CAPTAIN R.E.,
FORMERLY NO. 662 FIRST SPORTSMAN'S BATTALION
LONDON
SIDGWICK & JACKSON, LTD.
1920


CONTENTS

PAGE
[Forewords]1
[The Sportsmen]3
[From Major-General Sir C.E. Pereira, K.C.B., C.M.G.]4
[From Major-General R.O. Kellett, C.B., C.M.G.]7
[Formation of the Battalion, the Honours gained, and its Record in Brief]9
[A New Type of Soldier—The Cosmopolitan Composition of the Battalion]15
[Training at Home—How the Finished Soldier Emerged from the Rough Material]23
[Service Overseas—Heavy Fighting all along the Front, and a Triumphal March into Germany]35
[Great Work accomplished—Holding up a German Advance— Silencing Snipers in a Derelict Tank—And some other Things]67
[Presentation of the King's Colour—Major-General Sir C.E. Pereira, K.C.B., C.M.G., and his Pride in the Battalion]73
["Good-bye and Good Luck"—Brigadier-General A.E. McNamara, C.M.G., D.S.O., and his Farewell to the 23rd Royal Fusiliers]77
[The Battle of Delville Wood—An Advance in Face of Hundreds of Machine Guns—A Personal Narrative]81
[Experiences as a Prisoner of War—Extracts from the Diary kept by "Mr. Brooks, the Schoolmaster"]93
[The Honours' List: Names of Officers and Men awarded Decorations and mentioned in Despatches]103
[The Roll of Honour: Officers and other Ranks who died that England might live]111
[The Nominal Roll: Names and Numbers of the Original Members of the Battalion who joined either at the Hotel Cecil, London, or at Hornchurch, Essex]143
[Editor's Note]167