June.
The Battalion remained in the front line until June 3, and was constantly bombarded with Blue Cross gas-shells. On the 2nd Lieutenant G. M. Cornish, M.C., joined. After four days spent in reserve the Battalion retired to La Baseque, where the men were either billeted in the farms, or placed in tents and shelters in the wood. There they remained until the end of the month, training and practising tactical schemes.
CHAPTER XXX
APRIL 1-14, 1918
The 4th Battalion
4th Batt. April 1-14, 1918.
In April 1918 it fell to the lot of the 4th Guards Brigade to take part in some of the fiercest fighting of the war.
Ludendorff had opened a concentrated attack with nine divisions on the line north of La Bassée, and General von Quast, who commanded the German forces, had penetrated the portion of the line held by the Portuguese, and gained a considerable amount of ground. Reinforced by General von Arnim's infantry, he pushed on in the hope of gaining the Channel ports, or, at the least, of cutting the British communications. The German masses were pressing forward, and the general situation became more and more critical.