After the heavy casualties it had suffered at Loos, the 4th Battalion had to be reorganised; and Captain Morrison, now in command, redistributed the officers and non-commissioned officers, and as far as possible made up the deficiencies. The Battalion remained in billets at La Bourse until the 3rd, when it was ordered to occupy the trenches on the left of the Hulluch—Vermelles road. Here there was a certain amount of shelling. The system of trenches was highly complicated, and extensive works were being undertaken. The Battalion was ordered to prepare communicating trenches running parallel to Hulluch—Vermelles road, and this work kept the men fully employed for two days.
On the 5th the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards was in trouble, and sent for assistance, as it had had a portion of its trench blown in, and was harassed by the enemy's bombs. Captain E. Penn was sent off at once by Captain Morrison, with 100 men of No. 2 Company and 20 bombers, and told to report himself to Lieut.-Colonel Cator. Lieutenant Sitwell, with No. 4 Company, was ordered to be ready to follow, but no real attack on the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards developed, and neither company, therefore, was wanted. That evening the Battalion retired into billets at Vermelles, but were not free from the shells there, and three high-explosive shells pitched quite close to its billets. Lieutenant E. R. Brunton, R.A.M.C., who had come out with the Battalion, and been with them through the battle of Loos, was killed by a shell on the 8th as he was going round the billets.
On the 9th the Battalion returned to the trenches, and relieved the 1st and 2nd Battalions Scots Guards. Second Lieutenant M. Chapman, Second Lieutenant G. C. Sloane-Stanley, Second Lieutenant E. W. Nairne, and Second Lieutenant H. H. Sloane-Stanley joined the Battalion that day, and on the 10th Captain Parry, R.A.M.C., arrived. On the 12th Major Lord Henry Seymour came to take over temporary command of the Battalion.
On the 17th bombing attacks by the 1st Battalion Grenadiers and 2nd Battalion Scots Guards began, and the 4th Battalion Grenadiers was ordered to form a continuous chain of men to pass up bombs, sand-bags, ammunition, and tools, and to hold all positions vacated by the Scots Guards as they advanced. Lieut.-Colonel Cator sent back for assistance as his bombers had been knocked out. The 4th Battalion Grenadiers bombers accordingly went up, followed later by 100 volunteers, many of whom had never seen a bomb before. Lieutenant C. Britten on his own initiative took charge of a party of Grenadiers and Scots Guards, after the two Scots Guards officers had been shot, and with great gallantry and coolness successfully drove off the enemy.
The next day Lieut.-Colonel Cator expressed his indebtedness to the 4th Battalion Grenadiers for its timely assistance; and the manner in which the bombers of the Battalion had behaved on this occasion was specially referred to by the Brigadier.
On the 18th the 4th Battalion mourned the loss of a brave and popular officer. Captain Eric Penn was in his dug-out when a shell struck it. He was completely buried, and although still alive when he was extricated, he died a few minutes later.
The continual casualties and the strenuous digging were beginning to tell on the Battalion, and although every two alternate days were spent resting in billets, the high-explosive shells which reached it prevented the forty-eight hours in billets from being a complete rest. The Battalion went on the 21st for two days to Annequin, but on the 23rd returned to the trenches opposite the Hohenzollern Redoubt, where again there was a great deal of work to be done. The zeal which the 4th Battalion showed in its digging operations elicited praise from Brigadier-General Heyworth when he came round on a tour of inspection.
Nov.
On the 25th the Battalion retired to Allouagne, where it remained until November 14, and then marched via Estaires, La Bassée road, Pont du Hem, to the trenches from Chapigny to Winchester road. Every alternate forty-eight hours it went into billets, but during the days in the trenches nothing of interest occurred.
Dec. 12.