Heres a bit of background wilcoxon ! ....
World War 1 - 2nd Battalion South Wales Borderers
Summary of Service
4th August 1914: Tientsin, Northern China. 23rd September 1914: Landed at Lao Shan Bay for operations in conjunction with Japanese forces against German garrison at Tsingtao. 4th December 1914: Embarked at Hong Kong for Plymouth. 12th January 1915: Stationed at Rugby as part of 87th Brigade, 29th Division. 17th March 1915: Embarked at Avonmouth for Egypt. 29th March 1915: Arrived at Alexandria. 11th April 1915: Mudros. 25th April 1915: Landed at Gallipoli. 11th January 1916: Evacuated and arrived at Egypt. 15th March 1916: Arrived at Marseilles as part of 29th Division. 11th November 1918: Part of 87th Brigade, 29th Division near Lessines, Belgium. 13th December 1918: Cologne, Germany. 4th April 1919: A cadre strength, embarked Dunkirk for Brecon arriving on 5th April.
TSINGTAO
In August 1914, the 2nd Battalion had nearly completed two years of its tour at Tientsin, in Northern China. In early August the Japanese entered the war and sent a division to capture the German port of Tsingtao. The Twenty-Fourth and half the 36th Sikhs were sent from Tientsin in September to represent the Allies and take part in the capture of the place. After much hard digging in heavy rain and in great discomfort Tsingtao fell on 7th November, at a cost to the battalion of 14 men killed or died of wounds or disease and 2 officers and 34 men wounded. 'Tsingtao' is a battle honour held by no other British Regiment.
GALLIPOLI
On 12th January 1915, the battalion on its return from China landed at Devonport, and, with the 1st King's Own Scottish Borderers, 1st Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and 1st Border Regiment joined the 87th Brigade of the 29th Division billetted at Coventry, Rugby and neighbouring towns. This, the last of the foreign service Regular Divisions, after a memorable inspection by His Majesty the King, left England in March for the attack on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The object of the expedition was to open a passage for ships through the Straits of Helles into the Sea of Marmora and on through the Bosphorus at Constantinople into the Black Sea, thus enabling Russia to export the grain needed by the Allies and to import munitions of war.
On 25th April 1915, the 29th Division made its historic 'Landing at Helles', a feat of arms which could have been achieved by no soldiers in the world but seasoned British infantry. They landed in broad daylight on open beaches defended by barbed wire covered at close range by rifles and machine guns. The battalion landed three Companies at S Beach on the shores of Morto Bay just inside the Straits at the comparatively light cost of 2 officers and 18 men killed and drowned and 2 officers and 40 men wounded. A Company was detached to land with the KOSB and Marines at Y Beach on the Mediterranean shore. This attack though successful was unsupported and had to withdraw, A Company making a most gallant counter attack with the bayonet to cover the retirement. It had heavy fighting, losing the Company Commander and 26 men killed and missing, and an officer and 42 men wounded.
The Battalion served throughout the rest of the Gallipoli campaign. In the efforts to advance from Cape Helles in May and June it fought with great determination and stubbornness. In August it moved round with the rest of the 29th Division to Suvla Bay, where a new landing by five fresh divisions from England had been brought to a standstill. In a final effort here the 29th put in a most gallant though unsuccessful attack on Scimitar Hill, in which the battalion suffered nearly 300 casualties. Brought back to Helles in October, the battalion took part in the final evacuation of the Peninsula on 8th January 1916, and was sent to Egypt.
