12th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry (12 DLI)
Unit Details
Name: 12th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry
Abbreviation: 12 DLI
History
To read the Wikipedia page on the Durham Light Infantry, which includes mention of the 12th Battalion, please click here.
Battalion War Diary
12th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry, War Diary 1939
12th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry, War Diary 1940
Apart from the initial handful of Officers selected to form part of 12th Battalion, none of the records tell us which men served in the unit. As far as can be seen no nominal rolls or muster rolls of any kind have survived. In the circumstances it has been reluctantly concluded that there is no real possibility of providing a list of those men who served in the Battalion.
However, when the Battalion was formally taken over by The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) and became 1st Tyneside Scottish, the DLI Enlistment Books recorded the transfer for the individual men as taking place on 1st February 1940. The vast majority of the DLI men identified on their individual Website pages as having made that transfer would have been serving in 12th (Tyneside Scottish) Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry at the time. Hopefully that will provide a satisfactory link and evidence for those tracing their relatives or soldiers in whom they have a research interest that they probably served in the Battalion during its brief life.
Other men known to have served in 12th Durham Light Infantry.
As a result of researching Pte William Ridley RENFORTH, of 12th Battalion/1st Tyneside Scottish, it was indicated, in the 1939 General Register, that his brother - Pte Walter RENFORTH - was also serving with 12th Battalion at the end of September 1939. Walter must have been posted to 9th Battalion some time after the end of September 1939, as he was Killed in Action with them on 30th May 1940 in France. His Memorial Page can be accessed below.
