5th Regiment of Foot

Also known as The Northumberland Fusiliers.

Chronology

• 1674 raised as the Irish Regiment or Viscount Clare's Regiment
• 1751 became 5th Regiment of Foot
• 1782 became HM 5th (Northumberland) Regiment of Foot
• 1836 became the 5th (Northumberland Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot
• 1881 became the Northumberland Fusiliers
• 1935 became the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers
• 1968 became the 1st Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers

Records

Findmypast, pay website, contains a database "British Army, Northumberland Fusiliers 1881-1920", located in Armed Forces & Conflict/Regimental & Service Records. It consists of transcripts from various sources created by Graham Stewart. "The information comes from over 70 sources including medal rolls, service records, medal index cards, battalion histories and St George’s Gazette, the regimental paper".

First World War

2nd Battalion

The 2nd Battalion left Southampton 24th September 1913, They originally docked in Bombay before moving to Ambala on the 18th October. The Battalion left India at the end of 1914, for the Western Front.

2nd Garrison Battalion

Garrison Battalions were made up of soldiers unfit for front line duty, see First World War-Garrison Battalions

History

• October 1915 - Formed at Newcastle.
• February 1916 - Went to India and joined the Sialkot Brigade, 2nd (Indian) Division.
• March 1916 - March 1917 To the 6th Poona divisional area.
• March 1917 - October 1917 Poona Brigade. Remained with the Division but at Ahmednagar.
• October 1917 - May 1918 Attached Troops. To the Ahmednagar Brigade.
• May 1918 - 11 November 1918 Ahmednagar Brigade (formed in May 1918).
• 18 Jan 1920 Disbanded in UK

"Men of the 2nd Garrison Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers served in Mesopotamia from March 1917 until 1919. Whether this was the whole battalion, or elements of it, is not clear but the Battalion lost 179 men during the First World War and the majority died from sickness in Mesopotamia… It seems certain that all or part of the 2nd Garrison Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers arrived in Basra in late February or early March 1917. The deaths in Mesopotamia appeared to be from sickness including one from smallpox… The Garrison Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers appears to have remained in Mesopotamia until the winter of 1918/1919 as the last recorded death there was on January 4th 1919 at Amara. Amara was further North than Basra and was the headquarters from where the 13th Division started demobilisation in February 1919. The final death in the 2nd Garrison Battalion was recorded in India on March 21 1919. The 2nd Garrison Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers returned to England and was disbanded on January 8th 1920."

The FIBIS database contains a reference to a memorial in Christ Church, Ahmednagar for the 2nd Garrison Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers. “Officers, NCO's and men who died at Ahmednagar 1917 -1919. 42 names, the greater number had served in France, Belgium, Gallipoli or Mesopotamia during the war 1914-1918” The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website lists 27 deaths at Ahmednagar, all NCOs and men

Regimental Journal

A regular regimental journal can be a valuable source of information. St. George's Gazette was published from 1883 to 1968 and copies can be found at:

• British Library
• National Army Museum
• Northumberland Archives, refer below.

Fusiliers Museum of Northumberland is perhaps a possible source. Check with the Museum to see if current access is possible. Although in the past it was possible to visit the Archive,, visits to the Archive do not currently (2019, April) seem possible.

FIBIS resources

• "A Northumberland Fusilier in India 1886-1896" by Ruth Sear FIBIS Journal Number 28 (Autumn 2012) pages 47-48. See FIBIS Journals for details of how to access this article.
• The Northumberland Fusiliers in Abbottabad 1879An article by Omer S K Tarin hosted in FIBIS database

External links

Historical books online

• Historical record of the Fifth Regiment of Foot, or Northumberland Fusiliers containing an account of the formation of the regiment in the year 1674, and of its subsequent services to 1837 [by Richard Cannon] 1837 Archive.org
• A short narrative of the Fifth Regiment of Foot : or Northumberland Fusiliers, with a chronological table and succession list of the officers, from 1st January, 1754, to 1st May, 1873 by one who has spent many happy years in the regiment 1873. With five coloured plates. Google Books.
• The Northumberland Fusiliers by Walter Wood (1901) Archive.org. Indian service commences page 112 in 1857, and continues page 138, in Afghanistan in 1878.
• A History of the Northumberland Fusiliers 1674-1902 by H M Walker 1919 Archive.org.
• Memories of Seven Campaigns: a record of thirty-five years' service in the Indian Medical Department in India, China, Egypt, and the Sudan by James Howard Thornton, Deputy Surgeon General, Indian Medical Service, late Principal Medical Officer Punjab Frontier Force. 1895 Archive.org. (The author was in the Bengal Medical Service 1856-1891). Chapters II-IV cover the Indian Mutiny period. During this time Thornton was attached to H M 5th Fusiliers, then H M 90th Light Infantry, then the 1st European Bengal Fusiliers.
• St. George's Gazette. v.25 (1907)- v.42 (1924) available to those in areas such as North America. Additional volumes for those who have University access. HathiTrust Digital Library.
• The Fifth in the Great War - A History of the 1st & 2nd Northumberland Fusiliers, 1914-1918 by Brigadier H. R. Sandilands 1938 . A transcription by OCR, so subject to inaccuracies. Contents lib.militaryarchive.co.uk. Also available HathiTrust Digital Library for those with University access.
• Bibliography of regimental histories pages 54-56 A Bibliography of Regimental Histories of the British Army by Arthur S. White. Google Books.
• HathiTrust Digital Library regimental histories available to those in North America etc, or requiring University access.

Other

• Royal Northumberland Fusiliers Wikipedia
• The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers from British Armed Forces & National Service. Includes deployments.
• The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers including deployments: 1st Battalion, 2nd Battalion Regiments.org, an archived site.
• Fusiliers Museum of Northumberland Northumberlandfusiliers.org
• Northumberland Archives, formerly the County Records Office, located at Woodhorn, Ashington, Northumberland, England, holds some publications relating to the Northumberland Fusiliers, including regimental histories and St. George's Gazette (a broken range), issues noted including volumes 7, 13-14, 16-17, 19-22, 24, 29, 31, 39-45, 47, 50-54, 58, 77, 79, 82; (date range estimated to be c 1889 to 1964).
• Northumberland Fusiliers Dickinsons-of-whitfield. org. Includes a list of Indian Mutiny medals.
• "A rock epic". An article by Ali Jan about a 1909 regimental rock carving at Murree (now Pakistan) from The News on Sunday(jang.com.pk)