2nd Lieut. N. McK. Jesper.
2nd Lieut. G. G. M. Vereker.
2nd Lieut. D. Harvey.
2nd Lieut. J. Arbuthnott.
2nd Lieut. G. A. Arbuthnot.
Attached—Capt. J. A. Andrews, R.A.M.C., Medical Officer.
June.
On June 7 the 2nd Battalion left Tatinghem at 8 A.M. and arrived at St. Sylvestre via Fort Rouge and Staple after a long and hot march. After ten days spent in Camp M near Poperinghe, during which time parties of men were employed in cable laying, it proceeded to Elverdinghe and remained there till the 20th, when it took over the Lancashire Farm line. Captain G. C. FitzH. Harcourt-Vernon, Lieut. H. F. C. Crookshank, Lieutenant the Hon. M. H. E. C. Townley-Bertie, and Lieutenant R. E. H. Oliver joined the Battalion on the 15th, and Lieutenant P. M. Walker on the 19th.
The four days spent in the trenches were marked by heavy machine-gun fire and sniping, but the line was fairly good, and there were in consequence few casualties. On the 24th an artillery duel took place, and although our guns did some good work in cutting the enemy's wire, the German guns retaliated on the front line and support trenches. On retiring into billets again at Elverdinghe, the men were given permission to bathe in the lake in the grounds of the château, but this peaceful pursuit was not without danger, for the German artillery, while searching about for some target, dropped six shells over the lake, and later shelled the château itself.
July.