11th Royal Fusiliers

[Alan Riches]

Hello everyone,

I'd appreciate some help from anyone out there who's an expert in the 11th Royal Fusiliers.

I'm researching 7515 Private Frederick Bewley who was killed in action on 1 July 1916 while serving with the 11th Royal Fusiliers. According to SDGW, Frederick had previous service with the Middlesex Regiment (service number 3852). I'm trying to find out which battalion of the Middlesex Regiment he served with, when he enlisted and when/why he transferred to the 11th Royal Fusiliers.

According to the Royal Fusiliers in the Great War by H C O'Neil (William Heinemann 1922):

"The 11th Battalion is an example of the meaning of personality. Recruited at Mill Hill as a battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, they were received at Colchester by Colonel the Hon. R. White (of the 10th) who asked them if they would care to be a sister battalion to his own. This was agreed to unanimously."

Can anyone shed any more light on this? I can't find any other reference to a battalion of the Middlesex Regiment which moved to Colchester in 1914 and changed into the 11th Royal Fusiliers. I know that the 12th Middlesex moved to Colchester and came under command of 54th Brigade, 18th (Eastern) Division (the same brigade/division as the 11th Royal Fusiliers), but they retained their identity.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Alan

[Stebie9173]

I am pretty sure that this exact same query has come up before on the Forum. The logical answer is that they were 12th Battalion, but the 12th Middlesex was the junior battalion of 54th Brigade so formed after the 11th Royal Fusiliers. I seem to remember that the theory was that it was a group of Middlesex Regiment men who were never formally allocated to a Battalion (and would thus be technically posted as "Depot").

Edit: here we are:

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=206302&hl=

Steve.

[Alan Riches]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, the topic seems to have been covered from every angle last year - I should have looked harder!

Best wishes,

Alan