Lives of the First World War
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2nd Battalion Queen Victoria Rifles (1917)
2nd Battalion Queen Victoria Rifles (1917)
Whilst the 1st Battalion's exploits are well known (due to their deployment in 1914 and subsequent fighting at Hill 60 in 1915 which included the award of a Victoria Cross), the 2nd Battalion is less recognised. Although raised in 1914, officially titled 2/9th County of London Battalion (Queen Victoria Rifles) and often shortened to 2QVR, the soldiers spent much time in camps in the UK, only finally being deployed to the Western Front in Feb 17. Serving in the line at Bullecourt, the Battalion were then drawn into the battle for Passchendaele, with 2QVR taking part in two wasteful assaults near St Julien, where they suffered heavy casualties (including being gassed by their own side). My grandfather was a serving soldier - see Horace Braunsten. And so within a year of landing at Le Havre, 2QVR had been disbanded and amalgamated with the 1st battalion. This community is dedicated to the men of 2QVR, raising awareness of those terrible months, much of it spent in the mud of Flanders in 1917 that ended the battalion as a fighting unit. I also hope that by identifying these men amongst the millions of scattered records on this site and starting to flesh out their background and stories, relatives and other interested researchers will be able to find them in the future and know them again.
Created by: , Miles125599
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Died 1917
British Army 2480 Serjeant London Regiment
British Army 390458 Serjeant London Regiment
British Army 390458 Serjeant London Regiment (Queen Victoria's Rifles) 2nd battalion
More about George Frederick Thorpe -
Born 1887
Died 1917
British Army 6815 Private London Regiment
British Army 393066 Private London Regiment
British Army 393066 Rifleman London Regiment Queen Victorias Rifles 2nd Battalion
More about John Smallpage Staniforth -
Born 1898
Died 1918
British Army 4150 Private London Regiment
British Army 391352 Lance Corporal London Regiment (Queen Victoria Rifles) 2nd battalion
More about Fred Roper -
British Army 590172 Private Labour Corps
British Army 252860 Corporal London Regiment Queen Victoria Rifles
More about Hardy Scillitoe -
Born 1994
Died 1917
British Army 5271 Private London Regiment 9th lond Battalion
British Army 392031 Lance Corporal London Regiment 2nd Battalion
More about Albert Ernest Chappell -
Died 1917
British Army 2828 Serjeant London Regiment 9th lond Battalion
British Army 390607 Serjeant London Regiment 9th lond Battalion
British Army 390607 Serjeant London Regiment (Queen Victoria's Rifles)
More about William Colling -
Born 1897
Died 1917
British Army 5139 Private London Regiment 9th lond Battalion
British Army 391944 Rifleman London Regiment 2nd Battalion
More about Henry James Baker -
Born 1886
Died 2017
British Army 5398 Private London Regiment 9th lond Battalion
British Army 392108 Rifleman London Regiment 2nd Battalion
More about Alfred Theodore Chivers -
Died 1917
British Army 415014 Private London Regiment
British Army 415014 Rifleman London Regiment (Queen Victoria's Rifles)
More about George Fowler -
Died 1917
British Army 5002 Private London Regiment 9th lond Battalion
British Army 391847 Lance Corporal London Regiment 2nd Battalion
More about Ernest Francis Burton -
Died 1917
British Army 5029 Private London Regiment
British Army 391865 Private London Regiment
British Army 391865 Rifleman London Regiment (Queen Victoria's Rifles) 2nd Battalion
More about Frank Dennis