12th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry, War Diary September 1939

The War Diary for the 9th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry records as follows:-

1st September 1939

The telegraphed codeword "Clive" was received and acknowledged. As a result of this, the Battalion was embodied with a strength, including the duplicate unit, of 50 Officers and 1234 Other Ranks.

3rd September 1939

At 11:00 War was declared.

An Air-Raid Warning "Yellow" was received while the troops were at Church Service - the warning was passed to the military congregation and "the sermon was abruptly concluded", whereupon the troops returned to Barracks. The "All-Clear" was sounded at 12:00.

4th September 1939

At 09:00 the 9th and 12th Battalions were separated and the Battalion HQ in Burt Terrace was closed and was moved to the Victoria Schools in Teams, Gateshead.

Captain Oxley, Lieutenants G.D.Harker, J.Dempster and 2/Lieutenant A. Walton were transferred from 9th to 12th Battalions. Unfortunately the Enlistment Records do not indicate which men were transferred to the 12th Battalion from the 9th Battalion.

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