Many Guernsey men had already volunteered for regiments in the British Army before the RGLI was formed. The RGLI was created because there was no Guernsey-named regiment to underline the island's devotion to the Crown.
The regiment was disbanded in 1919 but the regimental tradition lives on in the Guernsey Army Cadet Force (Det.) Light Infantry, who, although they do not wear the RGLI cap badge, still keep alive the history of the Regiment within the detachment.[2]
Training for planned Battle of Cambrai with Tanks.[5]: 15
20 November – 3 December
Battle of Cambrai, where the RGLI's role was to go through the Hindenburg Line after the first wave and take 'Nine Wood' to the north of Marcoing.[3] This went according to plan, with few casualties and they then moved into Marcoing and on to the front line at Masnières. The Guernseymen found themselves defending the small town of Les Rues Vertes against a huge and determined German counter-attacks on 30 November, pushed back they retook the village twice in heavy hand to hand fighting that lasted two days. They suffered heavy casualties, with nearly 40% of the regiment either killed, injured or missing during the battle, but only withdrew when ordered to by the high command.[3][5][6][7][8]
A number of the wounded found themselves returned to Guernsey, to be cared for at the Victoria Military Hospital in Amherst or the Convalescent Hospital at Les Touillets, Castel.
After this, rest, refitting, training and a search for replacements. The shortage of men available from Guernsey resulted in the RGLI entering 1918 with 50% of the men being non-Guernsey born.[5]: 20
1918edit
18–26 January
RGLI went back into the front line at Sint-Jan (north east of Ypres). After this, work parties, training.
8–29 March
In battle zone, taking turns in the front line at Poelcappelle.
3–7 April
In front line, Passchendaele sector. When out of the line, employed in trenching and draining.
Portrait of Haig at General Headquarters, France, by Sir William Orpen, May 1917
Pulled out of the front line, the 503 officers and men were hurried by lorry to Vieux-Berquin in the Lys area where a German offensive had broken through.
10–14 April
Battle of the Lys, east of Hazebrouck. German 6th Army under Von Quast smashes 5 miles through allied lines. The RGLI is bussed south to help stem the German advance. Hopelessly outnumbered, but holding the Germans in a fighting retreat from Le Doulieu to near Merris, the Battalion suffer an appalling 80% casualties rate.[3] The RGLI is relieved by the Australian 1st Division. Field Marshall Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig wrote in his despatches, which was published in the London Gazette on 21 October 1918: "After very heavy fighting, in the course of which the 1st Battalion Royal Guernsey Light Infantry, 29th Division, Major-General D.E. Cayley C.M.G. commanding the division, did gallant service....."[9]
The fighting strength was now less than 110 officers and men.[5]: 24
27 April
The RGLI, withdrawn from the 29th Division and 86th Brigade, become GHQ troops well to the rear in Ecuires where they became guard troops for General Haig's H.Q. at Montreuil, Pas-de-Calais for the rest of the war and beyond.[3] The Army headquarters was an enormous administrative body, divided into five departments staffed with a wide variety of personnel. Haig lived at a small Chateau 'Beaurepaire', 2 miles (3.2 km) SE of the town on the D138.
27 November
King George V, accompanied by Haig, made a triumphant passage through Montreuil on his way to Paris.[10]
1919edit
Colour Party of the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry at Montreuil, 1919
5 April
Haig leaves Montreuil and the headquarters ceases to operate as such.
21–22 May
Many of the remaining members of the RGLI sailed back to Guernsey on the "SS Lydia". They left behind 327 graves bearing their cap badge.[5]: 24
1249 Pte E Le Moigne, RGLI survived the war, and returned on the SS Lydia in May 1919. He had been awarded a 29th Divisional Parchment for Gallant Conduct and Devotion to Duty.
In February 1925, in accordance with General Order No 5034 The London Gazette published a complete list of Battle Honours awarded for the Great War.[30]
In General Orders, 1928, "Honours awarded to Militia Corps for services previous to the Great War shall pass to the reconstituted Militia Regiment and shall be emblazoned on all Regimental Standards, Guidons or Colours"[31]
Following the disbandment of the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry in 1919, the 1st Battalion Royal Guernsey Militia were granted the following Battle Honours:
Ypres 1917 (for militia men serving with Royal Irish regiments)
^L'Art de vérifier les dates des faits historiques, des chartes, des chroniques et autres anciens monumens depuis la naissance de Notre-Seigneur, par le moyen d'une table chronologique ... Alexandre Jombert Jeune. 1784. p. 830.
^"Guernsey's Army Cadet Force Has Been Re-Badged". Island FM. 4 June 2015.
^ abcde"The Royal Guernsey Light Infantry The 1914 – 18 war and the death of a regiment". museums.gov.gg.
^James, Brigadier E. A. (6 September 2012). British Regiments 1914-1918. Andrews UK Limited, 2012. ISBN9781781501535.
royal, guernsey, light, infantry, infantry, regiment, british, army, that, formed, from, royal, guernsey, militia, 1916, serve, world, they, fought, part, british, 29th, division, most, whom, came, from, guernsey, fought, western, front, with, rgli, were, kill. The Royal Guernsey Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army that was formed from the Royal Guernsey Militia in 1916 to serve in World War I They fought as part of the British 29th Division Of the 2 280 men most of whom came from Guernsey who fought on the Western Front with the RGLI 327 were killed and 667 were wounded Royal Guernsey Light InfantryBadge of the RGLIActive1916 1919Country United KingdomBranch British ArmyTypeInfantrySize1 300 soldiers 1918 Part of29th Division 1917 1918Garrison HQFort George GuernseyMotto s Diex Aix God Help Us EngagementsBattle of Passchendaele Battle of Cambrai 1917 Battle of the Lys 1918Battle honoursAwarded to the 1st Battalion Royal Guernsey Militia Passchendaele Cambrai 1917 Lys Estaires Hazebrouck France and Flanders 1917 18 Websitehttps www rgli org Many Guernsey men had already volunteered for regiments in the British Army before the RGLI was formed The RGLI was created because there was no Guernsey named regiment to underline the island s devotion to the Crown The regimental motto Diex Aix derives from the battle cry used by the Duke of Normandy 1 000 years earlier 1 The regiment was disbanded in 1919 but the regimental tradition lives on in the Guernsey Army Cadet Force Det Light Infantry who although they do not wear the RGLI cap badge still keep alive the history of the Regiment within the detachment 2 Contents 1 History 1 1 1916 1 2 1917 1 3 1918 1 4 1919 2 Honours and awards 2 1 Orders and medals 2 2 Battle Honours 3 Poetry 4 Commemoration 5 See also 6 References 7 External links 7 1 The Channel Islands and the Great War Study Group 7 2 Other LinksHistory edit nbsp British War Medal For those who rendered service between 5 August 1914 and 11 November 1918 1916 edit 17 December Royal Guernsey Light Infantry established Royal Guernsey Militia suspended for the duration of the war Most men from the Militia volunteered to join the RGLI others including a few civilians were conscripted 1917 edit Training in Guernsey at Fort George L Ancresse and Beaucamps 1 June To England Bourne Park Camp near Canterbury for advanced infantry training 3 Forming part of 202nd Brigade 67th Division 4 July 2nd Reserve Battalion formed to receive recruits and train them as replacements for casualties in the 1st Battalion RGLI September Soldiers sent on a final leave 26 September The RGLI 1st Service Battalion 44 Officers and 964 other ranks boarded trains to Southampton and onwards to France 2 Officers and 53 other ranks returned to Guernsey to join the 2nd Battalion too young too old or unfit for France 5 15 27 September Land at Le Havre and travel by Forty and eights train to Stoke Camp Proven 5 15 October RGLI take their place in 86th Brigade part of the 29th Division 9 14 October Battle of Poelcappelle Part of Third Battle of Ypres or Passchendaele After this rest and training for Cambrai October November Training for planned Battle of Cambrai with Tanks 5 15 20 November 3 December Battle of Cambrai where the RGLI s role was to go through the Hindenburg Line after the first wave and take Nine Wood to the north of Marcoing 3 This went according to plan with few casualties and they then moved into Marcoing and on to the front line at Masnieres The Guernseymen found themselves defending the small town of Les Rues Vertes against a huge and determined German counter attacks on 30 November pushed back they retook the village twice in heavy hand to hand fighting that lasted two days They suffered heavy casualties with nearly 40 of the regiment either killed injured or missing during the battle but only withdrew when ordered to by the high command 3 5 6 7 8 A number of the wounded found themselves returned to Guernsey to be cared for at the Victoria Military Hospital in Amherst or the Convalescent Hospital at Les Touillets Castel After this rest refitting training and a search for replacements The shortage of men available from Guernsey resulted in the RGLI entering 1918 with 50 of the men being non Guernsey born 5 20 1918 edit 18 26 January RGLI went back into the front line at Sint Jan north east of Ypres After this work parties training 8 29 March In battle zone taking turns in the front line at Poelcappelle 3 7 April In front line Passchendaele sector When out of the line employed in trenching and draining nbsp Portrait of Haig at General Headquarters France by Sir William Orpen May 1917 Pulled out of the front line the 503 officers and men were hurried by lorry to Vieux Berquin in the Lys area where a German offensive had broken through 10 14 April Battle of the Lys east of Hazebrouck German 6th Army under Von Quast smashes 5 miles through allied lines The RGLI is bussed south to help stem the German advance Hopelessly outnumbered but holding the Germans in a fighting retreat from Le Doulieu to near Merris the Battalion suffer an appalling 80 casualties rate 3 The RGLI is relieved by the Australian 1st Division Field Marshall Douglas Haig 1st Earl Haig wrote in his despatches which was published in the London Gazette on 21 October 1918 After very heavy fighting in the course of which the 1st Battalion Royal Guernsey Light Infantry 29th Division Major General D E Cayley C M G commanding the division did gallant service 9 The fighting strength was now less than 110 officers and men 5 24 27 April The RGLI withdrawn from the 29th Division and 86th Brigade become GHQ troops well to the rear in Ecuires where they became guard troops for General Haig s H Q at Montreuil Pas de Calais for the rest of the war and beyond 3 The Army headquarters was an enormous administrative body divided into five departments staffed with a wide variety of personnel Haig lived at a small Chateau Beaurepaire 2 miles 3 2 km SE of the town on the D138 27 November King George V accompanied by Haig made a triumphant passage through Montreuil on his way to Paris 10 1919 edit nbsp Colour Party of the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry at Montreuil 1919 5 April Haig leaves Montreuil and the headquarters ceases to operate as such 21 22 May Many of the remaining members of the RGLI sailed back to Guernsey on the SS Lydia They left behind 327 graves bearing their cap badge 5 24 Honours and awards editOrders and medals edit nbsp The Royal Guernsey Light Infantry Regimental Museum is located at Castle Cornet in Saint Peter Port Guernsey nbsp Order of St Michael and St George Companion 3rd Class T L de Havilland Lieutenant Colonel 11 nbsp Royal Victorian Order 5th Class N R Ingrouille Lieutenant 12 nbsp Military Cross T Hutchesson Captain T Major 13 F de M Laine Lieutenant 14 H A Le Bas Lieutenant T Captain 15 E J Stone 2nd Lieutenant 16 H E K Stranger 2nd Lieutenant 16 nbsp Victory Medal First World War 1914 20 nbsp Distinguished Conduct Medal W H Budden 569 Acting Sergeant 17 H L James 586 Sergeant 18 W J Le Poidevin 590 Sergeant 19 nbsp Military Medal 1249 Pte E Le Moigne RGLI survived the war and returned on the SS Lydia in May 1919 He had been awarded a 29th Divisional Parchment for Gallant Conduct and Devotion to Duty T R Robin 841 Private 20 C H Yeaghers 610 Private 21 J Sealley 843 Corporal 22 W Gannicott 335 Corporal 23 W T Gregg 87 Private 24 G Ruaux 458 Private 25 nbsp Medaille militaire France J Sealley 843 Corporal 26 nbsp Mentioned in Despatches Despatch from Sir Douglas Haig to the Secretary of State for War T L de Havilland Lieutenant Colonel 27 E A Dorey Lieutenant 28 C W Hockey 438 Lance Corporal 29 H Jones Lieutenant 28 C C Machon 226 Lance Corporal 28 W T Robinson 1131 Lance Corporal 28 Battle Honours edit In February 1925 in accordance with General Order No 5034 The London Gazette published a complete list of Battle Honours awarded for the Great War 30 In General Orders 1928 Honours awarded to Militia Corps for services previous to the Great War shall pass to the reconstituted Militia Regiment and shall be emblazoned on all Regimental Standards Guidons or Colours 31 Following the disbandment of the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry in 1919 the 1st Battalion Royal Guernsey Militia were granted the following Battle Honours Ypres 1917 for militia men serving with Royal Irish regiments Passchendaele Cambrai 1917 Lys Estaires Hazebrouck France and Flanders 1917 1918 32 The Colours of the RGLI are hung in the Town Church GuernseyPoetry editSee ye Masnieres canal a flood And where yon green graves lay There Norman warriors fled to their God Ne er more to glimpse the day But writ there first a name in blood Norman Ten Hundred At Doulieu the night birds flit Across yon blue grey water And at dusk ghost warriors sit Wraiths of a fearsome slaughter There too in blood the name is writ Norman Ten Hundred And thus there the battle s flame Laid men out fast and low So young Sarnia 33 died but Fame Cast o er their graves its glow And honours wove about the name Norman Ten Hundred From Blicq A Stanley Norman Ten Hundred Guernsey Press 1920 Commemoration editThe Royal Guernsey Light Infantry Charitable Trust was formed in 2016 to commemorate the regiment 34 Its joint patrons are Lt Governor Vice Admiral Sir Ian Corder and the Bailiff of Guernsey Richard McMahon citation needed Memorials were placed at Les Rues Vertes France and St Peter Port Guernsey on the centenary of key RGLI events in 2017 amp 2018 35 needs update St Peter Port twinned with the town of Masnieres in 2019 See also editRoyal Guernsey Militia Royal Militia of the Island of JerseyReferences edit L Art de verifier les dates des faits historiques des chartes des chroniques et autres anciens monumens depuis la naissance de Notre Seigneur par le moyen d une table chronologique Alexandre Jombert Jeune 1784 p 830 Guernsey s Army Cadet Force Has Been Re Badged Island FM 4 June 2015 a b c d e The Royal Guernsey Light Infantry The 1914 18 war and the death of a regiment museums gov gg James Brigadier E A 6 September 2012 British Regiments 1914 1918 Andrews UK Limited 2012 ISBN 9781781501535 a b c d e f g Parks Edwin 1992 Diex Aix God Help Us ISBN 978 1871560855 Masnieres and Marcoing Gliddon Gerald VCs of the First World War Cambrai 1917 ISBN 9780752483771 Horsfall Jack January 1999 Cambrai The Right Hook ISBN 9780850526325 The Thrust towards Hazebrouck MONTREUIL SUR MER BRITISH GHQ ON THE WESTERN FRONT remembrancetrails Appointments to CGM The Edinburgh Gazette No 13453 5 June 1919 p 1827 Appointments to RVO The Edinburgh Gazette No 13313 30 August 1918 p 3002 Award of MC Supplement to the London Gazette No 30450 1 January 1918 p 39 Award of MC Supplement to the London Gazette No 31092 1 January 1919 p 27 Award of MC Supplement to the London Gazette No 30801 18 July 1918 p 8465 a b Award of MC Supplement to the London Gazette No 30780 5 July 1918 p 7925 Award of DCM Supplement to the London Gazette No 30664 1 May 1918 p 5293 Award of DCM The Edinburgh Gazette No 13340 23 October 1918 p 4020 Award of DCM Supplement to the London Gazette No 30664 1 May 1918 p 5302 Award of MM Supplement to the London Gazette No 30606 2 April 1918 p 5302 Award of MM Supplement to the London Gazette No 30606 2 April 1918 p 4022 Award of MM Supplement to the London Gazette No 30606 2 April 1918 p 4021 Award of MM Supplement to the London Gazette No 30873 29 August 1918 p 10121 Award of MM Supplement to the London Gazette No 30873 29 August 1918 p 10122 Award of MM Supplement to the London Gazette No 31227 13 March 1919 p 3443 Award of Medaille militaire Supplement to the Edinburgh Gazette No 13306 19 August 1918 p 2904 Mentioned Supplement to the London Gazette No 31439 4 July 1919 p 8589 a b c d Mentioned Supplement to the London Gazette No 30704 25 May 1918 p 6178 Mentioned Supplement to the London Gazette No 31088 30 December 1918 p 15216 HMSO 13 February 2012 Battle Honours Awarded for the Great War Andrews UK Limited 2012 ISBN 9781781501870 CONDITIONS OF AWARD OF BATTLE HONOURS FOR THE GREAT WAR 1914 1919 Battle Honours Awarded for the Great War HMSO 13 February 2012 ISBN 9781781501870 Roman name for Guernsey Guernsey Light Infantry www governmenthouse gg Guernsey Government House 17 January 2017 Special film is made for RGLI guernseypress com Guernsey Press 5 March 2017 Blicq A Stanley Norman Ten Hundred Guernsey Press 1920 Parks Major Edwin Diex Aix God Help Us The Guernseymen who marched away 1914 1918 States of Guernsey 1992External links editThe Channel Islands and the Great War Study Group edit RGLI page includes Nominal Roll Casualty Lists War Diary Transcript of RGLI War Diary Web Site Other Links edit Guernsey Museum article on the RGLI R G L I regimental badge RGLI page at Long Long Trail site Army cadet forces in Channel Islands Royal Guernsey Light Infantry Regimental Museum R G L I Nominal roll of service The Royal Guernsey Light Infantry Charitable Trust Portal nbsp United Kingdom Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Royal Guernsey Light Infantry amp oldid 1206940942, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
