Those early days are amusing to look back upon. We came daily to the drill-shed for training in every form of costume that can be imagined—some men in everyday clothes of a clerk, some in shooting coats and grey trousers, others in khaki bought at their own expense, and so on. Bowler hats were early discouraged, but except for that there were no restrictions as to dress.
Little by little khaki began to appear and our regulation black puttees, though the regimental "walking out" uniforms had for some time to be used as a temporary arrangement, which made us look a motley crowd.
"Bugles" were soon formed, and behind these we marched gaily to the Old Farm Field in Sefton Park for drill, and to Allerton or Arrowe Hall for field days. In those early irresponsible days life proceeded easily; the "King's Regulations" and the "Manual of Military Law" were volumes unknown except to a very few. Keenness and enthusiasm were the keynotes of our life. Someone murmured the word "inoculation," and forthwith we trooped in gay crowds to the Medical Officer to undergo that much-discussed but very innocent operation. The 1/6th Battalion wanted men to complete their numbers: the draft could have been made up ten times over. How proudly we marched through the streets of Liverpool! How we envied the New Army Battalions—the "blue-eyed boys" of the War Office—who called themselves "Regulars," and on whom everything seemed to be lavished. Beyond frequent inspections, we got no serious assistance for two and a half years, and equipment was doled out but sparingly up till the last moment. The reason of this apparent neglect was probably sound and in accordance with policy, but it was none the less heart-breaking at times.
With the beginning of November things began to move apace. Colonel G. A. Wilson, V.D., was appointed Commanding Officer, and to this fact we can attribute the smartness and esprit de corps that distinguished the battalion up till the end of its history. The sound principles on which Colonel Wilson proceeded to train his battalion produced the best and most lasting results, and, without wishing in any way to overstep the mark, one may say that few, if any, battalions were brought from the early chaotic state to a well-organized and self-contained machine in such a short time as our own. It was not only, however, in his scheme of training that Colonel Wilson was so successful, but also in his choice of officers. He gathered round him officers of many kinds: not only young and enthusiastic members of School and University O.T.Cs., but older men also—some without military experience, it is true, but with that broader outlook and ability that more mature years bring with them; others, again, who had much military experience to their credit, and—precious above all—experience of war itself. Of the latter, Captain W. A. L. Fletcher, D.S.O., Captain C. W. Wilson, Captain G. L. Fletcher, and Captain G. P. Rogers had all served with distinction in the Boer War, and, be a war great or be it small, the knowledge that comes from actual shells and bullets is worth the having.
Captain W. A. L. Fletcher, who came as Adjutant, requires further mention. One of the greatest oarsmen Oxford ever produced, a great traveller and big game shot, he represented the very finest type of Englishman, and his presence with the battalion first as Adjutant and later as Commanding Officer, was an asset impossible to estimate. Strong and self-reliant, capable and far-seeing, he had a natural genius for military science, while for personal gallantry the deed that won him the D.S.O. when a subaltern in South Africa was more than sufficient testimony. From the day he joined till the day of his death, in 1919, his thoughts were centred on the success and the welfare of the battalion with the most whole-hearted devotion.
The organization of the battalion into eight companies, which had been roughly sketched out, was now completed, the Commanders being respectively—Captains Wilson, G. L. Fletcher, W. R. Clarke, Rogers, Lawrence, A. T. Miller, Herschell, and Wurtzburg. Colour-Sergeant-Instructor Kelly was appointed regimental sergeant-major provisionally, and Regimental Sergeant-Major Barnett, of the 1/6th "The King's" (Liverpool Regiment), was gazetted Lieutenant and Quartermaster.
Training proceeded on the normal lines of arms drill (with twenty old D.P. rifles circulated in turn), outposts, guards, musketry (including miniature range practice), route marching, and physical training. The foundations were also laid of the scout and signal sections.
On November 4th a draft of 240 men left for Redhill to join the 1/6th Battalion, and a very fine body of men they were. In addition, four officers were dispatched—2nd-Lieutenants G. Hughes, T. E. Rome, E. H. Tyson, and N. B. Ronald. We also received a draft of men in exchange, composed of those too young or unfit for active service, with a sprinkling of those unwilling to undertake foreign service obligations.
On November 10th the battalion proceeded to Blackpool with the remaining reserve units of the Liverpool Regiment, under the command of Colonel Wilson as Acting Brigadier. Captain Broad remained as O.C. Depot. The route to Exchange Station was thronged with people to wish us good-bye and God-speed. The battalion was now entering its first real stage on the road to active service. We arrived at Blackpool to find the sun shining brightly, and all were as cheerful as could be. The men were billeted with subsistence, at a heavy cost, in streets at North Shore, the officers being quartered at Stretton Private Hotel on the front.
Military life now assumed a more stern aspect. Early morning parades on the cold and breezy front, hours of drill on the sands or on the bleak and wind-swept slopes of Norbreck Hill, were somewhat more severe than our easy training at Liverpool. However, we meant to get efficient, and though we worked all day and every day, including Saturday afternoons, with lectures in the evening, life at Blackpool was happy enough, and the local attractions all the more alluring by reason of our hard work and fine condition.