a view to the Prince of...

About the year 1888 a considerable decline in the recruiting power of the Regiment became apparent, owing chiefly to the reduction of the establishments of many Government Offic...

Two of the most serious checks to the 3rd Army advance on Cambrai were the villages of Bourlon and Fontaine Notre Dame, respectively at the north-west and south-east corners of...

On the 11th of October, 1918, the Battalion left their camp near Wytschaete and marched to take over the line at America Corner, about 1½ miles north of Wervicq. This relief ent...

At Gaza the Battalion bivouacked just to the north of the town. “Town” was perhaps a complimentary term for Gaza at that time, for it was in a deplorable state. The proud town o...

Although a big German offensive had been expected for some weeks, and elaborate preparations to meet it had been made during the winter months, there were few signs of the eve o...

H.M. Troopship _Transylvania_, which was unfortunately sunk by torpedo a few weeks later, set sail from Marseilles at midnight on the 19th November. A rough sea was encountered,...

The position to be attacked was on the high ground at Khirbit Kauwukah, just north of the Beersheeba-Gaza Railway and south of Sheria. This was an extensive stretch of trenches...

A sensational change came over the military situation on the Divisional front during August, 1918. When the month opened, the front line Brigades were still holding the trenches...

A short description of the situation on the Doiran-Vardar sector of the Salonica Front will no doubt assist the reader to better realise the type of operations peculiar to this...

Alexandria was reached on the midnight of the 22nd June, 1917, and every one was pleased to get rid of the ever-present encumbrance on board troopships--the life belt, which bro...

The left flank of the Turkish line, which ran south-eastward from Gaza, formed a stronghold around the south-eastern outskirts of Beersheba. In the main scheme of the advance in...

The journey to France was without incident; the train from Salisbury Plain arrived at Southampton Docks about midday on the 22nd of June, 1916, and after a few hours on the quay...

[2] This history, up to the year 1891, was written and published in that year by Lieut. (now Lt.-Col.) Edward Merrick, C.S.R.V. He has brought his narrative down to 1909 for the...

On the 23rd of April, 1918, the Battalion marched south from Attara and encamped for the night just north of Ram Allah, near Lake Ballua. The march was carried out during the ev...

On the 7th of April the Battalion left for Bethune and the forward area. The villagers gave the men a very hearty send-off, for the Civil Service Rifles had thoroughly captured...

On arrival at the pier at Taranto beach a short march brought us to our lines in the Base Camp. Only one day was spent here, and the following evening we entrained for France. D...

During the early days of August, 1914, the Headquarters of the Civil Service Rifles at Somerset House was besieged by crowds of younger Civil Servants; either wishing to re-enli...

The Regimental Diary gives a detailed description of the career of the Civil Service Rifles from the time of leaving Dominion Lines on the night of the 3rd of June to the return...

The capture of the Bireh Heights, and driving the Turk towards Nablous, completed the capture of Jerusalem, as far as attacks from the north of the city were concerned, but on t...

The last month of 1915 found the Civil Service Rifles in trenches in what was justifiably called a “hot corner.” After the holiday at Lillers, the Battalion went to occupy the w...

On the 10th of March, 1917, reveille was at an early hour, and by eight o’clock in the morning the 179th Brigade had formed up in column of route together with the Artillery, Ro...

On a gloriously sunny afternoon in May, a man was dozing outside his hut in the pretty little woods at the village of Camblain L’Abbé, where the Civil Service Rifles were billet...

What a wonderful scene it was along the New German Road on the afternoon of the 14th of September--a never-ending transport column moving along in broad daylight, conveying ammu...

During its career in France, the Civil Service Rifles have frequently moved over long distances by route march--a practice known as “trekking”--but the great march of 1916 seems...

The inhabitants of the little mining village of Les Brebis displayed little or no surprise when they were called from their beds in the middle of the night to greet the Civil Se...

On the 23rd of February the Battalion left Jebel Ektief, and after some discussion in the wadi near the transport lines, some companies chose the route via the Wadi Hindi, Abu D...

Life in the Ypres Salient could now no longer be described as a rest cure, for in addition to increased activity on both sides in the line, the weather was of the real wintry type.

In the Neuve Eglise area the Companies were spread over a considerable area, the whole of which was under the direct observation from the German lines on Messines Ridge. “A” Com...

At the commencement of the year 1863, the Prince of Wales showed his interest in the Corps by presenting it with a Challenge Cup of the value of 100 guineas. The nominal right t...

As a sequel to overnight rumours, all officers were taken the next day to study a ground plan of the country from Passchendaele to Westhoek Ridge--an excellent model of what had...

One night in Senlis was followed by a night in Hedauville, and then on the 9th of April, after a march to Acheux, the Battalion was conveyed by buses to the back area. The bus j...

A return was made to the trenches at Maroc on the 1st September, when it was found that the war had livened up considerably during the three weeks’ absence at La Beuvrière. The...

No history of the Corps could be accepted as complete which omitted an account of the Wimbledon Ranges; for it is around them that, with many of us, the pleasantest memories of...

The so-called camp in Bottom Wood was the essence of discomfort, but after a meal and a few hours rest, a welcome move was made in the evening of the 20th September to Albert, w...

To those whose memories of Ypres are only associated with thoughts of mud and slaughter, and who at the mention of the word “Salient” instinctively think of the horrors of Passc...

Although the inhabitants of Lille considered the war to be over--as it undoubtedly was so far as they were concerned--the guns could still be heard out on the Tournai road, and...

Fortunately only one day was spent at Molliens au Bois, and on the 21st of June a bus ride took the Civil Service Rifles through Amiens and then round the country for a few hour...

A long stay of eleven days in Dominion Lines ended with a return to the Support positions around Swan Château on the 8th of May, but only three days were spent here (during whic...

Among the prominent events which may be regarded as landmarks or milestones in the career of the Civil Service Rifles in France, two have already been passed--Vimy Ridge and Hig...

The long march to Steenvoorde--17 miles--was endured cheerfully by all ranks, who were overjoyed at leaving Belgium. It was felt that whatever the new area was like, it would no...

It will be gathered from the foregoing that, in whatever light the operation on Vimy Ridge was regarded by the General Staff, to the Civil Service Rifles it was a battle of some...

At the annual dinner in London on St. Patrick’s Day the survivors of those who constituted the original 1st Battalion of the Civil Service Rifles commemorate the historic day on...

Looking back from the sober routine of the volunteering of to-day, to this strange period when every one was a recruit, it is only natural that eccentricities should be apparent...

The new area proved to be the northern end of the famous Vimy Ridge, which the Battalion approached by easy stages, for although the Division took over the “Carency Sector” of t...

In spite of Ferfay having been a Corps Headquarters, the accommodation at first was poor, but the troops soon settled down, and, making the most of the wretched conditions, cont...

It is a far cry from the battle-field to the coal-field, but after the events narrated in the last chapter, the 47th Division returned to the area which it occupied during its f...

A few words on the manner in which the story of the 1st Battalion was written will not be out of place, and may help to explain the delay in producing the book and the obvious e...

[1] It might be explained that the photographs here reproduced were not selective but rather those which were at hand available for publication. A larger collection of portraits...

Little remains to be said of the history of the 1st Civil Service Rifles in France, but before the story is closed mention should be made of a few incidents which stand out in t...