To any battalion, however well trained, Captain Barnett, by reason of his vast experience of every side of military training, would have been invaluable. It is therefore quite impossible to over-estimate the benefit that a young battalion like ours derived from his knowledge and efficiency. The Commanding Officer had just previously left us for a few weeks to undergo a slight surgical operation, and the Command had devolved on Major C. W. Wilson, in the absence of Major H. K. Wilson, who was attending the Senior Officers' Course at Aldershot.
On November 15th a draft of four officers—Lieutenant Ormrod, 2nd-Lieutenants McCormick, E. E. Paul, and Moseley—from the 6th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers arrived, and their arrival was most timely. We were being absolutely swamped with courses of every possible description; in addition, we had to maintain and relieve regularly an officer with the deep dug-out party; there were numerous courts of inquiry and courts-martial on foot, and the result, of course, was that the shortage of officers had become acute. Moreover, to stimulate efficiency, the Divisional Commander had devised four competitions—route marching by a battalion; bayonet fighting and physical training, each by a company; and wiring by a platoon. Preliminary Brigade competitions were held, and we were selected to compete in the Division for the first three events.
On November 21st the Division organized a concentration march and billeting scheme for our Brigade, involving a march of some eight miles to Chertsey. Coming as this did only two days before the final of the Divisional Route Marching Competition it was rather a severe handicap. However, on November 24th the whole battalion (except about half a dozen men required to guard our quarters), accompanied by a full regimental transport, set off on a fifteen mile march, which was to be done in five hours. Marks were given for accurate timing in passing the starting and finishing posts, for appearance of the men at the end of the march, for march discipline, and for correct contents of vehicles and packs. Hidden judges watched us at different parts of the march; others checked our halts, ten minutes every hour; and the contents of one platoon's packs were duly examined. The battalion marched magnificently, and although a cooker horse dropped a shoe and had to be shod by the cold shoer and regain the column without trotting, and although during the latter part of the march the road was inches deep in sand along a steep gradient, the last vehicle was clear of the finishing point with five seconds to spare. Our casualties were only two or three men, and but for the concentration march would never have occurred. After some discussion over the case of another battalion, who, contrary to the rules of the competition, had marched all the way headed by a band who did not wear packs, we were declared the winners, which we should have been in any case had we not forfeited a large number of points. We lost these because one man had no boot-laces in his pack; he remembered afterwards that they were in his pocket after all; and another man was also apparently deficient of some small article of kit. However, the battalion had every reason to be proud of itself, and the result certainly served to remind the Divisional Headquarters that other battalions existed besides the two Brigades in their close vicinity at Blackdown. "B" Company trained for the bayonet fighting, and, under Captain Moon, put up a display on November 29th, before the Chief Instructor of the London District School, which astonished him, and in due course they were declared the winners. "D" Company, under Captain Parker, also produced a splendid exhibition of physical training, and were proclaimed joint winners with the company of another battalion. In these last two competitions Company Sergeant-Major-Instructor McLelland, A.G.S., deserved the very greatest credit; he had been indefatigable in his exertions, and his methods proved most efficient.
For the continued successes of the battalion we were awarded a richly deserved twenty-four hours off parade.
All this time the specialists were receiving what may be described as intensive training. Apart from the ordinary work under their own instructors, they attended lectures and demonstrations of various descriptions with the object of increasing their efficiency and familiarizing them with the conditions under which they would have to work. The snipers in particular received great attention, and were not infrequently proceeding to Aldershot in connection with training. A splendid model miniature range was also constructed by them in one of the huts in the barrack square.
On December 11th Captain Moon left us to join the Portuguese Expeditionary Force as an interpreter; and on Christmas Eve Major C. W. Wilson proceeded overseas for a tour of instruction in the Ypres Salient. On Boxing Day the battalion proceeded on a final three days' last leave, receiving an even warmer welcome and send-off than before from the good people of Liverpool, who realized that the departure of the battalion for the front was imminent at last.
From Christmas till our actual departure was a period of intense activity. Travelling Medical Boards came and examined our "Category men," who were dispatched to various units according to their medical fitness; others were earmarked, by reason of special knowledge, for munition works, and so forth. Nominal rolls had to be completed and checked, casualty forms filled up for every man, the N.C.O. establishment completed, and a hundred other items of detail to be foreseen and provided for.
On February 4th we had a further welcome addition of officers—2nd-Lieutenants Royle, Goulding, Evans, and Rothwell, all of whom had seen considerable active service with the 1/6th K.L.R., and Lieutenant Parkinson and 2nd-Lieutenants Dugdale and Rule, from the "King's Own." Of the latter, Lieutenant Parkinson was a fully qualified R.F.C. pilot resting after a "crash."
On February 17th Major Turner, now convalescent after a serious wound received while serving with the 1/6th K.L.R., arrived as O. i/c Details, and began to take stock of everything; and on January 22nd the battalion appeared for the first time in khaki puttees, a sure sign that a real move overseas was intended. All the animals were examined and "duds" replaced, and all vehicles completed in all items of equipment. The distinguishing patch first approved at Aldershot, and originally consisting of a small rectangle of black and green cloth in two equal triangular sections (later divided by a thin red strip), was now abolished, and we found our new mark was a green diamond worn on each sleeve between the elbow and the shoulder.
In spite of our manifold activities, we managed to have some really good entertainments, to which our newly formed orchestra, Rifleman Kessen, the conjurer, and another rifleman, a superb banjo artiste (unfortunately, in a low medical category), added talent of the highest order; and the Divisional Band,—the old 6th it was—which had been selected from all the bands to accompany the Division overseas, came from time to time to give us the benefit of their music.