2nd Batt. Nov. 1914.
The Battalion remained in billets at Meteren from November 22 till December 22. The casualties among the officers had been severe, and there only remained Lieut.-Colonel Smith, Major Jeffreys, Captain Ridley, Captain Cavendish, Lieutenant Hughes, Lieutenant and Adjutant the Hon. W. Bailey, Lieutenant Beaumont-Nesbitt, Lieutenant Marshall, Second Lieutenant Cunninghame (Transport Officer), Second Lieutenant Gerard, Lieutenant and Quartermaster Skidmore, and Captain Howell, R.A.M.C. (attached).
Dec. 3.
The King inspected the 4th Guards Brigade at Meteren, and afterwards presented Distinguished Conduct Medals to a certain number of N.C.O.'s and men.
In the evening the following special order was issued:
The Brigadier is commanded by His Majesty the King, the Colonel-in-Chief, to convey to the four battalions of the Brigade of Guards the following gracious words which His Majesty addressed to the four Commanding Officers: "I am very proud of my Guards, and I am full of admiration for their bravery, endurance, and fine spirit. I wish I could have addressed them all, but that was impossible. So you must tell them what I say to you. You are fighting a brave and determined enemy, but if you go on as you have been doing and show the same spirit, as I am sure you will, there can only be one end, please God, and that is Victory. I wish you all good luck."
Dec. 21.
On December 21 the news arrived that the Indian Corps had been heavily attacked, and driven out of its trenches between La Bassée Canal and Richebourg. The First Corps was at once to be moved down to this part of the line, and that evening orders were received by the Second Division to be ready to march at two hours' notice. When a line of trenches stretches some hundreds of miles, the rough must be taken with the smooth, and the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers was soon to find that the site of its trenches was anything but an ideal one. To dig a trench in a water-logged valley outraged all preconceived principles; yet it was in such a locality that the men of the Grenadiers were to find themselves for the following months.
Minor operations, as they were called, consisted in nibbling away a few hundred yards. The casualties which occurred daily from bombing and sniping were hardly taken into account. Yet those who took part in this monotonous underground warfare did as much to win the war as those who were fortunate enough to fight in one of the big battles.
Dec. 22-23.