page_title: 19th Battalion, London Regiment (St Pancras)
section_title: 1917
hierarchical_section_title: 19th Battalion, London Regiment (St Pancras) / 1/19th Londons / 1917
caption_attribution_description: English: The Battle of Passchendaele, July-november 1917 A patrol of the 19th Battalion, London Regiment in the ruins of a village on the 47th Division front before Ypres, 27 August 1917.
context_page_description: The 19th Battalion, London Regiment (St Pancras) was a Volunteer unit of the British Army in existence from 1860 to 1961 under various titles. A detachment served in the Second Boer War and two full battalions fought in World War I, receiving the surrender of Jerusalem and crossing the Jordan among other exploits. During World War II the regiment operated as a searchlight unit and briefly as an infantry battalion, before becoming an anti-aircraft regiment in the postwar years.
context_section_description: 47th Division moved into the Hill 60 sector of the Ypres Salient in October 1916 and took part in regular raids and crater fighting for a number of months. It then took part in the following operations:
  Battle of Messines – in the weeks leading up to the battle, 141 Bde held the divisional front and carried out preparations for the attacks, including digging new trenches and establishing ration and ammunition dumps. For the attack on 7 June it was in support, moving up to relieve 142 Bde two days later.
  3rd Battle of Ypres – 47th Division was not directly involved in the offensive, being in reserve during the Battle of Pilckem Ridge (31 July–2 August) and spending two periods holding the line (18 August–2 September and 8–17 September), described as 'among the most unpleasant in its experience'.
  Battle of Cambrai – 141 Bde took over the recently captured Bourlon Wood on 29 November in time to be hit by the German counter-attack the following morning. 1/19th Londons were badly affected by the enemy bombardment, particularly by gas shells. Out of 15 officers and over 600 men of the battalion who took up position in the wood, only 5 officers and 65 other ranks remained in the line by the end of the day, and many of these were later evacuated to hospital suffering from the effects of gas.
caption: A patrol of 1/19th Londons moves through a shattered village near Ypres, 27 August 1917
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