Birmingham Rifles

The Birmingham Rifles, was a volunteer unit of the British Army founded in Birmingham in 1859. As the 5th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, it served as infantry on the Western Front and in Italy during World War I. Its successor units served in air defence during the early part of World War II and later as anti-tank gunners in Burma.

Volunteers
The enthusiasm for the Volunteer movement following an invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs) composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need. One such unit was the 1st (Birmingham Rifles) Warwickshire RVC, formed on 20 October 1859, with Lt-Col John Sanders, late of the 41st Bengal Native Infantry, in command. In March the following year it absorbed two other Birmingham-based units, the 3rd Warwickshire RVC raised on 8 November 1859, and the 6th raised on 8 February 1860. Further companies were raised, and the unit soon reached a strength of 12 companies, one recruited from newspaper workers, one from gunmakers, and another from Scots residents in the city. A cadet corps of the battalion existed at King Edward's School from 1864 to 1866, and again from 1883 to 1884. At first the uniform was grey with green facings, then Rifle green with red facings. The headquarters and drill hall was at Thorpe Street, Birmingham.

On 14 June 1871, retired Major-General John Hinde, CB, (1814–81) formerly of the 8th Foot, was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of the Birmingham Rifles. On 4 March 1882 he was succeeded by Colonel William Jervis, late of the Royal Munster Fusiliers, and one of the founders of Warwickshire County Cricket Club.

Under the 'Localisation of Forces' scheme introduced by the Cardwell reforms, the Volunteers in Warwickshire were grouped with the two Regular battalions of the 6th Foot (Royal Warwickshire Regiment) and the two Warwickshire Militia regiments into Sub-District No 28 (County of Warwick), forming Brigade No 28 (Warwickshire).

Following the Childers Reforms, the battalion was designated the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in 1883. Four new companies were added in 1891, the unit reorganising as a double battalion, the 1st Battalion having 'A' to 'H' Companies, the 2nd 'I' to 'Q' Companies. A cyclist section formed in 1894 had become a full company by 1900, together with 'U' Company formed of staff and students of Birmingham University. New cadet corps were formed at Solihull Grammar School and King Edward's School in 1904 and 1907 respectively.

The Stanhope Memorandum of 1888 proposed a Mobilisation Scheme for units of the Volunteer Force, which would assemble by brigades at key points in case of war. In peacetime the brigades provided a structure for collective training. The Volunteer Battalions of the Royal Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Worcestershire and Northamptonshire regiments were formed into a South Midland Volunteer Infantry Brigade, which in the event of war was to assemble at Warwick. Later a separate Worcester and Warwickshire Volunteer Infantry Brigade was formed.

Boer War
The Volunteer Battalions of the Royal Warwickshires provided volunteer service companies to serve alongside the Regulars during the Second Boer War, earning the battalion its first Battle Honour: South Africa 1900–02.

Territorial Force
When the Volunteers were subsumed into the Territorial Force (TF) in 1908 as part of the Haldane Reforms, the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Birmingham Rifles became the 5th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment and 6th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment respectively, while 'U' Company and the cadet corps became part of the Officer Training Corps. The battalion adopted the red uniform with blue facings of the Royal Warwickshire. Both the 5th and 6th Battalions were in the Warwickshire Brigade of the TF's South Midland Division.

Mobilisation
On the outbreak of war in August 1914 the units of the South Midland Division had just set out for annual training when orders recalled them to their home depots for mobilisation. The division then concentrated around Chelmsford where it formed part of Central Force. While the battalions trained for overseas service, so-called 2nd-Line battalions were authorised on 31 August to be formed at the home depots from men who either had not volunteered for overseas service of were unfit, together with the recruits flooding in. Thus the parent battalion at Chelmsford was designated the 1/5th Bn, that at Thorpe Street was the 2/5th Bn. Later a 3rd-Line or reserve battalion was also formed to train drafts for the other two.

1/5th Royal Warwicks
The South Midland Division was selected to proceed to France to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) early in 1915, and the 1/5th Warwicks disembarked at Le Havre at the beginning of April. On 12 May the division was designated the 48th (South Midland) Division and the brigade became the 143rd (Warwickshire) Brigade.

Western Front
The 1/5th Bn's first offensive operation was on 1 July 1916 at the Battle of the Somme. Together with 1/7th, the battalion held a two-mile stretch of trench adjoining the attack of 31st Division towards Serre. They were not to attack, but made simulated preparations for doing so. The enemy wire was cut, and they released smoke just before zero hour, but no assembly tranches had been dug nor was the British wire cut, and the German defenders were not fooled. 31st Division was dreadfully cut up, as was the rest of 143 Bde, which had attacked with 4th Division.

During the Battle of Bazentin Ridge the battalion captured Ovillers-la-Boisselle on the night of 15/16 July. The prospects for the attack were unpromising: the troops were exhausted before the attack and were suffering from the effects of lachrymatory gas shells; the men were too closely bunched and the waves too close together; and there was no artillery support. Nevertheless, in the dark a party of 1/5th Bn led by Charles Carrington hit on a weak spot in the German defences with no machine gun cover, and captured a trench well behind the German main position without losing a man. Carrington persuaded his superiors not to withdraw his men, and the following morning the cut-off main German position surrendered.

The 1/5th Bn was involved in the following further operations while serving on the Western Front:


 * Battle of the Somme:
 * Battle of Pozières Ridge, 23–27 July and 13–28 August 1916
 * Battle of the Ancre Heights, 3–11 November 1916
 * Battle of the Ancre, 13–18 November 1916


 * German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line, 14 March–5 April 1917:
 * Occupation of Peronne, 18 March 1916


 * Third Battle of Ypres:
 * Battle of Langemarck, 16–18 August 1917
 * Battle of Polygon Wood, 28 September–3 October 1917
 * Battle of Broodseinde, 4 October 1917
 * Battle of Poelcappelle, 9 October 1917

Italy
On 10 November 1917 the 48th Division received orders to move to Italy. By 1 December the units had finished detraining around Legnago on the Adige. On 1 March 1918 the division relieved 7th Division in the front line of the Montello sector on the Piave Front, and held the line until 16 March. On 1 April it moved westward into reserve for the middle sector of the Asiago Plateau Front. It remained in Italy for the remainder of the war, taking part in the following operations:


 * Battle of the Piave River:
 * Fighting on the Asiago Plateau, 15–16 June 1918


 * Battle of Vittorio Veneto:
 * Fighting in the Val d'Assa, 1–4 November 1918

On 3 November 1918, at Osteria del Termine, the division surrounded and captured a large force of Austrian troops including the corps commander and three divisional commanders. By 15.00 on 4 November, when the Armistice with Austria came into force, the dission had  pushed forward into the Trentino. After the conclusion of hostilities the division was withdrawn to Italy for the winter. Demobilisation began in 1919 and was complete by 31 March.

2/5th Royal Warwicks
The 2/5th Bn was formed in Birmingham in October 1914, but at first the men lived at home, and little or nothing was available in terms of uniforms, arms or equipment. It was not until the 2nd South Midland Division concentrated at Northampton in January 1915 that the men were issued with .256-in Japanese Ariska rifles with which to train. Here they formed part of First Army of Central Force, but when the 1st South Midland Division went to France, the 2nd took its place at Chelmsford and became part of Third Army of Central Force, with a definite role in Home Defence. The battalions formed their machine gun sections while at Chelmsford, but the strength of the battalions fluctuated widely as they were drawn upon for drafts for their 1st-Line battalions. In August 1915 the division was numbered as the 61st (2nd South Midland) Division and the brigade became the 182nd (2nd Warwickshire) Brigade.

In February and March 1916 the units of 61st Division moved to Salisbury Plain to begin final training for overseas service. Here they were issued with .303 SMLE rifles in place of the Japanese weapons, and Lewis guns in place of dummy guns and antique Maxim guns. Final leave was granted in April and May and the division entrained for France, concentrating at IX Corps' rest area by 28 May.

The 2/5th Bn's first action was the Battle of Fromelles on 19 July 1916, a diversionary attack in support of the Somme Offensive. The attack was badly handled and casualties were heavy. The 61st Division was so badly mauled that it was not used offensively again in 1916.

Thereafter, the battalion was involved in the following operations:


 * Operations on the Ancre, 11–15 January 1917


 * German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line, 14 March–5 April 1917


 * Battle of Langemarck, 16–18 August 1917


 * Battle of Cambrai:
 * German counter-attacks, 1–3 December 1917.

Due to the manpower shortage being suffered by the BEF, 2/5th Bn Royal Warwickshire Regiment was disbanded on 20 February 1918, some of the men being drafted into the 2/6th Bn, the rest into 24th Entrenching Bn.

3/5th Royal Warwicks
The 3/5th battalion formed in Birmingham in May 1915 and joined the South Midland Reserve Group. It became the 5th (Reserve) Bn Royal Warwicks on 8 April 1916, and absorbed the 6th Reserve Bn on 1 September that year, when the reserve group was entitled the South MIdland Reserve Brigade, TF. It remained in the UK in a training role for the whole war.

Interwar
The 5th Bn Royal Warwickshires reformed in the retitled Territorial Army in 1920. Once again, it formed part of 143rd (Warwickshire) Bde in 48th (South Midland) Division. At this period the battalion had the Five Ways Grammar School Cadet Corps and Birmingham Cadet Corps, Jewish Lads' Brigade attached to it.

In the 1930s the increasing need for anti-aircraft (AA) defence for Britain's cities was addressed by converting a number of Territorial infantry battalions into searchlight battalions of the Royal Engineers (RE). The 5th Royal Warwickshire was one unit selected for this role, becoming 45th (The Royal Warwickshire Regiment) AA Battalion, RE in 1936. Consisting of HQ and four AA companies (378–381) at Thorpe Street, Birmingham, the unit was subordinated to 32nd (South Midland) Anti-Aircraft Group (later Brigade) in 2nd AA Division.

In 1937 the 45th AA Bn formed an additional company at Birmingham, numbered 399. In November 1938 this company was transferred to the Royal Artillery (RA) to provide the cadre for a new 59th (Warwickshire) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery.

Home Defence
On the outbreak of war 45th AA Bn was assigned to a new 54th AA Brigade being formed at Sutton Coldfield near Birmingham, as part of 4th AA Division.

In August 1940, the remaining AA units of the RE were transferred to the RA, the unit being redesignated 45th (The Royal Warwickshire Regiment) Searchlight Regiment, RA, and the AA companies becoming S/L batteries.

In a reorganisation of AA Command in November 1940, 54 AA Bde assumed responsibility for searchlight provision for the Gun Defence Areas of the West Midlands under a new 11th AA Division.

122nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment
On 2 February 1942 the regiment was reorganised as 122nd (Royal Warwickshire) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, with the batteries renumbered as 400–403 LAA Batteries.

India
Early in 1943, the regiment was selected to go to India with 400, 401 and 402 Btys. It arrived on 10 June 1943, moving up to Ranchi to join 7th Indian Infantry Division. On 20 August it moved to Khumbargaon and joined 36th Indian Infantry Division. On 30 November it underwent a major change in organisation and role. Two of its LAA batteries, 400 and the newly formed 'X' Bty, joined 100 (Gordon Highlanders) Anti-Tank Regiment, RA, and in exchange received 168 and 321 A/T Btys (the latter being newly formed). The regiment was redesignated 122 LAA/AT Regiment.

The division was training for Operation Porpoise, a projected amphibious assault, but the opening of the Japanese offensive in the Arakan in February 1944 changed everything, and elements of the division were employed in mopping up after the attack had been stopped. 122 LAA/AT Rgt moved to Shillong with 36 Indian Division in May 1944 for training. Early in July 1944, infantry units of the division started to fly in to Myitkyina airfield in North Burma to reinforce the US-led Northern Combat Area Command, leaving the divisional artillery behind. They saw much bitter fighting in the following campaign, but without their own artillery. The division was recategorised as British on 1 September 1944, becoming 36th Infantry Division.

Burma
Meanwhile, 122 LAA/AT Rgt was redesignated 122 (Royal Warwickshire Regiment) A/T Rgt on 14 September, and lost its LAA guns, reorganising into three batteries, each composed of twelve 6-pounder A/T guns and twelve 3-inch mortars. It was commanded by Lt-Col C.D. Oliver. Once it rejoined, it served as the divisional anti-tank regiment in 36th Division until the end of the war. It saw active service during the Mandalay operations of 12 February–21 March, and on the Rangoon Road 1 April–6 May 1945.

It was not possible to maintain all the divisions in Burma, so in May 1945 the 36th was transferred back to India, where it went into training for Operation Zipper, the proposed amphibious invasion of Malaya. However, the Japanese surrendered before the plan could be put into operation. 36th Division's British units were demobilised in India in 1945–6.

Postwar
When the TA was reconstituted in 1947, the regiment reformed at Birmingham as 580 (5th Bn The Royal Warwickshire Regiment) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA, reverting to the LAA role in 1950. It formed part of 80 AA Bde (the former 54 AA Bde) at Sutton Coldfield.

When AA Command was disbanded in 1955, there was a reduction in the number of AA units in the TA. 580 LAA Rgt amalgamated with 469 (The Royal Warwickshire Regiment) HAA Rgt, 594 (Warwickshire) LAA Rgt and 672 (Worcestershire) HAA Rgt to form 442 LAA Regiment, Royal Artillery. (469 Rgt was the former 6th Bn Royal Warwicks, formed from the Birmingham Rifles in 1908, and 594 Rgt was the former 59th Searchlight Rgt formed in 1938 from a cadre provided by the 45th.) The new unit was organised as follows:
 * RHQ and 'P (5/6th Royal Warwicks)' Battery at Thorpe Street – from 469 and 580 Rgts
 * 'Q (Warwickshire)' Battery – from 594 Rgt
 * 'R (Worcestershire)' Battery – from 672 Rgt.

In 1961, 442 LAA Rgt was broken up: 'Q' Bty joined 268 (Warwickshire) Field Rgt, 'R' Bty joined 444 (Staffordshire) LAA Rgt. The remainder of the regiment (RHQ and 'P (5/6th Royal Warwicks)' Bty) were absorbed by 7th Bn Royal Warwicks. This battalion had previously absorbed the 8th Bn, so the lineages of all four TA battalions of the regiment were merged.

Insignia
From 1947 to 1955 the regiment wore an arm flash in the form of a horizontal scarlet strip.

Honorary Colonel
The following served as Honorary Colonel of the battalion:
 * Col C.J. Hart, CB, CBE, VD, TD (Lt-Col Commandant 7 July 1901) appointed 8 October 1909, joint Hon Col of 5th and 6th Bns
 * Col A. Parkes, TD, appointed 15 December 1921
 * Air Vice-Marshal W.C.C. Gell, DSO and bar, MC, TD, (1888–1969) former commanding officer, 1917 and 1924–29, appointed 16 February 1937; later Air Officer Commanding RAF Balloon Command

Prominent members

 * Charles Carrington (1897–1990),author of A Subaltern's War (1929) (as 'Charles Edmonds') and Soldier From The Wars Returning (1964); commissioned while under age, he served with the 1/5th Bn on the Western and Italian Fronts and won an MC.

Battle Honours
The 1st Volunteer Battalion carried the Battle Honour South Africa 1900–02 awarded for providing volunteers for the service companies in the Second Boer War. In World War I the battalion contributed to the Honours of the Royal Warwicks. The Royal Artillery does not carry Battle Honours, so none were awarded to the regiment for its service in World War II.

Online sources

 * British Army units from 1945 on
 * British Military History
 * Cricket Archive
 * Nat Gould, His life and Books
 * The Long, Long Trail
 * RAFweb
 * Orders of Battle at Patriot Files
 * The Regimental Warpath 1914–1918
 * Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth (Regiments.org)
 * The Royal Artillery 1939–45
 * Graham Watson, The Territorial Army 1947
 * Firstworldwar.com