Bristol in August 1914 by the Citizen's Recruiting Committee. It was taken over by the War Office in June 1915 and left for France in November as part of the 95th Brigade in the 5th Division. The battalion went into action in 1916 during the Somme offensive: on 29 July at Longueval during the Battle of Delville Wood; between 3 and 5 September during the Battle of Guillemont, in which it suffered some 300 casualties; and on 25 September during the Battle of Morval. On 8 May 1917, during the Battle of Arras, the battalion was practically annihilated with the loss of 296 men at Fresnoy, and it did not see action again until 4 October in the Battle of Broodseinde. In December, the 5th Division was transferred to Italy, where it went into the line along the River Piave, but the battalion saw little action beyond patrolling. The division returned to France in April 1918, occupying positions in the line near Nieppe Forest, and the battalion saw action on 25 April and 28 June, both times successfully advancing the front line. Its last action came during the Second Battle of Bapaume, where it suffered some 100 casualties on 21 August but succeeded in capturing Irles on 23 August. On 6 October, the battalion was disbanded and its men distributed among the other units of the 5th Division. 13th Battalion (Forest of Dean) The 13th Battalion was raised in December 1914 at Malvern by Sir Henry Webb and recruited from the miners of the Forest of Dean, South Wales and the Durham coalfields. In July 1915, it was taken over by the War Office and went to France in March 1916 as divisional pioneers to the 39th Division. The battalion saw its first significant action on 30 June 1916, during the Battle of the Boar's Head, when it dug communication trenches behind the assaulting troops. On several occasions during the battle the pioneers had to stop digging to defend themselves, and the battalion suffered 71 casualties. It saw action again towards the end of 1916 during operations on the Ancre, including the Battle of the Ancre Heights and the Battle of the Ancre. In March 1918, the battalion suffered particularly badly in the opening week of the Spring Offensive, during which it was required to take positions in the line as infantry, and by the time the division was withdrawn