HISTORY OF THE 22ND (SERVICE) BATTALION ROYAL FUSILIERS (KENSINGTON)

The battalion was raised by the Mayor and Borough of Kensington as a Service (Kitchener) battalion of the Royal Fusiliers (RF) on 11 Sep 1914 at the White City. In June 1915 it became part of 99th Brigade 33rd Division, along with 17th, 23rd and 24th Battalions RF. The battalion went to France in November 1915 with 33rd Division, but almost immediately on arrival the brigade was transferred to the 2nd Division, a regular division, where the battaion remained till it was disbanded in Feb 1918 when the BEF reduced the number of brigades in a battalion from four to three.The editor stresses this book was compiled for the surviving members of the battalion, some 410 died, a VC was won by L/Sgt F.W Palmer (also MM) near Courcelette in Feb 1917. There is a Roll of Honour in which the dates of death of the officers is given, but in the case of other ranks, they are grouped by companies for each year of the war without number, rank or date of death. There is also a list of recipients of honours and awards, headed by Palmer with his VC. In this list, which includes mentioned in despatches, names are grouped alphabetically for each medal, but no number, rank or date of award.