The Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion was a

bicycle infantry Bicycle infantry are infantry soldiers who maneuver on (or, more often, between) battlefields using military bicycles. The term dates from the late 19th century, when the "safety bicycle" became popular in Europe, the United States, and Austral ...

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

. Formed in the Territorial Force in February 1914, it remained in the United Kingdom throughout the First World War. After the war, in 1920, it was converted to infantry and became the 5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, in the Territorial Army. The battalion saw extensive service in the Second World War, fighting in France in 1940, Tunisia from 1942–43 and later Sicily and Italy from 1943–45 before ending the war in May 1945 in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...

. It continued to serve after the Second World War until May 1961 when it was amalgamated with the 4th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, to form the 4th/5th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment.

History

Antecedents

From being close allies in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

(October 1853 – February 1856), Anglo-French relations had deteriorated to such an extent that by 1859 an invasion of Britain seemed a real possibility. An attempt to assassinate the French Emperor, Napoleon III, by Italian nationaliststhe

Orsini affair The Orsini affair comprised the diplomatic, political and legal consequences of the "Orsini attempt" (french: attentat d'Orsini): the attempt made on 14 January 1858 by Felice Orsini, with other Italian nationalists and backed by English radical ...

had been linked to Britain as the bombs used in the attempt had been made and tested in England, coupled with the British Government's refusal to restrict the

right of asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another ent ...

. With the regular

stretched in the aftermath of the

Indian Mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the for ...

(May 1857 – June 1858), a popular movement saw the creation of the Volunteer Force. The first volunteer unit in

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popu ...

was raised in

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cr ...

in 1860 as the 1st Huntingdonshire Rifle Volunteer Corps. By June 1880, it had been reduced to ''J

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared ...

, 1st Cambridgeshire Rifle Volunteer Corps'', at

St Neots St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...

. J Company was disbanded in 1889. On 4 December 1900, the 4th Volunteer Battalion,

Bedfordshire Regiment The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment was the final title of a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was originally formed in 1688. After centuries of service in many conflicts and wars, including both the First and Second World Wa ...

, was raised with

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

at Huntingdon and eight companies at Huntingdon, St Ives, Fletton, and St Neots. In April 1901, it was redesignated as the 4th (Huntingdonshire) Volunteer Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment. It was later reduced to six companies. The Volunteer Force was reorganised and combined with the

Yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army Reserve, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of different military roles. History Origins In the 1790s, f ...

to form the Territorial Force on 1 April 1908. As a result, the battalion was amalgamated with 3rd Volunteer Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, to form 5th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment. The new unit included just two companies from Huntingdonshire''G Company'' at Fletton (with a detachment at Yaxley) and ''H Company'' at Huntingdon (with detachments at St Ives and Ramsey).

Formation

Cycle Company at Bury St Edmunds Suffolk

With the formation of the Territorial Force, Huntingdonshire was one of the few counties that did not have its own battalion. After protracted negotiations with the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

, agreement was reached in March 1913 that the Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion could be formed. The battalion was raised on 27 February 1914; as such, it was the last battalion of the Territorial Force to be raised before the outbreak of the First World War. Once established, men of the two Huntingdonshire companies of the 5th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, were allowed to transfer and almost all did so. Its headquarters were at St Mary's Street drill hall, Huntingdon, and it had the following companies: * A CompanyHuntingdon and Godmanchester * B CompanyHuntingdon and Godmanchester * C CompanySt Ives and Somersham * D CompanySt Neots and Kimbolton * E CompanyRamsey and

Warboys Warboys is a large village and civil parish in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England, north-east of Huntingdon. Geology Igneous diorite rocks are located around 171–217 meters below ground at Warboys. Discovered in the ...

* F CompanyFletton with detachments at

Stanground Stanground is a residential area in the city of Peterborough, in the Peterborough district, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. For electoral purposes it comprises Stanground South and Fletton & Stanground wards in North West C ...

and

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire unti ...

* G CompanyFletton with detachments at Stanground and Peterborough * H CompanyYaxley and Farcet The battalion was in Eastern Command, unattached to any higher formation. It was to be used as mobile infantry, and for work on signals, scouting and similar activities.

First World War

In accordance with the

Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 The Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (''7 Edw. 7, c.9'') was an Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the auxiliary forces of the British Army by transferring existing Volunteer ...

(''

7 Edw. 7 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

, c.9'') which brought the Territorial Force into being, the TF was intended to be a home defence force for service during wartime and members could not be compelled to serve outside the country. However, on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, many members volunteered for Imperial Service. Therefore, TF units were split in August and September 1914 into 1st Line (liable for overseas service) and 2nd Line (home service for those unable or unwilling to serve overseas) units. Later, 3rd Line units were formed to act as reserves, providing trained replacements for the 1st and 2nd Lines.

1/1st Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion

The battalion was mobilised on 4 August 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War and moved to its war station at

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of L ...

. It remained in England throughout the war. In 1916 it was at Scarborough and in June 1918 it was at

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Cl ...

where it remained until the end of the war. The battalion was disembodied on 14 April 1919. In late July 1916, the battalion provided a draft of over six hundred men for the 1/8th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...

2/1st Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion

The 2nd Line battalion was formed in October 1914. It spent most of the war in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

on coastal defence duties. In 1916 it was at Sutton-le-Marsh near Mablethorpe, in March 1917 at Alford and in July at Chapel St Leonards. In May 1918 it was at

Skegness Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 19,579 as of 2011, ...

where it remained until the end of the war. The battalion was disbanded on 12 December 1919.

3/1st Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion

The 3rd Line battalion was formed in 1915 to provide trained replacements for the 1st and 2nd Line battalions. It was disbanded in March 1916 and the men were posted to 1/1st and 2/1st Battalions and to the

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a Regiment, corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in the World War I, First World War. Th ...

Between the wars

The Territorial Force was disbanded after the First World War, although this was a formality and it was reformed in 1920. On 1 October 1921 it was renamed as the Territorial Army. One major change with the new Territorial Army had an effect on the number of infantry battalions. The original 14 divisions were reformed with the pre-war standard of three brigades of four battalions each, for a total of 168 battalions. Infantry were no longer to be included as Army Troops or part of the Coastal Defence Forces so the pre-war total of 208 battalions had to be reduced by 40. This was achieved by either converting certain battalions to other roles, usually artillery or engineers, or by amalgamating pairs of battalions within a regiment. In particular, based on war time experience, the Army decided to dispense with cyclists units and the existing battalions were either disbanded or converted to artillery or signals units. However, the Huntingdonshire Battalion was converted to infantry and on 7 February 1920 was reconstituted as 5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, with headquarters at Peterborough. It joined the 4th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, in the 162nd (East Midland) Infantry Brigade, which also included the 5th Battalion, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment, and the 1st Battalion,

Hertfordshire Regiment The Hertfordshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the Territorial Army, part of the British Army. Originating in units of Rifle Volunteers formed in 1859, the regiment served in the Second Anglo-Boer War and the First and Second Worl ...

. The 162nd Brigade was part of the

54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division The 54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division was raised in 1908 following the creation of the Territorial Force (TF) as the East Anglian Division. During the First World War the division fo ...

. The increasing need to defend against attack from the air led to a number of Territorial Army units being converted to the

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based ...

role in the 1930s and a major reorganisation in 1938 saw the TA divisions reduced from twelve to nine battalions. The combination of these factors led to the battalion being transferred, in 1938, to the 143rd (Warwickshire) Infantry Brigade,

48th (South Midland) Infantry Division The 48th (South Midland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army. Part of the Territorial Force (TF) and raised in 1908, the division was originally called the South Midland Division, and was redesignated as the 48th (South Midlan ...

, after the second of four battalions of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment had been converted to the anti-aircraft role. By 1939 it became clear that a new European war was likely to break out and, as a direct result of the

German invasion of Czechoslovakia German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law ** ...

on 15 March, the doubling of the Territorial Army was authorised, with each unit and formation forming a duplicate. Consequently, the 5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion formed the 4th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment.

Second World War

5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment

The 5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion mobilised on 1 September 1939 with the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division along with the rest of the Territorial Army when the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

invaded Poland. Two days later, Britain and France declared war and the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

had begun. With the division, it joined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France on 5 January 1940being the first Territorial Army division to do soand joined

I Corps I Corps, 1st Corps, or First Corps may refer to: France * 1st Army Corps (France) * I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * I Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Ar ...

. As part of the BEF's official policy to integrate

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following: * a standin ...

units into Territorial Army formations, on 29 January it transferred to 11th Infantry Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division, swapping places with the 1st Battalion,

Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was a light infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1958, serving in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. The regiment was formed as a consequence ...

. The battalion remained with 11th Infantry Brigade for the rest of the war, serving alongside the 2nd Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, and the 1st Battalion,

East Surrey Regiment The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ...

, both Regular formations. When the Germans invaded France and the Low Countries on 10 May 1940, the BEF moved forward to occupy pre-planned positions in Belgium (the Dyle Plan). The brigade took part in the Battle of the Ypres-Comines Canal (2628 May) but the rapid German breakthrough into France forced the BEF into a withdrawal to Dunkirk. It was evacuated to England on 1 June 1940. It spent the next two years in the United Kingdom on anti-invasion duties preparing for a possible German invasion of the United Kingdom. The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939-45 H7979

The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939-45 H7979

In June 1942, 4th Infantry Division was reorganised as a Mixed Division when 21st Tank Brigade was assigned. On 5 June 1942, 11th Infantry Brigade left the division and came under command of First Army, before joining the 78th "Battleaxe" Infantry Division on 22 June. The 11th Brigade remained with the Battleaxe Division for the rest of the war. The battalion left the United Kingdom on 16 October 1942 and deployed to

French North Africa French North Africa (french: Afrique du Nord française, sometimes abbreviated to ANF) is the term often applied to the territories controlled by France in the North African Maghreb during the colonial era, namely Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. I ...

where it took part in

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – 16 November 1942) was an Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while al ...

, landing in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

on 9 November 1942. It took part in actions at the Tebourba Gap (110 December 1942),

Oued Zarga Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water on ...

(715 April 1943), the Medjez Plain (2330 April), and the final battle for Tunis (512 May). It next saw action as part of the Eighth Army in the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It b ...

, landing on 25 July 1943. It took part in the Battle for Adrano (29 July3 August 1943). It left Sicily on 22 September for the Italian mainland and, other than a short period of rest in Egypt, served for the rest of the war on the Italian Front. The battalion landed at Taranto and, with the division, advanced up the

Adriatic coast The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the ...

under the command of

V Corps 5th Corps, Fifth Corps, or V Corps may refer to: France * 5th Army Corps (France) * V Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * V Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army ...

. It took part in the crossing of The Sangro (19 November3 December 1943) under the command of

. The division transferred to XIII Corps and took part in the First Battle of Monte Cassino (20 January20 March 1944), the Second Battle of Monte Cassino (1118 May 1944), the advance up the

Liri Valley {{refimprove, date=December 2020 The Valle del Liri (''Liri valley'') is a valley and a geographical region of southern Lazio and part of the larger Latin Valley, located in the province of Frosinone, crossed by the Liri river (as well as the Va ...

(1830 May) and the Battle for the Trasimene Line (2030 June). The British Army in Italy 1944 NA15513

The battalion was transferred to Egypt on 17 July for rest and refitting, arriving back in Italy on 16 September. Again in V Corps, it took part in the final offensive in Italy (codenamed Operation Grapeshot) with the crossing of The Senio (912 April 1945) followed immediately by the Battle of the Argenta Gap (1321 April). The battalion entered Austria on 8 May 1945, following the surrender of German forces in Italy. It remained in Austria on occupation duties until it was placed in suspended animation on 15 September 1946.

4th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment

The original 4th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment had originated as the

1st Northamptonshire Rifle Volunteer Corps The 1st Northamptonshire Rifle Volunteers were a unit of the British Army raised from 1859 onwards as a group of originally separate Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs). They later became the 4th Volunteer Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment and ...

in 1860, had served in the

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles s ...

and Sinai and Palestine Campaigns in the First World War and had been converted to a

searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely luminosity, bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a part ...

unit of the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is head ...

in 1937 as the 50th (The Northamptonshire Regiment) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers. Formed on 1 June 1939 at

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River Nen ...

, the new 4th Battalion was assigned on 6 November 1939 to the 183rd Infantry Brigade, serving alongside the 7th Battalion,

Gloucestershire Regiment The Gloucestershire Regiment, commonly referred to as the Glosters, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 until 1994. It traced its origins to Colonel Gibson's Regiment of Foot, which was raised in 1694 and later became the ...

and the 10th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment. The 183rd Brigade was part of the 61st Infantry Division (duplicate formation of the

48th (South Midland) Division The 48th (South Midland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army. Part of the Territorial Force (TF) and raised in 1908, the division was originally called the South Midland Division, and was redesignated as the 48th (South Midland ...

). It remained with the brigade in the United Kingdom for most of the war, including a considerable stint in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

from June 1940 to February 1943. On 28 August 1944, it transferred to 115th Infantry Brigade and remained with the brigade for the rest of the war. This formation was the core of ''Force 135'' which was planning the liberation of the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

. In the event, the plan did not go ahead and the brigade left Force 135 on 30 January 1945. On 12 February, the battalion moved with the brigade to

North West Europe Northwestern Europe, or Northwest Europe, is a loosely defined subregion of Europe, overlapping Northern and Western Europe. The region can be defined both geographically and ethnographically. Geographic definitions Geographically, North ...

where it remained until the end of the war serving variously under the direct command of VIII, XII and

. The 4th Battalion was placed in suspended animation in Germany on 4 February 1946. On 1 January 1947 it was amalgamated with the 5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion.

Post war

The Territorial Army was disbanded at the end of the Second World War but, again, this was a formality. TA units were reactivated on 1 January 1947, though no personnel were assigned until commanding officers and permanent staff had been appointed in March and April 1947. The battalion was formally reconstituted on 1 January 1947 at Peterborough, absorbing its wartime duplicate 4th Battalion at the same time. The battalion was assigned to the 162nd Independent Infantry Brigade along with the 5th Battalion, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment and the 1st Battalion,

. On 1 May 1961, the battalion amalgamated with R (The Northamptonshire Regiment) Battery, 438th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (the original 4th Battalion) to form 4th/5th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

External links

* * * * * {{cite web , url=http://www.huntscycles.co.uk/ , title=The Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalions , first=Martyn , last=Smith , date=31 May 2015 , access-date=14 August 2015 Military units and formations established in 1920 Military units and formations disestablished in 1961 Military units and formations in Huntingdonshire Military units and formations in Northamptonshire