The 6th Battalion, Essex Regiment was a volunteer unit of Britain's Territorial Army. First formed in the docks of East London in 1860, it served as infantry at Gallipoli and in Palestine during the First World War. It later formed searchlight units of the Royal Artillery (RA), serving during the Blitz.
Origin An invasion scare in 1859 led to the creation of the Volunteer Force and huge enthusiasm for joining local Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs).Beckett. The 5th (Plaistow and Victoria Docks) Essex Rifle Volunteer Corps was one such unit, formed on 30 January 1860 at Plaistow, mainly from employees of the Victoria Dock (later Royal Victoria Dock), which had opened in 1855 on Plaistow Marshes. The first commanding officer was the dock manager Charles Capper.Westlake, Rifle Volunteers, p. 84.Beckett, p. 67 (where Capper is called 'Cooper') and Appendix VII.Charles Capper wrote The Port and Trade of London, historical, statistical, local and general, London: Smith, Elder, 1862.Army Lists.
The four-company unit was included with the nearby 9th (Silvertown) Essex RVC in the 2nd Administrative Battalion of Essex RVCs (under Capper's command) until 1866 when the two units were large enough to become independent. The 5th was renumbered as the 3rd Essex RVC in 1880, and became a volunteer battalion of the Essex Regiment on 1 July 1881 under the Childers Reforms. It was designated the 3rd Volunteer Battalion in February 1883. In 1885, the Battalion headquarters moved to The Cedars, a large house on the Portway in West Ham that had previously been home to the Prison Reformer Elizabeth Fry. By 1900, the battalion had increased to a strength of 13 companies, with a cadet corps affiliated from 1907. The uniform was Rifle green with facings of the same colour, changing to the scarlet with white facings of the Essex Regiment in 1895.Frederick, pp. 233–4.
Under the Stanhope Memorandum of 1888, the four Volunteer Battalions of the Essex Regiment were constituted as the Essex Brigade, with its headquarters at Warley Barracks, later at Epping Place, Epping. In time of war, it was intended that the brigade would mobilise at an entrenched camp at Warley. In peacetime, the brigade provided a structure for collective training.Beckett, pp. 135, 185–6.Quarterly Army List
A detachment from the Essex Brigade volunteered for service with the City Imperial Volunteers in the 2nd Boer War. In addition, the four Essex Volunteer Battalions together provided a 112-strong Special Service Company to serve alongside the Regulars of the 1st Battalion Essex Regiment in the first part of the war, replaced by a second company of 101 men in 1901–02. These volunteers gained the Battle Honour South Africa 1900–02 for the battalion.Burrows, pp. 12–14, 23.Leslie
Territorial Force On the formation of the Territorial Force (TF) in 1908 as part of the Haldane Reforms, the 3rd Volunteer Battalion became the 6th Battalion, Essex Regiment.London Gazette 20 March 1908Burrows, p. 21 The Battalion comprised a Headquarters and seven Rifle Companies, "A" to "G" based at the Cedars. The final Company, "H," was raised at Southend-on-Sea and had its HQ in the Artillery Drill Hall on York Road, plus outlying Detachments in Leigh-on-Sea and at Clacton-on-Sea, the latter being absorbed into 5th Battalion The Essex Regiment in 1911. At the same time, the remainder of the Company moved to the Drill Hall at 110 East Street, Prittlewell. Around this time, the Battalion was allotted the task of raising the Signal Section of the Essex Infantry Brigade, which was formed in Grays at the Artillery Drill Hall in Brooke Road. The Essex Brigade now formed part of the TF's East Anglian Division, which trained together for the first time in 1911 at a camp near Thetford.James, pp. 85–6.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 125–31.Burrows, p. 26.
First World War Mobilisation The East Anglian Division was a week into its fortnight's annual training at Clacton when the order to mobilise arrived on 4 August 1914. The 6th Essex returned to West Ham to mobilise and quickly proceeded to its designated war station defending Shoeburyness on the East Anglian coast. The division then concentrated around Brentwood. The battalion went to Norwich in late August and by April 1915 was at ColchesterBurrows, pp. 30–4.
In August 1914, the Essex Brigade formed a Service Battalion of volunteers from all four battalions. This was put at 24 hours' notice for service in France, but was stood down in November and the men returned to their battalions.Burrows, pp. 34–5. Meanwhile, all TF units were forming '2nd Line' units composed of recruits and those men who had not volunteered for Overseas Service. The Essex recruits were only asked to volunteer for overseas service after they were attested, and many opted for Home Service only. Thus the 2/6th Bn (as this reserve unit became known) was fully up to strength whereas the parent battalion (designated 1/6th) remained below establishment.Burrows, p. 33.
The East Anglian Division was designated the 54th (East Anglian) Division in May 1915, and its brigades were numbered, the Essex Brigade becoming 161st (Essex) Brigade. The 2nd Line units were assigned to duplicate formations, the 2/6th Essex joining 206th (2nd Essex) Brigade in 69th (2nd East Anglian) Division.Becke, Pt 2b, pp. 91–8. During the war, 161 Brigade adopted shoulder flashes coloured red and black, divided vertically, with the red worn to the front on each arm. Each battalion adopted a distinctive shape for this patch, the 1/6th Bn wearing a horizontal rectangle.Burrows, illustration.
1/6th Battalion In January 1915, the Battalion, in keeping with other Territorial Infantry Battalions, was reorganised onto a four Company system, bringing it into line with the Regular Army, by amalgamating pairs of Companies, therefore "A" and "E" merged to become "A" Coy, "B" and "F" became "B" Coy, "C" and "G" became "C" Coy and "D" and "H" as "D" Coy. The Brigade Signal Section was merged into the East Anglian Divisional Signal Company.
The 54th Division was part of Central Force, the mobile force organised for Home Defence, and was employed on coast defence until May 1915, when the division concentrated around St Albans to prepare for overseas service. On 8 July, it heard that it was to be employed at Gallipoli.Burrows, pp. 34, 41. 161st Brigade sailed from Devonport, with 1/6th Bn embarked in HMT Southland departing on 24 July. The battalion landed on 'A' Beach at Suvla Bay after midnight on 11/12 August.Burrows, p. 41.Westlake, Gallipoli, pp. 165–7.
Gallipoli The Gallipoli Campaign had been in progress for several months and had reached stalemate. A fresh Landing at Suvla Bay on 6 August 1915 was intended to turn the flank of the Turkish positions on the Gallipoli Peninsula and drive inland. The operation was bungled, and 54th Division, as the last remaining reserve, was landed to drive through, but was used merely to shore up the position.North, pp. 145–73.Mortlock, pp. 85–96. The Essex battalions arrived still understrength, and armed with obsolete long Lee–Enfield rifles – many soldiers exchanged these for modern SMLE weapons picked up from casualties.Burrows, p. 35.
1/6th Essex went straight into the reserve line when 161 Bde relieved 163rd (Norfolk & Suffolk) Brigade for an attack. The battalion advanced on Kiretch Tepe, with C Company in the lead, but was forced to retire due to heavy shrapnel and sniper fire. The battalion had suffered its first battle casualties: 2 other ranks killed, 3 officers and 54 other ranks wounded. On the afternoon of 14 August, the brigade advanced again over open ground to relieve 163rd Brigade after their disastrous attack, the 1/6th Essex relieving the 1/8th Hampshire Regiment in the firing line.The Vanished Battalion. The Essex Brigade's historian records that 'Though they were met with a fusillade as they advanced steadily over the plain there was no hesitation'. They reached the line and spent all night consolidating the position.Burrows, p. 48.North, pp. 175–6.
The following day (15 August) the 1/6th moved to the support line behind 'Jephson's Post' and the following day moved up to take over the position, losing 7 other ranks killed, 2 officers and 19 other ranks wounded, and 2 missing, during this move. Intermittent shellfire on these positions caused further casualties before the battalion was relieved on 23 August. The brigade then moved to the Lala Baba sector, and on 31 August relieved 13th Australian Bn in the forward trenches in the Hill 60 sector, described by one of the officers as 'notoriously one of the most unpleasant spots on the peninsula'. The 1/6th Bn alternated with the Australians until they were relieved on 4 October. During this period of trench warfare, the battalion lost 5 killed and 12 wounded, but had 140 sick evacuated to hospital.Burrows, pp. 49–75.
During October and November, while serving turns in frontline trenches with names like 'West Ham Gully' and 'Upton Park' (the home ground of West Ham United F.C.), the battalion lost another 5 killed, 26 wounded, 2 missing and 386 sick, offset by drafts of just 19 officers and 95 other ranks. By the end of November the Essex Brigade was reduced to a shadow. On the night of 26/27 November, the Essex were relieved by the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, the relief being delayed by a severe rainstorm that flooded the trenches. After a few days in the rest area, 54th Division marched down to the beach and embarked for Mudros. It did not return to the peninsula, which was later evacuated, and instead the division sailed to Alexandria, arriving on 17 December.Burrows, pp. 75, 99.
Egypt As soon as it arrived in Egypt, the battalion became involved in the Senussi Campaign when 161 Bde marched out on 28 December to replace the New Zealand Rifle Brigade guarding the coast railway from Alexandria to Da'aba. The Essex battalions were relieved from this duty on 4 March 1916 by the 2nd County of London Yeomanry and moved into the No 1 (Southern) Section of the Suez Canal Defences.Burrows, pp. 101–3, 109–10.
Sinai and Palestine During 1916, the units of 54th Division were steadily brought up to strength by the arrival of drafts, and in mid-January 1917 the division assembled for the opening of the Palestine Campaign. It took the whole of February for 161 Bde to cross the Sinai Desert in stages. It was then involved in all three Battles of Gaza, in March, April and November 1917.Burrows, pp. 112, 127–8, 133, 138.
At the First Battle of Gaza (26 March 1917), the main attack was made by 53rd (Welsh) Division with 161 Bde in support. Towards the end of the day the brigade was ordered to take Green Hill: despite heavy fighting the attack was a complete success and the brigade held the whole position by nightfall. However, confusion set in, and 53rd Division withdrew during the night. The men of 161 Bde were enraged by the order to withdraw. Over 100 men from the 1/6th and 1/7th Bns were posted missing after the fighting withdrawal.Burrows, pp. 143–77.
For the Second Battle of Gaza (17–19 April 1917), 161 Bde was in divisional reserve and only suffered a few casualties from shellfire while the rest of 54th Division was badly cut up in the failed main assault.Burrows, pp. 189–92.
During the summer months 161 Bde held the line without suffering serious casualties, and by the end of October was fully up to strength for the forthcoming Third Battle of Gaza (1–3 November 1917). On the morning of 2 November, the 54th Division put in a holding attack at the El Arish Redoubt. The fighting was confused, but the division took all its objectives. During the rapid pursuit after the fall of Gaza, 1/6th assisted the ANZAC Mounted DivisionBurrows, pp. 196, 213–5, 230, 253–5.