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Durham Light Infantry, 3rd/7th 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 wanted to join the 7th Battalion DLI, their local Territorial unit, that a second line battalion, the 2nd/7th Battalion DLI, was formed in Sunderland.

In April 1915, after the first line Territorial battalions, including the 1st/7th Battalion, had left for France with the Northumbrian Division, the role of the second line 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/7th Battalion DLI was formed out of the 2nd/7th 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 the 1st/7th Battalion on the Western Front. The battalion also became part of County Durham’s coastal defences.

In August 1916, the 3rd/7th Battalion was amalgamated with the other four DLI third line Territorial battalions (3/5, 3/6, 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 at Ypres in April 1915, before falling ill. 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