A Sturdy Race of Men - 149th Brigade: 149th Brigade - A History of the Northumberland Fusiliers Territorial Battalions in The Great War

The Territorial battalions of the Northumberland Fusiliers (149 Brigade) served with distinction in France and Flanders from 1915 until May 1918. Indeed, their performance at St Julien in April 1915 was recognized in the House of Lords by Lord Kitchener who had previously been somewhat contemptuous of Territorial Forces, advocating the formation of a new citizen army.

Over the next three terrible years 149 Brigade saw major action on the Somme (1916), at Arras and in Flanders (1917) and during the 1918 German offensive. The annihilation of three battalions on the Aisne in May 1918 effectively removed the Brigade from the order of battle.

A superbly researched and long overdue recognition of the Territorials’ achievements and sacrifice, A Sturdy Race of Men will be welcomed by all those who have an attachment to the Northumberland Fusiliers. This remarkable regiment comprised fifty-two battalions, twenty-nine of which served overseas.

Alan Grint is a Northumbrian, born and brought up in Ashington, north east of Newcastle upon Tyne.

With a BSc and PhD from Manchester University, followed by a Post Doctorate at Newcastle, Alan spent many years as a carbon specialist/scientist, before changing direction in 2001, when he founded Cogito Books, an award winning independent bookshop in Hexham in rural Northumberland.

Increasingly fascinated with The Great War, he and his wife have visited CWG cemeteries in France, Belgium, Turkey and Syria, researching the military careers of local men killed in action. His books The Faith and Fire Within and In Silent Fortitude cover the men of Hexham and the North Tyne Valley respectively. His website [www.ashingtonmemorial.com] is devoted to the soldiers of Ashington who died in the conflict.

He divides his time between Hexham and the Limousin region of France.