page_title: 5th Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment
section_title: Hundred Days Offensive
hierarchical_section_title: 5th Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment / World War I / 1/5th Battalion / Hundred Days Offensive
caption_attribution_description: English: The Hundred Days Offensive, August-november 1918 Troops of the 1/4th Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment (Pioneer Battalion of the 55th Division) crossing a pontoon bridge over the Scheldt river at Tournai, 9 November 1918.
context_page_description: The 5th Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment, was a unit of the British Army's Reserve Forces first established in St Helens, Merseyside, in 1860. It served as infantry in some of the bitterest fighting on the Western Front in World War I and as a searchlight regiment in Anti-Aircraft Command during World War II.
context_section_description: After the fighting died down, Givenchy became a quiet sector, and the 55th Division remained there until the end of August when the Allied counter-offensive began, and  the division captured the craters near Givenchy. On 20 September the 1/5th Bn was given responsibility for taking some objectives just north of La Bassée. The battalion attacked with 'B' Company on the right, and 'D' Company with  a section of 'C' company on the left, while 'A' Company protected the right flank and the rest of 'C' Company was in reserve. The 'smart little action' was entirely successful, and 'was noteworthy as an example of platoon tactics and the resolute and resourceful leadership of the junior leaders', a number of whom were awarded medals.
  On 2 October the Germans began a large-scale withdrawal followed up by 55th Division to Tournai and the River Scheldt, which the enemy held in strength. On 22 October the 1/5th Bn attacked Barges Chateau and mill about 1,000 yards in front of its position, but although it reached the objective it could not hold it. The BEF made no serious attempt to force Tournai or the Scheldt, but continued active patrolling and raids, in which 1/5th Bn was prominent. On 8 November, as the Germans withdrew further, Lieutenant H.R. Fright led his platoon in a 'gallant effort to prevent a bridge being blown up by the enemy, in the course of which nearly the whole platoon became casualties'. Lieutenant Fright was awarded the Military Cross. That night a company of the battalion crossed the river by means of a light bridge and secured a foothold for the rest of the battalion to cross in the morning.
  The battalion was at Moulbaix on 11 November when news of the  Armistice with Germany was received. It later moved to Brussels, where it stayed until demobilisation began in 1919. 1/5th South Lancashires was formally disembodied on 14 November 1919.
caption: Men of the 55th (West Lancashire) Division cross a pontoon bridge over the Scheldt at Tournai, 9 November 1918.
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