There is little further to be said. The XXII Corps was excluded from the Army of the Rhine and the Battalion remained in the Mons area, training and indulging in educational experiments, while parties visited the battlefields of Mons and Waterloo. Until the ravages of demobilisation reduced the numbers too severely, the evenings were enlightened by some of the Quartermaster's excellent orchestral concerts, and by boxing tournaments in which the Battalion did exceedingly well, Private Miller of the 1/4th Londons becoming XXII Corps Feather-weight Champion.
On the 27th November the Battalion moved to billets in Villers-sire-Nicole, near Maubeuge, and on the 6th March 1919 to Givry and on the 18th March to Cuesmes (both near Mons), in all of which places the routine of training and education was continued. Early in the New Year the arrangements for demobilisation were put into active operation, and rapidly the strength of the Battalion dwindled.
Among the first to leave was the padre, Rev. S. F. Leighton Green, M.C., who had served continuously with the Battalion since December 1916. The padre left on the 13th February 1919, and his departure was felt most keenly by every officer and man in the Battalion. His constant selfless devotion to duty and his kindly personality had made him a true friend to one and all, and the example of his simple life and magnificent courage in action had been a real inspiration to all—and that included the whole Battalion—who had been brought into personal contact with him.
The break-up of the Battalion was the saddest thing which ever happened to it. After so many months and years of good and bad times, and of life in circumstances of such intimacy as can be attained only on active service, the joy of departure for home was severely tempered by the deepest emotion at leaving the comradeship of regimental life, and few said good-bye to the Battalion without genuine sorrow.
By the beginning of May the Battalion was reduced to Cadre strength, about 50 all ranks, Lieut.-Col. Marchment, D.S.O., M.C., remaining in command, with Major T. B. Cooper, M.C., M.M., second in command.
On the 14th May 1919 the Cadre left Cuesmes, entraining at Jemappes for Antwerp. After a few days in the embarkation camp it was played down to the quay by the pipes of the Liverpool Scottish and embarked for Tilbury, where it entrained for Newhaven. On the 21st May the Cadre returned to London by train and was received at London Bridge Station by the Lord Mayor (the Rt. Hon. Sir Horace Marshall, now Lord Marshall of Chipstead, P.C., K.C.V.O., Hon. Colonel of the Regiment), who also took the salute as the Cadre passed the Mansion House en route for Headquarters in Hoxton.
The Cadre was received at Headquarters by Lieut.-Col. H. Dade, V.D., Major G. H. M. Vine, T.D., and other officers of the Regiment, and by the Mayor of Shoreditch (Councillor W. Girling), after which its dispersal speedily followed.
Three weeks later the last remnants of the 1/4th Londons were scattered to their homes, and the part played by the Regiment in the Great War was at an end.