At the end of the month the Commanding Officer conveyed to the Battalion stretcher-bearers a message received from the G.O.C. Seventh Division, expressing his appreciation of the courage and devotion to duty displayed by them during the recent action.
Moreover, when Sir John French, the Commander-in-Chief, inspected the Battalion with the rest of the 20th Brigade in April, he made them a short but most impressive speech, in which he praised their conduct at Neuve Chapelle, and referred to the heavy losses they had suffered. He made a special reference to the gallant death of Lieut.-Colonel Fisher-Rowe.
In a private letter written by command of the King to Colonel Streatfeild, Lieut.-Colonel C. Wigram said:
The King has read your letter of the 17th inst., and is much distressed to hear how terribly the 1st Battalion suffered. It is indeed heart-breaking to see a good Battalion like this decimated in a few hours. His Majesty has heard from the Prince of Wales, who has seen the remnants of the Battalion, and he told His Majesty how splendidly they had taken their losses.
Major G. Trotter, in spite of his wound in the head, insisted on returning, and took command of the Battalion, and Lieutenant Charles Greville, who had rejoined the Battalion on the last day of the battle of Neuve Chapelle, was appointed Adjutant. Captain Nicol and Lieutenant C. Mitchell, who had been employed at Brigade Headquarters, returned to the Battalion.
On the 15th Major Lord Henry Seymour and Captain J. Hughes came from the 2nd Battalion. On the 20th a draft of 350 men arrived with the following officers: Captain M. Maitland, Captain G. C. G. Moss, Lieutenant the Earl of Dalkeith, Lieutenant Lord Stanley, Second Lieutenant the Hon. C. Hope Morley, and Second Lieutenant A. B. Lawford.
On the 21st Lieut.-Colonel C. Corkran arrived and took command of the Battalion, and on the 24th Lieutenant C. Mitchell was appointed Adjutant in the place of Lieutenant C. Greville, who proceeded to Brigade Headquarters for duty with the Grenade Company.
The greater part of the rest of the month was spent in billets, when the Battalion was reorganised, but the usual routine was followed, and the Battalion took its turn in the trenches.
April.
Nothing worth recording happened in April. The days that were spent in the trenches were uneventful, and when in reserve the Battalion went into billets at Estaires. On the 2nd, Lieutenant Corry and Lieutenant St. Aubyn, on the 21st a draft of thirty men under Second Lieutenant C. Dudley Smith, and on the 27th Captain F. L. V. Swaine, Second Lieutenant E. O. R. Wakeman, and Lieutenant L. E. Parker joined the Battalion.