The King's Men: The Sandringham Company and Norfolk Regiment Territorial Battalions, 1914-1918

by Neil R Storey

Overview

The 4th and 5th Battalions, the Norfolk Regiment were formed in the early days of The Great War as part of the Territorial Force and deployed with 54th (East Anglian) Division to Gallipoli in 1915. Most significantly the 1/5th Battalion was unique in that it contained The Sandringham Company, the only unit to be raised entirely from a Royal Estate.

Tragically the Company, along with King George V’s Agent Captain Beck, disappeared without trace on 12 August 1915, presumed to have been overcome by their Turkish adversaries.

The Battalion was rebuilt and saw out the ill-fated Gallipoli Campaign being evacuated to Egypt in December 1915. Thereafter the Norfolks served with distinction in Palestine as part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force.

The author has compiled a fascinating history of these Battalions’ distinguished service using contemporary records and personal accounts illustrated with a splendid selection of photographs. The result is a fitting tribute to the memory of these brave volunteers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781399021401
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	07/04/2024
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x (d)

About the Author

NEIL R STOREY is an award-winning historian and author who specialises in the impact of war on British society in the first half of the 20th Century. A graduate of the University of East Anglia, he lectures across the UK and has assembled a fine collection of original First and Second World War images to illustrate his works. Neil has published over forty books, has written for national magazines and journals and appears on television documentaries and factual programmes as a guest historian including Who Do You Think You Are? and The Buildings That Fought Hitler.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Chapter 1 Norfolk Before the Great War 1

Chapter 2 The Creation of the Territorial Force in Norfolk 11

Chapter 3 The Sandringham Company 26

Chapter 4 Mobilization and Training 47

Chapter 5 To Foreign Shores 73

Chapter 6 Anafarta and The Gallipoli Campaign 92

Chapter 7 Egypt 1916 122

Chapter 8 Palestine 1917-18 128

Chapter 9 Reserve Battalions 160

Chapter 10 Legends and the Truth: What Happened to the Men Who Fell on 12 August 1915? 168

Appendices

1 Roll of the Original Members of the Sandringham Company 199

2 Roll of Honour The Attack on Anafarta Ova 201

3 Roll of Honour of the Dead of 1/4^th and 1/5^th Battalions, The Norfolk Regiment Second Battle of Gaza 19 April 1917 218

Select Bibliography and Sources 248

Acknowledgements 250

Index 251