A more extensive reorganization had now to be made. So great had been the drain upon the man-power of the empire that it had become necessary to reduce the establishment of infantry brigades from four to three battalions. A number of officers and men of the 6th Lancashire Fusiliers, the 4th East Lancashires, and the 9th Manchesters were posted to other battalions of the Division, and the remainder transferred to the 66th Division. As the 126th Brigade thereby lost two battalions, the 8th Manchesters were transferred to it from the 127th Brigade. The brigades were then made up as follows—

The 125th Brigade—

The 126th Brigade—

The 127th Brigade—

As most of the battalions were all considerably below strength they received as reinforcements three battalions (less Commanding Officers, Adjutants, and Quartermasters) from the 66th Division—the 3/5th Lancashire Fusiliers, the 2/8th Manchesters, and the 2/10th Manchesters—which were divided among the nine battalions. The departure of three battalions which for three and a half years had shared in the labours, dangers, and honours of the Division was a matter of deep regret both for those who left and those who remained, but there was some consolation in the thought that they now formed part of the sister-division, and would thenceforward fight side by side with the second-line battalions of their own units. The four separate machine-gun companies were now reorganized as a machine-gun battalion, one company being with each infantry brigade, and one in Divisional Reserve. There were also changes in the trench-mortar batteries. V/42, 9·2-inch T.M. Battery had been left in the La Bassée sector. X/42 and Y/42, 6-inch T.M. batteries were transformed into six-gun batteries, Z/42 being divided between them. The departure of the C.R.E., Lieut.-Colonel D. S. MacInnes, C.M.G., D.S.O., to become Deputy Engineer-in-Chief at G.H.Q., caused general regret. Few men of the Division had so thorough a knowledge of the front line, and whenever any particularly difficult and dangerous work was in hand, he would be there by day or by night to assist, and especially to encourage. Another of the best-known figures in the Division, the A.D.M.S., Colonel T. P. Jones, C.M.G., had left, and had been succeeded by Colonel W. R. Matthews, D.S.O., who maintained the R.A.M.C. in the highly efficient state to which it had been brought by Colonel Jones and his subordinates, and the Division soon had reason to congratulate itself upon the appointment. In January, too, Lieut.-Colonel R. F. Guy, D.S.O., had been appointed G.S.O. 1. A hard worker, he backed up his chief with loyalty and energy, and soon gained the entire confidence of the Brigadiers and C.O.s.

The Divisional Reception Camp at Allouagne was proving very valuable as a training centre, and even casuals passing through from hospital or other leave were given a brief refresher in musketry and gas training, and a general smartening up. That instruction in “General Knowledge” was needed by some of the newer drafts is shown by the following true story, which is also a tribute to the energy and activity of the A.A. and Q.M.G. of the Division. An N.C.O., at the close of an hour’s instruction in a barn at Le Quesnoy, asked one or two general questions—