Suffolk Regiment - The Long, Long Trail

Regimental depot

Bury St Edmunds Baracks

The barracks lay west of the town centre, on Out Risbygate and Newmarket Road. It is the area of buildings shown in black on this Ordnance Survey map of 1924. It was renamed Gibraltar Barracks in 1938 and today houses the regimental museum.

Battalions of the Regular Army

1st Battalion
August 1914 : on garrison duty in Khartoum, Sudan.
Returned to England 23 October 1914.
17 November 1914 : came under command of 84th Brigade in 28th Division.
18 January 1915 : landed at Le Havre.
24 October 1915 : embarked at Marseilles and moved with the 28th Division to Salonika via Egypt.

2nd Battalion
August 1914 : at the Curragh in Ireland. Part of 14th Brigade, 5th Division.
17 August 1914 : landed at Le Havre.
30 September 1914 : transferred to GHQ after suffering heavy casualties at Le Cateau.
25 October 1914 : came under command of 8th Brigade, 3rd Division.
22 October 1915 : transferred to 76th Brigade in same Division.

3rd (Reserve) Battalion
August 1914 : in Bury St Edmunds. Moved to Felixstowe on 9 August 1914. A training unit used as the garrison for the defences of Harwich, it remained there throughout the war. The first reinforcement draft for France left as early as 26 August 1914. Moved to Rugeley Camp in March 1919.

The regimental badge as depicted on a CWGC grave headstone. Image courtesy of the excellent PaulHP collection at he Flickr website, with thanks.

Battalions of the Territorial Force

1/4th Battalion
August 1914 : in Portman Road, Ipswich. Part of Norfolk & Suffolk Brigade, East Anglian Division.
9 November 1914 : landed at Le Havre, having left the Division. Came undfer command of the Jullundur Brigade of the 3rd (Lahore) Division.
15 November 1915 : transferred to 46th Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division.
22 February 1916 : transferred to 98th Brigade, 33rd Division.
15 February 1918 : transferred to 58th (2nd London) Division as Pioneer Battalion.

1/5th Battalion
August 1914 : in Bury St Edmunds. Part of Norfolk & Suffolk Brigade, East Anglian Division.
18 May 1915 : formation renamed 153rd Brigade, 54th (East Anglian) Division.
30 July 1915 : embarked at Liverpool and moved to Gallipoli via Mudros. Landed at Suvla Bay on 10 August 1915. 19 December 1915 : evacuated from Gallipoli and arrived at Alexandria. Served in Egypt and Palestine thereafter.

1/6th (Cyclist) Battalion
August 1914 : in Ipswich. Unallotted to a higher formation.
Joined 1st Mounted Division in August 1914. Remained in UK throughout the war.

2/4th Battalion
Formed at Ipswich in October 1914 as a Second Line battalion. Became part of 208th (2nd Norfolk and Suffolk) Brigade in 69th (2nd East Anglian) Division.
December 1915 : disbanded in England.

2/5th Battalion
Formed at Bury St Edmunds in October 1914 as a Second Line battalion. Became part of 208th (2nd Norfolk and Suffolk) Brigade in 69th (2nd East Anglian) Division.
18 September 1917 : transferred to 202nd Brigade, 67th Division.
April 1918 : disbanded in England.

2/6th (Cyclist) Battalion
Formed at Ipswich in September 1914. Remained in England throughout the war.

3/4th and 3/5th Battalions
Formed at Ipswich and Bury St. Edmunds in April 1915.
10 April 1916 : became Reserve Battalions and 4th then absorbed 5th on 1 September 1916.
In spring 1917, 4th Reserve Battalion amalgamated with the Cambridge Reserve Battalion while both were at Halton near Tring. The merged unit was renamed the “Cambridge and Suffolk (Reserve) Battalion”. In August 1917 it moved to Crowborough and in September 1918 moved on again to Hastings.

3/6th (Cyclist) Battalion
Formed at Ipswich in May 1915. Disbanded March 1916.

14th Battalion
Formed on 1 January 1917 from what had previously been the 64th Provisional Battalion of the TF. It had been formed in June 1915 from “Home Service only” personnel and was under command of 3rd Provisional Brigade, later known as 223rd Mixed Brigade.

15th (Suffolk Yeomanry) Battalion
Formed in Egypt on 5 January 1917 from dismounted Yeomanry regiment.
January 1917 : came under command of 230th Brigade in 74th (Yeomanry) Division.
1 May 1918 : embarked at Alexandria for Marseilles, landing 7 May.

Battalions of the New Armies

7th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Bury St Edmunds in August 1914 as part of K1 and came under command of 35th Brigade in 12th (Eastern) Division.
30 May 1915 : landed at Boulogne.
19 May 1918: reduced to cadre strength.
24 May 1918: transferred to 39th Division. More than 400 men transferred to 1/1st Cambridgeshire Regiment.
16 August 1918: transferred to 197th Brigade in 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division.

Troops of the 7th (Service) Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, in the ruins of the church in Tilloy [near Arras], 18 October 1917. Imperial War Museum image Q6097

8th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Bury St. Edmunds in September 1914 as part of K2 and came under command of 53rd Brigade in 18th (Eastern) Division.
25 July 1915 : landed in France.
7 February 1918: disbanded in France.

9th (Service) Battalion
Formed at Bury St. Edmunds in September 1914 as part of K3 and came under command of 71st Brigade in 24th Division.
30 August 1915 : landed at Boulogne.
11 October 1915: transferred with Brigade to 6th Division.
16 February 1918: disbanded in France.

10th (Reserve) Battalion
Formed in Felixstowe in October 1914 as a Service battalion, part of K4, by breaking off two recruit companies from the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion. Was attached to 94th Brigade, original 31st Division. Early in 1915 was moved to Bury St Edmunds.
10 April 1915: became a Reserve Battalion and moved to Colchester. Moved on to Dovercourt in March 1916.
1 September 1916 : converted into 26th Training Reserve Battalion in 6th Reserve Brigade.

11th (Service) Battalion (Cambridgeshire)
Formed at Cambridge, 25 September 1914, by the Cambridge and Isle of Ely TF Association. Occupied a camp at Cherryhinton. Moved to Ripon in Yorkshire in June 1915.
May 1915 : came under command of 101st Brigade in 34th Division. Moved to Salisbury Plain.
9 January 1916 : landed at Boulogne.
26 May 1918 : transferred to 183rd Brigade, 61st (2nd South Midland) Division.

12th (Service) Battalion (East Anglian)
Formed at Bury St. Edmunds on 7 July 1915, as a bantam battalion. While still at the depot it was joined by a draft of some 200 men from the depot of the Middlesex Regiment.
25 November 1915 : moved to Bordon Camp and placed under command of 121st Brigade in 40th Division.
Early December 1915 : moved to Pirbright.
6 June 1916 : landed at Le Havre from Southampton.
6 May 1918: reduced to cadre strength.
16 June 1918 : transferred to 43rd Brigade in 14th (Light) Division. Returned to England 17 June 1918.
Reconstituted by absorbing 16th Battalion and rejoined 43rd Brigade.
5 July 1918: landed at Boulogne.

13th (Reserve) Battalion (Cambridgeshire)
Formed at Cherryhinton camp in September 1915 from two reserve companies of 11th (Service) Battalion and came under command of 94th Brigade, original 31st Division. Moved to Trowbridge in early November 1915 and to Leamington in February 1916. In April 1916 it moved to Lessness Park, Abbey Wood and at the end of July went to Chohole Gate camp, Richmond Park.
1 September 1916: converted into 108th Training Reserve Battalion in 26th Reserve Brigade. On 10 October 1916 it was converted into a reserve garrison battalion.

16th Battalion
Formed in Pirbright on 1 June 1918 and absorbed into 12th Bn on 18 June 1918.

Other Battalions

1st (Reserve) Garrison Battalion
Formed in Wendover in Buckinghamshire in early March 1916. In May 1916 it moved to Tilbury and next month went to Gravesend in Kent. Detachments of the battalion were soon established at Tilbury, Queenborough, Leysdown, Thames Haven, Cliffe Fort, Kynoch Town, Pitsea, Weedon and other locations, It carried out guard, escort and similar duties. One company of the battalion then moved to France, where it then remained as “lines of communication” troops. The main body of the battalion moved to Grain Island in 1918.

2nd (Home Service) Garrison Battalion
Formed in Harwich in May 1916.
August 1917: became 6th Battalion of the Royal Defence Corps. Remained in England throughout the war.