The 17th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers was one of the numerous Pals Battalions formed in the North East of England on Kitchener's call for men during the early parts of the First World War. The battalion was raised by the North Eastern Railway (NER) and was the only pals battalions to be raised by a single company.
The battalion was formed of four companies; "A", "B", "C" and "D". Two further companies, acting as reserve companies, were also formed becoming "E" and "F". "E" and "F" Companies later became the 32nd Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers, the reserve battalion for the 17ths.
From its creation until October 1916, and again from September to November 1917, the battalion was part of the 32nd Division. Between October 1916 and September 1917, and again from November 1917 to April 1918, the battalion was part of GHQ Railway Troops. Between April and May 1918, the battalion was attached to the 1st Australian Division. Between May 1918 and their demobilisation after the war, the battalion was part of the 52nd (Lowland) Division.
Formation
On 8 September 1914, a circular was sent around the railway company informing staff of the proposed formation of a Pals Battalion made from the men of the NER. By the 11th September, Lord Kitchener gave the formal sanction of the formation of the 17th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers.
Recruitment for the battalion began on 14 September at the York Railway Institute. Next day recruitment began at the Newcastle Railway Institute. Recruitment continued, alternatively between York and Newcastle, and by the 23rd September the battalion was almost at full strength. The battalion was moved to King George Docks at Hull, which was jointly owned by the NER and the Hull & Barnsley Railway, beginning on 22 September and the entire battalion arriving by the 1st October. At this time the battalion officers were accommodated aboard the SS Rievaulx Abbey, a ship of the NER's subsidiary the Hull & Netherlands Steamship Company.
In November 1914, the battalion was posted to the East Yorkshire Coast near Easington and Kilnsea to undergo coastal defences. At this point the battalion was part of the 32nd Division. At the beginning of 1915, the battalion saw a change of role from an infantry unit to a pioneer unit. The battalion returned from the East Yorkshire coast to Hull in February 1915 where they undertook training for service overseas.
On 20 June 1915, the battalion moved from Hull to Catterick where they joined the 96th Brigade of the 32nd Division. In the later stages of August 1915, the battalion moved to Salisbury Plain where training intensified. In November, the general manager of the NER, Sir Alexander Kaye Butterworth, traveled down to Salisbury to inspect the battalion before they left for service overseas. On 20 November 1915, the battalion, apart from the Transport and Machine Gun Sections, embarked from Southampton on SS Empress Queen.
Early Service on the Western Front
On arrival to France, the battalion moved to a rest camp at Le Havre. The troops were joined by the Transport and Machine Gun Sections on 24 November, and soon the battalion moved to the Somme Valley. In late November / early December, "D" Company was attached to the 51st Division in the area around Bouzincourt, with "A", "B" and "C" Companies being attached to the 18th Division near Freshencourt, this was so the battalion gained experience before moving to the trenches with the 32nd Division.
The Battalion entered the Trenches on the Western Front on 2 December 1915, here they undertook works such as drainage, wiring and building dugouts. The first man of the battalion to be killed in action was Teddy Marsden of "D" Company who was killed by an enemy shell on 23 December. The 32nd Division took control of a stretch of the front line on 2 January 1916, relieving the 51st Division. During the first two months the battalion had been in France, six members had been killed and nine injured.
St. George's Day was celebrated by the battalion, it being a tradition of the Northumberland Fusiliers. The battalion played football first, with "B" company being winners, "C" in second and "A" and "D" being equal third. The transport section undertook bareback mule wrestling, this competition being won by Private J. Mounsey. Another event was a barbed wire obstacle course where each company sent a group over the course provided only with material found in a trench.
In April 1916, "A" Company broke a record for railway laying, whilst working in Vecquemont, on one day between 0700 and 2200 the company laid one mile and thirty yards long.