It was originally raised as the 8th Battalion, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, formed as a 2nd Line Territorial Army duplicate unit of the 4th Battalion, just before the outbreak of the Second World War as a motorcycle battalion and served as such in the Battle of France in May 1940. It was converted to a reconnaissance unit in April 1941 and fought in North-West Europe from June 1944 until May 1945 when the war in Europe ended.