Durham Light Infantry, 3rd/5th Battalion
Territorial Force battalion
Before the First World War began in August 1914, the Durham Light Infantry, County Durham’s own infantry regiment, was made up of nine battalions each of about 1,000 men. There were two Regular battalions of full-time professional soldiers, many of whom came from outside the North East of England; two Reserve battalions of part-time volunteers and ex-Regular soldiers; and five Territorial Force battalions of part-time volunteers centred on key County towns. There was also a Depot or headquarters shared with the Northumberland Fusiliers at Fenham Barracks in Newcastle upon Tyne.
By the end of the war in November 1918, the DLI had grown to 43 battalions, as new Reserve, Service, Territorial, Young Soldier, and other battalions were formed. Of these 43 battalions, 22 served in war zones from the Western Front to the North West Frontier of India.
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Within weeks of the beginning of the First World War, so many recruits in the south east of County Durham wanted to join the 5th Battalion DLI, their local Territorial unit, that a second line battalion, the 2nd/5th Battalion DLI, was formed.
In April 1915, after the 1st/5th Battalion DLI had left for France with the Northumbrian Division, the role of the second line Territorial battalions was reviewed. It was then decided to create a new reserve third line battalion from men, who were only fit for home service, and so in May 1915 the 3rd/5th Battalion DLI was formed in Stockton out of the 2nd/5th Battalion. The main purpose of this new unit, though itself unfit for service overseas, was to train new officers and soldiers for active service with 1/5 DLI on the Western Front. The battalion also became part of County Durham’s coastal defences.
After moves to Darlington and Cramlington, 3/5 DLI settled at Horton in Northumberland in May 1916. There just ten weeks was allowed to turn a newly enlisted soldier into a trained infantryman ready for active service.
In August 1916, 3/5 DLI was amalgamated with the other four DLI third line Territorial battalions (3/6, 3/7, 3/8 and 3/9 DLI) to form a new unit, the 5th Reserve Battalion Territorial Force, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Harry Watson, who had initially led the 1st/6th Battalion in Belgium in April 1915. The 5th Reserve Battalion moved to Catterick in late 1916 and then to Sutton, near Hull, in early 1918, where it continued to train drafts of soldiers for service overseas until the end of the war.
Contributed by Durham County Record Office
