FOOTNOTES:
[1] A letter from Lt.-Colonel R. McDouall.
[2] To commemorate the connection of the Buffs with Christ’s College, a gold beaker has recently been presented to the 1st Battalion by Sir A. E. Shipley, G.B.E., Master of Christ’s College.
[3] Julian Hasler recovered from his wounds, rejoined the battalion in December and was given command of the 11th Brigade in February, 1915. He was unhappily killed on the 26th April, 1915. His fine fighting qualities ensured his success as a soldier, whilst his great personal charm secured him many more firm friends than most of us can claim; his death was deeply mourned not only by the regiment, but throughout the army.
Born on the 16th October, 1868, he joined the Buffs in 1888. He saw service in Chitral (1895), N.W. Frontier (Malakand, etc., 1897–8), South African War (1899–1902; brevet major), N. Nigeria (1903, Kano-Sokoto campaign), N. Nigeria (1906; in command; brevet lieutenant-colonel). He was promoted brevet-colonel 11th January, 1910.
[4] Robert George Kekewich, second son of Trehawke Kekewich, of Peamore, Devon, was born on the 17th June, 1854, and joined the Buffs on the 2nd December, 1874. He fought in the Perak expedition of 1875–6, and in the Soudan, 1884–5, where he gained a brevet majority. He was employed as D.A.A.G. in the Soudan campaign of 1888, and afterwards as military secretary to the C.-in-C., Madras, and was engaged in the operations in Burma 1892–3. He was promoted into the Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) and commanded the 1st Battalion of that regiment in the South African War. He commanded the garrison during the siege of Kimberley; received the rank of brevet-colonel and the C.B., and in August, 1902, was specially promoted major-general. He was appointed colonel of the Buffs on the 5th October, 1909.
[5] Arthur Henry Fitzroy Paget, eldest son of General Lord Alfred Paget, was born on the 1st March, 1851, and entered the Scots Guards in 1869. He served in the Ashanti War, 1873; in the Soudan, 1885; in Burma, 1887–8, and again in the Soudan in 1888–9. He commanded the 1st Scots Guards in the South African War and later the 20th Brigade, being specially promoted major-general. He commanded the 1st Division from 1902–6, during which time he received the C.B. and the K.C.V.O. and was promoted lieutenant-general. He was made a K.C.B. in 1907, and the following year was appointed G.O.C. Eastern Command. He was an Aide-de-camp General to His Majesty from 1910–14. In 1912 he was appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief the Forces in Ireland and advanced to the dignity of Privy Councillor, and the following year was promoted general and received the G.C.B. In January, 1915, General Paget was sent on a Special Mission to Russia and the Balkan States and was received by the Tzar of Russia and the Kings of Roumania, Bulgaria, Servia and Greece. The following year he was sent by His Majesty King George V to convey the Field-Marshal’s baton to the Tzar of Russia. In 1917 he visited Verdun, representing His Majesty, to confer on that town the Military Cross.
[6] Captain Blackall, an old Militia and Special Reserve officer, was killed on the 24th March, 1918, whilst attached to the 4th South Staffordshire Regiment.
[7] “Other chambers in College were occupied by officers of the Buffs, and these officers had their ante-room in VIIth Chamber and their mess in College Hall. Hence the small oak shield, carved with the Buffs’ Dragon, which may now be seen on the north side of the Hall. This was a parting gift from Captain F. W. Tomlinson.”—The Wykehamist, No. 538, February, 1915.
[8] This half-company, under Major R. E. Power, had not rejoined the battalion the previous night, having been detailed to occupy an unfinished trench in the front line. Lieut. J. W. Butts Archer was killed whilst superintending a working party.
[9] Augustus David Geddes was born on the 6th June, 1866, and joined the Buffs on the 5th February, 1887; he was adjutant of the 2nd Battalion from 1898 until 1900, when he was severely wounded, in the South African War. After being some years on the staff, he was promoted to command the 2nd Battalion in 1911.
[10] No. L/8907 Pte. David Alexander served in France continuously throughout the war until he was killed a few weeks before the Armistice, having won the Military Medal and attained the rank of company sergeant major.
[11] In those days many firms promised extravagant terms to those of their employees who enlisted, but in many cases such undertakings were not fulfilled. Messrs. Cory and Son, let it be said to their undying credit, played the game throughout by their men and their dependents, and were moreover the most liberal supporters of any fund that was for the benefit of the battalion.
[12] The Dean, the Very Rev. Henry Wace, D.D., in arranging the service wrote as follows: “I assure you we regard it as one of our first and most honourable duties in the Cathedral to welcome the County Regiment.”
[13] “A4 Boys” were lads of eighteen passed fit, but retained at home for a year on account of age.
[14] Claude Arthur Worthington, son of Captain Arthur Worthington of the Buffs, who carried the Colour into Sevastopol, was born on the 25th May, 1874, and joined the Buffs in 1898. He served with the 2nd Battalion in the South African War, acting as adjutant from February to May, 1900. He was later adjutant of the 2nd Battalion from 1905–8.
[15] This operation was known as “mopping up” and really meant finishing and completing work that the leading troops had to leave undone, such as the capture of men remaining in the dug-outs and so on.
[16] The following is an extract from a letter to Sir Courtenay Vyvyan (late the Buffs) from the A.A.G. 6th Division:—
“Your old battalion is going very strong. It is commanded by Green, and Gould is second in command. Otherwise I don’t suppose you know anyone. They did splendidly on the Somme and never lost their discipline for a moment. I saw them on parade after the fight of the 13th/18th September, when they only had 314 men left, and they might have been parading for the King’s birthday. It really was a magnificent sight.”
[17] This Union Jack now hangs in Canterbury Cathedral, it having been later on presented to the battalion as a trophy; later on still it was handed over for safe custody to the Dean and Chapter and accepted by them at a grand ceremony held in the Cathedral at which were present many of the Buffs, particularly of the 5th Battalion, amongst whom was Captain G. K. Harrison, the man who had hoisted it on the 11th March.
[18] Wadi is the Arabic for watercourse or river-bed; as a rule innocent of water, but occasionally, during the rains, rushing torrents.
[19] Beit is the Arabic for house, and so comes to mean village.
[20] These cadet schools were started after the war had been some time in progress, and when they were established commissions were no longer given except to graduates.
[21] This officer belongs to the Royal Fusiliers and went to France as adjutant to the 8th Battalion of that regiment, being promoted to command the 6th Buffs in March, 1916. He twice won the D.S.O.
[22] Regimental sergeant-major.
[23] For an example of the “leap-frog” method, see pp, 385–7.
[24] No. 4181 Sgt. Moon had been recommended for the V.C. the previous August for gallant conduct at Zillebeke, where he received his death wounds.
[25] See page 269.
[26] This officer was killed in action at Sanctuary Wood on the 3rd June, 1918, as major-general commanding the 3rd Canadian Division.
[27] B.E.F., 42; C.E.F., 215.
[28] These were actually officers of Q.O.R. before leaving Canada, and are separate to above.
[29] This was the first practical illustration of the German method of infiltration which had lately been introduced and which now influences our own tactics. Blobs of Germans with light guns could be seen advancing wherever they could make progress—wherever they saw a “soft spot.”
[30] One of these, Pte. A. C. Coleman, won the D.C.M., the M.M. and the M.S.M.
[31] These two young men served right through the war from the landing of the battalion till the armistice, and always with distinction. They both got bars to their M.M.’s for this day’s work.
[32] Captain and Brevet Lt.-Colonel A. L. Ransome, D.S.O., M.C., went to France at the beginning of the war as adjutant of the 1st Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment, and after serving as Brigade Major of the 15th Infantry Brigade was appointed Commanding Officer of the 7th Buffs in February, 1916, with which he served without a break till September, 1918.
[33] Z + a number means that number of minutes after zero hour.
[34] This was written before the 5th Battalion ceased to exist as such.
[35] The appendices have been compiled by Major F. W. Tomlinson, Hon. Sec. of the Buffs’ History Committee, with the assistance of Miss Olive Tomlinson and Major E. F. Gould, to whom he offers his grateful thanks, as well as to the War Office and Officer in Charge of Records. The names of the dead have been taken from the official lists, but corrected and amplified as far as possible; they correspond with the names in the Roll of Honour which is to be placed in Canterbury Cathedral, in the Warriors’ Chapel.
[36] Medal of St. George, 3rd Class.
[37] Both these officers won clasps to their D.S.O. whilst commanding battalions of the Buffs.
Transcriber’s Notes:
1. Obvious printers’, punctuation and spelling errors have been corrected silently.
2. Where hyphenation is in doubt, it has been retained as in the original.
3. Some hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words have been retained as in the original.