The Grenadier Guards in the Great War of 1914-1918, Vol. 1 of 3

by Frederick Ponsonby

MAPS

Route of the Second Battalion, 1914, and the Mons Area, 1914 [16]

Route taken by the Second Battalion Grenadier Guards during the Retreat from Mons, and subsequent advance to the Marne and the Aisne, 1914 [24]

Sketch plan of Landrecies, August 25, 1914 [28]

Engagement at Villers-Cotterêts, September 1, 1914 [34]

Battle of the Marne—Position of the British Army on September 8, 1914 [46]

The Passage of the Aisne, September 14, 1914 [58]

Ypres and the neighbouring country where the First Battle of Ypres was fought, October and November 1914 [84]

Route taken by the First Battalion Grenadier Guards through Belgium in October 1914 [90]

The Grenadier Guards at Ypres [142]

Battle of Neuve Chapelle, March 11, 1915 [226]

Neuve Chapelle, March 12, 1915 [235]

Neuve Chapelle, March 13, 1915 [241]

Festubert—Position on the evening of May 17, 1915 [248]

Battle of Loos, September 26, 1915 [298]

CHAPTER I
THE SITUATION BEFORE THE WAR

When the Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated at Sarajevo in Serbia on June 28, 1914, it never for a moment occurred to any one in this country that the crime could in any way affect the destinies of the First or Grenadier Regiment of Footguards. No one dreamed that, before another year had passed, not only would the three Battalions be fighting in a European war, but there would even be a 4th Battalion at the front, in addition to a 5th Reserve Battalion of almost unwieldy proportions.

Even when Austria began to show her teeth, it still seemed an "incident" quite beyond our horizon. If Austria and Serbia did come to blows, Great Britain was not even indirectly involved, and the British Army, therefore, remained unmoved. The Balkan peoples were constantly in a state of warlike commotion, but their troubles hardly affected the great British Empire. The war clouds, that from time to time darkened the European sky, had hitherto always been dispersed. More than once of late years the German Emperor had rattled his sword in the scabbard, and talked or telegraphed to the very limits of indiscretion, but nothing had ever come of it, nor did it seem at all probable that the assassination of an Austrian Archduke could be made the pretext for a European conflagration.

There were, however, certain elements of danger in the European situation at this particular juncture. The creation of the Triple Alliance—Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy—had made necessary some counter-move by the other European Powers. And the entente between England and France, initiated by King Edward, and originally intended merely for the settlement of outstanding differences between the two countries, became eventually the basis of a second grouping of nations. This entente was followed by one between England and Russia; and although in neither was there anything in the nature of a defensive alliance, it was well known that there was in existence—though the exact terms of it had never been made public—a far stronger agreement between France and Russia.

Meanwhile it was generally known that, all the time these several ententes were being formed, Germany had been steadily preparing for war. For forty years, with characteristic thoroughness of method, the Germans had been diligently organising their forces to this end. Not only had the Army been perfected into a first-class fighting machine, but the civil population had all been assigned the parts they were to play in the coming campaign. Trade problems had been handled, not so much with a view to commercial prosperity pure and simple, as to ensure to Germany a sufficient supply of the commodities which would be needed in a great war. Gigantic preparations had been made for a limitless output of shells and ammunition, and plans carefully elaborated for the conversion of factories of all kinds into workshops for war material. The whole State Railway system was controlled in such a way that, on the declaration of war, troops could be instantly concentrated at any selected spot with the utmost speed.

While many civilians saw and deprecated the arrogance and madness of such a policy, the military element, supported by the Emperor, was anxiously pressing for an opportunity of proving to the world the efficiency of the organisation it had created. It was only to be expected that the generals, who knew how vastly superior the German Army was to any other continental army, should hanker for an opportunity of showing off their perfect war-machine.

The attitude of the bankers and merchants towards the war was not clear. Originally, without doubt, they had favoured the insinuating methods of peaceful penetration, which had been so successful in the past, and by which they intended to dominate Europe, but just before the war they appear to have been allured by the prospect of large indemnities from France and Russia and to have withdrawn their opposition. They were persuaded by the military party that by war, and by war alone, could the domination of the world by Germany be achieved, and that now was the time to realise their dream. Young officers of both services made no secret of their wish for war, and constantly drank "to the Day" when they met at mess. The more intelligent portion of the German population quieted what conscience they had with the comfortable reflection that all military and naval preparations were merely ordinary precautions for defence. Indeed this theory, cunningly instilled into the German people by the military party, was so generally accepted that even after the war was declared the majority was under the delusion that it was fighting only for the defence of the Fatherland.

Although the attitude of Germany towards England did not play any prominent part in the events which led up to the war, there undoubtedly existed in Germany a deep hatred of this country. Commercial rivalry and the desire of the Germans to found a Colonial Empire on the same lines as ours would hardly account for this feeling, which permeated every class, and it is to the Flotte Verein or Navy League that we must look if we wish to find the reason. Originally instituted to instil into the youth of Germany a desire for sea power, this organisation, by means of propaganda, speeches, and pamphlets, succeeded in convincing the rising generation that we were their natural enemies. The arguments were invariably pointed by reference to the British Fleet, which, it was said, could dominate Germany's world policy, and so young Germans grew up with a feeling of terror for the British Fleet and hatred for the British nation.

In spite of everything, England slumbered on, hypnotised by politicians who had convinced themselves by a process of mental gymnastics that war was an impossibility. The contingency of a British Army being sent to France was never even discussed by the House of Commons, and the logical outcome of our European policy appears never to have occurred to either House of Parliament.

While Germany was studiously preparing for war, we were engaged in academic discussions on disarmament, and although members of the Imperial Defence Committee and a limited number of Cabinet Ministers may have known of the possibility of our having to send an expeditionary force to France, the man in the street, and even the majority of members of Parliament, were completely in the dark as to the true significance of the position of affairs in Europe.

The whole situation was singularly favourable to the Germans. Never before had they been so strong, and probably never again would they have such a powerful Fleet and Army. For some years it had been growing clear to them that if ever they were to strike, they must strike soon. The Socialists were becoming stronger every day, and there were constant grumblings, which ever-increasing prosperity failed to stifle, at the enormous expenditure on armaments. The nation might weaken as the years went on, and there was every probability that the Government would find it impossible to maintain indefinitely a huge Army and a huge Fleet. If they failed to take advantage of this opportunity they might never again be in a position to dominate Europe.

Though Austria had long been tied to the wheels of the German chariot, there was always the danger of the Hungarians and Bohemians refusing to support Germany, should the quarrel be purely German. It was therefore necessary to make the casus belli essentially Austrian. What better opportunity could ever offer itself than the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne? Moreover, the new heir, perhaps soon to be the new Emperor, might not be willing to endorse all his predecessor's pledges, and Austria might conceivably drift apart from her ally. Clearly, therefore, if Germany, with Austria's help, was to strike a blow at Russia and France, she must do so forthwith.

The war party held that together Germany and Austria were more than a match for France and Russia. Italy was a member of the Triple Alliance, and would either come in on their side or remain neutral. Great Britain, it imagined, would be unable to take any part owing to her internal troubles. It appears to have taken it for granted that the Dominions and Colonies would in any case seize the occasion for declaring their independence, and that there would certainly be a second mutiny in India. There was therefore no need to consider the British Empire in calculating the chances of success. A parade march to Paris would settle France in a short time, and then the whole forces of the two Empires would be turned on Russia. A glorious and victorious peace would be signed before the end of the year.

With such calculations as these, it is hardly to be wondered at that the rulers of Germany decided on war at once. To their dismay, however, Serbia submitted to the terms dictated by Austria, and it seemed at one moment that the whole incident would be closed. Acting on Russia's advice, Serbia agreed to all the points in the Austrian memorandum but two. These practically threatened her independence, but there was nothing that could not be satisfactorily settled by an impartial tribunal. But, as despatches and telegrams were exchanged between the European Powers, it gradually became clear that the original dispute between Austria and Serbia had now nothing to do with the matter. Sir Edward Grey made a final attempt to avert war by proposing a conference, but this proposal came to naught, and the determination on the part of Germany to force a war appeared to be stronger than ever. However sincere the Emperor's wish for peace may have been, he was powerless in the hands of a military autocracy which he himself had created. Ever since he had ascended the throne, he had set the military over the civilian element, and now, finding himself powerless to resist the demands of the war party, he determined to place himself at their head.

On July 31 Germany despatched an ultimatum to Russia demanding immediate demobilisation. This was tantamount to a declaration of war, but war was not actually declared till the next day. The declaration of war with France followed as a natural sequence.

Such was the situation at the beginning of August. With disinterested detachment the British Empire watched the preliminary negotiations, and even when war was declared between the two groups of Powers, public opinion was divided as to which course we should adopt. When, however, Germany violated the neutrality of Belgium, all doubt was removed, and we declared war on August 4. The whole Empire was stirred to the depths, and in London huge crowds paraded the streets and assembled outside Buckingham Palace to cheer the King and the Queen. The wildest rumours were circulated and believed. Fantastic tales were told to every one in confidence by well-informed men in the street, and eagerly swallowed by excited dupes.

Then the curtain was pulled down, and the British public was allowed to know nothing. What troops were going, where they were going, when they were going, all became matters of conjecture.

Meanwhile, silently and surely, the British Expeditionary Force found its way over to France.

CHAPTER II
ARRIVAL OF THE 2ND BATTALION IN FRANCE

2nd Batt. Aug. 1914.

To any neutral not completely blinded by German sympathies it must have been only too palpable that the last thing we were prepared for was a European war, for not only had we no men to speak of, but there appeared to be no competent organisation for dealing with a levée en masse. Relying on the warlike instinct of our race, we had clung tenaciously to the voluntary system, under the impression that it was best suited to our needs. Even if conscription had been politically possible, it was out of the question, since we had neither rifles, clothing, nor barrack accommodation. The Territorial Associations, which were expected to cope with the masses of men who at once began to flock to the colours, were found so inadequate that Lord Kitchener decided to improvise an entirely new organisation.

In the inevitable confusion which occurred after the declaration of war, there were, however, two factors which stood the test successfully, and which may be said to have saved the country from disaster in the initial stages of the war. The first was the equipment and despatch of the Expeditionary Force, which was perfect in every detail, and the second was the assembly of the Territorial Forces, originally designed to repel invasion, but now utilised to garrison India and the Colonies.

When war was declared, the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards was at Wellington Barracks, the rest of the Expeditionary Force being mostly at Aldershot. The speed with which the Battalion was mobilised reflected the greatest credit on all concerned. Its equipment was all ready; reservists arrived from all parts of the country with a promptitude that was truly remarkable. It was on August 4 that mobilisation orders were received, and the Battalion was soon ready to start on active service.

Meantime, while the preparations were still in progress, there occurred an unrehearsed little incident, typical in its way of the unspectacular, practical side of modern war. As the 2nd Battalion was returning to Wellington Barracks from a route march, the King and Queen came down to the gates of Buckingham Palace, quite informally, to see the troops pass by. There was neither pageantry nor gorgeous uniforms, but those who were privileged to be present on the occasion will not easily forget the business-like body of men of splendid physique, clad in dull khaki, who marched past in fours, and saluted the King, their Colonel-in-Chief, as they returned to barracks.

Aug. 12.

The start for France was made on August 12. The First Army Corps, under the command of General Sir Douglas Haig, consisted of:

FIRST DIVISION. Major-General LOMAX

1st Brigade. Brigadier-General Maxse.

The 1st Batt. Coldstream Guards.

The 1st Batt. Scots Guards.

The 1st Batt. Black Watch.

The 2nd Batt. Munster Fusiliers.

2nd Brigade. Brigadier-General Bulfin.

The 2nd Batt. Royal Sussex Regiment.

The 1st Batt. North Lancashire Regiment.

The 1st Batt. Northamptonshire Regiment.

The 2nd Batt. King's Royal Rifles.

3rd Brigade. Brigadier-General Landon.

The 1st Batt. West Surrey Regiment.

The 1st Batt. South Wales Borderers.

The 1st Batt. Gloucestershire Regiment.

The 2nd Batt. Welsh Regiment.

SECOND DIVISION. Major-General MONRO

4th Brigade. Brigadier-General Scott-Kerr.

The 2nd Batt. Grenadier Guards.

The 2nd Batt. Coldstream Guards.

The 3rd Batt. Coldstream Guards.

The 1st Batt. Irish Guards.

5th Brigade. Brigadier-General Haking.

The 2nd Batt. Worcestershire Regiment.

The 2nd Batt. Oxfordshire Light Infantry.

The 2nd Batt. Highland Light Infantry.

The 2nd Batt. Connaught Rangers.

6th Brigade. Brigadier-General Davies.

The 1st Batt. Liverpool Regiment.

The 2nd Batt. South Staffordshire Regiment.

The 1st Batt. Berkshire Regiment.

The 1st Batt. King's Royal Rifles.

The Second Army Corps, under General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, consisted of the Third Division, under Major-General Hamilton, and the Fifth Division under Major-General Sir Charles Fergusson, Bart. (an old Grenadier).

The Roll of Officers, 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards, embarked for active service on the 12th of August

Headquarters—

Lieut.-Colonel N. A. L. Corry, D.S.O., Commanding.

Brevet-Lieut.-Colonel Lord Loch, M.V.O., D.S.O., Senior Major.

Lieut. and Adjutant I. McDougall (Adjutant).

Lieut. Hon. W. A. Cecil (Machine-Gun Officer).

Hon. Lieut. and Quartermaster J. H. Skidmore (Quartermaster).

Company Commanders—

No. 2 Company. Major Lord B. C. Gordon-Lennox.

No. 1 Company. Major G. C. Hamilton.

No. 4 Company. Captain the Hon. E. M. Colston, M.V.O.

No. 3 Company. Captain D. C. L. Stephen.

Captains—

No. 2 Company. Captain E. G. H. Powell.

No. 4 Company. Captain E. J. L. Pike.

No. 3 Company. Captain A. B. R. R. Gosselin.

No. 1 Company. Captain C. Symes-Thompson.

Lieutenants—

Lieut. Hon. F. E. Needham.

Lieut. C. F. A. Walker.

Lieut. A. K. Mackenzie.

Lieut. R. W. G. Welby.

Lieut. F. W. Des Voeux.

Lieut. R. Wolrige Gordon.

Lieut. H.H. Prince Alexander of Battenberg, G.C.V.O.

Lieut. Hon. J. N. Manners.

Lieut. M. G. Stocks.

2nd Lieutenants—

2nd Lieut. F. W. J. M. Miller.

2nd Lieut. G. C. Fitz H. Harcourt Vernon.

2nd Lieut. G. G. B. Nugent.

2nd Lieut. J. R. Pickersgill Cunliffe.

2nd Lieut. R. H. M. Vereker.

2nd Lieut. A. K. S. Cunninghame.

2nd Lieut. G. E. Cecil.

Lord Loch was appointed to the Staff after the Battalion landed in France, and Major Jeffreys took his place as senior Major on August 18.

Queen Alexandra came to see the Battalion off and wish it God-speed when it paraded at Chelsea Barracks that afternoon. With Her Majesty, to whom all the officers were presented, were Princess Victoria and Princess Beatrice. Headed by the band of the regiment, the Battalion then marched to Nine Elms and entrained for Southampton Docks, where it embarked on the Cawdor Castle, and finally sailed at 8 o'clock for France.

Strictest secrecy had been observed about its destination, and the captain of the ship himself did not know where he was bound for until she was actually under way. It was lucky that it was a lovely night and the sea quite calm, for the vessel was crowded to its utmost capacity. The following message from Lord Kitchener had been handed to each man when the Battalion embarked:

You are ordered abroad as a soldier of the King to help our French comrades against the invasion of a common enemy. You have to perform a task which will need your courage, your energy, your patience.

Remember that the conduct of the British Army depends on your individual conduct. It will be your duty, not only to set an example of discipline and perfect steadiness under fire, but also to maintain the most friendly relations with those whom you are helping in the struggle. The operations in which you are engaged will, for the most part, take place in a friendly country, and you can do your own country no better service than in showing yourself in France and Belgium in the true character of a British soldier.

Be invariably courteous, considerate, and kind. Never do anything likely to injure or destroy property, and always look upon looting as a disgraceful act. You are sure to meet with a welcome and to be trusted; your conduct must justify that welcome and that trust. Your duty cannot be done unless your health is sound. So keep constantly on your guard against any excesses. In this new experience you may find temptations in wine and women. You must entirely resist both temptations, and while treating women with perfect courtesy you should avoid any intimacy.

Do your duty bravely.
Fear God.
Honour the King.

Kitchener, Field-Marshal.

Aug. 13.

Next morning the ship was found to be nearing Havre, and the men were full of curiosity to see what manner of land France was. Meanwhile, from French fishing-boats and trawlers came loud cheers at the welcome sight of the arrival of the forces of Great Britain. A still more enthusiastic greeting awaited the Battalion when it landed, and marched through the numerous docks on the outskirts of the town to a camp about five miles away. The inhabitants crowded round the men, and threw flowers at them as they marched by, while from all sides came welcoming shouts of "Vive les Anglais," "Vive l'Angleterre," and "Eep-eep-ooray."

When the 2nd Battalion arrived in France, the German Army had already overrun Belgium. For nearly ten days the Belgian Army had held up the Germans, but Liége had fallen, and there was nothing now to prevent the enemy from pouring into France. The French Army, as soon as it was mobilised, had begun a general offensive towards Alsace and Lorraine, but after some small successes had been checked at Morhange. A complete alteration in the French plan of campaign was rendered necessary by the advance of the German Army through Belgium, and troops were now being hurried up towards the North from every part of France.

The original disposition of the British Expeditionary Force was as follows: The Headquarters of the First Corps (the First and Second Divisions) under Sir Douglas Haig, at Wassigny; the Headquarters of the Second Corps (the Third and Fifth Divisions), under Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, at Nouvion; while the Cavalry Division, under General Allenby, was sent to Maubeuge.

Aug. 14.

It was a scorching, airless day, and the march to camp was a very trying one. But after a good sleep and a bathe in the sea the men were thoroughly refreshed and fit. Then, after the usual inspections, they were formed up on parade, and the King's message was read out to them:

Message from the King to the Troops of the Expeditionary Force

You are leaving home to fight for the safety and honour of my empire.

Belgium, whose Country we are pledged to defend, has been attacked and France is about to be invaded by the same powerful foe.

I have implicit confidence in you, my soldiers. Duty is your watchword, and I know your duty will be nobly done.

I shall follow your every movement with deepest interest and mark with eager satisfaction your daily progress, indeed your welfare will never be absent from my thoughts.

I pray God to bless you and guard you and bring you back victorious.

George R.I.

The whole population of Havre seemed to have come out to see the Battalion when it marched the same evening to the entraining point. The crowd cheered and shouted, and the men responded with "The Marseillaise." When they reached the siding the disappointing news met them that the train would not start for another four hours. It began to rain heavily, but fortunately there were large hangars available, into which the men crowded for shelter.

Aug. 15.

Eventually when the train arrived at 2 A.M., the men were packed into it, and very crowded they were. Sleep was difficult, as the horse-wagons attached to the train were loosely coupled, and there was a succession of bumps whenever the train stopped or slowed down. The first real stop was at Rouen, where provisions were obtained for the men, and then the train bumped on to Amiens.

Route of the Second Battalion, 1914

Fervent scenes of welcome went on all along the line. Each little wayside station, every bridge and level-crossing held a cheering throng. At Arras the Mayor turned out in state with a number of local magnates, and presented three large bouquets, for which Colonel Corry returned thanks on behalf of the officers, in his best French.

A touch of humour was not wanting at the little ceremony—if any one had been in the mood to seize hold of it. For, caught unawares, Colonel Corry, Lord Loch, and Lord Bernard Gordon-Lennox were anything but arrayed for a function, in fact, in a state of decided deshabille. But such was the enthusiasm of the inhabitants that a trifle like this passed unnoticed or unconsidered.

The stationmaster here said he was passing trains through at the rate of one every ten or fifteen minutes, which gives some idea of the great concentration of troops that was going on.

Slowly the train went on through Cambrai, Busigny, and Vaux Andigny to Flavigny, where, in pouring rain, the Battalion detrained and went into billets—surprisingly well arranged; but then Flavigny had plenty of experience in that way, and only a few days before had lodged the French troops.

Aug. 16-20.

Next morning parade was at 7 o'clock for the march to Grougis, about seven and a half miles off, where four days were spent in billets, and Colonel Corry took advantage of the breathing space to have his officers and men inoculated against typhoid.

The concentration of the British Force in the Busigny area was now completed, and the advance towards Mons was to begin the next day.

Aug. 20-22.

Off again on the 20th, the Battalion marched to Oisy (where it was again billeted), and on the following days to Maroilles and La Longueville. Here for the first time it heard the guns, and realised that very soon it would be getting to work.

On the 21st, following the plan concerted with General Joffre, Sir John French took up a defensive position from Condé on the west to Binche to the east—a front of about twenty-five miles. The British Army was thus on the extreme left of the French lines. To the First Corps was assigned the easterly position from Mons to Binche, while the Second Corps lined the canal from Mons to Condé, the whole front being covered by the 5th Cavalry Brigade.

Originally the scheme appears to have been to await the enemy's onslaught on the Charleroi—Mons line, and then to assume the offensive and advance into Belgium.

How far-reaching the German preparations had been was at that time hardly recognised, and neither the French nor the British Commander-in-Chief seems to have had any conception of the overwhelming force which the Germans had been able to concentrate against them.

Aug. 23.

From La Longueville the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers marched on August 23, during the last stages of its journey, across the field of Malplaquet, where more than 200 years before the regiment had fought with distinction, through Blaregnies and Genly to the outskirts of Mons, where it bivouacked. There it received orders to advance, which were countermanded before they could be carried out, and the Battalion was told to remain where it was. There was nothing to do but have breakfast and an hour's sleep by the roadside, with showers falling at intervals. All the time heavy firing could be heard from the direction of Mons, and shells bursting could be observed in the distance.

Orders then came for the Battalion to march back to Quevy le Petit, about five miles off, where the men fondly imagined they would again be comfortably billeted. But hardly had they arrived there when they were sent forward again. As they were marching down a dusty track General Scott-Kerr rode up, and directed the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers and the Irish Guards to move up close behind the ridge east of Spiennes in support of the Irish Rifles. At the same time the two Coldstream battalions were ordered to entrench themselves just east of Harveng, presumably as a precaution in case the Brigade should have to retire. Heavy firing was now going on all round, and the ridge which overlooked St. Symphorien to the north was being vigorously shelled by the Germans, who had got the range to a nicety, and were bursting their shells over it with accuracy. It was about 6 P.M. when the Battalion, advancing through Harveng, proceeded in artillery formation for about one and a half miles to the hill near Spiennes. The men huddled close together under the banks on the reverse slope of the hill just over the railway line, while bullets and shells whistled over their heads. As they were lying there they were amused to see the signalman walk slowly down the line as if nothing in particular was happening. He had to light the lamps, and saw no reason why the ordinary routine which he had carried out probably for many years should be interfered with. One of the officers called out to him in French, and explained that the Germans were advancing, but he merely murmured "ça m'est égal," and continued his work, apparently unconscious of the bullets that were striking the line.

Meanwhile, Colonel Corry and Major Jeffreys went up to the position occupied by the Irish Rifles, who were holding their own well under a heavy rifle fire.

When they returned to their men it was getting dark, and at 10.30 a message came from the O.C. Irish Rifles, that his battalion was retiring. It appeared therefore to Colonel Corry that the position was becoming untenable, since the Irish Rifles on his left had already retired, and both flanks of the Battalion were exposed. He consulted Colonel Morris of the Irish Guards, and they both came to the conclusion that the best course would be to retire to Harveng.

The difficulty was to communicate with the Brigadier. The telephone to Brigade Headquarters had been cut by shell-fire, and so Colonel Corry rode back to find General Scott-Kerr. He could not be discovered, and was reported to have gone to Divisional Headquarters. There seemed no prospect whatever of finding him, and it was now past midnight. Thereupon Colonel Corry determined to take upon himself the responsibility of ordering the retirement of the two battalions. His impression was that in a case like this, when local conditions could not be known to the Divisional Staff, it was for the man on the spot to make his own decision.

Superior authority, however, afterwards held that while under exceptional circumstances such powers might well be delegated to the man in mediis rebus, in a case like this it could not be admitted that an officer in actual touch with the enemy was the best judge of how long a position should be held. It was felt that there were many considerations in a decision of this sort, of which the officer in the front line could know very little. Colonel Corry was therefore severely blamed for his action, and was a fortnight later relieved of his command.

Aug. 24.

At 1 o'clock in the morning the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers and the Irish Guards retired, but they had only gone a couple of miles towards Harveng when they were ordered to go back and occupy the ridge they had just left. Back they went, and got as far as the foot of the hill, only to receive another order to retire to Harveng. By this time the men were absolutely tired out. They had started at 3.30 the previous morning, and had been on the move for twenty-four hours, with only occasional halts by the roadside.

It was just at this point in the engagement that Sir John French received what he described in his despatch as a most unexpected message. It came from General Joffre, who informed him that the French Forces had been compelled, by superior numbers, to retire, and that consequently the Fifth French Army, which was immediately on our right, had vacated its line. Two German corps were advancing on the British position, while a third corps was engaged in a turning movement in the direction of Tournai. Divisions of French Territorials had been promised in support of the left flank, but, except for a Brigade at Tournai, no French troops arrived from the west. There was therefore no alternative for Sir John French but to retire.

CHAPTER III
THE RETREAT FROM MONS (2ND BATTALION)

Thus began that historic, terrible, splendid retreat from Mons. Long weary marches were to be the lot of the British Army for many a day, but fortunately no one realised what lay ahead, or the stoutest hearts might well have quailed.

Long before it was over, the men's boots—not Crimean ones of brown paper, but good, sound English leather—had been worn into shreds by those interminable, pitiless paving-stones, that had withstood centuries of traffic. Even the men with the toughest skins suffered badly from their feet. Clouds of dust and the heavy atmosphere arising from men in close formation added to the trials of marching. Constant cries of "Feel your right" (to let cavalry or wagons pass by), the wearisome burden of the pack on the shoulders, which drove many men to throw away their most prized possessions, the frequent futile digging of trenches, abandoned as soon as they were dug, the orders and counter-orders—all made the days that followed a positive nightmare to the Army.

Such continuous retirement had never been practised. It was against all tradition, and the men grumbled constantly at the seemingly never-ending retreat. But what other course could the "contemptible little army" have followed in the face of the enemy's overwhelming force?

Aug. 24.

On the 24th Sir H. Smith-Dorrien started off with the Second Corps, while a demonstration was made by the First Corps in the direction of Binche, and dug a line four miles south of Mons to enable the First Corps to retire. It was evident that the Germans were straining every effort to surround the British Army, and therefore to hold on too long to any line was extremely dangerous. The Fifth French Army was still in full retirement, and the First French Cavalry Corps was so exhausted that General Sordet could promise no assistance. The greater part of the British Cavalry Division, with the exception of the regiments covering the retreat of the two British Corps, was guarding the left flank. The arrival of the Fourth Division at Le Cateau had been a welcome addition, but as it was only too probable that the Germans would make every effort to envelop the left of the whole line of the Allies, it was important to have strong reinforcements on that flank.

Route taken by the Second Batt. Grenadier Guards during the Retreat from Mons, and subsequent advance to the Marne and the Aisne. 1914.

Two hours' sleep was all the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers was allowed on that fateful 24th of August, weary as it was after its twenty-four hours on end of marching and fighting. At daybreak it marched to Quevy le Grand, where the men were ordered to dig themselves in. They were quite in the dark about what was going on round them. What force was opposed to them or why they were retiring, no one knew. The greatest secrecy prevailed. Although it was cold and foggy early, it soon became scorching hot and the men were tired, but when the word went round that this was not a rearguard action, but a determined stand, the digging became a serious matter, and they set to with a will. The Germans advanced very slowly and cautiously, gradually pushing back our Cavalry Patrols, who could be seen retiring. They shelled the Mons—Maubeuge Road and also Quevy le Grand, but as the line of the road was not held, our position being some hundreds of yards in rear of it, little damage was done, although a few men were hit in the village.

But at 2 P.M. another order came to evacuate the trenches and concentrate on the left. "Concentration" proved to be a euphemism for further retirement, and after a long and dusty march the Battalion bivouacked south of La Longueville.

Aug. 25. Landrecies.

Next morning at 5 o'clock it started on another hot and lengthy march through Pont sur Sambre, Leval, and Noyelles to Landrecies, which was reached at 4 P.M. It went into billets and settled down to rest. But soon afterwards a trooper from the cavalry patrols rode into the town with the news that the Germans were coming; the alarm was given, and the men stood to arms. Nothing further happened, however, and they returned to their billets. The 3rd Battalion Coldstream provided the outposts, and the rest of the brigade were just settling down once more in the hope of a restful night when a second alarm sounded. This time it was a real one. The Germans were advancing in force on Maroilles and Landrecies.

Though the night was very dark there was no confusion, as the men poured hurriedly out from their billets to fall in. Some were at once detailed to build emergency barricades in the streets, and as the tool limbers were taken for this purpose the Battalion never had any heavy tools for the rest of the retreat. The houses on the front of the town were rapidly put in a state of defence; loopholes were made, and the furniture, or anything handy, was pushed up to make the walls bullet-proof.

As it turned out, the enterprise of a small patrol of Uhlans, who rode unopposed into the town during the afternoon, had proved a very fortunate thing for the defenders. For it seems to have been assumed at first that the town was covered by troops from other brigades, and when the 3rd Battalion Coldstream was ordered to furnish outposts it had been considered a quite unnecessary precaution. After the Uhlan incursion, even the most optimistic could hardly have needed convincing.

When all the dispositions had been made the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers was distributed as follows: Nos. 2 and 3 Companies, under the command of Major Lord Bernard Lennox and Captain Stephen, held the level-crossing over the railway, and watched the right and left flanks of the road leading over the Sambre. No. 1 Company, under Major Hamilton, held the two sides on the left, while No. 4 Company, under Captain Colston, in reserve, was posted on the bridge over the Sambre.

The first warning that the enemy was at hand was given at 8 P.M. by the firing of the picquets. When the alarm went there was still sufficient light for the men to get into their positions, but soon after it became pitch dark, and the rain began to fall. Suddenly shadowy forms were observed by the outposts moving in the darkness. Evidently they realised that they had been seen, for a voice was heard calling out, "Don't shoot. We are the French." The trick at that time was new to us. Our men naturally hesitated at first to fire, and this gave the Germans their opportunity for a forward rush.

Very critical moments followed. The two forces were only a short distance apart, and in the darkness a retreat would have been fatal, but the splendid discipline of the Guards saved the situation. Everywhere the attacking Germans found themselves beating up against a wall of stubborn resistance. They brought up a couple of guns and poured shells into the town at almost point-blank range; they even fired case-shot down the road. Again and again they charged, only to be met and mowed down by a withering fire. The machine-guns of the Grenadiers were moved up to help the Coldstream, and came into action at a very critical moment. They were largely instrumental in repelling the enemy's attack, and were well handled by Lieutenant the Hon. W. Cecil, who was slightly wounded. Private Rule particularly distinguished himself by sticking to his gun and continuing to fight it, although he had been blown off his feet by the blast of a H.E. shell. The brunt of the attack was borne at the start by the 3rd Battalion Coldstream, which lost heavily in this fight; but in the Grenadiers the casualties were not great.

Soon burning houses were lighting up the battlefield, and it began to be possible to distinguish friend from foe. During one of the bursts of firing Lieutenant Vereker was hit, and fell shot through the head. After the first heavy attacks had been repulsed, the enemy tried to get round the left of the Coldstream in the direction of the railway-station, but there was met by a steady fire from No. 2 Company, under Major Lord Bernard Lennox, and could make no headway. Splendid work was done by a field howitzer, which had been manhandled up to the level-crossing, and which succeeded in silencing the enemy's guns.

Sketch plan of Landrecies.

Finally, about midnight, the enemy evidently realised the futility of going on with the attack, and retreated once more into the darkness. But spasmodic firing continued for some time, and it was not until nearly 2 A.M. that the night became still, and the men were able to strengthen their position. It was afterwards learnt that the Germans who took part in the attack had been pushed up to Landrecies in two hundred motor lorries. How severely they had been handled may be surmised from the fact that they allowed the Grenadiers and 3rd Battalion Coldstream to retire unmolested over a single bridge across the Sambre. Writing of this engagement in his despatch of September 7, Sir John French said:

The 4th Guards Brigade in Landrecies was heavily attacked by troops of the Ninth German Army Corps, who were coming through the forest on the north of the town. This brigade fought most gallantly and caused the enemy to suffer tremendous loss in issuing from the forest into the narrow streets of the town. This loss has been estimated from reliable sources at from 700 to 1000.

In the meantime the Second Corps was between Le Cateau and Caudry with the 19th Brigade, which had been brought up from the lines of communication on the left and the Fourth Division south of Cambrai. The German First Army launched a serious attack along the whole of this line, and Sir H. Smith-Dorrien, finding himself outnumbered and out-gunned, had the greatest difficulty in breaking off the engagement and continuing the retirement.

Aug. 26.

At daybreak the 4th Brigade again got orders to retire, and marched unmolested to Etreux. Unfortunately many of the men had no time to retrieve their kits, which they had left at their billets, and all these were left behind. The troops were dead beat, having again had practically no sleep after a long day's marching and fighting. Every time a halt was made the whole Battalion fell fast asleep, and when the march had to be resumed it was very hard to rouse the men. It might seem hardly worth while to sleep during a brief halt of only a few minutes, with the prospect of a painful reawakening to the realities of the situation as the inevitable sequel. But most of the men were so thoroughly worn out that they eagerly welcomed even the doubtful blessing of such a respite. In the distance heavy firing could be heard in the direction of Le Cateau, and at one time it seemed probable the 4th Brigade might be sent off to support the hard-pressed Second Corps.

Etreux was reached at last, and the Battalion proceeded to dig itself in. During the afternoon a German aeroplane flew very low over the bivouac, and dropped a bomb, which, however, did no damage. Every one who had a rifle handy had a shot at the unwelcome visitor; eventually it was forced down a mile away, where it was picked up by the cavalry. In it were found three officers, two dead and one wounded.

Aug. 27.

Another long dusty march lay before the Brigade on the following day. Continuing the retirement, it passed through Vénérolles, Tupigny, Vadencourt, and Hauteville to Mont d'Origny. A report was brought in that a large force of the enemy had been seen near St. Quentin, but this proved to be inaccurate. That night the First Corps was in a most critical position. The Germans had nearly surrounded them, and urgent orders to entrench the high ground north and east of Mont d'Origny were received; but although the weary troops dug on till midnight, nothing occurred, and at 3.30 A.M. the Battalion started off again.

Aug. 28.

It reached Deuillet near La Fère, where it had the only day's halt during the retreat. On the way the Scots Greys and 12th Lancers charged a large force of German cavalry and utterly routed them, making many prisoners, but otherwise nothing was seen of the enemy.

On arrival at Deuillet, the usual procedure was gone through, and a position in defence was entrenched, the men working at it all day.

Aug. 29.

In the evening an electrifying report, which cheered every one up, went round that there was to be a general advance. But when the order came it was the usual one to retire, and another hot march of twenty-eight miles followed. The weary, wearing ordeal of long day marches and but little sleep had commenced again. As soon as it was decided to continue the retreat, and the whole British Force had crossed over the Oise, the bridges were blown up. The heat was intense. There was practically no wind, and the dust was stifling; a very large number of men were suffering from sore feet, and there was a good deal of grumbling in the ranks at the endless marching in the wrong direction. But there was no prospect of a long rest, and those battalions which were unlucky enough to leave men behind never saw them again. Not a man from the 2nd Grenadiers, however, fell out.

The two corps which had been dangerously separated were now once more united, but the pursuing Germans were very near, and the situation still gave rise to much anxiety. Information was received to the effect that five or six German corps were pursuing the Fifth French Army, while at least two corps were advancing on the British Army. The situation on the left of the British Army was obscure, but it was reported that the enemy had three or four more corps endeavouring to creep round that flank. In response to Sir John French's representations, General Joffre ordered the Fifth French Army to attack the enemy on the Somme with the object of relieving the pressure on the British Army.

Aug. 30-31.

The Battalion reached Soissons about midday on the 30th, and was ordered to occupy the ridge near Pasly, about two miles north of the town. Next day it tramped on to Soucy, a very hard march in great heat, finishing up with a steep climb. Here it bivouacked as usual, and snatched what rest it could. But a full night's sleep was always out of the question, and soon after midnight the whole Brigade was directed to form a rearguard, to cover the retirement of the Second Division.

Sept. 1. Villers-Cotterêts.

Accordingly trenches were dug in the high ground above Soucy, No. 4 Company Grenadiers being detached to guard the right flank in a position leading across a deep ravine to the high ground above Montgobert. It was to rejoin the Battalion when it retired to the forest of Villers-Cotterêts. Soon after the Germans came in sight, and retirement from the first position was successfully effected. The 2nd Battalion Grenadiers and 3rd Battalion Coldstream made their way into the wood, the edges of which were held by the Irish Guards and 2nd Battalion Coldstream, and took up a fresh position along the line of the main road running east and west through Rond de la Reine.

Thick mist hung over the country, and the dense undergrowth made the passage of the wood difficult. The Germans, it was assumed, would not attempt to penetrate the wood, but would be content to use the roads and drives. The assumption proved to be wrong—fortunately for us. As it happened, they came through the very thickest part, and in so doing lost cohesion and direction. Probably, in fact, it was their doing this, and the confusion into which they were consequently thrown, that enabled the 4th Brigade to break off the action later in the evening and retire unmolested.

The 2nd Battalion Grenadiers held the right of the line. From a strategic point of view, the position it occupied could not well have been worse. But in a rearguard action there is often no choice. It was absolutely necessary to retard the advance of the enemy through the wood, so that the rest of the Division should get away.

During the time of waiting for the oncoming Germans, the Scots Greys and 12th Lancers suddenly appeared, coming down the ride on the right. They had been attracted by the firing, and came to see what was going on. They dismounted, and, finding many friends among the Grenadiers, started "coffee-housing" for a while. But the firing in the outskirts of the wood began to sound serious, and they rode off along the road to the left, with the idea of operating against the enemy's right.

A few minutes later the Germans appeared, and a fight at close quarters began. The firing became very hot, as in some places the opposing forces were hardly seventy yards apart. Good work was done by the machine-guns of the Grenadiers and Irish Guards, which accounted for a large number of Germans, while the men charged repeatedly with the bayonet and drove the enemy back. Gallantly, stolidly, the 4th Brigade held on until the order came to retire.

Even with highly-disciplined troops, a rear-guard action in a wood is one of the most difficult manoeuvres to carry out well. It is quite impossible for the commanding officer to keep a firm grip of his battalion when it is scattered about in different rides; orders passed along often do not reach all the platoons, and men of different companies, and even regiments, are wont to get hopelessly mixed. Fortunately in the Brigade of Guards the men are all trained on the same system, and, except for some small characteristic differences, a man belonging to one regiment will be quite at home in any of the others.

At Villers-Cotterêts the men of the 4th Brigade became very much mixed, and officers took command of the men who happened to be near them. The wood, too, was so thick that at fifty yards' distance parties were practically out of sight of each other. One result of this difficulty of keeping in touch was that two platoons of No. 4 Company never got the order to retire.

Engagement at Villers-Cotterêts. September 1. 1914.

These two platoons, under the command of Lieutenant the Hon. F. E. Needham and Lieutenant the Hon. J. N. Manners, were at the Cross Roads at Rond de la Reine. As the Germans came on, Brigadier-General Scott-Kerr, finding that they were creeping round his left flank, ordered these two platoons down a ride to the left, to enfilade them. Making the best dispositions they could, these two officers continued to fight, when they suddenly realised that they were cut off and the Germans were on all sides of them. True to the traditions of the Regiment, they stuck to their posts, and fought on till all were killed or wounded.

Lieutenant the Hon. J. N. Manners was killed while directing the fire of his platoon, and Lieutenant the Hon. F. Needham, badly wounded, was taken prisoner. Lieutenant G. E. Cecil, another officer belonging to these platoons, seeing the Germans streaming across a ride to his left, dashed off with some men to stop them. He had not gone far before he was shot through the hand; stumbling forward, he recovered his feet, and, drawing his sword, he called on the men to charge when a bullet struck him in the head. And there were other casualties among the officers. Earlier in the day the Adjutant of the Battalion, Lieutenant I. MacDougall, was shot dead while carrying orders to the firing-line. His place was taken by Captain E. J. L. Pike. The Brigadier-General, Scott-Kerr, who rode up to give some orders, was badly wounded in the thigh, and the command of the Brigade passed to Colonel Corry, while Major Jeffreys took over the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers. Field-Marshal Sir John French, on hearing of this, sent the following telegram to Brigadier-General Scott-Kerr, care of Communications:

My warm congratulations on gallantry of your Brigade A A A am deeply grieved to hear you are wounded A A A I shall miss your valuable help very much A A A my best wishes for your recovery.

French.

Captain W. T. Payne-Gallwey, M.V.O., who was in charge of the machine-guns in the First Brigade, was reported missing.

Orders were given to retire, and the Battalion quietly withdrew in single file of half-platoons, covered by a rear party from No. 2 Company. The enemy, as already stated, had been thrown into hopeless confusion in the wood, and, in spite of a prodigious amount of shouting and blowing of horns, could not get forward. Some three hours later a second engagement was fought on the other side of Villers-Cotterêts. The 4th Brigade retired through the 6th Brigade, which with the field artillery had taken up a position at the edge of another wood. The enemy's first shells came over as the 4th Brigade moved into the wood. The British guns succeeded in keeping the Germans at bay, but were only got away with the utmost difficulty and some loss.

Having borne the brunt of the fighting, the 4th Brigade had necessarily suffered heavy casualties.

The 2nd Battalion Grenadiers lost 4 officers and 160 men, while the Irish Guards lost 4 officers and the Coldstream 7, as well as a large number of men. Two exceptionally good officers in the Irish Guards were killed—Colonel the Hon. G. Morris and Major H. F. Crichton. The latter served in the Grenadiers for some years before exchanging into the Irish Guards.[^[1]]

On emerging once more into open country, the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers was sent off to march to Boursonne, which it reached about 4 P.M. Two companies of the 2nd Battalion Coldstream were ordered back to support the 6th Brigade, which was now protecting the retreat of the guns; but they were not wanted after all, and were sent back to Boursonne after a fruitless journey. Then General Monro rode up, and ordered the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers to take up a rear-guard position about Boursonne, to cover the retirement of the 6th Brigade. Meanwhile, the Brigade Headquarters, the Irish Guards, and the 3rd Battalion Coldstream went on to Betz.

When the 6th Brigade had passed through, the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers and 2nd Battalion Coldstream retired to Thury. Unfortunately no orders had been given them to go to Betz, and through following the 6th Brigade these two battalions missed the guide whom Battalion Headquarters had sent to meet them. Once more the men were absolutely dead beat. They had had nothing to eat since tea the day before, but when the matter of food was inquired into it was found that all the supplies had gone on to Betz. This was at 11 o'clock at night, and it looked as if the men would have to bivouac foodless by the roadside.

Heroic measures were called for, and Major Jeffreys decided to brush aside the ordinary procedure and shortcircuit the usual channels of communication by going straight to the Divisional Commander, General Monro. He was instantly successful. On learning of the sad plight of the Battalion, General Monro undertook to supply it with food. He ordered his D.A.Q.M.G. to take the Battalion to his supply depot, and Major Jeffreys went back and fell in his weary men.

With the promise of a meal ahead they responded gamely, and marched off to La Villeneuve, the place indicated by the General, where rations of bully-beef, bread, and cheese were soon distributed.

Then the men were allowed two hours' sleep by way of a night's rest after one of the longest and most strenuous days they had ever had. They were more fortunate, though, than the men of the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards, who did not even manage to get any food that night, and who had to snatch what sleep they could lying down in the streets of Thury.

Sept. 2.

At 2 A.M. the Battalion marched off again—still retiring—through Antilly to Betz, where it was joined by No. 1 Company and 45 men of No. 4 under Lieutenant Stocks. Thence by Montrolle to Reez, where a halt was made for water, and on to Puisieux. Here the men had a late breakfast, and then, in stifling heat, continued their march, with constant halts, through La Chaussée and Barcy to Meaux. They reached this village at 4 P.M., and, their long day's journey ended, they were refreshed by a bathe in the Ourcq Canal. This march was almost the hardest of the whole retreat, but, in spite of everything, the Battalion marched on, with scarcely a man out of the ranks, although the number of men who fell out in other regiments was by no means small.

Undoubtedly the men were by now beginning to feel the strain of this interminable retirement. However footsore and weary they may be, British troops will always respond when called upon to advance. But to ask them to make a special effort when retreating is quite another thing, even with the most highly disciplined. Besides, they were quite unable to see the necessity of it all. There had been no pitched battle, no defeat—in fact, whenever they had had a chance they had inflicted enormous losses on the enemy and driven him back. Of course they had seen no newspapers, and had no way of picking up any real idea of what was going on in France.

Sept. 3.

Next morning at 7 o'clock the march was resumed eastwards, and the Division crossed the Marne at Trilport, blowing the bridges up after them. This new direction was the result of the Germans moving along the north bank of the Marne, which they crossed near Sammeron. Then the Battalion moved southward again, through Montceaux and Forêt du Mans to Pierre Levée, where it bivouacked.

Sept. 4.

The men had expected a rest on September 4, but the order soon arrived for the Brigade to continue the retirement. No. 3 Company of the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers under Captain Gosselin, and No. 4 Company under Captain Symes-Thompson, were sent out on outpost duty.

In the morning the Brigade marched to Les Laquais, where trenches were dug, joining up with the 5th and 6th Brigades on the right. At 5 P.M. the enemy shelled the right of the line, and at dusk the Brigade withdrew. It picked up No. 3 Company at Grande Loge Farm, and marched through Maisoncelles and Rouilly le Fay to Le Bertrand, where it bivouacked for the night.

Meanwhile Major Lord Bernard Lennox was despatched to Coulommiers to find the first draft that had been sent out from home—90 men under Captain Ridley. They arrived about midday after a train journey of thirty-six hours—they had been all round the country, constantly receiving fresh orders to go to different places. Lord Bernard Lennox had been instructed to remain at Coulommiers, but when he found the First Division retiring through the town all the afternoon, he decided to strike off westward with the new draft in search of the Battalion. This plan succeeded, and he found it about midnight.

Sept. 5.

It was a sadly tattered, unshaven, footsore body of men that marched at 3 o'clock next morning through La Celle and Malmaison Farm to Fontenay, where they went into billets. No Londoner seeing them would have guessed that these were the same smart Grenadiers whom he had often admired on the King's Guard. But if their looks were gone, their spirit was indomitable as ever.

The Germans seem to have been genuinely under the delusion that by this time the long retreat had reduced the British Army, always "contemptible," to a mere spiritless mob, which it was no longer necessary to take into calculation in developing their plan of campaign. They little knew the British soldier. So far the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers had had no chance of showing its quality; it had just been marched off its feet from the start—in the wrong direction. But, in spite of all the men had gone through, they were ready at any moment to turn and fight like lions when they were allowed to.

Sept. 6.

And now at last the moment was close at hand. To their joyful surprise the officers of the Battalion found, on the morning of September 6, that the direction had been changed, and that an advance was to be made eastward against the German flank. At first it was thought that this meant the beginning of an offensive-defensive, the German attack having failed; but in reality, of course, the change was a much bigger one even than this. The French reserves were now available, and the Germans' greatest asset, superior numbers, was lost to them. And so a new phase of the campaign began to develop.

On the 6th Lieut.-Colonel Corry resumed the command of the Battalion, and Lieut.-Colonel G. Feilding took command of the Brigade.

CHAPTER IV
THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE (2ND BATTALION)

The German General Staff at this juncture realised that a retreating army is not necessarily a beaten one. For the last ten days, with their maps spread before them, they had had the satisfaction of moving the pins and flags representing their forces continually and rapidly nearer and nearer Paris. But if the French Army—the British Army, they thought, could be safely ignored—were to succeed in escaping south, it would remain a constant menace. It might even interfere with the Emperor's spectacular entry into Paris, every detail of which had been sketched out beforehand by the officials, whose business it was to stage-manage all the theatrical pageantry of their Imperial master's movements.

So a big coup was wanted—a smashing blow at the French. If the centre of the French line could be pierced by the combined efforts of Von Hausen's, the Duke of Würtemberg's, and the Crown Prince's armies, and if simultaneously Von Kluck's army, which had reached Senlis, and was only twenty-five miles from Paris, could execute a swift movement to the south-east, the Fifth French Army would be caught in a vice. This strategic plan really menaced the whole of the interior of France, and had it succeeded might have resulted in her downfall. In all these calculations of the German Staff it appears to have been assumed that the British Army was practically out of action, and that whatever remained of it had in all probability been sent to reinforce the weak spot at Bar-le-Duc.

To accomplish his decisive stroke, Von Kluck had to execute that most dangerous of all manoeuvres, a flank march with the object of rolling up the left of the French line. The German General Staff assumed that the left of the Fifth French Army was the left of the whole French line, and that nothing beyond a few cavalry patrols had to be reckoned with. Von Kluck was accordingly given orders to march his army to the left and attack the Fifth French Army under General Franchet d'Esperey. They knew nothing of the Sixth Army under General Maunoury, which had arrived with such dramatic suddenness in taxi-cabs from Paris.

The unknown and the despised elements proved Von Kluck's undoing. Before he had gone very far he found the completely ignored British Army on top of him, and the totally unexpected Sixth French Army on his right flank. Quickly realising his peril, he decided to retire. In the meantime, on the French side, General Foch, who was about in the centre of the French line, saw an opportunity, which he promptly seized, of driving a wedge between the armies of Von Hausen and Von Bülow. The situation was now entirely changed. The lately triumphant German forces were no longer even moderately secure, and decided on a general retirement all along the line.

It was on September 5 that Sir John French and General Joffre conferred together and decided to take the offensive. To the British Army was assigned the space between the Fifth and Sixth French Armies. This meant a change of front, and hence that welcome order to the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers to move due east instead of south.

That evening Field-Marshal Sir John French issued the following orders:

(1) The enemy has apparently abandoned the idea of advancing on Paris and is contracting his front and moving south-east.

(2) The Army will advance eastward with a view to attacking. Its left will be covered by the French Sixth Army also marching east, and its right will be linked to the French Fifth Army marching north.

(3) In pursuance of the above the following moves will take place, the Army facing east on completion of the movement.

First Corps: right on La-Chapelle-Iger, left on Lumigny, move to be completed 9 A.M.

Second Corps: right on La Houssaye, left in neighbourhood of Villeneuve, move to be completed 10 A.M.

Third Corps: facing east in the neighbourhood of Bailly, move to be completed 10 A.M.

Cavalry Division (less 3rd and 5th Brigades): to guard front and flanks of First Corps on the line Jouy-le-Chatel (connecting the French Fifth Army)—Coulommiers (connecting the 3rd and 5th Brigades). The 3rd and 5th Cavalry Brigades will cease to be under the orders of the First Corps and will act in concert under instructions issued by Brigadier-General Gough. They will cover the Second Corps connecting with the Cavalry Division on the right and with the Sixth French Army on the left.

Sept. 6.

Sunday, the 6th, was the joyful day when there came this turn of the tide, and that morning Sir John French issued an order to his Army in which he said:

After a most trying series of operations, mostly in retirement, which have been rendered necessary by the general strategic plan of the Allied Armies, the British Forces stand to-day formed in line with their French comrades, ready to attack the enemy. Foiled in their attempt to invest Paris, the Germans have been driven to move in an easterly and south-easterly direction, with the apparent intention of falling in strength on Fifth French Army. In this operation they are exposing their right flank and their line of communication to an attack by the Sixth French Army and the British Forces.

I call upon the British Army in France to show now to the enemy its power and to push on vigorously to the attack beside the Sixth French Army. I am sure I shall not call on them in vain, but that on the contrary by another manifestation of the magnificent spirit which they have shown in the past fortnight they will fall on the enemy's flank with all their strength, and in unison with their Allies drive them back.

At 5.30 the same morning the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers marched to Le Mée, where trenches were dug. The men, for once, had had a good night's rest, and were in great spirits at the prospect of an advance. A sharp artillery attack was being carried on against Villeneuve, and the 1st Brigade was moved out to attack the place, while the 4th Brigade prolonged the line on the left. Being in reserve, the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers saw little of the day's fighting. In the event the artillery proved sufficient to shift the enemy, and the Battalion marched without further incident to Touquin, where it bivouacked for the night. That night the British Army occupied a line from Dagny on the right to Villeneuve-le-Comte on the left.

Sept. 7.

Severe fighting went on all along the line next morning. Maunoury's taxi-cab army had been able to press Von Kluck as he retired, and the British Army had taken Coulommiers and La Ferté-Gaucher. As the German battalions retreated shells were poured on them by our artillery, who were kept well posted with information by the aircraft observers. Marching through Paradis, Mauperthuis, St. Simeon, and Voigny, the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers finally bivouacked at Rebais. Everywhere in the villages were staring evidences of the German occupation and hurried retreat. Shops had been looted, houses despoiled, and the contents—such as could not be carried away—had been wantonly destroyed, evidently under orders, and the fragments scattered to the winds. The advance-guard of the 4th Brigade (the 2nd Battalion Coldstream) was engaged with the German rearguard during this march, and the Grenadiers who were in support came in for a certain amount of firing. The Germans could be plainly seen retiring by Rebais with masses of transport in great confusion.

Battle of the Marne. Position of the British Army on September 8, 1914.

Sept. 8.

It became clear next day that Von Kluck's Army was in retreat, and Sir John French determined to press him and give him no rest—thus completely were the positions reversed. The First Corps advanced, and everything went well at first, but at La Trétoire it was held up by the German rear-guard, which had found a good position, and the 3rd Battalion Coldstream, which formed the advanced guard, was checked for a time by the German machine-guns hidden in the houses round the bridge over the Petit Morin. Meanwhile, a German field battery posted near Boitron shelled the high ground over which the main body of the 4th Brigade had to pass.

The Germans were evidently fighting a delaying action, and were employing their cavalry with great skill to hold the river as long as possible. In front of the British Army, the cavalry covering the retreat of Von Kluck's Army was commanded by General von der Marwitz, who showed no intention of abandoning his position without a struggle.

Thick woods run down to the river for the last half-mile here, but right through them goes one big clearing about eighty yards wide. This was swept by the German machine-guns, and it was a problem how to get the men across. No. 3 Company Grenadiers under Captain Stephen was sent on to support the Coldstream, followed later by No. 4 under Captain Colston. Both companies reached the edge of the wood, but were there stopped by a hail of fire from the machine-guns. Our field-guns could not reach the houses where these had been placed, and the howitzers were unaccountably slow in coming up. It was while he was endeavouring to find some way of advance that Captain Stephen was shot through both legs; he was taken to hospital, and died of his wounds four days later.

Urgent messages to push on kept arriving meanwhile from Sir Douglas Haig. Lieut.-Colonel Feilding, who was temporarily in command of the Brigade, sent the 2nd Battalion Coldstream by a circuitous route to try and effect a crossing at La Forge, farther to the right. No. 1 and No. 2 Companies Grenadiers were then ordered to go round by a covered route to avoid the clearing in the wood, and had actually started when Lieut.-Colonel Feilding gave the order for them to turn about. Major Lord Bernard Gordon Lennox, who had raced off at their head, was so far in front that the order did not reach him. He rushed across the clearing, and just managed to get into a ditch on the other side, the shower of machine-gun bullets churning up the ground almost at his heels.

So deafening was the noise of the firing that it was impossible to pass orders simultaneously to the men scattered about in the woods, who at the same time were all on edge to advance. And soon it became very difficult to keep the troops together.

Lieut.-Colonel Corry had already gone off with these two companies, Nos. 1 and 2, to follow the 2nd Battalion Coldstream, when Lieut.-Colonel Feilding thought he saw the Germans retiring, and shouted to Major Jeffreys to turn the Grenadiers about and take them across the clearing straight down to the river, but No. 2 Company had got a good way ahead through the woods, and Major Jeffreys was only able to get hold of half of No. 1 Company, which followed him across the clearing. Unfortunately, however, the German guns were still there, and opened a heavy fire on them. By this time the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers was hopelessly split up, different parts of the Battalion having gone in three different directions, and the 3rd Battalion Coldstream was also scattered all over the woods. In the meantime the howitzers came up, and soon drove the Germans out of their position. No. 3 Company had done well in the fighting, having succeeded in capturing one of the enemy's machine-guns and many prisoners.

The various parties then made their way through the wood to the edge of the stream, but as there was no bridge to be seen they worked along the banks to La Trétoire. Without further opposition, a party of the Irish Guards under Major Herbert Stepney, together with half of No. 1 Company under Major Jeffreys and Lieutenant Mackenzie, crossed the bridge, and advanced up the opposite side towards Boitron. In every direction the ground was strewn with dead and wounded Germans, and after advancing 1000 yards the party of Grenadiers reached the position which had been occupied by the German Battery; the guns had all been got away, but dead horses, overturned limbers, and dead gunners showed how this Battery had suffered at the hands of the 41st Brigade R.F.A.

As the enemy retired our guns and howitzers kept up a heavy fire, and inflicted severe losses.

The whole Brigade had by now debouched from the woods, and gradually collected behind Boitron, while the Divisional Cavalry went on ahead so as to keep in touch with the retreating enemy. The 2nd Battalion Grenadiers was then ordered to advance in artillery formation over the open country north of Boitron, and met with no resistance.

But there was one incident that might have proved disastrous. In its eagerness to get at the enemy, No. 2 Company got rather ahead of its time, with the result that our own guns planted some shrapnel into it, luckily without doing much damage. On the left the Irish Guards and the 2nd Battalion Coldstream found in a wood a number of Germans with machine-guns, who had apparently got separated from the main body. Our men charged, and immediately up went the white flag; seven machine-guns and a large number of prisoners were taken, mostly men belonging to the Guard Jäger Corps.

Rain had been falling for some time in a steady downpour, and as the light was failing the Battalion assembled to bivouac near Les Peauliers. An extremely wet sainfoin field was chosen for the purpose, and there, in a misty September evening, the men lay down to sleep. Altogether the Grenadiers had lost forty men in the day's fighting, besides Captain Stephen.

Sept. 9.

Dismally the raindrops trickled through the trees as the men roused themselves in the early morning. It was very cold, too, and the greatcoats that had been so lightly flung away during the sweltering days of retreat were now bitterly regretted. And it was a particularly chilly task that lay before the Battalion, for it was in reserve, which meant constant standing about—often even more tiring than a march. However, about midday it cleared, and a very hot sun soon got every one dry again.

On this day the passage of the Marne was forced; the Third Corps, under General Pulteney, bore the brunt of the fighting, whilst the First Corps on its right drove the Germans before it with some ease and took numerous prisoners. The 2nd Battalion Grenadiers, starting off at 7.30, eventually crossed the Marne at Charly, after innumerable halts and checks. Before it got over it had to wait some hours at Pavant, where it could watch various divisions crossing the river. This bridge at Charly was the only one in the neighbourhood left standing; it had been carefully prepared for demolition, and no one knew why, fortunately for us, it had escaped. Rumour said that the German engineers entrusted with the task got so drunk that, when the appointed moment arrived, they were quite incapable of carrying out their orders.

During the day Lieut.-Colonel Corry received orders to return home. He had been relieved of his command on account of the decision, already recorded, which he took at Mons.

Sept. 10.

The Battalion bivouacked that evening—rain was again falling—on the side of a wet hill near Villiers-sur-Marne, and woke up to more rainy, cold weather. The battle of the Marne had been won, and the Germans were retreating in perfectly orderly fashion, though we captured 13 guns, 7 machine-guns, and 2000 men. The prisoners said they had been officially informed that a large German army was investing Paris, and that their division was engaged in "drawing off" the French Army eastwards. The 2nd Battalion Grenadiers was again in reserve, and was constantly marched backwards and forwards throughout the day. It passed through Domptin, Coupru, Marigny, and Veuilly to Hautevesnes, where it bivouacked.

Sept. 11.

The pursuit continued during the two following days. Through heavy showers, which gave them a thorough soaking, the Grenadiers marched on the 11th by the way of Priez, Sommelans, Latilly, La Croix, and Breny to Oulchy, where they got into billets, and fires were lit to dry their clothes. Such inhabitants as were left eagerly helped to supply all the men's wants, and placed all they possessed at their disposal. The usual signs of recent German occupation were to be seen in every house. Drawers had been turned out, cupboards ransacked, and tables overturned, and the floors were thickly strewn with such things as the Germans had been unable to take away with them—clothes, smashed gramophone records, broken glasses, and other debris. But, in spite of the pitiable surroundings and their own soaked condition, the officers and men were soon put in the best of spirits by the cheerful fires and the appetising smell of bacon and eggs, put on to cook for them.

Sept. 12.

Next morning's parade was at 5 o'clock, but the town was so crowded with supply wagons that it was 9 before a move could be made. It rained at intervals during the day, and in the evening another steady downpour set in, which once more soaked the men to the skin before they got to their billets at Courcelles, having marched through Beugneux, Arcy, Cuiry-Housse, Lesges, Limé, and Braine.

CHAPTER V
THE PASSAGE OF THE AISNE (2ND BATTALION)

For a week now the Germans had been steadily retiring, and there was no apparent reason why they should stop doing so. Each time they held a position the question naturally arose whether they were really making a determined stand, or whether this was just a case of a rear-guard doing its best to hold up the advance. The only way to find out was to attack them and make them show their dispositions.

At the Marne, where it might well have been supposed that the Germans had a good enough position to make a stand, their resistance had proved to be merely in the nature of a rear-guard action. It did not at first dawn on our Army that at the Aisne, on the contrary, the enemy had occupied a carefully chosen and sedulously prepared position which suited their purpose in every way.

An ideal position it was, indeed. Sir John French, in his despatch of October 8, 1914, thus describes it:

The Aisne valley runs generally east and west, and consists of a flat-bottomed depression of width varying from half a mile to two miles, down which the river flows a winding course to the west at some points near the southern slopes of the valley and at others near the northern. The high ground both on the north and south of the river is approximately 400 feet above the bottom of the valley and is very similar in character, as are both slopes of the valley itself, which are broken into numerous rounded spurs and re-entrants. The most prominent of the former are the Chivres Spur on the right bank and the Sermoise spur on the left. Near the latter place the general plateau on the south is divided by a subsidiary valley of much the same character, down which the small river Vesle flows to the main stream near Sermoise. The slopes of the plateau overlooking the Aisne on the north and south are of varying steepness and are covered with numerous patches of wood, which also stretch upwards and backwards over the edge on to the top of the high ground. There are several villages and small towns dotted about in the valley itself and along its sides, the chief of which is the town of Soissons.

The Aisne is a sluggish stream of some 170 feet in breadth, but, being 15 feet deep in the centre, it is unfordable. Between Soissons on the west and Villers on the east (the part of the river attacked and secured by the British Forces) there are eleven road-bridges across it. On the north bank a narrow-gauge railway runs from Soissons to Vailly, where it crosses the river and continues eastward along the south bank. From Soissons to Sermoise a double line of railway runs along the south bank, turning at the latter place up the Vesle valley towards Bazoches.

The position held by the enemy is a very strong one, either for a delaying action or for a defensive battle. One of its chief military characteristics is that from the high ground on neither side can the top of the plateau on the other side be seen, except for small stretches. This is chiefly due to the woods on the edges of the slopes. Another important point is that all the bridges are under either direct or high-angle artillery fire.

Until the afternoon of the 12th September it was still uncertain whether the enemy meant business this time or not, and then Sir John French came to the conclusion that, for the moment at any rate, they had stopped their retreat and were preparing to dispute vigorously the passage of the river. The presence of Germans had been reported by our cavalry south of Soissons and in the neighbourhood of Braine, but these were merely patrols.

The opposing forces were posted as follows: The German Army occupied the high ground north of the river, with Von Kluck still on the right flank. From the reports that came in, it appeared that the right of Von Kluck's army was resting on the forest of L'Aigle, and the left on the plateau of Craonne, while Von Bülow prolonged the line to the left. The French Army was now extended in an immense line from Compiègne to the Argonne, the British Army holding a portion of the front—about twenty miles—between Maunoury's Sixth Army and Franchet d'Esperey's Fifth Army.

On the left of our part of the line were the Third Corps, which was allotted the section from Soissons to Venizel, the Second Corps, which was between Venizel and Chavonne, and the First Corps between Chavonne and Bourg. In this last section there was a canal as well as a river to cross.

Sept. 13.

Rain was pouring down when the Battalion paraded at 5.30 A.M. on the 13th, but it cleared up later, with sunshine and a strong cold wind, which soon dried the men again. The 4th Brigade marched towards Chavonne, and stopped under the brow of a high hill overlooking the river Aisne. Here there was a halt of several hours in the middle of the day, during which the commanding officers went on ahead with Lieut.-Colonel Feilding, the acting Brigadier, to reconnoitre the opposite heights from the high ground above St. Mard, whence the movements of the Germans could be clearly seen. Meanwhile, the 2nd Battalion Coldstream went forward under the cover of our guns to make good the passages over the canal and the river, the bridges naturally having all been blown up by the Germans. After about two hours it succeeded in driving off the enemy, who were seen running up the hill and disappearing over the sky-line.

In support of it, the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers advanced towards the river, but was then sent off to try and make the crossing about a mile to the east of Chavonne. The only means of getting over, apparently, was by three or four small boats of doubtful buoyancy, and it was clear that for the whole Battalion to cross in this way would be a lengthy business. Pushing ahead, however, to reconnoitre, Lord Bernard Lennox and Major Hamilton found a bridge which they thought at first the Battalion could use, but the moment they were seen on the bridge they were greeted with shrapnel, so well aimed that it was obvious the enemy had got the exact range. So they retired to report the result of their observations.

As it was now getting dark, and no foothold on the opposite bank could be obtained, Colonel Feilding decided to withdraw the 4th Brigade. The 2nd Battalion Grenadiers and 2nd Battalion Coldstream were therefore recalled, and sent into billets at St. Mard. Rain was again falling heavily, and the men were glad to be under cover, while the inhabitants cooked their rations and supplemented them with omelettes and vegetable soup.

Thus began the battle of the Aisne, and had the men only known that it was to go on, not for months but years, and that the same ground would be occupied by the Allies during all that time, they would hardly, I imagine, have shown quite the same dash as they did during the days that followed.

Sept. 14.

The morning of the 14th broke cold and wet. A thick mist hung over the valley of the river—fortunately for us, since this made artillery observation by the enemy impossible, and enabled the men to cross the river without coming under shell-fire. During the night the R.E. had managed to build a pontoon bridge over the river at Pont-Arcy, and at 5.30 A.M. the brigade moved off to this point. As this bridge was the sole means of crossing for all arms, there was naturally some little delay, and during the period of waiting Colonel Feilding sent for all the commanding officers; he explained the dispositions he had made, and instructed them to make Ostel their objective.

The Passage of the Aisne. September 14, 1914.

The 2nd Battalion Grenadiers was to form the advanced guard to the Brigade, and Major Jeffreys received orders to secure the heights about La Cour de Soupir, and then to push on and make good the cross-roads at Ostel, about a mile farther on. Accordingly the Battalion moved off, crossed the river, and marched to Soupir—without opposition. Had some German officer blundered, or did the enemy not intend to dispute the passage of the river? It seemed inconceivable that, if they intended to hold the position, the enemy should allow a whole battalion to cross unmolested.

At Soupir the road ran uphill through a dense wood, and it was impossible to see very far ahead. Progress was necessarily very slow, and the advanced guard had orders to move with the utmost caution. No. 1 Company, under Major Hamilton, formed the vanguard, and half of No. 2 Company, under Captain Symes-Thompson, was sent as a flank guard to the left, where the ground rose steeply above the road, and the trees were very thick. About half-way the vanguard came into touch with the German outposts. At the same time they were joined by some men of our 5th Brigade, who had gone too far to their left, and in consequence had narrowly escaped being captured by the enemy.

Word was sent back by Major Hamilton that he was not at all happy about his left flank, which was on the high ground towards Chavonne, and Major Jeffreys despatched the rest of No. 2 Company to support Captain Symes-Thompson and strengthen that flank. Two platoons of No. 1 and one platoon of No. 2 were sent off to the left, and, having got into touch with the cavalry on that flank, took up a position in the woods above Chavonne, where they remained for the rest of the day. Meanwhile, the leading men of the advanced guard, under Lieutenant Cunliffe, pushed on, and near La Cour de Soupir ran right into the enemy, who were in superior numbers. All the men were taken prisoners, and Lieutenant Cunliffe was wounded.

But the rest of the advanced guard were also pressing forward, and soon the positions were reversed. Faced with the alternative of capture or retiring before a stronger force, the German officer in command decided on the second course. This meant perforce abandoning the prisoners; but there was one thing at any rate that a German officer still could do. Remembering the teachings of his Fatherland, that the usages of war were a mere formula, and the most dastardly crime excusable if any advantage could be got from it, he deliberately walked up to Lieutenant Cunliffe, who was lying wounded on the ground, pulled out his revolver, and shot him dead.

As to what eventually happened to the German officer there is some conflict of evidence. Some of the men of the Battalion swore that they recognised him among the prisoners who were led away that evening. Another story, which was generally believed at the time, is that Captain Bentinck, with a company of Coldstream, happened to come up just in time to see this cold-blooded murder, and that the men were so infuriated that they bayoneted the German on the spot. But this version can hardly be true, for the Coldstream did not arrive till a good deal later.

Shells were now screaming through the trees with monotonous regularity, and the hail of bullets grew ever thicker as the advanced guard came up to La Cour de Soupir. It became evident that the Germans were not only in strength at the top of the hill, but were advancing across the open against our left flank, and at the same time trying to surround the advanced guard by working through the woods on the right flank. No. 3 Company, under Captain Gosselin, was sent off to the right with instructions to clear the enemy off some rising ground and protect the right flank. This it succeeded in doing, but found vastly superior numbers opposed to it, and could not make any farther progress. It was here that Lieutenant des Voeux was killed, being hit through both lungs by a chance shot in the wood.

Urgent appeals from the firing line induced Major Jeffreys to send two platoons of No. 4 to help No. 1 Company, and one to the right for No. 3, while the remaining platoon, with the machine-guns, under Lieutenant the Hon. W. Cecil, was posted on the edge of a clearing in case those in front were driven back.

The advanced guard had now done its part. It had ascertained where the enemy was posted, but if an advance was to be made, it was clear that it would have to be strengthened considerably. Colonel Feilding therefore sent the 3rd Coldstream up to the left of the road and the Irish Guards to the right. Pushing through the woods and picking up platoons of No. 1 and No. 2 Companies Grenadiers, these troops came up to the hard-pressed No. 1 Company on the open ground near La Cour de Soupir.

Here the Germans' attempt to cross the open was effectively stopped by our rifle-fire, and the whole of their firing line was wiped out. But even with these reinforcements we were still outnumbered, and an advance remained impossible.

On the right the Irish Guards had come up to No. 3 Company, and, carrying it on with them, managed gradually to clear the wood. As they did so they disposed of the German snipers, who had shot many of our officers. Lord Guernsey and Lord Arthur Hay of the Irish Guards were killed, and several other officers wounded. In the Grenadiers Lieutenant F. W. des Voeux was killed, while Captain Gosselin was wounded in the hand and Lieutenant Welby in the shoulder, but they refused to retire, and gallantly stuck to their posts.

During this wood-fighting a young soldier of the Grenadiers, Private Parsons, collected twelve men belonging to a battalion in another brigade, who were lost and had no officer or N.C.O. He got them together and commanded them for the rest of the fight, giving his orders clearly and coolly, and never making a mistake. He was promoted to Corporal on the field, and was mentioned in despatches of October 18, 1914. To the general regret of the Battalion, he died of wounds some ten days later.

By now the firing line was fairly well established behind the banks of some slightly sunken roads north and east of La Cour de Soupir; it was composed of Grenadiers, Coldstream, and Irish Guards, all mixed up together, as they had come through the woods by companies or platoons, just as the situation demanded. Though the German shells were still crashing into the trees and searching the woods, our own guns were answering back, in spite of having hardly a tenth of the ammunition.

During this time Lieutenant Walker, Lieutenant Harcourt Vernon, and Lieutenant MacKenzie were all badly wounded.

But while a satisfactory foothold had been obtained here, Sir Douglas Haig found that there was a gap between the First and Second Corps. Being very hard pressed, with no reserves available, he sent back for help to the Commander-in-Chief, who at once placed the Cavalry Division at his disposal. On foot, the cavalry was despatched to the left to prolong the line occupied by the 4th Brigade, and succeeded in repelling the German attacks.

A steady fire was being kept up by the 4th Brigade at the German front line, which was lying down close in front of it in a mangel and beet field, and therefore very hard to see. The German fire suddenly began to slacken, and the moment seemed to have arrived for a charge, when, without any warning, the men in the German leading line ran forward with their hands over their heads in token of surrender, and at the same time white flags appeared in various parts of the line. At once a large number of our men leaped up and ran to meet them. Major Jeffreys and Major Matheson, fully alive to the possibilities of danger, shouted and yelled to them to stop, but the men ran on, eager to capture so many prisoners, and soon British and Germans were mingled together in a confused mass.

At this point the German supports opened fire on them all, mowing down friend and foe alike, and killing a large number of both sides. Most of those who were unhit dropped down at once where they were in the root field, and when it got dark many of the Germans walked into our lines and surrendered. It must be added that there is no evidence that this treachery was deliberately planned. It would seem that the leading line had had enough, and genuinely meant to surrender; the supports had no such intention, and there is thus perhaps some justification for their action. But it was a lesson to the 4th Brigade which it never forgot. Thenceforth the white flag was looked on with suspicion, and whenever it was used, not a man moved from his place.

After a hurried consultation between Major Matheson, Major Jeffreys, and Major Lord Bernard Lennox, it was agreed that, while Major Jeffreys held the enemy in check in front, the other two should take some men with them, and try to work round the German flank. This operation took some time, but evidently it surprised the Germans, who were holding a ridge about 500 yards in front of our firing line. Many of them could be seen running from right to left across the front, and offered a fine target for our men posted at the edge of the wood—the shooting was good and hardly a man escaped. Lieutenant Stewart was ordered to advance with a platoon of No. 4 Company, and managed to get on another 300 yards when he was wounded.

The difficulties of the situation were now borne in on Major Jeffreys and Major Matheson. It was getting dark, and they could get no orders from Brigade Headquarters, as the telephone wires had all been cut by bursting shells. Signalling was out of the question owing to the density of the woods. Meanwhile, the Germans were still shelling the road, and it seemed only too probable that the orderly who had been bringing instructions from the Brigade had been killed on his way. The men were dead-tired, having had nothing to eat all day, and Major Matheson, who had found it a very hard matter to get through the wood to the right, came to the conclusion that no advance could be made in this direction without reinforcements.

Therefore it was decided that the only thing to do was to re-sort the battalions and to dig in where they were. A point of junction was arranged, and the much mixed battalions were reorganised; digging started, and the men, tired out as they were, set to work with a will, and soon produced a trench. Thus was the beginning made of that long line of trenches which was eventually to stretch from the Argonne to the Belgian coast, and which formed the battleground of the two armies for years to come.

Converted into a dressing-station, the farm of La Cour de Soupir was filled with wounded, British and German. The ground in front of our trench was covered with dead and wounded Germans, but though as many stretcher-bearers as possible were sent out and worked all night long, it was not easy to find them in the darkness. It was a striking point of difference that while our wounded hardly made a sound, the Germans never stopped groaning and crying out: there was a continuous chorus all through the night of "Kamerad, Kamerad," and "Wasser, Wasser." A regular pile of Germans was discovered round two haystacks, while in a stubble-field close by was an almost complete firing line, laid out in a row, and all dead. Shelling began again at dawn before all the German wounded could be brought in.

Soon the farm was crowded, and the men for whom there was no room were put in the out-buildings. The removal of the wounded from the farm to the rear proved a great difficulty. The pontoon bridge at Pont-Arcy had been smashed, and on that side of the river, unfortunately, there were only four horse ambulance-wagons; these, with their fagged-out horses, had to plod throughout the night up and down the steep hill which led to the farm, taking only a few wounded at a time.

Behind the farm was a deep quarry with several caves in it; here the men not actually required for the firing line were stationed—comparatively safe except for an occasional shell from a German howitzer. The three or four hundred prisoners the Battalion had taken were herded together in the quarry under a guard and sent downhill next day. They made no attempt to hide their pleasure at escaping from the battle.

While Major Jeffreys was superintending the digging, a man of the Irish Guards arrived and said that as he was searching for the wounded, a German officer had come up to him and expressed a wish to surrender, but added that he would only give himself up to an officer. Thereupon Major Jeffreys told the man to find the German, if possible, and bring him in. When the man came back he reported that the original officer had refused to come so far, but that he had met another, who as willingly accompanied him. Out of the darkness stepped a tall, smart-looking Ober-Leutnant, who clicked his heels, saluted, and said in perfect English, "I wish to surrender." Major Jeffreys was at no pains to conceal his contempt for this poor specimen of an officer, and handed him over to one of the junior officers of the Grenadiers to take to the quarries.

That night the position of the 4th Brigade was as follows. On the left, in touch with the Cavalry Division, was the 2nd Battalion Coldstream, then the 3rd Battalion Coldstream and the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers, with the Irish Guards on the right. The 2nd Battalion Coldstream had been in reserve, but when there seemed a danger of the enemy getting between the First and Second Corps, the two companies of this battalion were sent off to strengthen the left flank.

The First Corps had managed to establish itself across the Aisne on a line running from Chemin des Dames on the right, through Chivy and Soupir to the Chavonne—Soissons road, the latter portion being held by the 1st Cavalry Brigade. But the Fourth and Fifth Divisions had not been so successful, and had been unable to do more than maintain their ground. On the extreme left the Sixth French Army had got some distance over the Aisne, but the Fifth French Army had made no headway.

In his account of the day's achievements Sir John French wrote:

The action of the First Corps on this day under the direction and command of Sir Douglas Haig was of so skilful, bold and decisive a character that he gained positions which alone have enabled me to maintain my position for more than three weeks of very severe fighting on the north bank of the river.

Sept. 15.

On the 15th Sir John French made an endeavour to strengthen the line, and consequently there was no need for the 4th Brigade to advance. All day it was shelled, and had to meet vigorous counter-attacks. It was holding a line which was really too long for it with its scanty reserves, and it is inexplicable why the enemy did not take advantage of this and drive it back to the river.

The morning was spent by the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers in improving the trenches. About noon it was heavily shelled, and as the enemy seemed to have the range of the trench, the men were withdrawn into the wood, a certain number being left to keep watch. They proceeded to watch, not without some quiet satisfaction, the empty trench being plastered with shrapnel that did no harm to any one.

Sept. 16.

More parties were sent out at dawn next day to collect the wounded, some of whom must have been lying out between the lines for nearly two days. A good many were brought in, but the work had to be stopped as soon as it was light, as the Germans deliberately shelled our stretcher parties. About 11 A.M. a shell set fire to a large stack, on the right of the farm, occupied by Captain Ridley and two men—they had been posted on top of it to snipe the German fire observation post, more than 1100 yards away. Captain Ridley had taken no notice of the shells that had been bursting all round him, but coolly stuck to his work, but now he was forced to abandon it, dazed by the explosion, and unhurt, though both the men with him were wounded.

Helped by the blazing rick to locate the farm, the German artillery now began to plaster it with common shell, shrapnel, and H.E. It is possible that if they had known it was full of their own wounded they would not have gone for it quite so furiously. However that may be, they finally got it alight, and then followed a scene of hopelessly illogical chivalry, our men risking their lives to save the German wounded from their own shells. The wounded were eventually carried out of the burning building and put in a safer place. At the same time, the Battalion Headquarters and the horses were moved down into the quarry.

As this violent shelling seemed to portend an attack, the trenches were fully manned, with the result that there were many casualties. One shell landed right in the trench and killed Lieutenant Welby and the men near him. He had been slightly wounded in the shoulder a couple of days before, but had refused to go to hospital. Although our gunners replied gamely, they could not compete with the lavish German expenditure of ammunition.

A report having come in that the enemy were advancing, Major Jeffreys ordered No. 2 Company to come up from the quarry, and line its northern edge, so as to be available as a support. It had hardly been there a quarter of an hour when an 8-inch high explosive just missed the farm, and, grazing the roof, pitched right on the edge of the quarry. A terrific explosion followed, and out of the 103 men who had been brought up, only 44 were left, all the rest being killed or wounded.

This same shell also killed three officers and a large number of men of the Oxfordshire Light Infantry, and Lieutenant Huggan of the R.A.M.C., but Major Jeffreys, Major Lord Bernard Lennox, Captain Powell, and Captain Pike escaped untouched, for some unaccountable reason, though they were sitting within a few yards of where it exploded, and men were killed and wounded on every side of them, some of them under cover. The trees on the bank fell down with a crash, and the whole quarry itself was filled with a dense yellow-black smoke.

It was a most disastrous shot, and, to make matters worse, the only medical officer on the spot had been killed, and there was no qualified person to attend to the wounded, with whom the caves in the quarry—seemingly the only safe spot—were now packed. The scene there was terrible. There was no light of any sort until a single candle was procured from somewhere. By its faint and uncertain glimmer ghastly glimpses could be caught of men writhing in pain, with their limbs smashed to pieces. Into one corner were crowded the German prisoners, glad of any shelter from the German shells, and there were also a large number of German wounded, who moaned and cried through the night. The officers and N.C.O.'s of the Grenadiers, who had just left the trenches to get a rest, had to give up all idea of that: they set to work and bound up with such skill as they possessed the wounds of friend and foe.

In the front trenches, meanwhile, shelling went on incessantly, and there were many counter-attacks, directed against the part of the line held by the Coldstream. During the evening two companies of the Oxfordshire Light Infantry were sent up to take over the trenches next morning. After dark the supports were brought from the quarry to the garden at the back of the farm, so as to be near at hand in the event of an attack.

One of the Battalion's much-regretted losses this day was Captain the Hon. W. A. Cecil. He had been in the thick of every engagement since the start, and had gained a great reputation in the past three weeks for the effective way in which he handled the machine-guns. On more than one occasion his keenness had led him into very dangerous corners, and it was while he was reconnoitring for a good position for his machine-guns that he was killed. Lieutenant Stewart was wounded, and Captain Gosselin, who had pluckily stayed with his company, though he was in great pain from the wound he received two days before, was now obliged to go into hospital.

Sept. 17.

The Battalion was relieved just before dawn, and went into billets at Soupir. Officers and men alike were dead-beat, and slept through most of the day. The cold, wet nights had begun to tell on many of them, and some went sick. Among these was Prince Alexander of Battenberg, who got a bad chill, and had to be sent down to the base.

Sept. 18.

On the 18th the Battalion went back to the trenches to relieve the Coldstream, to the left of the position it had held before. No. 1 and No. 2 Companies were in the firing line, and No. 3 and No. 4 in reserve. The moment they arrived they started digging and deepening the trenches, knowing that they would be under constant shell-fire during the day, and in places they could see the Germans doing the same, some 700 yards away. But before they could get through very much, the shelling began, and shrapnel came bursting all over them.

All through the day the roar of shells and rifle-fire went on, varied now and then by high-explosive shells from the howitzers, which made holes big enough to bury three or four horses in. Major Jeffreys, with Captain Howell, R.A.M.C., came to inspect the trenches, but at that moment the shelling became particularly vigorous and accurate, and they were obliged to accept the hospitality of Lord Bernard Lennox, who placed at their disposal the hole he had dug for himself. But as it had only been made for one, the owner was not altogether sorry when a lull in the firing made it possible for the visitors to continue their tour.

It should be mentioned here that the trenches during the first few months of the war consisted not of continuous lines of trench, but of a series of deep holes holding three to four men apiece, and separated from the next by some 10 feet of undug earth, which formed a natural traverse. There was hardly any parapet, and the earth was scattered to the front. The advantage of this type of trench was that it was difficult to locate and destroy by artillery, but if the enemy was near at hand vigilant communication either laterally or to the rear was practically impossible.

The supports and reserves were all hidden in caves very like those they had occupied in the quarry behind their first position. They were well rationed, with plenty of fresh meat, vegetables, and jam. They were, indeed, very much better off than the men in the trenches, for it turned very cold again at night, and rain fell heavily.

It was not hard to guess the reason for the severe bombardment and continual counter-attacks. This was one of the few positions where the Allies had succeeded in obtaining a foothold across the river, though why the Second Division was allowed to get over at Pont-Arcy unmolested has never been explained. The Germans were not only far superior in numbers, but had a supply of shells and ammunition out of all proportion to that of the Allies; moreover, they had chosen an exceptionally good position and possessed heavy guns, such as were unknown in the British and French Armies. Though General Maunoury's Sixth French Army had at first advanced some distance on the extreme left, it had afterwards been held up, and was now only just holding back the enemy counter-attacks, which threatened to drive it back on the river. The British Army's task was the hardest of all, and the Second and Third Corps had been unable to establish themselves securely on the other side.

After the first few days of the battle, the German General Staff determined to direct its energies against the Sixth French Army and the right of the British Army, and to force back over the river the troops which had crossed. So the line occupied by the 4th Brigade came in for more than its share of artillery fire. This hurricane of shells was no doubt intended to prepare the way for the infantry counter-attacks, but wherever the Germans attempted an attack they found our men coolly waiting for them, and absolutely unshaken by the bombardment.

Our artillery's work in this battle aroused the greatest admiration among the Guards Brigade. Vastly outnumbered, with none of the heavy guns the enemy had, and in obviously inferior positions, it fought on gallantly in spite of great losses, and often succeeded in silencing the batteries which were shelling our trenches.

Sept. 19-20.

Brigadier-General the Earl of Cavan (an old Grenadier) arrived on the 19th, and took over the command of the Brigade, while Lieut.-Colonel Wilfred Smith assumed command of the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers. The Battalion remained in the trenches till the 21st and repulsed several attacks. Though the German infantry never seemed anxious to come to close quarters, their artillery made up for this hesitation by a prodigal expenditure of shells. Lieut.-Colonel Smith described in a letter a calculation he made during a bombardment which went on continuously for six hours; he timed the rate of the falling shells, and found that it came to an average of fifty shells a minute.

The nights were constantly disturbed by false alarms. It was the German practice to send out specially selected snipers to keep the whole line from having any rest. There is nothing more contagious than night firing; the snipers would start the men in front of them firing, and soon it would spread till there was a dull roar all down the line. Supports and reserves would stand to arms until it had died down, and then the Germans would start all over again in another part of the line, with the same result. By this time, too, the trenches were beginning to fill with water in places, which added to our men's hardships.

Every day there were some casualties, but considering the amount of ammunition expended they were really very slight. Lord Congleton had a lucky escape. He was sent for to Battalion Headquarters to make a report, and on his return found that his shelter had been blown to atoms. On the same day Lord Bernard Lennox had an even narrower shave. Taking off his greatcoat, he laid it on the back of the trench, but had hardly gone two or three paces when there was a terrific explosion. When he looked round, he saw that the right arm of his coat was gone altogether and the left cut to ribbons.

Sept. 21.

At 4 A.M. on the 21st the Battalion was relieved by the Irish Guards under Lieut.-Colonel Lord Ardee, who, with Captain Lord Francis Scott, had been attached from the Grenadiers, and retired to Soupir. Captain Ridley was sent to inspect the trenches occupied by the 3rd Battalion Coldstream with a view to taking them over next morning, but this order was afterwards cancelled, and Lieut.-Colonel Smith, Captain Symes-Thompson, and Captain Colston went with the same object to the trenches west of Chavonne.

Sept. 22.

Next day the Battalion marched at dawn to Chavonne, and took over the trenches held by the 1st Cavalry Brigade, which was very glad to relinquish its position. Cavalry at that time had no bayonets, and so were at a serious disadvantage in a night attack. A company being so much stronger than a squadron, only two platoons of each company were needed for the front trenches, the other two being kept in reserve. No. 3 and No. 4 Companies went into the trenches, No. 1 and No. 2 into billets. Though there was continual shelling here too, it was nothing compared with what the Battalion had got accustomed to; in fact, the universal opinion was that it was quite a quiet spot.

Sept. 22-Oct. 11.

For nearly three weeks the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers remained in the trenches, two companies at a time. The general impression in the firing line seemed to be that the centre was waiting till the flanks could push on. There were also constant stories about the Russians. What really happened was that, with inferior numbers, General Joffre was unable to turn the enemy out of their positions. On the other hand, the Germans had given the Allies time to entrench themselves, and found it equally impossible to advance. Trench warfare had begun, and had come to stay. Months of comparative inaction were to follow, while the artillery pounded away at the infantry in the trenches.

"No man's land" between the trenches was covered with unburied bodies, but for either side to venture out merely meant adding to their number. The trenches were gradually improved and deepened, and communication trenches were dug in every direction. Rabbit netting was procured from the neighbouring woods and converted into wire entanglements, but at that time, with the exception of the Minenwerfer, there were none of the specially constructed infernal machines which later were to play such a large part in trench warfare. The infantry crouched in the trenches, while the artillery tried to reach it with every kind of shell; and though the casualties were sometimes considerable, on the whole the infantry succeeded in keeping itself protected.

Occasionally an extra heavy dose of shelling warned the firing line that a counter-attack was in view, but when it came to the point of cold steel the German troops showed no inclination to close with our men. Another indication of a coming attack was the playing of the band of some German regiment, which was heard on one or two occasions—evidently as a stimulant for the men who were to take part. Raids were periodically made to catch the enemy's snipers, hidden in trees and hay-ricks. Some N.C.O.'s showed themselves particularly clever and resourceful in carrying out these excursions, but rashness cost a good many lives.

A welcome end was at last put to the continual night firing in which the German snipers had succeeded in involving us. Lieutenant Donald Miller, who was in command on the left, which was their favourite approach, gave orders that no one was to fire without his leave. He took upon himself the responsibility of distinguishing between sniping and a regular attack, and with entire success. Isolated shots were ignored, and the supports and reserves had a quiet night; the other companies soon learnt the trick, and before long there were no more false alarms.

On September 27 Captain Colston was seized with appendicitis, and had to be sent home for an operation. Captain Ridley took his place, but on the same day was hit on the head and between the shoulders by fragments of a shell which exploded near him. Fortunately his wounds were not serious, and after having them dressed he went back to the firing line.

Oct. 1914.

In the first week of the battle of the Aisne the losses had been exceptionally heavy, but during the latter part of the time in which the British occupied the position, they were comparatively light. Sir John French estimated that from the start of the battle to the day the British Army left we lost altogether—in killed, wounded, and missing—561 officers and 12,980 men. On October 5 Captain Robin Grey, an officer of the Grenadiers attached to the Royal Flying Corps, was brought down while flying over the enemy's lines and made a prisoner.

Now the situation again changed. All along the French line there had been very heavy fighting, but while the Germans had been unable to pierce the line our Allies had equally failed to advance, though Maunoury had managed to extend his flank up to the Oise, while the new armies of Castelnau and Maud'huy were gradually lengthening the line in a northerly direction. Simultaneously the Germans had grasped that as nothing could be done on the Aisne the only possible chance of success was to turn to the French left.

So they at once began to stretch out their forces to the right, sending out huge masses of cavalry, and in their endeavour to find the French left pushed farther and farther north. They were not content with merely parrying French moves; they determined to outstrip them. They had shorter lines of communication and many more men than the Allies, and it is therefore all the more to the credit of the French and British Armies that they should have won this race for the coast by a short head.

Having come to the conclusion that an advance on the Aisne was impossible, General Joffre decided that the first-line troops should be gradually replaced by Territorials and sent up to prolong the line on the left. Curiously enough, precisely the same instructions were at the same time issued to the German Army, and Landwehr troops were gradually brought into the trenches.

This decision was to alter the fortunes also of our own troops. When the French Army began its various moves, Sir John French went to General Joffre, and pointed out the difficulties in which the British Army was placed by being in the centre of the line. All the supplies in coming from England had to go through Paris and cross those intended for the left of the French line, with the risk of probable confusion. The right place for the British Army, therefore, was clearly on the left, where supplies could reach it with the least possible delay. He also put forward the purely sentimental advantage to be gained by our army operating as a separate unit and expanding on its own front.

General Joffre saw the force of these contentions, and agreed to the British Army being moved up to Belgium, French Territorials taking up its former position. It should be explained that Territorials in France are in no way the equivalent of our own; they are all men who have served in the Army, but are over the age for active fighting. In fact, they correspond to the German Landwehr.

The necessary arrangements for withdrawal and relief were made. The operation began on October 3, and the Second Cavalry Division under General Gough marched from Compiègne en route for the new front. The Army Corps followed in succession at intervals of a few days, and the move was completed by October 19, when the First Corps detrained at St. Omer. This transfer of hundreds of thousands of men from one point of the country to another without a hitch was a striking testimony to the qualities of the French General Staff.

Oct. 12.

On the night of the 12th the French Territorials arrived, and took over the trenches of the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers. Though a sturdy lot of men, they had not exactly the inches of a Guardsman, and so found great difficulty in reaching the loopholes, with the result that alterations had to be made all along the line.

Oct. 13.

Next morning at about 1 A.M. the Battalion marched by way of St. Mard and Vauxcéré to Perles, where it went into billets at a big farm, and had its first real rest out of the range of shell-fire for a very long while. It was generally thought that when the Germans discovered the change which was being made they would send a few high-explosive shells well to the rear of the trenches to catch the retiring troops. But as it happened, the enemy were far too busy with their own movements to pay any attention to what was going on in front, and the Battalion marched away unmolested.

Oct. 14.

It started off again at 4 o'clock on the 14th and marched to Fismes, where it was to entrain for the north. After the usual long wait for the transport it got off at 7.30. The men were very closely packed, thirty-five or forty having to be put into each small covered truck, so that there was hardly room even to sit down. Through Paris, Beauvais, Amiens, Étaples, and Calais the train slowly wandered on, and finally the Battalion reached Hazebrouck at 7 o'clock next morning.

CHAPTER VI
THE FIRST BATTLE OF YPRES (1ST BATTALION)

1st Batt. Sept. 1914.

Meanwhile the 1st Battalion Grenadiers remained at Warley until September 1914. In the middle of the month the Seventh Division was formed, and the 1st Battalion Grenadiers was sent to Lyndhurst, near Southampton, where the Division was assembling, and placed in the 20th Brigade.

Major-General T. Capper, C.B., D.S.O., commanded the Division, which was composed as follows:

20th Infantry Brigade. Brigadier-General H. G. Ruggles-Brise,

M.V.O.

1st Batt. Grenadier Guards.

2nd Batt. Scots Guards.

2nd Batt. Border Regiment.

2nd Batt. Gordon Highlanders.

21st Infantry Brigade. Brigadier-General H. Watts, C.B.

2nd Batt. Bedford Regiment.

2nd Batt. Yorkshire Regiment.

2nd Batt. Royal Scots Fusiliers.

2nd Batt. Wiltshire Regiment.

22nd Infantry Brigade. Brigadier-General S. Lawford.

2nd Batt. Queen's.

2nd Batt. Royal Warwickshire Regiment.

1st Batt. Royal Welsh Fusiliers.

1st Batt. South Staffordshire Regiment.

Brigadier-General H. G. Ruggles-Brise, who commanded the Brigade in which the 1st Battalion served, was himself an old Grenadier.

It was generally considered that the Seventh Division was one of the finest sent out. Most of the men in it, except the two Guards battalions, had served for several years in India and the Colonies, and were bronzed, seasoned men, thorough professional soldiers.

For artillery the Division had one brigade of horse and two of field artillery, Brigadier-General H. K. Jackson, D.S.O., being in command. The brigade of horse artillery consisted of two batteries only. No howitzer brigade had been provided, but a heavy battery of old 4·7's was added at the last moment. The transport had to be supplemented by farm-carts, afterwards painted grey. The Divisional Cavalry consisted of the Northumberland Hussars, originally commanded by Lord Ridley; unfortunately he became too ill to go to the front, and Lieut.-Colonel Cookson took his place.

The centre of interest was now shifting from France to Belgium. Confused by the conflicting accounts which filtered through, the people at home only grasped that the German advance on Paris had failed, and that there was consequently a stalemate. But Sir John French knew that, even though the Allies had won the race to the sea, there was every danger of the German Army concentrating somewhere in the north and breaking through the line, necessarily weak, of the Allied armies.

Ypres and the neighbouring country where the First Battle of Ypres was fought. October and November. 1914.

Although the Germans were in possession of the greater part of Belgium, in their hurry to get to Paris they had been unable to dispose entirely of the Belgian Army, which had been so troublesome in the first stages of the war, and which had now retired into Antwerp. Consequently the German General Staff determined to make good the lines of communication by taking Antwerp and reducing all Belgium to ruins. As soon as this had been done all the available troops were to force their way through the Allied line and seize the northern part of France.

The capture of one of the largest towns in Belgium would be hailed with the greatest enthusiasm in Germany, and would also nip in the bud any scheme for sending British troops and guns to help the besieged Belgian Army. Germany knew that at present we had no guns capable of competing with hers, but if she delayed there was no reason why we should not manufacture them up to any calibre.

But, undeterred by our lack both of men and guns, the British Government had made up its mind to do something, at any rate, and the Naval Division, which had been intended as a Reserve for the Fleet, were accordingly despatched to Antwerp. This expedition was a glaring instance of our lack of preparation in the early stages of the war. Totally untrained, the men, many of them, knew nothing of the mechanism of the rifles they were armed with; they had no transport, and were given for their conveyance London motor omnibuses, with the familiar advertisements still on them.

Oct. 1914.

This force was greeted with wild enthusiasm when it arrived in Antwerp on October 4. Major J. A. C. Quilter, Captain A. E. Maxwell, and Lieutenant W. R. C. Murray, all officers of the Grenadiers, were lent to the Naval Division. Captain Maxwell was severely wounded in the subsequent fighting, and afterwards died, but the other two returned safely to England. Major Quilter, who remained attached to the Naval Division, was killed later in the Dardanelles while in command of the Hood Battalion.

With the monster German guns brought up against the town, the fall of Antwerp was a foregone conclusion. The Belgian artillery was quite outranged, and could make no sort of a reply, and the Naval Division had no heavy guns at all. So one-sided was the contest that for the defenders it was merely a matter of looking on while the huge shells fell and gradually devastated the town. On October 8 Antwerp capitulated, and there was a wild, confused rush by the inhabitants to get away. The Belgian Army and the greater part of the Naval Division managed to escape from the town, but about 18,000 Belgian troops and 15,000 British were forced up into Holland and interned.

Suddenly, when it had settled down to a sort of peace-manoeuvre life at Lyndhurst, the Seventh Division received its marching orders. The Government had decided to send it to help the Belgian Army. It was practically the only available unit, except the Third Cavalry Division, which was sent off a few days later.

It was a quiet, peaceful Sunday when the summons came. There had been so many rumours and alarms that no one took much notice of them, and the idea of departure had faded to a remote possibility. Passes had been given to the men to remain out till 9.30, and a field-day was arranged for the next day. Then came the order to embark at once from Southampton. In an instant there was feverish bustle and energy throughout the camps. The 1st Battalion Grenadiers marched off to Southampton, and was joined there by many men who were out on pass, but by the time the ship sailed all the Battalion was reported present.

Oct. 4.

Embarking on October 4, the Seventh Division succeeded in avoiding the enemy's mines and submarines on its voyage to Zeebrugge, but the Cavalry Division was unable to follow, and was diverted to Ostend instead.

The following is a list of the officers of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, who went out with the Battalion—all but a few of them were killed or wounded:

Lieut.-Colonel M. Earle, D.S.O., Commanding Officer.

Major H. St. L. Stucley, Second in Command.

Lieut. Lord Claud N. Hamilton, Machine-gun Officer.

Capt. G. E. C. Rasch, Adjutant.

Lieut. J. Teece, Quartermaster.

Major the Hon. A. O. W. C. Weld-Forester, M.V.O., King's Company.

Captain the Hon. L. P. Cary (Master of Falkland), King's Company.

Lieut. W. S. Pilcher, King's Company.

Lieut. H. L. Aubrey-Fletcher, M.V.O., King's Company.

Lieut. J. H. Powell, King's Company.

2nd Lieut. R. O. R. Kenyon-Slaney, King's Company.

Captain the Hon. C. M. B. Ponsonby, M.V.O., No. 2 Company.

Capt. G. C. G. Moss, No. 2 Company.

Lieut. G. E. Hope, Signalling Officer.

Lieut. T. E. R. Symons, No. 2 Company.

2nd Lieut. R. S. Lambert, No. 2 Company.

2nd Lieut. M. A. A. Darby, No. 2 Company.

Capt. Lord Richard Wellesley, No. 3 Company.

Capt. G. Rennie, No. 3 Company.

Lieutenant the Hon. A. G. S. Douglas-Pennant, No. 3 Company.

Lieut. P. Van Neck, No. 3 Company.

Lieut. L. G. Ames, No. 3 Company.

2nd Lieut. W. R. Mackenzie, Transport Officer.

Major L. R. V. Colby, No. 4 Company.

Capt. R. E. K. Leatham, No. 4 Company.

Lieut. E. Antrobus, No. 4 Company.

2nd Lieut. S. Walter, No. 4 Company.

2nd Lieut. N. A. H. Somerset, No. 4 Company.

2nd Lieut. Sir G. Duckworth-King, Bart., No. 4 Company.

Attached—Lieut. J. G. Butt, R.A.M.C.

The crossing was made in the S.S. Armenian, which was fairly comfortable, and the Turcoman, just a cattle-boat, with no accommodation at all. The transports did not move out into the Solent till after dark on the 5th, and reached Zeebrugge at six o'clock on the morning of the 7th. Disembarking was none too easy a task, for the jetty was much too small for ships of that size, and there were no cranes or other appliances for unshipping the horses, which just had to be pushed down gangways.

Oct. 7.

Entreaties were made to General Capper by a Belgian colonel and two Staff officers, who had come as a deputation from Antwerp, that he would bring the whole of the Seventh Division into that city. But Sir Henry Rawlinson had already sent orders for the Division to go to Bruges at once. The 1st Battalion Grenadiers made the journey in two trains, and was billeted in the suburb of St. André. Crowds lined the streets, and cheered each battalion lustily as it arrived. All the billeting was arranged without any difficulty, as the Belgian authorities knew to a man how many troops each village would hold.

That evening there was a "procession of humiliation" through the streets of Bruges, a long train of old men and women following in the wake of the priests, who were headed by acolytes swinging their censers. As they walked slowly through the streets, chanting a litany, they made an odd contrast with the masses of fighting men in khaki, and their array of wagons and guns.

Oct. 8.

Next day the whole Division was ordered to march to Ostend, to cover the landing of the Cavalry Division—a hot, tiring journey it was of fifteen miles, over the usual paving-stones. At Leffinghe, on the outskirts of Ostend, a defensive position was taken up and an attempt made to dig trenches, but the men could not go very deep, as at three feet below the surface they reached water.

Oct. 9.

Fortunately the Battalion was not called upon to hold them. Just before daybreak it left the trenches and marched into Ostend, where it entrained for Ghent. Sir Henry Rawlinson's plan was to operate on the Germans' left flank and divert their attention from the Belgian Army, which might thus, he hoped, be able to escape from Antwerp.

Indescribable confusion reigned in Ostend. The whole country-side had swarmed in to see what was going on; the Cavalry Division was landing while the Seventh Division passed through to get to the railway station, and their movements were naturally hampered by the throngs of people which surged over the streets and quays. General Capper took with him the 20th and 22nd Brigades under Brigadier-Generals Ruggles-Brise and Lawford, leaving the 21st, under Brigadier-General Watts, to march back to Beernem, where it was to remain in reserve. Meanwhile, the Cavalry Division was to operate in the direction of Thourout.

When the two brigades arrived at Ghent, they found that a small force of French Marines and Belgian cyclists were already holding an outpost line in front of the town. The Germans, it was reported, had just crossed the Scheldt about ten miles to the east, and were moving north-west, with the object of cutting off the Belgian Army and the British and French Naval Divisions, which were evacuating Antwerp.

Route taken by the First Battalion Grenadier Guards through Belgium in October 1914.

A second outpost line was taken up by the two brigades in rear of the French Marines, the 1st Battalion Grenadiers being in reserve. There were no machine-guns, and the only ammunition was the 200 rounds carried by each man. Though the artillery had been sent on the night before, it did not arrive at Ghent till twenty-four hours after the infantry, owing to the confusion there was on the railway line, part of which was in the hands of the Germans.

No. 2 Company of the Grenadiers found one or two piquets blocking the main road, and had a very busy time with the Belgian refugees who were streaming out of Ghent all night long. The other three companies were sent into billets in some large dye-works, but there were so few exits that it was found it would take quite half-an-hour to evacuate the place, so that it was nothing but a death-trap. Accordingly No. 4 Company billeted in a timber yard close by, while the King's and No. 3 bivouacked in an orchard by the roadside.

The nights were cold, and when the Battalion requisitioned for blankets, huge rolls of velvet from the dye-works were issued by the Belgian authorities. Some ten thousand francs' worth of velvet, it was estimated, was damaged in this way. The men naturally did not mind what they looked like as long as they kept warm, but as they lay asleep in the yard, with rich velvet such as Velasquez might have painted wrapped round their khaki, they presented a spectacle decidedly incongruous.

Oct. 10.

Nothing much happened during the next day, though there were occasional alarms. Firing could be heard in the distance, but no shells or bullets came in the direction of our troops. When it was dark the Battalion was ordered to report to the commander of the outpost line. On the march they met scattered bodies of the French Marines, who had presumably been driven in, and when they got to Destelbergen it appeared that the Marines had been withdrawn from this section, which was now only thinly held by such men as could be spared by the Border Regiment on the left.

The King's Company was told to take over this section—by no means an easy task in the dark. The frontage was nearly a mile, with the platoons about six hundred yards apart, and the trenches were useless, being merely shallow rain-shelters, hastily covered over. By working all night the men succeeded in making some sort of a trench by dawn. Orders were received that there could be no retirement in case of attack, and that no support could be looked for.

It was a remarkable situation into which this quixotic operation had forced us. Here was an isolated British Division, with practically no base and with no available reinforcements, operating entirely by itself, while large bodies of the enemy were reported in every direction. But for the information, which was regularly supplied by the aircraft, such a position would have become impossible. The aeroplanes were most active, constantly spying out the enemy's movements, and the armed motor-cars also did very useful work.

Oct. 11.

Spades and shovels were obtained from neighbouring cottages at daybreak on the 11th, and the men managed to make really good trenches. But in the afternoon the Battalion was withdrawn, and marched through Ghent. The whole force was retiring, and No. 2 and No. 3 Companies formed the rearguard to the two brigades. It was hardly expected that the Germans would allow the force to get away without a severe fight, but nothing happened, though the enemy was close at hand, and entered Ghent soon after the mixed force of British, French, and Belgians had left the town. Passing through Ghent at dead of night after the cordial reception they had had from the inhabitants two days before, and with the knowledge that the Belgians were being left to the tender mercies of the Germans, was anything but a pleasant experience for the British Force.

Antwerp having fallen, the Seventh Division now got orders to make its way back as fast as it could to Ypres, and there join up with the rest of the British Army. This meant long marches and few intervals of rest, but with the German force that had been freed by the capture of Antwerp close behind, any delay was dangerous.

Oct. 12.

By dawn on the 12th, Ruggles-Brise's and Lawford's Brigades reached Somergem, and in the afternoon they marched to Thielt by way of Aeltre. At Oostcamp Watts's Brigade joined in and followed the others to Thielt. As the Division drew near that place the halts became more and more frequent—there were constant checks of as much as ten minutes, followed by moves of less than a hundred yards. This was a very trying climax after being up all night and marching all day. The last mile took two hours, and it was not till 1 A.M. that the men reached their billets.

Oct. 13.

A burst of very heavy rifle-fire at 6 o'clock next morning in the very centre of the town brought every one scrambling out of their billets, with visions of outposts rushed and Germans in their midst. But it turned out to be only a Taube, at which every one who had a rifle was taking a shot. Eventually it was brought down about a mile off, the Grenadiers, Scots Fusiliers, and Pom-Pom Detachment all claiming the hit.

The whole Division started off for Roulers, followed by the Germans. On its arrival at Pitthem, a force of the enemy was reported to be advancing from the north and north-east. The baggage was therefore sent on, and the 20th and 22nd Brigades were ordered to take up a position in order to cover this change in the order of march. The Germans, however, did not come on, and the march was continued. The Division reached Roulers after dark—with the usual irritating and fatiguing halts. At each village, as the Battalion marched through, the whole population turned out and gave the men apples, cigarettes, and any other offerings they could, but the lion's share naturally fell to the advance guard and the leading battalion, and by the time the tail was reached the supplies had generally given out.

By now the Germans had grasped that this was an isolated Division, and were straining every nerve to catch it, so that the position at Roulers was very precarious. The reports from the aeroplane scouts were disquieting, and General Capper realised that every moment was precious.

Oct. 14.

Early next morning the Division marched out of Roulers, and not long afterwards the Germans arrived; in fact, it was said that the rear-guard was hardly clear of the town before the Uhlans were in it. No. 3 and No. 4 Companies, under Captain Lord Richard Wellesley and Major Colby, formed the advance-guard.

Rain fell heavily all the way, and the roads were in a terrible state, but the men's spirits were raised by the news that they were nearly in touch with the Expeditionary Force. These forced marches had told on the troops, and though in the Grenadiers not a man fell out, in some of the battalions men were left behind—never to be seen again. Others, determined not to fall into the enemy's hands, limped doggedly on in a pitiable plight, some having even taken off their boots and tied their puttees round their feet.

They reached Ypres at 2 P.M. on the 14th, and the King's, No. 3, and No. 4 Companies were detailed to find the outposts on the Menin and Messines roads. As the companies moved out to take up their positions they encountered several parties of Uhlans, which caused a good deal of excitement among the men, as they were the first of the enemy's troops actually seen. Some ammunition was expended without much result. But No. 4 Company at any rate accounted for four of these advanced cavalry.

In the evening a report was received that a German force of all arms, estimated to be an Army Corps, was advancing on Ypres from the direction of Comines. Their road was blocked by a platoon of the King's Company, and most of the men were delighted at the prospect of a fight, although those who knew the composition of a German Army Corps were not quite so enthusiastic. Two platoons of No. 2 Company under Lieutenant T. E. R. Symons were despatched to Voormezeele, about a mile in front of the outpost line, to block the road and report at once any movements by the enemy.

These were the first trenches dug on the Ypres battle-ground. The men at that time imagined that they had only to scrape out temporary shelters which would be sufficient protection for a night or two. They little thought that they were laying the foundation of an intricate network of trenches which would be constantly used for the next four years.

The first battle of Ypres which was now about to begin may be said to fall into four clearly marked stages:

A. Up to October 19: the operations of the Second and Third Corps from the La Bassée Canal in the south to Armentières and Ploegsteert Wood, in which they forced their way forward in the face of always increasing opposition; the Second Corps establishing itself on the high ground south-west of Lille ("the Aubers Ridge"), although it was being held up on its right by the strong German position of La Bassée; the Third Corps continuing the line northward astride of the Lys. On their left the enemy's cavalry threatened the passages of the Lys from Warneton downward, but could not cross the river. Its operations connected up those of the Second and Third Corps with those of the Seventh Division and Third Cavalry Division, with which General Rawlinson, after advancing eastward to assist in the retirement of the Belgian Army from Antwerp, had fallen back to a position a few miles east of Ypres.

By the evening of October 19 the line of the Second Corps ran approximately from east of Givenchy—Violaines—Lorgies—west of Illies—Herlies to Le Pilly, while between it and the Third Corps was General Conneau's French Cavalry Corps, somewhat to the left rear of the Second Corps. The Third Corps had reached the line Radinghem—Ennetières—Prémesques—Frélinghien—Le Gheer. The British cavalry continued the line down the Lys to the Ypres—Comines Canal, and was in touch with the right of General Rawlinson's command, which, after attempting to advance on Menin on the morning of October 19, had been forced to fall back to the position Zandvoorde—Kruiseik—Zonnebeke by the appearance on its left of large forces of Germans, before which the French cavalry (connecting General Rawlinson's force with the Belgians) was falling back.

The situation, as it then stood, seems to have offered Sir John French two alternatives for the employment of Sir Douglas Haig's Corps, which had then completed its concentration in the area St. Omer—Hazebrouck: he might utilise it to reinforce Generals Smith-Dorrien and Pulteney, who were holding a long front, and whose troops had had over a week of difficult, if on the whole successful, fighting, and lacked the numbers needed for any further advance. Reinforcements thrown in on this quarter might have saved Lille, and enabled the French, in co-operation with whom the British were acting, to outflank the Germans opposed to them in the neighbourhood of Loos and Arras. Ever since the battle on the Aisne had reached a deadlock in the middle of September, it had been the object of the Allied forces to outflank the German right, while the Germans had by continually reinforcing and prolonging their threatened flank succeeded in thwarting this effort. It is this double prolongation of the opposing lines, first by one combatant, then by the other, which is called "the Race to the Sea," and of which the first battle of Ypres was the culminating point.

The other alternative was to send in this force farther to the left to carry out a wider turning movement than the mere move round what seemed then the German right south of Lille, and by pushing forward east of Ypres in the direction of Bruges to outflank the German line far more effectively. It is a little difficult to ascertain from the evidence at present available what exactly was known as to the opposition to be expected in such a movement. It would seem that the full strength of the German force available, consisting of several of the newly formed Reserve Corps (raised since the beginning of the war), was hardly appreciated. The idea, prevailing at the British Headquarters, was that if used on the extreme left flank in this way Sir Douglas Haig's part would be essentially offensive; but as things turned out, he was speedily thrown on the defensive, and forced to fight a most desperate battle to prevent greatly superior forces of Germans forcing their way through Ypres to the Channel ports. Badly as the Second and Third Corps needed help, it was most fortunate that, when the German attack began, it found the First Corps, advancing past Ypres, in its path.

B. From October 20 to October 28: the operations in this phase have a two-fold character. On the left Sir Douglas Haig endeavoured to advance first of all north of, and then through, General Rawlinson's troops; and, though to some extent successful, he encountered ever-increasing opposition, so that by October 28 the British in this quarter (east of Ypres, north of the Ypres—Comines Canal) had been definitely thrown on the defensive, and were hard put to it to hold their own against the repeated attacks of considerably superior forces. Meanwhile, on October 20, the Germans had developed a powerful counter-attack against the long and attenuated line held by the Second and Third Corps. The left of the Second Corps at Le Pilly was driven in, and simultaneously General Pulteney's troops were ousted from Ennetières and Prémesques, and these losses, coupled with the great superiority of the German forces opposed to them, compelled the Second and Third Corps to retire. Thus the valuable tactical position of the Aubers Ridge was lost, and the Second and Third Corps compelled to retire to the line Givenchy—Richebourg l'Avoué—Neuve Chapelle—Bois Grenier—Houplines—Le Gheer. At the same time the cavalry north of the Lys was gradually pressed back to the line St. Yvon—east of Messines—Hollebeke—Zandvoorde. Fortunately at this critical time the arrival of the Lahore Division of the Indian Corps provided a much-needed assistance, but, despite this, the village of Neuve Chapelle was lost on October 27, and a counter-attack on October 28 failed to regain possession of it.

C. From October 29 to November 10: in this period the operations north of the Lys, where the German attacks reached their maximum in force, were of the greatest importance, fresh troops being constantly put in. South of that river the fighting gradually diminished in intensity, the German attacks being held up by the Second Corps, part of which was relieved by the Indian Corps (the Meerut Division, which arrived in the line on October 31), and the Sixth Division of the Third Corps. A little ground was lost, but nothing of real importance. North of the river the intensity of the fighting increased greatly, and on October 29 the Germans attacked in great strength, but were only able to gain a little ground. Two days later, on October 31, they renewed the attack with the utmost vigour, and made a determined effort to reach the Channel ports. The line of the First Division about Gheluvelt was broken, and the Division fell back. General Lomax and the greater portion of his staff were killed, while the casualties in the rank and file were enormous. The day was saved by Brigadier-General Charles FitzClarence, V.C., who, quickly realising the peril of the situation, ordered the 2nd Battalion Worcestershire Regiment to retake Gheluvelt, although they were not under his command. The First Division gallantly rallied, and regained some of the ground that had been lost, but not without desperate fighting and very heavy losses. At the same time the Fourth Division of the Third Corps was very hard pressed at Le Gheer, but managed to retain its ground after hard fighting and a successful counter-attack. On November 1 the cavalry, after a most magnificent resistance at Messines and Wytschaete, was finally dislodged from the Messines Ridge. By this time French reinforcements were arriving in large numbers, and they took over the line between the left of the cavalry and the right of Sir Douglas Haig's command (into which the Seventh Division had now been absorbed), but their repeated counter-attacks on the Messines Ridge, and between Wytschaete and the Ypres—Comines Canal were unsuccessful. After October 31 the fighting north of the Ypres—Comines Canal did not reach the same intensity till November 11, but the Germans made repeated attacks, and forced the line back a little at several points. It became necessary to relieve the Seventh Division, whose infantry had been reduced to about a quarter of its original strength, and this was done by putting in about a dozen of the scarcely less exhausted battalions of the Second Corps, which had just been taken out of the line north of La Bassée for a well-earned rest. By November 5 the right of Sir Douglas Haig's line, south of the Ypres—Menin road, was held by the equivalent of a division from the Second Corps, the First Division being in his centre, and the Second on his left, though all three divisions were much intermingled.

By November 10 the cavalry, supported by a few battalions of the Second Corps, had taken over a line west of the Messines Ridge, and on the left of the Third Corps. From the Douve southward to La Bassée the line was approximately established as it remained through the winter of 1914-15, the Third Corps being astride the Lys, while the Fourth Corps (the Eighth Division, which had by this time arrived) continued the line from about Bois Grenier to beyond Neuve Chapelle, the Indian Corps being on the right.

D. November 11 to 20: November 11 was the next most critical moment of the battle after October 31; on this day took place the great attack of the Prussian Guard, which broke through the line of the First Division near Veldhoek and penetrated into the Nonne-Bosschen, but was checked there, and then dislodged by a counter-attack by the 52nd Oxfordshire Light Infantry, perhaps the most dramatic of all the individual episodes of the battle. On this day the line of the Third Division south of the Ypres—Menin road was also violently assailed, and some ground was lost; but the net result of the day was the failure of the great German effort to break through, and from that moment the fighting north as well as south of the Lys tended to diminish in intensity. The Germans made a few more attacks, but none in such strength or determination as those of October 31 and November 11, and about November 15 the French began to take over the positions in "the Ypres salient," so obstinately defended by Sir Douglas Haig for nearly four weeks. It may be gathered from the accounts of the fighting of the subsequent months that the Germans were for the moment exhausted, that their supplies of ammunition were running low, and that the attack of November 11 represented their last bolt—until more could be forged. Thus if the Allied effort to outflank the German right and roll up their line had been unsuccessful, defensively the first battle of Ypres was a great success, the German effort to break through being definitely and decisively defeated. November 20 may be taken as the end of the battle, as it was on that day that the last unit of Sir Douglas Haig's command was relieved by the French, the British line then extending approximately from Givenchy in the south to Keniwel in the north. During this fourth phase the operations on the line from the Douve to the La Bassée Canal had been of the character of "normal trench warfare," neither side attempting any major operation.

Oct. 15.

Ypres was to be held at all costs till the First Corps arrived—those were Sir Henry Rawlinson's orders. There were no other British troops in the neighbourhood when the Seventh Division arrived there, except the Third Cavalry Division, which had been sent on in the direction of Menin to reconnoitre. The Eighty-seventh French Territorial Division was at Ypres, and the Eighty-ninth at Poperinghe (both under General Bidon), while the Belgian Army had reached the Forest of Houthulst.

At first General Capper decided to post the Seventh Division from Zonnebeke to Langemarck, asking the Eighty-seventh French Territorials to hold, for the moment, the line from Zonnebeke to Hollebeke; there they would get into touch with Allenby's Cavalry Division, which was on the left of the Third Corps. Operating on the left of the Seventh Division, Byng's Cavalry Division would keep touch with the Belgians and French Marines.

But these orders were afterwards cancelled when it was clear that Menin would be the probable line of advance. General Capper made the Seventh Division change places with the Eighty-seventh French Division, so that it now took up the line from Zonnebeke to Hollebeke, with Ruggles-Brise's Brigade on the right, Watts's in the centre, and Lawford's on the left. Four German Army Corps were now rumoured to be operating somewhere in Belgium, but where exactly no one knew.

Oct. 16.

A piteous sight confronted the 1st Battalion Grenadiers as it marched eastward towards Zandvoorde on October 16, after a quiet day in billets on the outskirts of Ypres. On the roads it met the whole civilian population of the neighbouring towns and villages, which was in flight before the advancing enemy. Old men and women ran breathless; children trotted by their mothers' sides; some had all their worldly possessions in carts drawn by ponies or dogs; others were pushing wheelbarrows loaded with all the goods they could carry away. All had a look of terror in their eyes, and all hurried madly to safety, spurred on by the thought of the blazing villages that lay behind them.

The advance-guard of the Brigade was formed by the King's and No. 4 Companies under Major Weld-Forester and Major Colby. Progress was very slow, even after daybreak, as there was a fog, and every wood by the roadside had to be thoroughly cleared. A few shots were exchanged with Uhlans, but there was no serious resistance, and the Brigade entered Zandvoorde at 11 A.M. Two miles from Zandvoorde, meanwhile, No. 3 Company under Lord Richard Wellesley had been ordered to Hollebeke to protect the right flank of the Brigade; this Company rejoined the Battalion later on.

At Zandvoorde a strong defensive position was taken up, facing east; it had a good field of fire, and there was a fairly wide stream two hundred yards from the trenches. The King's and No. 4 Companies were in the front trench, and No. 2 and No. 3 in reserve. That night the enemy played his old tricks, and kept every one awake, with a few snipers firing at intervals into different parts of the line. The men were then new to such devices, but it was not long before they learned to distinguish between sniping and an organised attack.

Oct. 17-18.

The following day the whole Brigade was ordered to advance and occupy the ridge Kruiseik—America, with its right bending back to Zandvoorde, the Scots Guards having occupied Kruiseik the night before. At night villages could be seen burning in every direction, set on fire by the Germans, and this was taken as an indication that the enemy was preparing to attack.

Oct. 19.

On the 19th orders were received for an advance by the Seventh Division on Menin and Wervicq; it was reported that the enemy was in no great strength, and that his forces consisted principally of Landsturm, with no artillery. The attack was to take place in three phases:

First phase: by the 22nd Brigade on the left against an advance position at Kleythoek.

Second phase: by the 20th and 21st Brigades against Gheluwe.

Third phase: by the whole Division against Menin and Wervicq.

Sir John French, in his despatch of that date, said:

I considered, however, that the possession of Menin constituted a very important point of passage, and would much facilitate the advance of the rest of the Army, so I directed the General Officer commanding the Fourth Corps to advance the Seventh Division upon Menin and endeavour to seize that crossing on the morning of the 18th.

It was no easy task that was allotted to Sir Henry Rawlinson, for he had nothing to fall back upon. The cavalry under Byng was hardly strong enough to do more than feel for the enemy, and there was therefore only the French Territorial Division at Ypres as a reserve. There was nearly twenty miles of front for the Seventh Division to operate on, and no one knew when the First Corps would arrive.

The advance of the Seventh Division began in the morning. The 1st Battalion Grenadiers deployed for an attack on Gheluwe and Kruiseik, with No. 2 and No. 3 Companies in the firing-line, and the King's and No. 4 in support. The men were extended to eight paces, and each company had a frontage of half a platoon; the Battalion was thus in sixteen lines, with 200 yards between each line, during the preliminary advance under artillery fire.

When about half the Battalion was on the move, the order to advance was countermanded, for news had arrived that a large force of all arms was advancing from the direction of Courtrai. Lawford's Brigade, which had reached Kleythoek, was strongly attacked on its left flank and compelled to fall back with heavy losses. The advance on Menin had been found impracticable; Sir Henry Rawlinson suddenly realised that with a single infantry division it was sheer madness to attack an enemy force which, according to our airmen's reports, was far stronger than Sir John French had anticipated. Being the pivot on which the whole Division had to turn, Ruggles-Brise's Brigade had not gone far when the countermanding order came, but the left of the Division had to retire some distance before it was in line facing the right way.

Ruggles-Brise's Brigade retired to its former position, which consisted of a semicircular line running from Zandvoorde through Kruiseik to the cross-roads on the Ypres—Menin road. To the 1st Battalion Grenadiers was allotted a frontage of nearly a mile, from and including the village of Kruiseik to the cross-roads, on the left being the Yorkshire Regiment from Watts's Brigade and on the right the Border Regiment. No. 2 and No. 3 Companies were in the firing line, and No. 4 and the King's Company in support.

A circular salient is not easy to hold, and after the greater part of the day had been spent in improving the trenches and putting out barbed wire under intermittent and ineffective shell-fire, orders were received to withdraw the line. This withdrawal was necessitated by the Divisional order to send back two battalions as Divisional Reserve. This left only the Grenadiers and Border Regiment to occupy the whole line. After consulting General Ruggles-Brise, Lieut.-Colonel Earle decided to withdraw Nos. 2 and 3 Companies and convert the support trenches into the firing line. This meant altering the trenches a good deal, as those used for the supports were too wide and shallow. The whole situation had, however, changed, and the Division was now on the defensive.

Oct. 20.

Improvements in the line generally were made next day. Besides being deepened, the trenches were made narrower by driving wash-poles into the bottom about three feet apart, closing up the intervals with doors, shutters, straw hurdles, etc., and then filling up the space behind with earth. This work was practically finished, when it had to be stopped because a reconnaissance was sent out in front with a battery of R.H.A. (13-pounders) to support it, and no sooner had the battery opened fire than it was itself attacked by much heavier artillery from the direction of Wervicq.

For an hour a constant stream of shrapnel and high explosive poured over our trenches. There was one short lull, when our R.H.A. Battery ran short of ammunition, and the Germans, thinking they had knocked the battery out, also ceased fire. On realising their mistake, they began again with renewed energy. High-explosive shells were bursting all down the trenches, back and front, but luckily none landed actually in them; and though a cottage by the side of the road caught fire, the removal of the wood and straw lying near the trench averted all danger. Very grateful the Grenadiers were for the close touch which F Battery under Major Head managed to keep with them during these anxious days' fighting. It was a perfect example of how artillery and infantry should co-operate.

In the afternoon the enemy launched his infantry attack, preceded by scouts and snipers, and covered by artillery and machine-gun fire. Almost for the first time the Germans were now distinctly seen, and there was something almost reassuring in the fact that they looked like ordinary beings. Hitherto they had seemed a sort of mysterious bogey, something far away on the black horizon, an evil force associated with burning houses and fleeing inhabitants. Though their attack was all according to the book, they never succeeded in reaching our trenches. In many places they managed to advance under cover to within 200 yards of our position, but the attack was half-hearted and therefore failed.

The machine-guns under Lord Claud Hamilton were posted on the right of the Battalion, and remained there for seven days, day and night, without relief, under continual fire from the enemy's artillery and machine-guns. During this strenuous time they fired 56,000 rounds, and inflicted considerable loss on the enemy.

By dusk the Germans had established a considerable force within striking distance, and the whole British line stood to arms till about 9 P.M., expecting an assault any moment. Why with such enormous advantages the enemy did not make a more determined attack it is difficult to understand. They outnumbered our troops by four to one, and had an overwhelming superiority in artillery. But while the Seventh Division were all seasoned professional soldiers, the German Corps consisted mostly of Landwehr, that is, second-line troops or men retired from the active army.

Nothing happened till midnight, when the enemy suddenly opened a heavy fire, and in places began half-hearted assaults, which were easily repulsed. He kept up a continuous and comparatively useless fire for an hour, but with our men the control of fire was excellent. During these spasmodic attacks the R.H.A. Battery, which was just behind the village of Kruiseik, did most effective work, bursting groups of shrapnel with great accuracy and rapidity over the German lines, at a range of only eight hundred yards. The Seventh Division was occupying more ground than it could properly hold, but with so few troops General Capper had no alternative. Two platoons of No. 2 Company were furnished during the night to support the King's Company in the fire trenches, but even with their help it found the greatest difficulty in filling its part of the line.

Oct. 21.

There was some shelling in the early morning of the 21st, but nothing serious happened till the afternoon, when the enemy at last attacked, apparently, all along the line. So long was the line General Capper was now holding that he found it impossible to keep any reserves. At first the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards was in Divisional Reserve, but it was soon wanted, and was sent up into the firing line in the morning. When appeals for help came afterwards from various quarters, General Capper had only the cavalry to send. The Northumberland Hussars were despatched to fill the gap between the 20th Brigade and the Third Cavalry Division, and when the right flank of the Division needed strengthening the Divisional Cyclist Company was sent thither.

By this time the First Corps had arrived, and had been sent up to the north of Ypres. As it turned out, that spirit of dash which won Sir John French his reputation in South Africa proved the saving of the situation. Had he been of a more cautious disposition, he would undoubtedly have sent the First Corps to reinforce General Smith-Dorrien, who was in great difficulties farther south. Its despatch north of Ypres, originally with the idea of a general advance, saved the Seventh Division from utter destruction.

The position of the line was now as follows: the First Corps from Bixschoote to Zonnebeke; the Seventh Division from Zonnebeke to Zandvoorde; then Byng's Cavalry and Allenby's Cavalry up to the left of the Third Corps.

About mid-day the 21st Brigade was heavily attacked, and Brigadier-General Watts sent back for reinforcements. There were none. Some companies had to be sent in support, and General Ruggles-Brise ordered No. 2 and No. 3 Companies of the Grenadiers to go to its help. Two companies of Scots Guards had already been sent to Zandvoorde to fill up a gap on the right, occasioned by the withdrawal of the 5th Cavalry Brigade, while the remaining two companies were with the Divisional Reserve at Gheluvelt. These continual demands for reinforcements naturally weakened the 20th Brigade considerably. Under heavy shell-fire the Scots Guards started off, but the attack on the 21st Brigade died away, and after they had gone about a mile they were ordered to return, as they might be wanted any moment to support their own Brigade.

Meanwhile the line held by the Grenadiers was heavily shelled, not only by the Germans but by our own guns, which were firing short. The men naturally were infuriated by this, but fortunately the mistake did not last long, as the artillery was soon able to correct its own distance. During the night the German machine-guns had been brought up close, one at least being placed in a house 150 yards from our trenches, and the covering fire from these was most disconcerting. It was generally oblique, and enabled the German infantry to approach with far fewer losses than on the previous day. An infantry attack was made, but was not pressed home, and except for spasmodic bursts of rifle-fire the night was again fairly quiet.

Oct. 22.

Having been in the trenches for four days and nights, the King's and No. 4 Companies were relieved by No. 2 and No. 3 Companies. Aircraft reports that the enemy was massing troops near America seemed to presage an attack, but except for the inevitable sniping nothing happened in that part of the line, the attack that day being directed against the 22nd Brigade and also against the First and Second Divisions farther north. The relieved companies had not been long in their dug-outs, however, before two platoons of No. 4 Company under 2nd Lieutenant Walter and 2nd Lieutenant Somerset were ordered to occupy some trenches vacated by the 21st Brigade on the left, while the King's Company was sent up to Kruiseik to reinforce No. 2 Company.

Oct. 23.

The position of the Seventh Division was now becoming most precarious, holding doggedly on as it was to a line seven miles long, with every man in the trenches. General Lawford's 22nd Brigade had been attacked by a large force and obliged to give ground; this made an ugly dent in the line, and placed the 21st Brigade in an acute and perilous salient. To help the hard-pressed Seventh Division Sir Douglas Haig now sent along the Second Division, which had been relieved by the French Ninth Corps.

Owing to the heavy mist on the 23rd neither side could use artillery till 9 A.M., when the enemy began to bombard the Kruiseik salient. The day's attack was directed against the 21st Brigade, and the Wiltshire Regiment had some desperate fighting. The two platoons of the Grenadiers which had been sent up the night before were attacked by two battalions of Germans, but they held their ground and never gave an inch. They suffered severely, however, and 2nd Lieutenant Walter and 2nd Lieutenant Somerset were both killed before these platoons were withdrawn. The whole line of trenches was bombarded incessantly, and all day the German guns swept the rear of the line so as to catch the supports as they came up.

A message was sent to the Grenadiers about 2.30 from the Border Regiment on the right to say that their trenches had been blown in, and they might want help. Accordingly the King's and No. 4 Companies were ordered to move across to a position in rear of the Border Regiment, so as to support them if necessary. No sooner had they left their dug-outs and fallen in than they were heavily shelled, though they were well out of sight of the German gunners.

Incidents like this gave rise to stories of spies behind the British lines, who could telephone to the enemy's gunners the exact position of bodies of our troops. But had the Germans had any means whatever of obtaining information they could hardly have failed to know that, instead of the large forces they imagined to be opposed to them, there was nothing to bar their way to Calais but a single unsupported British Division.

When the leading platoons of the two companies of the Grenadiers reached the position indicated, which was the ridge in rear of the Borderers' trenches, they came under the concentrated fire of batteries from three different directions, and suffered some loss. So heavy was the fire that they found it impossible to remain on the ridge, and as the Border Regiment had not definitely asked for support the King's Company was ordered to retire. It retired in good order and in slow time, though under heavy fire all the way. Lieutenant H. L. Aubrey Fletcher and several men were wounded, but the casualties were not so heavy as might have been expected. Fortunately the enemy burst their shrapnel too high, and the ground was so soft that the high-explosive shells did little damage except when they got a direct hit.

Oct. 24.

A violent attack was made next day on the salient formed by the British line, which at last began to show signs of giving way. After some desperate fighting the Wiltshire Regiment was driven in, and the Germans got possession of Polygon Wood. Ruggles-Brise's Brigade was heavily engaged, as the enemy's attack was being pressed home with great vigour, especially on the left of the Battalion, where the Germans were trying to break through between the Grenadiers and the Yorkshire Regiment. No. 4 Company, under Major Colby, was therefore ordered to counter-attack. Great difficulties were added to its task by the tobacco-drying grounds—ready-made wire entanglements on which the men's packs and accoutrements caught while the German machine-guns were practically enfilading them. But, in spite of everything, Major Colby succeeded in driving back a much larger body of the enemy, and thus making that part of the line secure.

It was a brilliant bit of work, and was specially mentioned by General Capper in his report. But it was very costly: Major Colby, Lieutenant Antrobus, and a hundred men were killed, and Captain Leatham was wounded. The only officer of this company who escaped unhurt was Lieutenant Sir G. Duckworth-King.

In the evening news arrived that the First Corps was attacking the enemy on the left, and this somewhat relieved the situation. The reserve trenches came in for severe shelling during the night, but, as it happened, there was only a platoon of No. 2 in reserve at the time. It had a curious experience, which might have had serious results. Two companies of the Queen's had been sent up to the reserve dug-outs. Somehow the report was spread that the Germans had got into Kruiseik, and an alarm was raised. The platoon from the Grenadiers stood to arms, and as it waited saw in the moonlight a line of men with fixed bayonets advancing on their flank. They were preparing to meet them with the bayonet when they suddenly realised that they were friends. Major Stucley leaped from the trench, and went himself to explain matters to the two companies, which returned to their original position.

Oct. 25.

The Germans were reported next day to be entrenching all along our southern front and opposite Zandvoorde. About sunset the Grenadiers were attacked, and one platoon from No. 2 Company under Lieutenant Lambert became isolated, the enemy having taken the trench on its right and also the houses behind it. Three messengers were sent back to Battalion Headquarters for help, but only one got through, and he was wounded. Lieut.-Colonel Earle sent up a platoon of No. 3, and the houses in the rear of the line were partially cleared.

A determined attack developed later that night, and a mass of men was seen advancing on the left. A voice called out, "Don't shoot! We are the South Staffords." But the German helmets could be distinctly seen against the glow from a burning farm; a heavy fire was opened on them, and slowly they disappeared. As a matter of fact two companies of the South Staffords had come up to the Battalion as a reserve that night, and the Germans must have known it. In the morning forty or fifty dead Germans were counted in front of the platoon under Lieutenant Lambert, and 200 prisoners were captured by the Scots Guards in a house in rear of the line. Viscount Dalrymple and Captain Fox, with two companies of the Scots Guards, cleared all the Germans out of the village, and restored the line.

During the night Lord Claud Hamilton, whose guns were in action all night, saw a body of men moving in fours down the road behind him, and naturally thought they were men of the Brigade. But as they passed a burning house he saw the German helmets, and turned one of his guns on them, while the other gun continued to engage the enemy in front. He was relieved before dawn by Lieutenant Gladwin of the Scots Guards with a fresh team of men, who took over the Grenadier machine-guns. Soon after he took charge Lieutenant Gladwin was killed.

Oct. 26.

The First Division had now taken over the line from Reutel to the Menin road, so that the Seventh Division held only the section from the Menin road through Kruiseik to Zandvoorde. But this salient had become more and more acute and dangerous, and General Capper decided to readjust the line and reduce the salient as far as he could. To withdraw from a position when at close grips with the enemy was a task requiring careful staff work, but it was successfully carried out that night.

Before dawn the King's Company took over the fire trenches with a platoon of No. 3 under Lieutenant Van Neck, while a platoon from No. 2 under Sergeant Boyles occupied a trench about 200 yards to the left. One platoon of the King's Company was 300 yards to the right of the rest of the company, and another 300 yards farther to the right were the Scots Guards.

A terrific shelling of our trenches began early in the morning, and reached such a pitch that the men counted as many as sixty shells a minute on each small trench. The whole of the enemy's artillery fire was concentrated on Kruiseik. Gallantly our men held on, in spite of the fact that again and again the shells blew in the trenches and buried half-a-dozen men at a time, all of whom had to be dug out with shovels. Some of them had as much as three feet of earth on top of them, and many were suffocated before they could be rescued.

So violent were these attacks that by mid-day the Germans had broken through the line held by two companies of the South Staffords, which had been sent to relieve the Border Regiment. By 2.30 P.M. the enemy had gone through the gap, and had managed to get in rear of two companies of the Scots Guards, which suddenly found themselves surrounded and fired at from all directions. Although the Scots Guards still fought on, they were captured by degrees in small parties, and the survivors were finally made prisoners, including Lieut.-Colonel Bolton, Major Viscount Dalrymple, and Captain Fox. Finding his flank exposed, Lieut.-Colonel Earle at once gave orders to the Grenadiers to retire, but this order did not reach the fire trenches for a long time, and was never received by the King's Company at all. Meanwhile, General Ruggles-Brise ordered the guns back to their old position on the Zandvoorde Ridge, and having collected the remainder of the Scots Guards, the Gordons, and the Borderers, he returned to the hollow west of Zandvoorde.

The position now seemed hopeless for the King's Company and the other two platoons, for the Germans had got round both flanks, and the rest of the Battalion was retiring. Lieutenant Pilcher, one of the officers of the King's Company, managed to get back to Battalion Headquarters, only to find that the Battalion had retired. He started to return at once, but the Germans were closing in on the company, and as there were no communication trenches, he had to advance in the open with the enemy on each side of him. However, he got through to Major Weld-Forester, and told him of the retirement. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Hope, the signalling officer, who had been ordered to retire with the rest of the Battalion, turned back on his own initiative to warn the King's Company, and even got some of the First Division to come to its assistance.

At first Major Weld-Forester had determined to hold on grimly to his bit of the line, but it now seemed clear to him that he ought to join in retirement. To do this meant going clean through the Germans, who were now firmly established in the village and outhouses—but on the other hand to remain meant being surrounded and captured. So he quickly decided to retire and join the rest of the Battalion. He knew he could rely on his men to do anything or go anywhere, and trusted to their discipline to carry through even such a desperate plan as this of forcing a way through the Germans.

Having explained the whole situation to his officers and N.C.O.'s, he sent an orderly to Lieutenant Van Neck, and told him to retire at the same time. But the message never reached this officer, nor did the platoon of the King's Company which was 800 yards away receive the order. The result was that these two isolated platoons continued to fight on until they were overwhelmed by the advancing German masses.

Meanwhile, through the village came the King's Company, with Major Weld-Forester at their head, bayonets fixed and in perfect order. On they came, straight through the Germans, who were at first dumbfounded by the reckless daring of the enterprise. Soon the enemy collected themselves, and the machine-guns began rattling from the windows; but friend and foe were so intermingled that it was difficult for them to fire, and it would have taken better men than the Germans to stop the men of the King's Company, when they had made up their minds to get through. Many casualties there were, of course, but Major Weld-Forester succeeded in joining the Black Watch that night, and linked up with the rest of the Battalion next morning.

The same night the retirement of the whole Division was carried out successfully, and it took up a second position running through the crossroads near Gheluvelt. The remainder of the Grenadiers, under Lieut.-Colonel Earle, retired in good order through the First Division and went into billets on the outskirts of Ypres, where they were joined next morning by what was left of the King's Company. After five days and nights in the trenches without relief the men were utterly worn out, but in spite of their hard fighting and heavy losses their spirits were not depressed nor their discipline in any way relaxed.

Oct. 27.

On the 27th the 1st Battalion Grenadiers moved from billets outside Ypres to a bivouac in Sanctuary Wood, just south of the Menin road. Ruggles-Brise's Brigade was withdrawn from the Basseville River, and the battalions were reorganised. When the roll was called, it was found that the losses in every battalion had been considerable. The 1st Battalion Grenadiers had lost 9 officers and 301 men, the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards 17 officers and 511 men, the 2nd Gordon Highlanders 3 officers and 159 men, and the 2nd Border Regiment 17 officers and 431 men. What remained of the Seventh Division was now transferred to the First Corps under Sir Douglas Haig.

A report was received that the Twenty-seventh German Reserve Division had been ordered to take the cross-roads south-east of Gheluvelt, and the 20th Brigade was ordered to relieve the 22nd Brigade just south of the Menin road. General Ruggles-Brise placed the Grenadiers in the front line next to the road, with the Gordons on their right, while the remnants of the Borderers and Scots Guards were left in support. Guides were furnished by the 22nd Brigade, and General Ruggles-Brise, who knew the ground well, since it was next to his old Headquarters, met them at the cross-roads. As the trenches were very inadequate, most of them mere scratches, and some even facing the wrong way, the Grenadiers were ordered to withdraw at daybreak, if there was no attack, so as to evade shell-fire. As the day dawned, General Ruggles-Brise returned to his Headquarters, where he was met by the Brigade-Major, who told him that an attack was expected at dawn, and that he had received instructions to bring up the two supporting battalions.

On the way up the Scots Guards were so unlucky as to have a shell burst right into one of their companies, causing some twenty casualties. 2nd Lieutenant Gibbs was killed, and Captain Kemble and Lieutenant Lord Dalhousie severely wounded.

It was a melancholy scene through which the Grenadiers marched off. Some ten days before, when they passed through Gheluvelt, they had been greeted by the inhabitants; now it was a deserted ruin. Most of the houses and the church had been demolished, and such buildings as remained looked like dolls' houses, when the fronts have been removed. The roadway was full of great shell-holes, and some carcasses of horses added to the dreariness of the picture. Arrived at their destination, Nos. 2, 3, and 4 Companies were put in the firing line, and the King's Company in support. It was practically dark, and as the trenches were very bad they had to dig themselves in as well as they could.

The German General Staff was now getting impatient. In spite of their immense superiority in numbers and in guns, the Germans had succeeded only in making dents in the line, and had not yet broken through. So they determined to mass their guns and infantry at certain parts of the line, and drive a wedge through—one of the points selected being the left of the line held by the 1st Battalion Grenadiers near the cross-roads. Every one on the British side knew of the projected attack, from General Headquarters down to the latest-joined drummer boy, but foreknowledge was of little use, as there were no reserves available.

Oct. 29.

At 5.15 A.M. on the 29th—a densely foggy morning—the Battalion was heavily shelled by our own guns; presumably the fire was intended for the German infantry, which was known to be somewhere near. Although every possible precaution had been taken against an attack at dawn, there was no sign of any movement on the part of the enemy, and after the Battalion had waited for an hour and a half, the report of an intended attack was dismissed as untrue. The question then arose as to what should be done to obtain food for the supporting battalions. They had been hurried up in the dark, and no provision had been made for their rations, nor was it possible to bring food up in wagons to positions in such close proximity to the enemy. The Brigadier decided that, as the expected attack had not been made, it would be best to send these two battalions back to get their food, so that on their return they would be prepared to remain in the front trench, and meet any attack that might come later in the day.

They had been gone hardly half-an-hour when the Germans opened a very heavy fire, and in the mist which was still clinging to the ground rifle-fire was poured upon the Grenadiers from the left rear. It was at once realised that the enemy had managed to penetrate the line between the two Divisions. To meet this enfilade fire the left flank of the line turned back, and before long the whole Battalion was forced to leave the fire trenches and occupy the support trenches, which were far too deep for the men to fire from.

Major Stucley, the second in command, dashed off at once with Captain Rasch, the Adjutant, to bring up the King's Company, the only support available. In place of the shell-fire, which had practically ceased, there now arose a steady rifle and machine-gun fire from the houses to the left and even the left rear of the Battalion. Swinging round to the left, the King's Company, headed by Major Stucley, steadily advanced for about two hundred yards, when it came to the support trench occupied by No. 2 and No. 3 Company. Major Stucley at once grasped the gravity of the situation. The King's Company had already suffered many casualties, as it came up across the open, and the enemy's machine-guns were pouring a murderous fire into the other two companies—No. 4 Company under Captain Rennie still remained in the fire trenches on the right. The problem was how, with three companies and no reserve, to stop a force ten times as numerous. The Germans had taken all the houses near the Menin road, and the thin line of Grenadiers, with their left turned back to face the road, was all there was to stop the rush of the enemy.

And indeed it was a formidable rush. They came on in such numbers that an officer afterwards said the attacking force reminded him of a crowd coming on the ground after a football match. Shoulder to shoulder they advanced, much in the same way as their ancestors fought under Frederick the Great, and though for spectacular purposes at Grand Manoeuvres their mass formations were very effective, in actual warfare against modern weapons they proved to be a costly failure.

The German General Staff had studied the question of the attack with the usual German thoroughness. It had carefully considered whether it should adopt the formation evolved by the British Army from the South African war or not, and had come to the conclusion that the personal equation played too large a part in an advance in extended order, and that for a conscript army the only possible formation was close order, in which the small percentage of cowards would be carried forward by the great majority of brave men. Nevertheless, in spite of their solid phalanxes, it was said that the German officers advanced with revolvers in their hands, to shoot men who lagged behind.

For our men the difficulty was to shoot the Germans quick enough. Ever since the South African war the men had been taught to fire at a little brown smudge on a green background painted on the target, an artistic triumph of the musketry authorities, supposed to represent all that a man would be able to see of his enemy in a modern battle. But here were full-length Germans not a hundred yards off, alarmingly visible, and in such numbers that even for the worst shot there was not the slightest difficulty in hitting them, especially as they were often three or four deep. In spite of this, however, the apparently hopeless impossibility of stopping so many, and the futility of killing a few out of such a crowd, made some of our men sometimes shoot very wildly.

Major Stucley disdained all cover and dashed forward at the head of the King's Company, determined to save the situation. In the hail of bullets he fell shot through the head, and soon afterwards Captain Lord Richard Wellesley was killed in the same way. Major Weld-Forester, Captain Ponsonby, and Lieutenant the Hon. A. G. S. Douglas-Pennant, who had necessarily to expose themselves, were wounded. Captain Ponsonby recovered, but Major Weld-Forester and Lieutenant Douglas-Pennant died two days later.

Finding it impossible to stay in the front trench any longer, No. 4 Company retired to the brickyard. Captain Rennie, who commanded them, was never heard of again. Still the Grenadiers held doggedly on to their support trench for another hour, until it was found that the Germans had got round their left and were enfilading the whole trench. Bullets seemed to be coming out of the mist from all directions, and the enemy to be on every side. Captain Rasch, who was now the only officer left above the rank of lieutenant, decided to get out of the trench and retire to the small wood near the brickyard. The order was given, and the Grenadiers—what was left of them—retired to the wood and formed up on the other side.

In the meantime the First Division on the left, almost annihilated by superior numbers, had been forced back. This made the position of the Grenadiers still more untenable, but General Capper was gathering together what reinforcements he could to save the line.

Seeing what straits the Grenadiers were in, the Gordon Highlanders on the right sent what reserves they had to help, and a company arrived under Captain Burnett. The Grenadiers and Gordons formed one line, and advanced gallantly, but when they got near the wood they came under the fire of a German machine-gun, which enfiladed them. Undaunted by this bad start, and determined to regain their former trenches, Captain Rasch and Captain Burnett led their men on through the wood. There was something particularly gallant in the way this remnant of a battalion, with one reinforcing company, was not content to hold its own, but actually undertook a counter-attack when it knew the enemy was in vastly superior numbers. It was the men themselves, inspired by the few remaining officers, that were carrying out this counter-attack.

Back through the wood they went, and gained the north side of the brickfields, but the Germans, at first taken by surprise at this bold stroke, rallied and drove them out. A second time our men counter-attacked, and this time they forced their way past the brickfields to a hedge running parallel with the road. They got into the ditch on the south side of the Menin road, and were joined there by two platoons of the Gloucester Regiment, which came up as a reinforcement. In that ditch they remained till the order came to retire. Captain Rasch and Lieutenant Pilcher took their handful of men—all that remained out of the splendid Battalion nearly 1000 strong, which had marched out from Ypres less than a fortnight before—and got into a trench some three hundred yards east of the windmill.

The Scots Guards meanwhile, supported by the Queen's, were sent through the south of Gheluvelt, and succeeded in driving the enemy back and almost regaining the ground originally held by the Grenadiers and Gordons. When night fell, the 20th Brigade was holding precisely the same ground that it had occupied in the morning.

There can be no doubt that the Germans were completely deceived as to our strength, and that what misled them was the more than gallant manner in which the Grenadiers held on to the trenches in the morning, and the almost reckless audacity with which the Grenadiers and Gordons attacked later. The enemy was apparently quite unaware how threadbare this part of the line was. These continual counter-attacks gave the impression that there must be large reserves in rear, which made the Germans think it unwise to push on. Had they only known that there were no reserves at all, and that all that lay between them and Ypres were just the remains of a battalion, with hardly an officer or non-commissioned officer left alive, the result of the battle, and all that depended on it, would undoubtedly have been very different.

The losses among the officers of the Grenadiers were very heavy. Lieutenant-Colonel Earle was severely wounded during the engagement, and, while dressing his wounds, Lieutenant Butt, R.A.M.C., was shot through the head. Colonel Earle was afterwards reported to be lying in a house some two hundred yards in rear of the Battalion Headquarters dug-out. Several men volunteered to carry him back, but as the enemy were within a couple of hundred yards of the house this would have meant certain death, not only for the stretcher-bearers but for Colonel Earle himself. So it was decided to leave him where he was. The total list of casualties among the officers of the Battalion was:

Lieut.-Colonel M. Earle, (Commanding Officer), wounded and prisoner.

Major H. St. L. Stucley, (Second in Command), killed.

Lieut. J. G. Butt, (Medical Officer), killed.

Major the Hon. A. O. W. C. Weld-Forester, (King's Company), killed.

Lieut. H. L. Aubrey-Fletcher, (King's Company), wounded.

Lieut. J. H. Powell, (King's Company), wounded.

2nd Lieut. R. O. R. Kenyon Slaney, (King's Company), wounded.

Captain the Hon. C. M. B. Ponsonby. (No. 2 Company), wounded.

Lieut. G. E. Hope, (Signalling Officer), wounded.

2nd Lieut. R. S. Lambert, (No. 2 Company), wounded.

Captain Lord Richard Wellesley, (No. 3 Company), killed.

Captain G. Rennie, (No. 3 Company), missing, reported killed.

Lieutenant the Hon. A. G. S. Douglas-Pennant, (No. 3 Company), killed.

Lieut. P. Van Neck, (No. 3 Company), killed.

Lieut. L. G. Ames,(No. 3 Company), wounded.

Major L. R. V. Colby, (No. 4 Company), killed.

Capt. R. E. K. Leatham, (No. 4 Company), wounded.

Lieut. E. Antrobus, (No. 4 Company), killed.

2nd Lieut. S. Walter, (No. 4 Company), killed.

2nd Lieut. N. A. H. Somerset, (No. 4 Company), killed.

That night the Battalion went into billets at Hooge, half-way to Ypres, with only four officers and a hundred men left, exclusive of transport. The officers were Captain Rasch, Lieutenant Pilcher, Second Lieutenant Darby, and Second Lieutenant Sir G. Duckworth-King.

Oct. 30.

Men who had been left in the trenches, not knowing of the order to retire, kept arriving in driblets during the night, and the strength of the Battalion had risen by next morning to 250 men. But, with most of the officers and N.C.O.'s killed or wounded, the whole machinery of the Battalion had disappeared, and Captain Rasch had to do what he could to reorganise the remnant into a fighting unit. Ruggles-Brise's Brigade—with the exception of the Gordon Highlanders, who had been ordered to report themselves to General Bulfin—were placed in reserve to the other two brigades of the Seventh Division.

Repeated attempts to penetrate the line were made by the Germans throughout the day. For each attack preparation was made by very heavy shell-fire, and the ground in rear of our forward line was thoroughly searched, apparently with a view to harassing any reinforcements that might be sent up to the firing line.

The Grenadiers had just settled down for the night when the Battalion was ordered to fall in and move off with the rest of the Brigade to occupy a new defensive position. Later in the war, when a battalion had been knocked to pieces as the Grenadiers had been the day before, it was picked out and given a rest, but in those early days this was impossible, as every man was continually wanted to check the renewed attacks of fresh enemy troops. The Germans were constantly throwing into the attack fresh battalions at full strength, whereas in the British Army the term "Battalion" meant two or three hundred worn-out men who had been fighting daily for the last ten days or so.

Eventually, after a long, circuitous march, the Battalion was put into dug-outs in Brigade Reserve at 3 A.M. Orders were received that the First and Second Divisions, with the Cavalry Brigade, were attacking the following day, and that the 20th Brigade was to remain in its position until 6.30 A.M., when it was to leave one battalion in support of the left portion of the line, and move the rest to a central position where it could rapidly support any part of the line held by the Seventh Division.

Oct. 31.

On the 31st, the day that Sir John French described as the most critical in the whole battle of Ypres, the remnant of the Seventh Division was holding a line from the Ypres—Menin road, in front of the cross-roads at Veldhoek, to a point 500 yards north of Zandvoorde. At 1 A.M. it was decided to push the Scots Guards and Borderers up, and entrench them close behind the left of the 21st Brigade.

Directly day broke the Germans began a terrific shell-fire all along the front, and by 8 o'clock shells were bursting ceaselessly on and over the line. Towards noon word came that the 21st and 22nd Brigades had been shelled out of their position and forced to retire. In rear of the 21st Brigade the Scots Guards and Borderers still held their line, and General Ruggles-Brise himself led up the Grenadiers in prolongation of this line, with the hope of stemming the German advance.

This movement had to be carried out very hurriedly, with no opportunity of reconnaissance, and the Battalion lost rather heavily in crossing the reverse slope of a hill in front of gun position. When it had gained the ridge through the woods, it was found that to be of any use the Grenadiers would have to push forward, and occupy the trenches vacated by the 21st Brigade. This they managed to do, in spite of very heavy shell-fire, and three or four of the most forward trenches on the right of the 21st and the left of the 22nd Brigades were occupied just in time to meet a portion of the German attack, now being delivered on the Gheluvelt—Zandvoorde frontage.

By the time it had reached and occupied the trenches, the strength of the Battalion was scarcely fifty of all ranks, and this handful of men had to confront thousands of Germans, with the additional handicap of having its right flank exposed, as the enemy had gained the 22nd Brigade's trenches. It was fortunate for us that the attack, wonderfully brave as the Germans were, was apparently quite disjointed and unorganised. No officers could be seen leading the men, who advanced in dense masses to within three hundred yards of the trenches, and were simply mown down by the fire of the Grenadiers.

Things now seemed to be going better for us, when suddenly the right-hand trench reported that the Germans were streaming through a wood, and, crossing the Veldhoek—Zandvoorde road, were working their way immediately to our rear. All our reserves had been used up by this time, and the only thing to do was to hang on somehow till nightfall, sending word at once to the Division of what had happened. As no communication had been established since the re-occupation of the trenches, Captain Brooke, the Staff Captain on the 20th Brigade Staff, who had come up to see how things were, got out of the trench and, finding a loose horse, galloped off, and told General Capper. General Capper went off to ask General Bulfin for help, but already the 4th Guards Brigade—which included the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers—was advancing to make a counter-attack through the wood.

When he got back to the Grenadiers in their trenches, Captain Brooke was surprised to find them still holding their own and quite happy. They were successfully beating off repeated German attacks to their front. The 4th Guards Brigade evicted the enemy from the wood, and it was then decided to withdraw the Grenadiers, the 21st Brigade being ordered to take over their trenches.

Thus ended one of the most desperate days of fighting in the whole war. As has been already said, it seems incredible that the Germans, with their vast numbers of men and their great superiority in guns, should not have broken through the line. They were very near doing it; indeed, so critical did the situation become at one time, that General Capper issued a provisional order that, if the line became untenable, the Brigade was to fall back on a new line extending from one mile east of Zillebeke to the fifth kilo on the Ypres—Menin road.

As the Battalion marched back with the Scots Guards, two guns were seen in the rear of the trenches, standing all by themselves. It looked at first as if they had been abandoned. But closer inspection showed that every single man and horse of the team was there—dead. The gunners had remained gallantly at their posts to the last. Men from the Grenadiers, the Scots Guards, and the Bedford Regiment were sent to rescue the guns, and bring them to a place of safety.

The Grenadiers returned to the shelters at the Château Herenthage, which they had occupied during the morning. There the officers found that their shelter had during their absence been blown to pieces by a high-explosive shell, and it was plain that, had they remained in reserve that day, there would have been no officers left at all in the Battalion.

The action of the 1st Battalion Grenadiers on this day was afterwards described by the G.O.C. Seventh Division in his report as mainly instrumental in restoring the battle south of the Ypres—Menin road.

The total strength of the 20th Brigade was now reduced to 18 officers and 920 men, constituted as follows: the 1st Battalion Grenadiers, 5 officers (the four previously mentioned and the transport officer, Lieutenant Mackenzie) and 200 men, commanded by Captain Rasch; the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards, 5 officers and 250 men, commanded by Captain Paynter; the 2nd Border Regiment, 5 officers and 270 men, commanded by Captain Warren; and the 2nd Gordon Highlanders, 3 officers and 200 men, commanded by Lieutenant Hamilton.

Nov. 1.

Very heavy shell-fire opened the morning of November 1. One high-explosive shell stripped off the whole back of the house occupied by the Brigade Headquarters, which was thereupon moved to shelters in the Château Herenthage wood. An infantry attack followed, but it was only feeble, and the Grenadiers remained in a wood south of Herenthage in Brigade Reserve. There they prepared a second line of fire-trenches, and improved the existing dug-outs, while the wood was shelled at intervals with high explosives.

Nov. 2.

The brunt of the attack at that part of the line was borne next day by the Border Regiment, which held on to its trenches so gallantly and unflinchingly, in spite of a murderous enfilade fire, that it received a special message from General Capper. In the evening it was relieved by the Grenadiers. During the heavy shell-fire, with which the enemy searched the ground in rear of our trenches, General Ruggles-Brise was severely wounded, and Major A. Cator, the Brigade-Major, took over command of the Brigade.

Nov. 3.

The men had now managed to put out a little wire in front, and it seemed unlikely that the Germans would be able to make much impression on the line. The trenches, which were good and continuous, were held by the Grenadiers on the right and the Scots Guards on the left. There was a weak spot on the right of the Grenadiers near the wood, but this was well covered by the Gordon Highlanders in rear.

In the afternoon of the 3rd, the Scots Guards reported the enemy to be massing in the woods in front of them, while parties were observed moving towards our right, and our guns turned a heavy fire on to them. Though no attack developed, a few parties of the enemy advanced in a half-hearted way, more as if they were carrying out a reconnaissance. The Brigade suffered some casualties during the day from shells and snipers, and Lieutenant Sir G. Duckworth-King, who had almost miraculously come unhurt through the last ten days' fighting, was at last wounded.

Nov. 4.

A draft of 100 men under Lieutenant C. Mitchell arrived next day, and considerably added to the strength of the Battalion. There was a great deal of indiscriminate shelling and sniping, and Lieutenant G. E. Hope was wounded in the head by a sniper.

Nov. 5.

On the 5th there was heavy shell-fire as usual, and some trenches were blown in. The 20th Brigade was relieved on that day by the 7th Brigade, and marched through Ypres, which was being shelled as far as Locre. The men found the march very fatiguing, for they had had little sleep for many days, and had been digging or fighting all the previous night. Owing to the incessant shell-fire, it had been found impossible to organise the Battalion into any recognised formation during the period from October 29 to November 5. If fifty men were wanted for the trenches, some one had to go round the dug-outs and collect them. There was no company, platoon, or even sectional organisation. In spite of this everything went well, a result due to the splendid spirit shown by the men themselves.

Nov. 6.

At daybreak the Brigade reached Locre, weary with the long march, but very glad to get away from the constant roar of shells and rifle-fire. As every available house and shed was already occupied by the French, the church was opened and the Grenadiers and part of the Scots Guards billeted there. The march was resumed in the afternoon through Bailleul to Meteren, where the Brigade went into billets.

The Grenadiers were now reorganised into a single Company as follows:

HEADQUARTERS

Officer Commanding and Adjutant, Captain Rasch.

Quartermaster, Lieut. J. Teece.

The King's Company, Lieut. Lord Claud Hamilton.

No. 1 Platoon, Lieut. Mitchell.

No. 2 Platoon, 2nd Lieut. M. A. A. Darby.

No. 3 Platoon, Lieut. W. R. Mackenzie, (Transport Officer).

No. 4 Platoon, Sergeant C. Jones.

Company Sergeant-Major, Drill-Sergeant J. L. Capper.

Company Q.-M. Sergeant, Colour-Sergeant T. W. Brown.

Nov. 7-8.

On November 7 the Battalion did an hour's steady drill. There was something very fine and at the same time pathetic in the remnants of this decimated Battalion going through their drill with the determination to maintain the high standard of discipline no matter how small their numbers might be. Next day the whole Brigade attended divine service for the first time since they had left England, and as there was no chaplain, the Brigadier, Major Cator, read the service. In the afternoon the Brigade was drawn up in square facing inwards, and General Capper addressed it. He expressed his admiration of the way in which it had fought round Ypres, and told the men that they had upheld the splendid traditions of their regiments.

The fact that the flower of the German Army was defeated by the British Expeditionary Force, that is to say, the original army that existed before the war, will always make the first battle of Ypres particularly interesting to students of military history. Although it can hardly be claimed as a decisive victory, there is small doubt that the result influenced the whole course of the war, for had the Germans, when they turned their whole strength on Ypres, been able to force their way to the coast, the subsequent operations of the British Army would have been considerably affected.

Two battalions of the Grenadiers fought at Ypres, and each covered itself with imperishable glory. Never before in the long history of the regiment had so many casualties befallen them in a single action; never before had so large a force of the Grenadiers been almost annihilated.

Each battalion had gone into battle with a great reputation to maintain—a reputation won in centuries of fighting, carried forward in almost every campaign in which the British Army has taken part, and all the officers and men were fully conscious of their responsibility. Old Grenadiers well knew that every nerve would be strained to uphold the traditions of the regiment; but no one dared to hope that the illustrious past could be enhanced, and that these two battalions of the regiment would increase their fame in divisions in which every battalion distinguished itself.

The part taken by the 1st Battalion in the defence of Ypres, when with the Seventh Division they repelled attacks from forces eight times their number, will ever remain a precious memory to be handed down to future generations.

Major-General Sir Henry Rawlinson, in an order which he issued to the Seventh Division, said:

After the deprivations and tension of being pursued day and night by an infinitely stronger force, the Division had to pass through the worst ordeal of all. It was left to a little force of 30,000 to keep the German Army at bay while the other British Corps were being brought up from the Aisne. Here they clung on like grim death with almost every man in the trenches, holding a line which of necessity was a great deal too long—a thin exhausted line—against which the prime of the German first-line troops were hurling themselves with fury. The odds against them were eight to one, and when once the enemy found the range of a trench, the shells dropped into it from one end to the other with terrible effect. Yet the men stood firm and defended Ypres in such a manner that a German officer afterwards described their action as a brilliant feat of arms, and said that they were under the impression that there had been four British Army Corps against them at this point. When the Division was afterwards withdrawn from the firing line to refit, it was found that out of 400 officers who set out from England there were only 44 left, and out of 12,000 men only 2336.

Major-General Capper, in a report on the 1st Battalion Grenadiers, which he sent later to Lieut.-General Pulteney, commanding the Fourth Corps, wrote as follows:

This Battalion fought with the utmost tenacity and determination in a most exposed position at Kruiseik in front of Ypres, being subjected to an almost ceaseless heavy artillery fire and repeated attacks by the enemy for a week. Owing to the length of front to be held, no relief could be found for troops in the trenches. During this fighting Major Colby's Company of this Battalion counter-attacked the enemy, who had almost successfully attacked the line. In the counter-attack this Company lost four officers killed and wounded, only one officer and forty-five men returning unhurt, but this Company succeeded in driving back a very much larger hostile force. This Battalion lost very heavily in the three weeks' fighting before Ypres. I consider that the resolution and gallantry of this Battalion, obliged to take its share in holding a height which was the pivot of all the operations in this part of the field, was most noble and devoted and worthy of its highest traditions.

Later on, in the same operations, though weakened in numbers, and with few officers, the Battalion exhibited gallantry in a counter-attack near Gheluvelt, where it was mainly instrumental in restoring the battle south of the main Ypres—Menin road; and subsequently the same tenacity as it had shown at Kruiseik in holding a very difficult and exposed part of the Brigade line in the final position in front of Ypres.

The Battalion remained at Meteren until the 14th, and spent most of its time in reorganising and re-equipping. On the 10th a draft of 401 men arrived with the following officers: Major G. W. Duberly, Captain the Hon. R. Lygon, Lieutenant E. S. Ward, and Lieutenant C. A. V. Sykes; and on the 11th, 133 men originally intended for the 2nd Battalion arrived from the Base Camp under Lieutenant C. L. Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell and Lieutenant C. V. Fisher-Rowe. These additions brought the strength of the Battalion almost to its usual proportions.

Meanwhile Field-Marshal Sir John French had visited the Brigade, and saw the remnants of the battalions which had formed the original Seventh Division. He congratulated both officers and men on the fine work they had done round Ypres.

CHAPTER VII
THE FIRST BATTLE OF YPRES (2ND BATTALION)

The Grenadier Guards at Ypres.

2nd Batt. Oct. 1914.

Having completed its detrainment, the First Corps, under Sir Douglas Haig, was concentrated between St. Omer and Hazebrouck. Sir John French had now to make up his mind whether he would use it to strengthen his line, which was much longer than his numbers warranted, or send it to the north of Ypres. He decided that the greatest danger was that the Germans might carry out a wide turning movement on his left flank, and he sent the Corps north of Ypres accordingly. The French cavalry were to operate on Sir Douglas Haig's left, and the Third Cavalry Division, under General Byng, on his right.

Oct. 15-20.

After two nights in billets at Hazebrouck, the 2nd Battalion marched on the 17th to Boeschepe. Two days afterwards arrived Captain M. E. Makgill-Crichton-Maitland, Captain R. H. V. Cavendish, M.V.O., Lieutenant J. S. Hughes, Lieutenant I. St. C. Rose, and Captain C. R. Champion de Crespigny, who was appointed Staff Captain to the 4th Brigade.

The officers of the 2nd Battalion were now as follows:

Lieut.-Colonel W. R. A. Smith, Commanding Officer.

Major G. D. Jeffreys, Second in Command.

Capt. E. J. L. Pike, Adjutant.

Lieut. C. W. Tufnell, Machine-gun Officer.

2nd Lieut. A. K. S. Cunninghame, Transport Officer.

Lieut. J. H. Skidmore, Quartermaster.

Major G. C. Hamilton, No. 1 Company.

Capt. C. Symes-Thompson, No. 1 Company.

Lieut. J. S. Hughes, No. 1 Company.

Lieut. the Hon. W. R. Bailey, No. 1 Company.

Major Lord Bernard Gordon-Lennox, No. 2 Company.

Lieut. I. St. C. Rose, No. 2 Company.

Lieut. C. M. C. Dowling, No. 2 Company.

2nd Lieut. F. W. J. M. Miller, No. 2 Company.

Capt. E. G. H. Powell, No. 3 Company.

Capt. R. H. V. Cavendish, M.V.O., No. 3 Company.

Lieut. Lord Congleton, No. 3 Company.

Lieut. F. G. Marshall, No. 3 Company.

2nd Lieut. C. R. Gerard, No. 3 Company.

Capt. M. E. Makgill-Crichton-Maitland, No. 4 Company.

Capt. E. D. Ridley, No. 4 Company.

Lieut. F. G. Beaumont-Nesbitt, No. 4 Company.

Lieut. M. G. Stocks, No. 4 Company.

It was a cold raw morning on the 20th, when the Battalion marched at 5 A.M. to St. Jean, a small village to the north of Ypres, where it was ordered to take up an entrenched position, with the Coldstream on the right, and the 5th Brigade on the left. Matters were complicated by the fact that the French looked upon this part of the line as theirs. However, eventually matters were arranged, and British and French troops settled down together to a pouring wet night.

Lieutenant-Colonel W.R.A. Smith C.M.G. Commanding 2nd Battalion. Died of wounds received at Festubert 19 May 1915.

Oct. 21.

There was another move next morning. The Battalion assembled at 5.30, and marched to a position near Hanebeek Brook, about two miles west of Zonnebeke, where the 4th Brigade concentrated. Then the whole Brigade advanced about half a mile towards Passchendaele with the 3rd Battalion Coldstream on the left, and the 2nd Battalion Coldstream on the right—each battalion having two companies in the firing line, and the rest in support, while the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers was in reserve.

About 2.30 Lord Cavan, finding that the two Coldstream battalions had drifted somewhat apart, ordered up the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers into the centre of the line. As they made their way across ploughed fields, they came in for a great deal of unaimed rifle-fire, but suffered very little loss.

About 400 to 500 yards east of Zonnebeke—Langemarck road the three battalions dug themselves in for the night, since news had been received that large German forces were advancing through Houthulst Forest. Before long the sky was lit up in all directions by the farms which the enemy was burning. By this illumination the Germans attempted a counter-attack, and came on shouting, "Don't fire, we are the Coldstream." It was characteristic of the German thoroughness of method to master this regimental idiosyncrasy, and say Coldstream and not Coldstreams. But the Battalion had not fought for two months without learning the enemy's tricks, and as spiked helmets could be distinctly seen against the glow of the burning farms, they fired right into the middle of the Germans, who hastily retired.

Oct. 22-23.

Before daylight next morning the companies in the firing line were relieved by those in support. The whole Brigade then set itself to improving the trenches and consolidating the position. It turned out that on the left the First Division had been held up, while on the right the 22nd Brigade was in a tight place. Consequently the situation was distinctly uncomfortable. The trenches, composed of isolated holes which held two or three men apiece, were exposed from the left to enfilade fire, but there the Battalion had to remain for two days, shelled intermittently. They suffered many casualties. While making his way down the firing line, Captain Maitland was forced to walk a great deal in the open, and was wounded in the head by a sniper, who succeeded in hitting several other men. In the evening Lieutenant Donald Miller, who had come out originally with the Battalion, and had fought all through the retreat, was killed by a high-explosive shell.

Oct. 24.

On the 24th the Second Division got orders to take up the ground occupied by the Seventh Division, from Poezelhoek to the Becelaere—Passchendaele road, and the First Division was relieved by French Territorial troops, and concentrated about Zillebeke.

At the same time the 4th Brigade was relieved by a Brigade from the Sixth French Army under General Moussy, and the men of the Grenadiers watched the French attack Passchendaele with much interest. Though the attack was met with a heavy artillery and rifle fire, and made but little progress, the personal gallantry of General Moussy himself and his staff, who exposed themselves freely while close up to the front trenches, made a great impression on all the officers and men of the 2nd Battalion. After dark this French Brigade took over the trenches, and the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers moved back about two miles to a farm, where the men managed to snatch a couple of hours' sleep. At 5.30 A.M. it started off again, and after a circuitous march of about six miles reached Eksternest, where it formed the reserve of the 6th Brigade. Here, at last, it had a thorough rest in barns, outhouses, and elsewhere, with plenty of straw to lie on, while a fowl-house constituted No. 3 Company Headquarters.

Oct. 25.

The Battalion paraded, much refreshed, at 6.30 next morning, but did not move off till 9. It advanced towards the Six Cross Roads, and halted behind Polygon Wood. In the afternoon it was ordered to attack the enemy's position near Reutel, passing over the trenches held by the 5th Brigade, while the Irish Guards were to advance on the same position from the north-west. The Orders were:

The attack will begin at 3 P.M. 4th Guards Brigade will have for its objective the Reutel Spur. The 1st Battalion Irish Guards will commence its advance at once as far as the line of trenches now held by the 5th Brigade. At 3 P.M. its scouts will pass that line, and the battalion will endeavour to establish itself in such a position that it can by its fire materially assist the main attack which will be delivered from the south and south-west.

The 2nd Batt. Grenadiers will work round the stream at once as verbally ordered until their right reaches a point one company's length beyond the forks of the two streams. At 3 P.M. it will be prepared to attack the R. of Reutel from S.W. During this operation the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers will specially detail a half company to protect its right. The 2nd Battalion Coldstream will follow the Grenadiers and act in close support of them. They must also give special orders about their right flank. The 3rd Battalion Coldstream will be in reserve in a covered position at Six Cross Roads. It is quite understood that the time is short, but this operation must be carefully carried out without hurry. Brigade Headquarters will be at Six Cross Roads at 2.45 P.M.

Advancing in artillery formation, the Battalion came in for a great deal of rifle-fire, but fortunately no shells. Major Lord Bernard Lennox had taken advantage of the halt in the morning to reconnoitre the line of advance thoroughly, and was able to lead the companies to their destinations. There was no great difficulty in reaching the trenches, but when the Battalion advanced another 150 yards it came under a very heavy cross-fire; only one platoon of No. 2 Company actually crossed the 5th Brigade trenches. The other companies were held up before they reached the firing line. The Bedfords on the right, unable to carry on the advance, retired again to the trenches, and the Irish Guards on the left were also held up.

Darkness was now coming on, and it seemed madness to attempt to take a strong position in a thick wood where no one knew precisely the position of the trenches, or how strongly they were held. So Lieut.-Colonel Smith directed No. 2 Company to fall back and take over a trench from the Oxfordshire Light Infantry, with the Highland Light Infantry on the left and the Royal Scots Fusiliers on the right. A platoon of No. 1 Company was added to the right of No. 2. Its position was along the front edge of the private grounds of a fine château, which was then intact.

Three times during the night, which was very dark and windy and rainy, the Germans attacked—at 9 P.M., at midnight, and at 3 A.M. But the position was fairly secure, and each time they retired. It is doubtful whether they ever intended to press the attack home, and possibly they were only trying to locate the exact position of our trenches—not a very difficult task, as they were but 300 yards off.

That evening the following message was received from Sir John French:

The Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief wishes once more to make it known to the troops under his command how deeply he appreciates the bravery and endurance which they have again displayed since their arrival in the northern theatre of war. In circulating the official information which records the splendid victory of our Russian Allies, he would remind the troops that the enemy must before long withdraw troops to the East and relieve the tension on our front. He feels it is quite unnecessary to urge officers, N.C.O.'s, and men to make a determined effort and drive the enemy over the frontier.

Oct. 26.

Digging started with a will in the trenches early next morning. It had come to be a regular habit with the battalions which had been through those first months of the war, at once to dig themselves in deep in any new position, no matter how soon they might have to move on. They had learned by experience that the labour was well worth while. On this occasion the trouble was that the deeper the men dug the wetter the ground became, and soon they were up to their ankles in mud. But the sun came out about mid-day, and helped to dry up the ground.

No regular attack was made that day, though there was constant shelling, and the Battalion therefore had comparatively few casualties. German snipers were very busy, but did little damage; our men took every opportunity of retaliating; and Lieutenant I. Rose was reported to have been particularly successful in accounting for the enemy marksmen. The howitzers paid less attention to the trenches than to the Château. On this unfortunate building the high-explosive shells dropped with monotonous regularity, but the little tower still remained standing. The Battalion Headquarters, which were behind the Château, had a decidedly warm time, getting the benefit not only of the shells from the howitzers, but of all the stray bullets that went wide of the trenches.

Oct. 27.

Most of the next day was spent in mending the line and consolidating the position, for there were weak spots, which the Divisional Staff discovered, usually between Brigades. Barbed wire was now to be had, and orders were issued for entanglements to be put up in front of each trench. In the afternoon the companies of the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers in reserve were sent to take over the trenches of the 3rd Battalion Coldstream, and to stay there until they were relieved by the Black Watch at midnight. Both these reliefs were carried out successfully and without any casualties, though the task was by no means easy, owing to the thickness of the wood and consequent bad communications.

Sir John French had now placed what remained of the Seventh Division and the Third Cavalry Division under the orders of Sir Douglas Haig, who redistributed the line thus:

(A) The Seventh Division from the Château east of Zandvoorde to the Menin road.

(B) The First Division from the Menin road to a point immediately west of Reutel village.

(C) The Second Division to near the Moorslede—Zonnebeke road.

Oct. 28.

The 2nd Battalion Grenadiers now moved back about a mile to Nonne-Bosschen Wood, and having slept there returned the next morning under howitzer fire across two fields to the northern edge of Polygon Wood, where it remained until the 6th Brigade passed through it to attack Reutel Ridge. Then it moved forward in support, and dug in round a farm. Before it had gone far the 6th Brigade was fiercely attacked, and succeeded in driving the enemy off with some loss, though unable to advance farther itself. The 4th Brigade was not wanted, and spent a quiet afternoon near the Farm—"quiet" in this case being a comparative term, denoting that they were not directly under fire, for our own howitzers were only twenty yards off, and kept firing ear-splitting salvos all day.

Oct. 29.

Having received orders the night before to be ready at a moment's notice, the Battalion was under arms soon after dawn next day. But it was not until much later that it got instructions to move to the other side of the Racecourse Wood, and entrench a position almost at right angles to the line of trenches in front. It turned out that the Seventh Division on the right had been driven back, and though most of the ground had been regained there was still a risk of the Germans pushing through. Meanwhile, Captain Ridley was ordered to take No. 4 Company, and support the Cameron Highlanders near the Château. He sent up two platoons into the trenches on their right, and kept the rest in support. They came in for a good deal of shell-fire, but were not seriously attacked.

Oct. 30.

Except for No. 4 Company the Battalion was in Corps Reserve next day with the Irish Guards, while the 2nd and 3rd Battalions Coldstream were in the trenches. But about 3 P.M. the Brigadier, Lord Cavan, got news that there had been a serious break in the line about two miles to the right, i.e. the south, and was instructed to send up the battalions, which he had in reserve, to report to General Bulfin, commanding the 2nd Brigade.

Lord Cavan went himself to see General Bulfin at his Headquarters, and was directed to despatch these battalions southwards to protect the right flank of the 2nd Brigade. Accordingly the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers, Irish Guards, and Oxfordshire Light Infantry marched off from Polygon Wood towards Klein Zillebeke, and Captain Ridley was ordered to withdraw No. 4 Company and join the remainder of the Battalion as it moved off. The orders given to Lieut.-Colonel Smith were to reinforce the cavalry, which was holding a line very lightly north of the Château de Hollebeke.

By dusk these battalions were astride of the Klein Zillebeke—Zandvoorde road, the Grenadiers on the right and the Irish Guards on the left, with their left thrown forward a little, to keep touch with the right of the 2nd Brigade. Lord Cavan went on ahead with his Staff, to see that the whole line was made continuous. On going forward to inspect the position which the cavalry was holding, Lieut.-Colonel Smith found that it was on a forward slope, which seemed to him untenable, and he thought this a good opportunity for making a fresh disposition. So he arranged with the cavalry that it should continue to hold its line, while the Battalion dug in, in its rear. A new line, which consisted as usual of a series of deep narrow holes with no parapet, was accordingly made, with the right on the railway, and the left on the Klein Zillebeke road.

Major Lord Bernard Lennox with No. 2 Company was on the right, Major Hamilton with No. 1 in the centre, and Captain Powell with No. 3 on the left; one platoon from No. 4 under Sergeant Hutchings was posted on the Klein Zillebeke road; and the rest of the company went to Battalion Headquarters, north-west of the wood between the railway and Klein Zillebeke. Supplies and ammunition were brought up, and by 1 A.M. the Battalion was well dug in. The cavalry then withdrew from the trenches in front and retired. Meanwhile the Irish Guards had dug trenches, prolonging the line to the left.

Oct. 31.

Sir John French in his despatch describes the afternoon of October 31 as the most critical moment in the whole battle. By sheer weight of numbers the Germans endeavoured to break through the line, and their immense superiority in guns encouraged them to hope that they would be able to beat down any opposition. The greater part of the Second Division was still on the Moorslede—Zonnebeke road, on the left of the First Division, while the three battalions detached under Lord Cavan remained on their new line.

After a long wet night in the trenches, the 2nd Grenadiers were to have a still longer day's fighting—a day, too, in which they were most of the time "holding on by their eyelids." As soon as day dawned, they were deluged by a rain of shells, to which our artillery could make no sort of reply. Some troops of the French Ninth Corps tried to advance through the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers and Irish Guards, and attack the enemy's position, but the shell-fire was so intense that they never succeeded in getting beyond the line of trenches. Most of them took refuge in the trenches, while some dug new ones.

The shells came crashing through the trees continuously, and Lieut.-Colonel Smith decided to move the Battalion Headquarters back about one hundred yards. Particularly violent was the bombardment of No. 2 Company, of which the trenches, being near the railway, were no doubt easily located by the enemy's artillery, directed with deadly effect by a captive balloon. Two high-explosive shells landed in one trench, and killed and buried a number of men. Lieutenant Rose had a marvellous escape. He was actually buried, but was dug out just in time. Major Lord Bernard Lennox wisely withdrew part of his company into the support trenches for a time, and no doubt thus saved many lives.

About 11 A.M. Lord Cavan sent the following message:

Keep on repairing your trenches. If any quiet intervals, begin communication trenches zigzag to your rear, so that to-morrow infantry can keep out of main trench during heavy shelling hours and easily man it when required. Can you possibly push an Observation Post forward to any point from which it could see and report?

It looked as if the Germans were going to attack this part of the position about mid-day, but eventually they moved northward. Early in the afternoon Lieut.-Colonel Smith received a message from Lord Cavan that the enemy had broken through the line to the left of the Irish Guards. Soon afterwards came this further message:

The situation is extremely critical. You are to hold your ground at all costs. Sir Douglas Haig relies on the Grenadiers to save the First Corps and possibly the Army.

After such a call as that, Lieut.-Colonel Smith at once determined to put every available rifle in the trenches. The few men that still remained in reserve were accordingly sent up to the front trenches. No. 3 Company was very much extended, although a platoon from No. 4 had already been sent to support it. Captain Powell sent a message to say that he might not be able to stay without more support, and Colonel Smith replied that he must hold on at all cost. Lieut.-Colonel Smith then reported the measures he had taken to Lord Cavan, who replied:

Splendid. Hang on like grim death. You may yet save the Army.

It was undoubtedly a case of hanging on, while this terrific bombardment continued, but the Grenadiers had not wasted their time the night before, and had dug themselves in deep. It was to their good digging that Lieut.-Colonel Smith afterwards ascribed the fact that they never gave an inch, although it was certainly an advantage to them that the position was partly concealed owing to the nature of the ground. The enemy plastered the whole locality with shells, but only in a few cases were they able to locate the actual position of the trenches. The Germans were reported meanwhile to have driven back the First Division from Gheluvelt, thus exposing the left flank of the Seventh Division. The Headquarters of the First and Second Divisions had been shelled, General Lomax had been mortally wounded, and several Staff Officers killed. Such heavy casualties among the Staff, in the middle of a battle, naturally dislocated the machinery of the Higher Commands. However, about 2 P.M. Lord Cavan sent word that the situation was easier, and that he was sending up the Oxfordshire Light Infantry on the left of the Irish Guards.

Constant anxiety had been felt about the right of the position occupied by the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers. A high railway embankment, beyond which was a small wood, made it very difficult to keep up communication, especially when the shelling was so severe, and Lieut.-Colonel Smith sent a message to Lord Bernard Lennox: "Is your right still in touch with 4th Hussars? Brigadier pressing for a reply." To which Lord Bernard answered, "Yes."

At 2.40 Lieut.-Colonel Smith sent the following request to the Headquarters of the 4th Brigade:

Wood just short of D E near Canal is full of Germans, also Château de Hollebeke. Can you turn on guns, please? My advance posts have been driven in.

The Canal was dry, and formed no obstacle; and though there were a few British cavalry this side of the embankment, they were not enough to stop an attack. The French were said to be coming up to strengthen this part of the line, but they did not arrive. Of all this fortunately the Germans knew nothing, and instead of attacking this weak spot, they directed their energies to the centre of the section of the line held by the Grenadiers.

About 3 o'clock the enemy advanced in force through the wood near the railway, but was met with such a withering fire from No. 1 Company that he did not succeed in getting very far. An hour later Lord Cavan sent this message:

Well done. If absolutely forced back, retire as on parade with your proper right, that is your left retiring, on line of railway. Put up the best fight you can on edge of wood.

Nov. 1.

There was no need to retire, however, although there was one moment at which the situation seemed critical, for the Germans brought up some field-guns, and plastered the trenches with every conceivable kind of shell.

The shelling stopped shortly after dark, and the men were able at last to look out over their trenches, and survey the scene by the lights of a farm which was blazing in the centre of the line. They saw a spectacle, which later on grew more and more familiar. What had once been a field was now a mass of trenches; the whole place had been ploughed up by shells, and the hedges were all torn up and burnt and blown to bits.

Nov. 1.

During the night the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers was relieved by a regiment from the French Sixteenth Corps, and retired at 4 A.M. to the rear of Zwarteleen, where the men thought they were going to get some rest, but before very long they were on the move again. Sir Douglas Haig had sent a message which Lord Cavan circulated as follows:

The German Emperor will arrive in the field to-day to conduct operations against the British Army. The G.O.C. First Corps calls upon all ranks once more to repeat their magnificent efforts and to show him what British soldiers really are.

All the enemy's efforts were now concentrated on smashing the left of the Irish Guards' trenches with high-explosive shells, and firing with wonderful accuracy they gradually blew the trench in bit by bit, and knocked out their machine-guns. At 3 P.M. Lord Cavan heard a report that the Irish Guards were retiring, and that they had only about 200 men left. He sent orders at once that they were at all costs to hold on to the wood 200 yards in rear of their old line. The French were told to stay where they were, as in the event of a withdrawal the whole British line was to pivot on them on the elbow of the Canal. The highest praise was afterwards given by the British Generals to the French for the way in which they held their trenches all day, in spite of the fact that their left was in the air.

An urgent appeal for help now reached Lord Cavan from one of the Corps Staff, stating that the Northamptonshire Regiment was being driven back and needed support. The 2nd Battalion Grenadiers was immediately sent off with orders to report itself to General Bulfin, who was to be found in a wood three-quarters of a mile south-west of Herenthage. But by the time the Battalion arrived there General Bulfin had been wounded, and Lieut.-Colonel Smith could not find out what it was he was expected to do.

In the meantime Lord Cavan received orders to assume command of the whole section from the east edge of the wood to the French left. In these strenuous days it was no uncommon thing for an officer to be told in the middle of a battle to take over command of a force during a difficult operation—a war ordeal, for which peace training had supplied no practice. To take over the command of a Division is no easy matter at any time, but to do it at a critical moment, with heavy fighting going on, demands a man of more than ordinary capacity. Lord Cavan galloped up with his Brigade-Major, Major the Hon. W. P. Hore-Ruthven; on arrival at General Bulfin's Headquarters he found that everything had been momentarily disorganised by the sudden departure of the wounded General. Officers of all sorts were asking for orders. The Germans were breaking through. Perplexing problems of every description were submitted for instant solution. Shells were falling in the immediate neighbourhood of the Divisional Headquarters. Very slowly Lord Cavan drew out his cigar-case, and having carefully selected a cigar, proceeded to light it, turning it round to see that it was evenly lighted. This had a wonderful effect on all present, for it not only enabled Lord Cavan himself to concentrate his thoughts on the problem, and to see clearly the most pressing needs of the moment, but it also inspired all the officers with confidence. As a Staff Officer, who was present, said afterwards, that cigar saved the situation.

On the left the Sussex Regiment was in touch with the Seventh Division, and stood firm. The Northamptonshire Regiment, Gordon Highlanders, and Oxfordshire Light Infantry had all been pressed back from their advanced trenches, though the enemy had not got beyond them. Lord Cavan at once ordered the Grenadiers to leave their packs at the farm in the rear of the Brown Road, and to clear the wood south-east of that road at the point of the bayonet.

Thereupon Lieut.-Colonel Smith launched the Battalion with fixed bayonets into the wood. It was very thick in places, and there was always a risk of some company getting lost. The Germans, it was found, had left the wood, but only recently, as was evident from the number of dead. That the difficult manoeuvre, entrusted to the Battalion, was carried out most successfully was due to the excellent manner in which the four Captains led their men. One platoon of Major Hamilton's company, which went beyond the wood and was enfiladed by machine-guns, had to remain under cover of a bank till dark, when it retired and joined the main line. With this exception the companies—No. 1 under Major Hamilton, No. 2 under Lord Bernard Lennox, and No. 3 under Captain Powell—all managed to reach the edge of the wood in perfect order. No. 4 under Captain Ridley was in support.

This advance had the excellent effect of establishing confidence. Lord Cavan was able to reorganise the line of defence for the night, and, by blunting the salients of the wood facing south-east, to reduce the garrison. The result was that he withdrew two battalions—one, the Sussex Regiment, was placed in reserve; the other, the Gordon Highlanders, was sent back to the 20th Brigade, to which it belonged.

As soon as it was dark, the Germans tried to set the wood on fire, but fortunately did not succeed, though there were isolated fires in various parts of it. It was an awkward position and very difficult to hold, as the Germans were so close, but orders were received for the battalions to dig in where they were. To officers, who had been taught from their early youth that one of the essentials of a trench line was a good field of fire, this digging in a thick wood, where the field of fire was never more than from fifteen to twenty yards, seemed an absurdity. But ideas on this subject had been considerably revised by the war—besides, in a long line of trenches running several miles, battalions of course must join up with each other, and cannot choose a position for themselves.

At 10 o'clock that night, No. 4 Company, under Captain Ridley, was directed to take over the position held by a company of the Gordons on the left, but finding that the trench had almost vanished after a day's work by the German artillery, it dug a new one slightly in rear, which was not finished until 3 A.M.

Nov. 2.

This was the situation on the Monday morning: the Northamptonshire Regiment was in touch with the Seventh Division on the left; the Oxfordshire Light Infantry and Grenadiers, slightly intermingled, were in the centre, and the Irish Guards on the right—all holding the south-east edges of the wood. Four vigorous attacks on the line—at 8.45, 11, 2, and 5.45—were delivered by the Germans, preceded by heavy shelling, especially on the left. The attack at 11 looked dangerous at one time, when the Germans got within twenty-five yards of our trenches, but our fire was very steady, and they could make no farther headway. The 2 o'clock assault partially developed, but the one at 5.45, just after it got dark, was the most serious.

It was directed against Captain Ridley's Company and against the Oxfordshire Light Infantry, and the enemy advanced with a beating of drums and blowing of horns. The night was cold, with some light from the moon. As the enemy came on, an incident that was never explained took place. The firing almost died down, and this message, sent from no one knew where, was passed along the line: "Don't fire. The Northamptons are going to charge." It so happened that Lieut.-Colonel Smith and Major Jeffreys were in that part of the trench at the time, and directly they heard the mysterious message they realised it was a German ruse. They yelled at the men to go on firing. The fire was at once taken up and continued, while the attack died away. Next day Lieut.-Colonel Smith tried to discover where the fictitious order started, but in vain.

All night the enemy could be heard digging away, in some places near to our trenches. At 1 A.M., No. 4 Company was sent back in reserve, being relieved by a company of the Oxfordshire Light Infantry, which next morning reported that 300 dead had been found in front of the trench. Some were found within a few yards of our line.

On Monday evening, the night of the attack, this special order from the Commander-in-Chief was circulated:

The Field-Marshal Commanding in Chief has watched with the deepest admiration and solicitude the splendid stand made by the soldiers of His Majesty the King in their successful effort to maintain the forward position which they have won by their gallantry and steadfastness. He believes that no other Army in the world would show such tenacity, especially under the tremendous artillery fire directed against it. Its courage and endurance are beyond all praise. It is an honour to belong to such an Army.

The Field-Marshal has to make one more call upon the troops. It is certainly only a question of a few days, and it may be of only a few hours, before, if they only stand firm, strong support will come, the enemy will be driven back, and in the retirement will suffer losses even greater than those which have befallen him under the terrific blows by which, especially during the last few days, he has been repulsed.

The Commander-in-Chief feels sure that he does not make his call in vain.

J. D. P. French, Field-Marshal,
Commander-in-Chief to the British Army in the Field.

Nov. 3.

A comparatively quiet interval followed. There was intermittent shelling next day, though nothing very serious, and the snipers on both sides kept up a lively fusillade. The trenches meanwhile were deepened and improved. Some new orders with regard to the coming fighting were also issued. Each battalion had two companies in the firing line and two in support, and the captains were told that they must rely on their own supports if they wanted any help. There was a Cavalry Brigade in reserve, but Lord Cavan did not wish to call on it unless it became absolutely necessary. Another warning against the enemy's tricks was sent to the men in this message from G.O.C. First Corps:

First Cavalry Division reports that in the attacks on them the Germans wore British uniforms, especially kilts, and when approaching our trenches shouted, "Don't fire; we are short of ammunition," and similar expressions. All troops in the trenches are to be warned of this practice by the enemy.

An instruction was issued also for the making of circular redoubts, about twenty-five yards in rear of the existing line of trenches, with the object of stopping a rush if the line should be pierced.

Nov. 4.

An artillery duel—rather one-sided—occupied the next two days. A German aeroplane having located the trenches, the enemy's guns became very busy, though mostly against the support trenches, chiefly with the object of "searching the ground." Early in the afternoon the First Division reported that the enemy was attacking from the direction of the woods south of Gheluvelt. The artillery had been turned on them, and preparations were being made to meet the attack, but nothing came of it. The shelling stopped at nightfall, and the Battalion settled down to a pitch-dark, pouring wet night in the trenches, which were all in wet clay and marshy ground, and the men's sole consolation was that the Germans must be having just as bad a time.

Nov. 5.

By the 5th it began to be thought in the firing line that the enemy had abandoned all attempt to break through the line, but in reality he was waiting only for reinforcements. He had succeeded in making a dent in the line near Messines, and was now determined to throw the whole weight of his superior numbers on Ypres. He chose for his point of attack Klein Zillebeke, the junction between De Moussy's French Division and the 4th Brigade, or rather the four battalions under Lord Cavan.

Nov. 6.

Shelling began with renewed vigour as soon as the sun had cleared away the next morning's mist, and just before mid-day significant instructions were received from Lord Cavan:

"Your position must be retained at all costs," he said in a message sent out at 11.50. "Redoubts must be occupied, every spare man and tool employed to make secondary trench. I trust you after splendid defence of last few days to maintain it to the end."

And in a second message a few minutes later:

"Have asked Seventh Division to do everything possible to help you with artillery fire."

Evidently the Brigadier expected a determined attack on that part of the line, and Lieut.-Colonel Smith made his dispositions accordingly. Early in the afternoon he got a report from the Irish Guards that the French Division on their right had been driven in. Immediately afterwards came a message from Major Hamilton that the Irish Guards themselves had been driven in, and that his right was consequently in the air.

Major Hamilton's Company was now bearing the brunt of the attack, and was in a very critical position. Lieut.-Colonel Smith sent word to ask him whether he needed any help. He replied: "Hughes only wants a few men, and I have sent him up one section. Bailey is lining road 200 yards to my front. O.C. Oxfords promised support if necessary."

Shortly afterwards it was reported that the Germans had reached Brown Road, and were advancing round the right rear of the Battalion. Lieut.-Colonel Smith at once posted Lieutenant Tufnell with one machine-gun on the Brown Road, to guard the ride through the wood across which the enemy would have to pass, to get behind our line of trenches, telling him to use his own discretion as to the position he should take up. Lieutenant Lord Congleton was also sent with one platoon to stop the Germans from getting through a gap which was reported to the right rear of the Battalion. Lieutenant Tufnell apparently decided that he would be able to get a better target for his machine-gun, and at the same time guard the ride, if he accompanied Lord Congleton. He accordingly took up a position from which he could command the advancing enemy, but had not been there long before he was mortally wounded.

At this point Lieut.-Colonel Smith reported to Lord Cavan that it was urgently necessary that a farm to his front should be destroyed, as there were machine-guns firing from it. He received the reply that if it were humanly possible the howitzers would do as he asked.

Two companies of the Sussex Regiment were now sent up to support the right of the line, and helped to hold things together, but the situation was most critical. The enemy had driven back De Moussy's French infantry, and consequently there was a bad dent in the line. Lord Cavan's troops were still holding on with their right in the air when the Household Cavalry was called in to retrieve the situation. Lord Cavan sent off Captain R. C. de Crespigny, his Staff Captain, at full gallop to Sanctuary Wood with orders to the Household Cavalry to come up at once. Colonel Wilson immediately ordered his men to mount, and galloped round by Maple Copse to within 500 yards of Brigade Headquarters, where they dismounted and fixed bayonets. Into the midst of the Germans they dashed, headed by Colonel Gordon Wilson.

Throwing in the cavalry at the critical moment to save the situation has from time immemorial been a recognised tactical manoeuvre, but in this case the Household Cavalry fought as infantry, and very splendid infantry they made. They swept forward to the attack with all the precision of an infantry battalion, and soon Klein Zillebeke was filled with British, French, and German troops fighting at close quarters. When it came to hand-to-hand fighting, the Germans could not stand up against the splendid men of the Household Cavalry, and they were gradually driven back till the line was restored. This gallant charge of the Household Cavalry on foot, Lord Cavan afterwards said, not only prevented the 4th Guards Brigade from being cut to pieces, but also saved Ypres. Colonel Gordon Wilson and Colonel Hugh Dawnay were killed, and the Household Cavalry lost a large number of men, but the situation was retrieved.

While this was going on, No. 1 Company Grenadiers, which was on the right, had been practically wiped out. Since the withdrawal of the Irish Guards, almost every man had been killed or wounded by shell-fire. Sergeant Thomas, who commanded the right platoon of No. 1, remained at his post after the Irish Guards had gone, until he had only three men left, when he withdrew to Brown Road. During that time he was twice buried by shells, and had three rifles broken in his hand. Sergeant Digby was mortally wounded, and was never seen again.

Lord Cavan telephoned: "Hang on tight to Brown Road. Try and get touch with half battalion Sussex Regiment sent to farm at Irish Guards H.Q." Lieut.-Colonel Smith passed this on to Captain Powell, adding: "Are you in touch with the Sussex?" to which Captain Powell replied: "Yes, I am in touch with Sussex, who prolong my line to the right, bent back to right rear."

In the meantime, Lieutenant Lord Congleton, finding how weak the right of the line was, had moved his platoon to the right of the Sussex. He had lost a number of men, but at the same time had managed to collect several Irish Guardsmen. They had no rifles or ammunition, but he placed them at intervals among the men of his platoon, and went and collected rifles for them himself from the casualties. Then he went round a second time with an orderly and collected ammunition. By this means he was able to hold the gap all through that night, and next day was specially mentioned by Lieut.-Colonel Smith, who wrote that the intelligent way in which he handled his platoon on his own initiative was beyond all praise.

Much help towards keeping the right of the line intact was also given by Colonel Davies, commanding the Oxfordshire Light Infantry, who throughout the afternoon kept sending up any men he happened to have in reserve.

When darkness fell Lord Cavan gave Lieut.-Colonel Smith these directions:

Can you establish a line between the Brown Road and your original line so as to keep touch for certain with battalions on your left? I want to make sure that my line for the night is in touch all along. I have ordered two battalions to establish the line of the Brown Road up to south-west edge, where I hope to establish touch with the French. I have told General Kavanagh he can withdraw his Cavalry Brigade directly the whole of the Brown Road is established.

The new line was arranged about midnight, and at 1 A.M. the men began to dig, although they were dead tired. The trenches were completed by 4 A.M.—a fine performance on a pitch-dark night, with the additional handicap of the trees.

Nov. 7-9.

For three days the battalions remained in their trenches at Klein Zillebeke without any direct attack being made. Shelling went on all day with monotonous regularity, but on the whole little damage was done, though the German howitzers made spasmodic efforts to demolish the trenches, and occasionally managed to blow in a bit of trench and bury some men. The nights were comparatively quiet except for some sniping, and though the mornings were generally foggy, anything in the way of dirty weather was welcomed by the men, as it made artillery observation impossible.

Nov. 10.

The shelling increased enormously on the 10th, and owing to the right having been thrown back, that part of the trenches was open to enfilade fire from the German guns. By this time their artillery had the range of our trenches pretty accurately, and obtained a large number of direct hits. Further, the wood, always a trouble, became more and more difficult to hold: trees cut down by the shells fell crashing to the ground, and made communication impossible. About mid-day the bombardment became terrific, and it seemed as if it would be impossible for any one to live under the storm of shells.

A heavy loss this day was the death of Major Lord Bernard Lennox, who was killed by a high-explosive shell. For three months he had been in the thick of every engagement, always cheerful, and making the best of every hardship. He was one of the most popular officers in the Brigade of Guards, and his death was very keenly felt by every one.

Lieutenant M. G. Stocks was also killed by a shell, and Lieutenant Lord Congleton, who had so distinguished himself only a few days before, was shot through the heart. Lieutenant H. R. C. Tudway was hit in the head by a shell, and died a few days later. Captain Powell was buried by another shell, and was only just saved in time and brought in. Captain Ridley was wounded in the back, but after being attended to in the dressing-station was able to return to his company.

There was considerable delay in collecting the wounded. It was impossible to attempt to work by day, and the difficulties of carrying stretchers by night were increased by the fallen trees.

That night the Battalion went into Corps Reserve, and bivouacked in dug-outs. Lord Cavan, in writing an account of the day's fighting, said:

The 2nd Battalion Grenadiers made a wonderful stand to-day against enfilade fire of the worst description. They stuck it out simply magnificently.

The King subsequently telegraphed to the Commander-in-Chief:

The splendid pluck, spirit, and endurance shown by my troops in the desperate fighting which has continued for so many days against vastly superior forces fills me with admiration. I am confident in the final results of their noble efforts under your able command.

George R.I.

Sir John French replied:

Your Majesty's most gracious message has been received by the officers and men of Your Majesty's Army in France with feelings of the greatest gratitude and pride. We beg to be allowed to express to Your Majesty our most faithful devotion and our unalterable determination to uphold the highest tradition of Your Majesty's Army, and to carry the campaign to a victorious end.

Lord Kitchener telegraphed:

The splendid courage and endurance of our troops in the battle in which you have been engaged during the last few days, and the boldness and capacity with which they have been led, have undoubtedly given the enemy a severe blow, successfully frustrating their efforts. Let the troops know how much we all appreciate their services, which worthily maintain the best traditions of our Army.

Having been placed in Corps Reserve for four days, officers and men of the Battalion were under the impression that they were going to have a quiet time for that period, sleeping in peace at night and resting during the day. But they were mistaken. In reality, they spent three of the nights marching about the whole time, and each day they were moved up in support of this or that part of the line, to the invariable accompaniment of considerable shelling. To begin with, the relief took most of the first night, and it was not till 5 A.M. that the Welsh Regiment and Munster Fusiliers finished taking over the trenches. Then at last the Battalion was able to march over to the dug-outs at Bellewaardes Farm, north of Hooge.

Nov. 11.

The worst of it was that those placed in reserve were at the beck and call of any General who wanted reinforcements. At one time the Battalion was placed under four Generals, and received different orders from each, which came about because the units in front got hopelessly mixed, and the battalions were constantly changed from one brigade to another. For instance, when the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers arrived at Bellewaardes, Lieut.-Colonel Smith rode over to see General Monro, who congratulated him on the good work his men had done, and said he would come round later and say a few words to them. By the time Lieut.-Colonel Smith returned, he found that the Battalion had been ordered to move to a wood north-east of Hooge Château, in order to be in a position of readiness to reinforce the line near Polygon Wood, where the Prussian Guard was reported to have broken through. He sent one company up into the wood, and scattered the rest about the grounds of the Château. It was chiefly shrapnel-shelling that they were exposed to during this operation, and there were few casualties.

In the afternoon orders were received to support an attack which was to be carried out by the Sussex Regiment, Oxfordshire Light Infantry, and Gloucester Regiment. They were to retake the trenches which had been captured by the Prussian Guard in the morning, south-west of Polygon Wood. The Battalion was severely shelled, as it crossed the open ground towards the wood east of Hooge in artillery formation, and had thirty to forty casualties in a few minutes. Then Lieut.-Colonel Smith sent Major Jeffreys forward to find General FitzClarence, under whose orders the Battalion had been placed.

The enemy now began to shell this spot with shrapnel, and with every one underground it was no easy matter to find the General or his Staff. Major Jeffreys was joined by Lieut.-Colonel Smith; they searched and searched in vain, and came across Major Corkran, Brigade-Major of the 1st Brigade, who had been engaged on the same fruitless errand. Deciding to wait, Lieut.-Colonel Smith sent Major Jeffreys back to the Battalion, where he found Captain Pike, who was almost immediately afterwards wounded by a shell.

Meanwhile the Battalion had been waiting for hours under shell-fire, and had suffered about thirty further casualties. It was now night, pitch-dark, and pouring with rain; and to assemble the men, who were spread out in artillery formation, was by no means easy, but Major Jeffreys managed to get them together near Nonne-Bosschen Wood. Eventually Lieut.-Colonel Smith found General FitzClarence, and got permission to give the men a meal before taking them up to the front. Having returned to the Battalion, he marched it back to the Château grounds, where after some delay the cookers arrived, and the men settled down to a meal in the pouring rain. Lieutenant the Hon. W. R. Bailey was appointed Adjutant in Captain Pike's place, and at once took over his duties.

Nov. 12.

After an hour's sleep the Battalion started off again at midnight, and marched ankle-deep in mud and slush to the Headquarters of the 1st Brigade, where it received its orders for the attack in which it was to operate with the 1st Battalion Irish Guards, Royal Munster Fusiliers, and Gloucester Regiment.

These orders were:

The following move at 2.15 A.M., to position of readiness at S.W. corner of Polygon Wood—2nd Battalion Grenadiers, 1st Battalion Irish Guards, Royal Munster Fusiliers. Left of Grenadier Guards and right of Irish Guards at S.W. corner of Polygon Wood, both in column of route heading south. Royal Munster Fusiliers on edge of wood just in rear of centre. When ordered to move from position of readiness to attack, Grenadiers will lead in file, passing along western side of trench and shooting any enemy met with either in or out of it. Irish Guards to follow Grenadiers in same formation, Royal Munster Fusiliers to follow Irish Guards. When trench has been cleared, Battalions will occupy and hold it till further orders. Attack will be ready to start any hour after 4 A.M. All movements to be made quickly and silently. Reports to H.Q. 1st Guards Brigade. Captain Fortune, Black Watch, will act as guide to Grenadiers. Battalions in rear will keep touch with Battalions in front of them. Gloucesters will fill gap as at present.

At 3 A.M. these battalions started. It had been arranged that the Irish Guards should lead as far as Polygon Wood, and General FitzClarence and his Staff walked at their head. In spite of the darkness the battalions kept well together. They were marching down a muddy lane when suddenly some shots were heard in front, and General FitzClarence halted his force and went to see what was going on. The advance began again slowly, they reached the west edge of the wood, and the Grenadiers got into the ditch at the edge. Then came the news that General FitzClarence had been mortally wounded. Colonel Davies arrived next with the Oxfordshire Light Infantry, having reconnoitred the positions; he had found that the Germans were in great strength, with wire entanglements in front and several machine-guns.

The question now arose: What should be done? Was it wise to carry on the attack with no General in command? Eventually the matter was referred to Brigadier-General Westmacott, commanding the 5th Brigade. He decided that it would be best to abandon the attack, as after this delay there would not be enough time for it to develop before daybreak. He therefore ordered the battalions back behind the wood, west of Nonne-Bosschen Wood, and determined to hold a new line. Colonel M'Ewen of the Camerons was sent for, to take command of the Brigade.

The work of digging the new line was entrusted to the Gloucesters, but as they were not strong enough to hold it, No. 4 Company Grenadiers under Captain Ridley was sent up to reinforce them. Tired as the men were, they dug for their lives, and by 6 A.M. had managed to dig themselves well in. The rest of the Battalion returned to the Château, where it was found that in the darkness one platoon of No. 1 Company and the Battalion Headquarters had gone astray. However, they arrived next morning.

After having been placed under several different Brigadiers, the Battalion was finally ordered by Colonel Cunliffe Owen to move with the Irish Guards to the wood on the Menin road, and there dig itself in. Off it went, and began digging again till the dawn broke, when the shelling started again as usual. This was the only day on which the Battalion had no rations, the constant moves having disorganised the transport, but enough bully beef was procured to give the men something to eat.

Nov. 13-14.

During the day the Battalion remained in its trenches. There was the inevitable shelling and sniping, but little damage was done. In the evening it moved back to within a mile of the Château, and was just settling down when it received orders to move on to Sanctuary Wood—so called because it had never been shelled. After some delay, it got to the wood in the middle of the night, finding there some howitzers which had been attracted by the name. The officer in command explained that they had been shelled out of every place they had visited hitherto by the bigger guns of the enemy. Before long, however, the German artillery located the howitzers, and at once began to shell the wood. While Major Hamilton was in his dug-out, a high-explosive shell brought the whole structure down on him, and he was dug out, unconscious, only just in time. Not long afterwards Lieutenant Dowling was wounded.

In the middle of the next night the Battalion was ordered to return to the trenches and join the 4th Brigade. Its four days' "rest" was over, and all ranks welcomed with enthusiasm the prospect of getting back to the trenches!

Nov. 15-16.

Next day the Battalion marched back through Zillebeke to Lord Cavan's Headquarters, and was at once sent back into the trenches, part of which it had held the week before. The companies were sent up on each side of the Cavalry Brigade, which was holding a line across Brown Road, and the Battalion was therefore split up into two portions. Nos. 4 and 2 Platoons of No. 3 Company were on the left of the cavalry, and Nos. 1 and 2 Companies on the right; the only reserve there was consisted of two platoons of No. 3 Company, and so they "carried on" for two days without any happenings of great importance. The weather meanwhile became very cold, and there were continual snow blizzards.

Nov. 17.

On November 17 the Germans made their last serious attack on Ypres. The day opened with a terrific bombardment, evidently heralding a determined attack. The shelling went on steadily all the morning, and about 1 P.M. the attack started, the brunt of it falling on No. 1 and No. 2 Companies. No. 2 in particular was very hard pressed. Captain Symes-Thompson was killed, and Lieutenant Lee-Steere, who took over the command, sent back word that they were running short of ammunition. There were but two platoons in reserve, and they numbered only thirty men, but Lieut.-Colonel Smith sent them up under Captain Cavendish with some ammunition. By the time they arrived Lieutenant Lee-Steere had been killed. Captain Cavendish sent back a message that the enemy was apparently entrenching in a spinney about four hundred yards to our front, and that his numbers were estimated at 500. About this time the enemy attacked in great force, but was quite unable to make any headway against our rifle-fire. The spirits of the men were wonderful, and they fought on, quite unaffected by the terrible casualties caused by the shell-fire amongst their ranks. Captain Cavendish was surprised at suddenly hearing a burst of firing intermingled with shouts of laughter. It turned out that some Germans, who had lain down in a slight fold in the ground when their attack failed, were trying to crawl back, and the men of Nos. 2 and 3 Companies were firing at them as they went. The enemy was now becoming very numerous in front, and the situation was reported to Lord Cavan by Lieut.-Colonel Smith, who received this reply:

Call on 1st Battalion Coldstream for help if required at once. Brigade Headquarters knocked to bits, so have shifted to farm north-west of wood, on Figure 17 of K 17, in dug-out.

A little while afterwards the situation was easier, and on hearing that the line was still intact, Lord Cavan sent the message:

Well done. Hope you got my memo, re calling on 1st Battalion Coldstream at once if necessary, now in the wood alongside of you. You must use them to help both yourself and the Irish Guards. When called on let me know. Am turning all the artillery on the wood to your front. I have no means of communication left except orderlies.

The 1st Battalion Coldstream at that time consisted of a draft of 300 men under Captain G. Edwards, which had just arrived from England, the Battalion having been practically wiped out in the Prussian Guard attack of November 4.

No. 1 Company was now in a bad way, and Captain Hughes sent back an urgent request for more ammunition. But, as most of the pack animals had been killed in the morning's bombardment, it was a problem how to send it. Major Jeffreys collected as many orderlies as he could find, loaded them up with all the ammunition they could carry, and himself led them along to the trenches. This was no easy matter, as not only was the ground they had to cross under shell-fire, but the whole place was knee-deep in mud. The last fifty yards to the trenches they had to crawl.

The firing had been kept up practically all the afternoon, and some idea of the amount of ammunition expended may be gathered from the fact that No. 1 Company alone fired 24,000 rounds. This was the first time our men saw the hand grenades which were to play such a large part in trench warfare. Little puffs of smoke had been occasionally seen bursting on the bodies of the Germans, and these proved to be caused by hand grenades of a primitive type, which exploded when hit by our bullets.

By the evening the German attack had died down. The enemy had lost very heavily, and realised, apparently, that the line was too strongly held for any frontal attack to succeed:

The casualties amongst the officers of the 2nd Battalion were unfortunately heavy:

Captain E. J. L. Pike (Adjutant), wounded.

Lieut. C. W. Tufnell (Machine-gun Officer), killed.

Capt. C. Symes-Thompson (No. 1 Company), killed.

Major Lord Bernard Gordon-Lennox (No. 2 Company), killed.

Lieut. I. St. C. Rose (No. 2 Company), wounded.

Lieut. C. M. C. Dowling (No. 2 Company), wounded.

2nd Lieut. F. W. J. M. Miller (No. 2 Company), killed.

2nd Lieut. J. H. G. Lee-Steere (No. 2 Company), killed.

Capt. E. G. H. Powell (No. 3 Company), wounded.

Lieut. H. R. C. Tudway (No. 3 Company), killed.

Lieut. Lord Congleton (No. 3 Company), killed.

Captain M. E. Makgill-Crichton Maitland (No. 4 Company), wounded.

Captain E. D. Ridley (No. 4 Company), wounded.

Lieut. M. G. Stocks (No. 4 Company), killed.

The 2nd Battalion had been fighting incessantly from October 21 to November 16. Day and night it had been attacked by an enemy greatly superior in numbers. As it had never for a moment been able to leave the front line, its sleep had been broken and scanty. Yet well aware that no reinforcements were available, the Battalion had throughout realised that it must continue to hold the line, and had faced its task with the utmost determination. Even when it was in reserve, it had taken part in serious engagements, but this to a certain extent was an experience which it shared with the other battalions of the 4th Brigade.

The 2nd Battalion Grenadiers had been most fortunate in its neighbours during these strenuous days, and the men soon found that the other battalions in the Second Division were as stout fighters as themselves. The 2nd Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in particular was known throughout the Division as one of the best battalions in the Expeditionary Force, and the Grenadiers knew from experience that it could be relied upon to hold a trench to the last man.

But perhaps the branch of the service which won the men's admiration most of all was the artillery. Outnumbered and outranged, the Second Division artillery fought on, and time after time saved the situation. Its supply of shells, compared to that of the German artillery, was ridiculously small, and yet never for a moment did it fail to respond when called upon to support the infantry attacks. According to all preconceived theories it should have been wiped out altogether, and in fact many batteries were annihilated. But the Grenadiers knew that as long as there were any men left alive the guns would be served.

Nov. 19.

The first battle of Ypres may be said to have ended on the 19th, although naturally the enemy continued his shelling. Some of No. 1 Company's trenches were blown in, but there were no infantry attacks. In the evening the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers was relieved by the 3rd Battalion Coldstream and marched to St. Jean, where one company went into billets, and the other three lay in the open and made themselves as comfortable as they could with straw, which they took from the ricks at the farm close by. Curiously enough, the farmer some twelve months later sent in a claim for compensation for the straw that had been taken. The few remaining officers managed to get into one room at the farmhouse.

It was bitterly cold, and there were several degrees of frost and two or three inches of snow on the ground. Before leaving, Lieut.-Colonel Smith sent the following message to Captain Cavendish:

If it is possible, will you try and identify some of the units which attacked you yesterday? Perhaps you could get a few shoulder-straps after dark, but you are not to risk life to get them. I do not want to support you unless it is necessary, but I can send a platoon of the Coldstream to a place near Irish Guards' support if you would like it. You will be relieved by Coldstream to-night about 8 P.M. after your teas, and will come to Brigade Headquarters where you will get instructions. The men of the Coldstream now with you should come back at the same time.

The shoulder-straps referred to in this message were duly secured and forwarded to the Intelligence officer of the Division. The Germans who had attacked the day before were from the Fifteenth Corps.

Lord Cavan, in a private letter to Colonel H. Streatfeild, commanding the Regiment, wrote:

No words can ever describe what the devotion of the men and officers has been under the trials of dirt, squalor, cold, sleeplessness, and perpetual strain of the last three weeks. Their state of efficiency still can, I think, be gauged by the fact that twelve attacks have been repulsed and two companies of Grenadiers fired twenty-four boxes of ammunition on the 17th, so persistent were the enemy's assaults. We are told we are to be relieved very soon and sent right back for a good fortnight to refit and reclothe and reorganise. We came into this theatre 3700 strong, and we shall go back about 2000, but nothing finer to my mind has ever been done by human men. I really should cry if the Germans got into Ypres before we go. On the 17th before the attack they threw over 200 big shells in and around my Headquarters and for one and a half hours it was pretty horrible, but the dug-outs saved us, though my signal officer and 13 men were wounded and 2 killed at the door of my dug-out. The smell of the explosion was horrible. One shell pitched in our signal cart and blew the limber 55 yards away from the body.

The 2nd Battalion remained at St. Jean the next day, and in the evening received orders to move back and refit on the following night:

The Brigadier is directed by Sir Douglas Haig to inform the 4th Guards Brigade that their relief will definitely take place to-morrow night 20th/21st for certain. He also wishes it to be explained that by sticking to their positions for an extra day, the whole British Expeditionary Force has benefited to the extent that their front is now narrowed to the line La Bassée—Wytschaete, whereas if the relief had taken place yesterday it would have had to extend from La Bassée to the Canal.

The following orders for concentration of troops when relieved from the trenches were issued:

(1) Battalions not in the trenches, viz. 2nd Battalion Grenadiers, Irish Guards, Herts Battalion, will march in the above order under Lieut.-Colonel W. R. A. Smith, Grenadier Guards, on Ypres level crossing J 13 A, thence by road passing J 12, the south edge of J 11, southern portion of I 15.14, thence through I 13 A, thence to Ouderdomm. Starting-point road junction at Y of Ypres. Time, 4 P.M.

(2) All first-line transport, except pack animals, which will accompany Battalions, will march under Brigade Transport Officer Captain Gough to Ouderdomm, in time to arrive there by 2 P.M. It will be met by Captain R. de Crespigny, who will point out bivouacking areas to units.

(3) Units will arrange to have a meal waiting for them on arrival at Ouderdomm; after eating this they will march independently to Meteren, where they will go into billets. The three battalions under Lieut.-Colonel Smith will march together under his orders. The route from Ouderdomm to Meteren via Westoutre—Montnoir—La Manche.

(4) Officers commanding all units will be responsible that the route that they have to follow is reconnoitred by daylight.

Nov. 20.

Orders were first sent for these battalions to start at 4 P.M., and later the time was altered to 10.45 P.M. The 2nd Battalion Grenadiers arrived at the rendezvous in plenty of time, and as the Hertfordshire Territorials did not turn up, Lieut.-Colonel Smith waited for it till past midnight, and then marched off. It was bitterly cold, and owing to the frozen state of the road extremely slippery. On account of the accumulation of guns and transports, the battalions were forced to march in single file down the side of the road, and to pass miles of wagons before they were able to march in fours. At 3 A.M. they had some tea, and arrived at their destination at 8.30, when they went into billets.

Letter from Brigadier-General the Earl of Cavan to the Officer Commanding the Grenadier Guards

The 2nd Battalion moves back to-night about 15 miles with the rest of the Brigade to refit, reorganise, and rest. It leaves the line intact, and, in spite of great loss and untold sufferings and hardships, it fought the battle of Nov. 17 with as good a nerve as the battle of the Aisne. It has perhaps had the hardest time of any of the four battalions, as its rest days in Corps Reserve were entirely taken up with marching and making counter-strokes at various parts of the line.

I can never express what I think of the great courage and endurance shown by officers and men during the defence before Ypres, and I should like to put on the regimental records not only my sense of pride at being their Brigadier, but my debt to the Battalion for their great devotion to their duty. The men have all kept up a respectable appearance, which has been an example, considering that it has been absolutely impossible to change an article of clothing for four weeks. It is hoped that some officers and men may be able to get home for a few days' complete rest and change.

(Signed) Cavan, Brigadier,
Commanding 4th Guards Bgde.

CHAPTER VIII
NOVEMBER 1914 TO MARCH 1915