At the outbreak of war, two battalions of the KOSBs, (like most infantry regiments), were already in service.
The 1st battalion was on duty at Lucknow in India and sailed from Bombay on 2nd November 1914. They arrived in Plymouth just after Christmas, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel A S Koe. They joined the 29th Division, and sailed for Egypt arriving on 30th March. By 25th April they were ashore at Gallipoli and engaged in some of the heaviest fighting in that theatre. Before the week was out, 296 of the 1st battalion had been killed.
The 2nd battalion, which had been stationed in Dublin, joined the 5th Division which landed at le Havre on 15th August 1914 under the command of Lt Colonel C M Stephenson. On 23rd August they came under fire from the Brandenburg Grenadiers and moved to Petit Wasmes, (a small Belgian village near the French border). The official war diary states that the 2nd battalion sustained heavy casualties.
Amongst the first to fall in WW1, were three soldiers of the 2nd Battalion on 23rd August 1914.
fews days later, the 2nd battalion was involved in the major Battle of le Cateau. The battalion continued in the front line for the next three months until relieved in a much-weakened state in December by the 2nd battalion of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment.
Subsequently, the 1st and 2nd battalions of the KOSBs joined other British Infantry to break the deadlock of trench warfare. After a seven day artillery bombardment, at precisely 7.30 am on 1st July 1916, the British Divisions on the River Somme attacked the German Second Army. Of course the 1st and 2nd battalions were there. "Going over the top" with them were thousands of amateur enthusiasts who made up the ranks of the 'New Army' including the 6th, 7th and 8th battalions of the KOSBs
The price paid Dumfries and Galloway Regiment was over 6,500 killed in action with many more wounded or disabled. For a sparsely populated, agricultural region this was a terrible price. The loss and suffering, not to mention the harvest of 1919 and for many years afterwards, was a heavy burden for those who were left. Their comfort was in the knowledge that the Great War was the "war to end wars".
