The King’s Royal Rifle Corps raised 22 battalions in total during the course of WWI and saw action on the Western Front, Macedonia and Italy. The regiment lost 12,840 men who were killed during the course of the war.
The 2nd Battalion was stationed at Blackdown, Aldershot at the outbreak of war as part of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division. In August 1914 it was mobilised for war and landed at Havre and engaged in various action on the Western Front.
On 10th July 1917 the 1st Division had relived the French in the narrow bridge-head over the River Yser. Two battalions were across the river: the 2nd Battalion KRR and the 1st Northamptonshires. A heavy bombardment commenced in the early evening and then the German infantry attacked. German aeroplanes machined gunned the breastworks. The KRR recorded losses of officers as 7 killed, 4 wounded, 6 missing, and the loss of 481 other ranks.
