The 2nd Battalion
January 1 to March 31, 1918
2nd Batt.
Jan.
Roll of Officers of the 2nd Battalion at the Beginning of January
On January 1 the 2nd Battalion marched from Berneville to Arras, and went into good billets in Levis Barracks. Second Lieutenant J. S. Carter and Second Lieutenant the Hon. S. A. S. Montagu arrived on the 8th. On the 9th the Battalion went into the line for a tour of sixteen days, spending alternately four days in the front trenches and four days in support. The frontage allotted to the Battalion was astride the River Scarpe, with one company in the village of Roeux on the north side, and the remaining three companies on the south side of the river. In many ways the line was convenient, for there was a light railway as well as a canal, which facilitated the bringing up of troops and rations to within a mile of the line. There were also cook-houses, where hot meals could be cooked,
and conveyed thence in hot food containers to the line. Above all, there was a continuous line of communication throughout the Battalion area; on the other hand, the trenches had been neglected, and in places were unrevetted. During the first four days spent in the front line nothing of importance occurred, although there were a few casualties caused by shell-fire. Colonel Lord Ardee assumed command of the 1st Guards Brigade, replacing Colonel Follett, who had been in command while Brigadier-General de Crespigny was on leave. Rain fell almost unceasingly during the four days spent in support, and the trenches became so impassable that the men had to work day and night to make them habitable. On the 17th Lieut.-Colonel Rasch went on a month’s leave, and Major the Hon. W. Bailey took over the command with Captain Harcourt-Vernon as second in command. The four days in the front line from the 17th to the 21st were unusually quiet, and the Germans confined themselves to spasmodic bombardments by trench mortars at dusk and at dawn. On the 19th the Corps Commander, Lieut.-General Sir Charles Fergusson (an old Grenadier), visited the Battalion. During the following days spent in support, there was a heavy bombardment with gas-shells, and when the next tour of duty in the front line came, the railway was subjected to heavy shelling. Several gas-shells fell among Nos. 2 and 4 Companies, which were waiting to entrain, but owing to good gas discipline the casualties were slight, the chief injuries being caused to men who were splashed with liquid from the exploding shells.
Several men had to be sent to hospital suffering from the effects of gas, and Lieutenant M. H. Ponsonby was sent home for the same reason.
Feb.
Owing to the formation of the 4th Guards Brigade in the Thirty-first Division, the Guards Divisional frontage was readjusted, and each Brigade, now consisting of only three battalions, had one battalion in the front line, one in support, and one in reserve, the latter usually in Arras. The 2nd Battalion was in support from the 2nd to the 5th, and was chiefly employed on fatigues, digging out forward trenches, and carrying up wire and duckboards. On the 6th it moved into the front line, when it had a few casualties. After four days in reserve at Arras it returned to the support line, and was again occupied in improving and strengthening the trenches. On the 14th Second Lieutenant A. P. J. M. P. de Lisle joined from the Reinforcement Battalion. Rumours of a coming German offensive reached the Division, and Staff Officers came from all directions, while new trenches in unexpected places sprang up every night. On the 22nd the Battalion went into reserve, and spent the following days resting in Gordon Camp.