In July 1918 the band attended the French Fêtes in Paris, and remained there for the celebration of the Belgian Independence. This function took place in the grounds at Versailles, and was attended by the principal bands of Great Britain, France, America, and Belgium. On another occasion in August 1918 the band played in the Tuileries Gardens in Paris in aid of the American Red Cross Society.
CHAPTER XL
REGIMENTAL FUNDS AND ASSOCIATIONS
Regimental Funds and Associations.
"Grenadiers look after themselves" has become an accepted axiom not only in war but also in peace time. A short time before the commencement of the war the Old Comrades Association was instituted under the auspices of Colonel Scott-Kerr, who commanded the Regiment at that time, and its object was to ensure that no Grenadier after he had left the Regiment was ever in want. This Association proved a great success, and although two years' service was a necessary qualification for membership, the officers, non-commissioned officers, and men who joined soon rose to a considerable number.
Another tradition in the Regiment was that those who remained behind should look after those who went to fight. In the South African war especially the custom of sending out comforts to the Battalions in the field was brought to a pitch of perfection, and during the two years that campaign lasted the 2nd and 3rd Battalions were well provided for. When the war broke out in 1914, the first care of the regimental authorities was to see that the men in the Expeditionary Force wanted for nothing, and also that their families were adequately provided for. Colonel Gordon-Gilmour, who was temporarily in command of the Regiment in August 1914, came to the conclusion that the mass of routine work was as much as the Regimental Orderly Room could cope with, and that if a Comforts Fund was to be a success, it would be necessary to invoke the aid of an old officer. He therefore asked Major-General Sir Reginald Thynne (an old Commanding Officer of the 3rd Battalion) to undertake the arduous task. At that time all existing organisations were being strained to their utmost to cope with the vast numbers of men who were flocking to the army.
As soon as Sir Reginald Thynne grasped the immensity of the task he had undertaken, he sent round an appeal to all officers past and present, and raised a substantial sum for the initial expenses. Two funds were started: the Comforts Fund and the Families Relief Fund. The former was entirely for men at the front, and was managed by Sir Reginald Thynne himself. The latter was under the direction of Sir Reginald Thynne as Treasurer and Colonel C. Rowley as Secretary until November 1915, when Lieut.-Colonel Viscount Colville became Treasurer and Mrs. Stucley, Secretary. In September 1914 a small Committee, consisting of the wives of officers and presided over by Lady Florence Streatfeild, was formed, and the whole organisation was put on a thoroughly business-like footing, but the number of men who joined the Regiment increased with such rapidity that it was found necessary to enlarge the Committee.