[14][15] The 2nd Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the 7th Brigade in the 3rd Division in August 1914 and spent the entire war on the Western Front.

[14][15] The 3rd (Reserve) Battalion spent the whole war in England, initially at Crosby, later at Barrow-in-Furness in the Barrow Garrison, fulfilling its dual role of coast defence and preparing reinforcement drafts of regular reservists, special reservists, recruits and returning wounded for the regular battalions serving overseas.

In September and October 1914, it probably assisted in the formation of 10th (Reserve) Battalion, South Lancashires, at Crosby from Kitchener's Army volunteers.

[16][17][14][15] The 1/4th Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the 7th Brigade in the 3rd Division in February 1915 for service on the Western Front.

[14][15] The 1/5th Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the 12th Brigade in the 4th Division in February 1915 also for service on the Western Front.

[20] After the Armistice with Germany the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion went to Ireland and in 1919 it was stationed in Dublin carrying out duties in support of the civil power during the Partition crisis.

With this division, it landed at Sword Beach on D-Day and fought its way through the Normandy, the Netherlands and later the invasion of Germany.

[21] The 2nd Battalion was in Bombay in 1939, being transported back to Britain in July 1940 to defend the home front against the expected German invasion.

In 1942, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Michael West, later to become a full general, attached to the 29th Independent Infantry Brigade, it was part of Force 121, which invaded Madagascar in order to prevent use of the island by the Japanese.

[21] From April 1944 until the end of the war, it fought in the recapture of Burma, initially with the 36th Infantry Division alongside the 2nd Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment.

[23] The 13th Parachute Battalion saw combat during Operation Tonga, the British airborne landings in the early hours of 6 June 1944, D-Day.

[24] The battalion served as normal infantrymen for the duration of the Battle of Normandy until being withdrawn, with the rest of the division, to England in September 1944.