Eighty-four other ranks were killed up to the 29th April, and 259 wounded.
III. Gallipoli
Although no battalion of the Buffs served in Gallipoli, the regiment was not unrepresented on that sanguinary Peninsula, and John Turk was given a chance there also of confronting the Dragon badge. The story of how Buffs came to be in this region is a somewhat curious one and is briefly as follows: early in 1915 the Monmouthshire Brigade, which was a portion of the 53rd (Welsh) Division, was suddenly sent off to France, leaving the division one brigade short. In the month of April, therefore, a new brigade was made up from the home counties to swell the Welshmen’s ranks and make their division complete. It consisted of the 2/4th Battalion of the Queens, the 1/4th Sussex, the 2/10th Middlesex and a composite Kentish battalion which contained one company from the 2/4th Buffs, one from the 2/5th Buffs and one company each from the 4th and 5th Royal West Kent Regiment. The Buffs were A and B Companies and the West Kents were C and D, but the latter regiment found the Battalion Headquarter staff.
For this reason the unit was generally known as the 2/4th Royal West Kent, though its proper designation was the Kent Composite Battalion. At first it was suggested that a new badge should be found or invented for this composite battalion, but this was vetoed, as Kent is not a sufficiently populous county to maintain a new infantry regiment. The War Office therefore gave authority for the wearing of the Buffs’ badge by A and B Companies, and the West Kent badge by the others. The two halves of the battalion had also different record offices at Hounslow, different regimental numbers and so on. It was trained with the rest of the division at Cambridge and afterwards at Bedford under the command of Colonel Simpson. The officers of A Company were Captains Jude and Taunton, Lieuts. Dixon and Filmer, and 2nd Lieuts. Morgan and Larkin. B Company was commanded by Captain Greatorex, with Captain Lamarque and Lieuts. Keble, Wood, Willows and Griffin, all of whom belonged to the 4th or 5th Battalion of the Buffs.
The division was ordered to the East instead of to France, so the Kentish men and men of Kent entrained together on the 17th July at Devonport and next day embarked on the s.s. Northland. They landed at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli Peninsula, on the 9th August, three days after the great surprise landing there and the attack on Achi Baba. During their stay in this theatre of war the men were mostly employed in making trenches and on fatigue work, and the movements from one part to another were unimportant. First they were at “C” Beach, where the commanding officer got wounded, then at West Beach and later on at Lala Baba, but fatigue work was still the occupation of the unit. December, 1915, brought the skilful and successful evacuation of Gallipoli and Suvla. Our battalion withdrew to Mudros, on the island of Lemnos, where it embarked for Egypt on board the Haverford and landed at Alexandria on the 19th December.
The Egyptian history of the Kent Composite Battalion is not of very great interest, although, after changing its name and organization, it took its full share in the Palestine campaign which came later on. Under its old constitution it proceeded to Wardan and afterwards to Fayoum in Central Egypt, but, towards the middle of 1916, Colonel Money, who was then in command, represented the great inconvenience of having his men administered by two record offices and a double lot of paymasters, with the result that an order came transferring all N.C.O.’s and men of the Buffs compulsorily to the 2/4th Royal West Kent Regiment, under which honourable title the men saw much service on their new front, but as they were no longer Buffs their doings must remain unchronicled in this regimental history.
CHAPTER VI
THE SOMME
I. Summary of Events
In so far as the principal or Western theatre of war is concerned the chief events of 1916—and they were events of stupendous magnitude—were the resolute attack on the French troops around Verdun and the most magnificent and successful defence by our allies. In all their warlike and heroic past the gallant French never fought such a fight, and even the greatest of their historic victories, such as Jena, Austerlitz and the like, pale in renown when compared to Verdun. After many German offensives west of Soissons and about Ypres, the enemy appears to have definitely made up his mind to relinquish the idea of seizing Calais and the Channel ports as hopeless, and by forcing the French lines at Verdun to revert to his original plan of reaching Paris—this time by another route. It was on the 21st February that this great battle commenced, and the hostile lines swayed to and fro for days and weeks as the tremendous struggle continued. Men died by thousands and thousands, but never were our allies broken; “on ne passe pas” was the war cry, and the enemy never got through the Frenchman’s line.
The battle of Verdun may have said to have lasted till the end of June, and there were not wanting many who murmured that we English were deserting our comrades and that some great attempt on our part should be made to bring aid to our exhausted allies in their desperate straits. We had, however, our work cut out to defend our own line, for our armies were not yet at full strength nor all our new soldiers fully trained for war. What could be done was done. The British line was extended, on the 23rd March, to include Souchez, and, as Sir Douglas Haig, the new Commander-in-Chief, pointed out, the principle of an offensive campaign during the summer was early decided on.