The 1st Flintshire Rifle Volunteers, later 5th (Flintshire) Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers, was a Welsh unit of the British Army's auxiliary forces. First raised in 1860, it fought as infantry at Gallipoli), in Egypt and Palestine during the First World War. Converted to the anti-tank role, it fought in the Battle of France, the Western Desert and Italy in the Second World War. It continued in the postwar Territorial Army until amalgamated with a neighbouring unit in 1956.

Volunteer Force An invasion scare in 1859 led to the emergence of the Volunteer Movement, and Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs) began to be organised throughout Great Britain, composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need.Beckett.Spiers, pp. 163–8. The following units were raised in Flintshire, North Wales:Beckett, Appendix VII.Frederick, p. 303.Westlake, Rifle Volunteers, pp. 89–90.Army List, various dates.Flintshire Volunteers at Regiments.org. 1st (Mold) Flintshire RVC, formed 27 March 1860, with its Drill Hall in High Street, Mold 2nd (Hawarden) Flintshire RVC, formed 30 April 1860 3rd (Vale of Clwyd) Flintshire RVC, formed at Rhyl by May 1860 4th (Holywell) Flintshire RVC, formed 29 June 1860, 5th (Flint) Flintshire RVC formed on 3 February 1863 or 13 April 1864 6th (Caergwrle) Flintshire RVC, formed 16 December 1874

These units were grouped into the 1st Administrative Battalion, Flintshire Rifle Volunteers, formed at Rhyl in August 1860. William Henry Gladstone, son of the future Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone who lived at Hawarden Castle, was commissioned as an ensign in the Hawarden Corps. Viscount Feilding, heir of the Earl of Denbigh, was the first captain-commandant of the 4th RVC; he became major in command of the 1st Admin Bn in 1862.

The 1st Admin Bn moved its headquarters (HQ) from Rhyl to Holywell in 1863, but returned in 1874. In that year the 1st Admin Bn of Carnarvonshire RVCs was disbanded and the Flintshire battalion incorporated the surviving RVCs in that county:Westlake, Rifle Volunteers, pp. 37–8. 2nd (Carnarvon) Carnarvonshire RVC – disbanded 1877 3rd (Carnarvon) Carnarvonshire RVC 4th (Tremadoc) Carnarvonshire RVC 5th (Pwllheli) Carnarvonshire RVC – disbanded 1877

After the corps at Pwllheli was disbanded it was replaced by a new 5th Carnarvonshire RVC raised from Llanberis in 1878.

When the RVCs were consolidated in February 1880 the admin battalion became the 1st Flintshire and Carnarvonshire Rifle Volunteers with the following organisation: A Company at Mold – from 1st Flintshire RVC B Company at Hawarden– from 2nd Flintshire RVC C Company at Rhyl – from 3rd Flintshire RVC D Company at Holywell – from 4th Flintshire RVC E Company at Flint – from 5th Flintshire RVC F Company at Caergwle – from 6th Flintshire RVC G & H Companies at Carnavon – from 3rd Carnarvonshire RVC I Company at Portmadoc – from 4th Carnarvonshire RVC K Company at Llanberis – from 5th Carnarvonshire RVC

Under the 'Localisation of the Forces' scheme introduced by the Cardwell Reforms of 1872, Volunteers were grouped into county brigades with their local Regular and Militia battalions – Sub-District No 23 in Western District for the Flintshire Battalion, grouped with the 23rd Foot (Royal Welch Fusiliers).Spiers, pp. 195–6. The Childers Reforms of 1881 took Cardwell's reforms further, and the Volunteers were formally affiliated to their local Regular regiment, the 1st Flint & Carnarvon becoming a volunteer battalion of the RWF on 1 July 1881; it was redesignated 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers in June 1884.History at RWF Museum.

While the sub-districts were later referred to as 'brigades', they were purely administrative organisations and the Volunteers were excluded from the 'mobilisation' part of the Cardwell system. The Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 proposed a more comprehensive Mobilisation Scheme for Volunteer units, which would assemble in their own brigades at key points in case of war. In peacetime these brigades provided a structure for collective training.Beckett, pp. 135, 185–6.Dunlop, pp. 60–1; Appendix A.Spiers, pp. 228–9. Under this scheme the two Volunteer Battalions of the RWF formed part of the Welsh Brigade, later moving to the Welsh Border Brigade (renamed the North Welsh Border Brigade in the 1900s).

By 1896 the battalion had 16 companies, but on 26 May 1897 the eight Carnarvonshire companies were separated to form a new 3rd VB of the RWF, when the 2nd VB moved its HQ to Hawarden.

After Black Week in December 1899, the Volunteers were invited to send active service units to assist the Regulars in the Second Boer War. The War Office decided that one company 116 strong could be recruited from the volunteer battalions of any infantry regiment that had a regular battalion serving in South Africa. The RWF's VBs accordingly raised a service company that joined the 1st Battalion and earned the volunteer battalions their first Battle honour: South Africa 1900–02.Lt-Gen J.P. Riley, 'Regimental Colours, Pt 4: The Territorial and Volunteer Battalions' at RWF Museum.Beckett, p. 213. The 2nd VB was expanded to 11 companies during the war, but reduced to 10 in 1904.

Territorial Force

When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908,Dunlop, Chapter 14.Spiers, Chapter 10. the 2nd VB became the 5th (Flintshire) Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers,organised as follows:Conrad, 1914.Flintshire at Great War Centenary Drill Halls. Battalion HQ at the Drill Hall, Flint A Company at Mold B Company at Drill Hall Lane, Hawarden C Company at John Street, Rhyl D Company at Halkyn Street, Holywell E Company at Flint F Company at Hill Street, Caergwle G Company at Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire H Company at Connah's Quay

The battalion was jointly administered by the Denbighshire and Flintshire TF Associations.London Gazette 20 March 1908. It formed part of the North Wales Brigade of the TF's Welsh Division.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 117–23.James, p. 67–8.RWF at Long, Long Trail.53rd (W) Division at Long, Long Trail.Ward, p. 10.

First World War Mobilisation On 3 August 1914 the Welsh Division's infantry brigades were at their annual camps when all training was cancelled and the battalions were ordered back to their HQs; war was declared next day. The 5th RWF mobilised on 5 August under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel B.E. Phillips, and the units had concentrated at their war stations (at Conway in the case of the North Wales Brigade) by 11 August. On that date TF units were invited to volunteer for Overseas ServiceWard, p. 11. and on 15 August the War Office issued instructions to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units. On 31 August, the formation of a reserve or 2nd Line unit was authorised for each 1st Line unit where 60 per cent or more of the men had volunteered for Overseas Service. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix. In this way duplicate battalions, brigades and divisions were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas. Later 3rd Line units were formed to train drafts for the 1st and 2nd Line.Becke, Pt 2b, p. 6.

1/5th (Flintshire) Battalion

The Welsh Division moved to Northampton at the end of August 1914, where on 18 November it was warned for service in British India, but this was subsequently cancelled. Training was interrupted by periods spent digging trenches for the East Coast defences. In December the division moved to Cambridge, then to Bedford in May 1915, where it was numbered as the 53rd (Welsh) Division, and the North Wales Brigade became the 158th (North Wales) Brigade. By July the battalion was at Higham Ferrers in Northamptonshire. On 2 July the division was ordered to refit for service in the Mediterranean. The first battalions to move were the 1/5th and 1/6th RWF, who entrained at Irchester for Devonport during the night of 13 July. The two battalions embarked on the Caledonia and sailed on 14 July.Ward, pp. 11–3; Appendix I.Westlake, Gallipoli, pp. 73–4.

Gallipoli The transports sailed via Gibraltar, Malta, Alexandria and Lemnos, and the 1/5th Bn arrived at Mudros on 28 July, where it disembarked and went into bivouacs. It re-embarked on the Rowan for Imbros on 8 August. Next day the division took part in the Landing at Suvla Bay, an attempt to break the Trench warfare deadlock in the Gallipoli Campaign. The battalion landed at 'C' Beach at 06.00 and bivouacked at Lala Baba, apart from A Company, which was detailed to carry equipment up to the front line.Ward, pp. 18, 27–9.

158th Brigade supported 159th (Cheshire) Brigade in an attack towards Scimitar Hill on 10 August and 1/5th RWF as the brigade's leading battalion moved forward at 04.45. The officers had no maps and confusion reigned, but the battalion advanced across the Salt Lake under heavy shrapnel and rifle fire, passing through the retreating battalions of 159th Bde at 11.30. 'Gallantly led' by Lt-Col Phillips, the battalion penetrated to within a few hundred yards of Scimitar Hill before getting broken up into small parties in the scrub. They took cover and opened fire on the Turkish front line at a range of . Phillips sent back a message urging the 1/6th RWF to come up and help complete the job, but he was killed soon afterwards. The battalion was later withdrawn to 160th (South Wales) Bde's line; further attempts to take Scimitar Hill during the afternoon all failed. The battalion's casualties were 6 officers and 13 other ranks (ORs) killed, 6 officers and 116 ORs wounded, and 39 missing, though many reported missing straggled back later.Aspinall-Oglander, pp. 300–2.Ward, pp. 37–41.

The corps commander, Lt-Gen Sir Frederick Stopford, had lost confidence in 53rd (W) Division, and would not use it in the subsequent phases of the battle.Aspinall-Oglander, pp. 314–20. Over the following days the battalion was engaged in reorganising and improving the trenches facing Scimitar Hill, taking casualties from Turkish rifle fire. It also had 160 sick men evacuated to hospital by the end of the month, another 180 by the end of September.Aspinall-Oglander, pp. 338, 389.Ward, pp. 41–6.

In October the 1/5th Bn's strength had been reduced to 18 officers and 355 ORs and it was temporarily amalgamated with the 1/6th Bn, under the command of Lt-Col Rome of 1/6th Bn. Turkish artillery became more active during November, adding to the toll of casualties from trench-holding, the trenches were flooded, and later there was a blizzard. So many men were evacuated suffering from frostbite and exposure that only 88 ORs remained in the line. The effective strength of 53rd (W) Division was very low and it was decided to evacuate the remnants. On 12 December the battalion moved to 'C' Beach to embark on the El Kahirah to Mudros. The division was then shipped to Alexandria, where it landed between 20 and 23 December.Ward, pp. 47–50.

Egypt