On the 8th April the brigade paraded for the presentation of medal ribbons, on which occasion Lieut. Hayfield received a bar to his M.C., and Captain Wood, 2nd Lieuts. Church, Mathias and Cotching the ribbon of that decoration. The special training period continued at Boeseghem until the 20th of the month, on which day the brigade moved by route march through Bethune to La Bourse; back to Bethune on the 26th, and finally reached Neuville Vitasse and went into reserve trenches on the 28th. Neuville Vitasse is between four and five miles to the south of Arras and nearly the same distance from the village of Cherisy.
On the 1st May the battalion took its place in the front-line and support trenches: A and B Companies relieving the Queen’s, and the other two companies the Royal West Kent.
IV. 1st Battalion
We left the 1st Battalion at Bethune and the trenches in that vicinity. Though casualties were not uncommon, the 1st December, 1916, was rather a worse day than most: on that date L.-Corpl. Willey was killed and ten men wounded, while Pte. Tattersall and 2nd Lieut. Kingham went down with shell-shock. On the 20th of the month the Buffs got back to Bethune with a casualty list for the first twenty days of the month of no less than 12 killed (including C.S.M. Freemen), 31 wounded and 2 shell-shock cases. On the 24th pleasant Christmas gifts in the shape of decoration ribbons were handed at Bethune to Captain Brown, C.S.M. Randall, L.-Corpls. Ashdown and Baines and Pte. Higgins.
The beginning of 1917 brought no change except slight ones in the way of locality, such as a move into huts at Noyelles on the 9th January and change of trenches. There came a list of mentions in despatches near the middle of this month, and the names of Lt.-Colonel Green, Captain Stone, 2nd Lieut. Ford, R.S.M. Harrington and C.Q.M.S. Poole were included. On the 3rd February C.S.M. Brown, D.C.M., was appointed Actg. R.S.M. vice Harrington, who went to a cadet school.[20] On the 12th February the battalion was inspected by Sir Douglas Haig. On the 15th it retired into billets at Robecq, some seven miles further back than Bethune. The fortnight spent there was passed in strict professional training for four hours from 8.30 a.m., and equally strict recreation in the form of cross-country running, boxing and football in the afternoon.
March brought no relief from the almost daily tale of casualties. On the 1st of the month headquarters were in the village of Loos, with the men in the trenches; and by the 17th 2nd Lieut. S. Major and 10 others had been killed and 35 wounded. On the 18th the enemy carried out a raid on our trenches and succeeded in getting a footing in them, but after a short time was ejected leaving 7 dead; but we lost 2nd Lieut. H. M. Norsworthy and 10 men killed, 2nd Lieut. Hughes and 24 wounded, besides 8 missing. This raid seemed to have had the effect of raising and fostering a very firm determination on the part of the Buffs to get “a bit of their own back,” and on the last day but one of March a party consisting of Captain Strauss, 2nd Lieuts. Brown, Davis and Griffiths and a hundred rank and file carried out a successful raid on the German front and support works, blowing up several dug-outs and bringing back a prisoner and many trophies. Four of our fellows, however, were killed and four more died of wounds. 2nd Lieut. Griffith and 29 men were wounded, and 2nd Lieut. P. W. T. Davis and 7 others originally reported missing, were afterwards found to have been killed in the action. It was estimated that about 200 of the enemy were slain during this little expedition.
On the 1st April the battalion was in support in Loos village, remaining there seven days, when a return to the trenches was made, and here the 1st Battalion was still serving when the Battle of Arras opened on the 9th.
V. 8th Battalion
For the most of this period our 8th Battalion were near neighbours of the 1st, and indeed there were at times meetings between them. On the 18th November it was at Mazingarbe, only three miles west of Loos, taking its usual trench tours in the “Bis” section. On the 21st Captain Vaughan was evacuated sick after serving continuously since the unit arrived in France, and leaving only Lieut. Herapath with this record.
It is interesting to note that, on the 24th and again on the 20th December, the 1st and 8th Battalions met in combat on the football ground, the former proving on each occasion too strong. As they were due in the trenches again on the 22nd December the men kept Christmas at Mazingarbe on the 20th of the month with great festivity, some of the 1st Battalion officers dining with those of the 8th. The trenches were much knocked about by the enemy during the Christmas tour of work, so much so that the front line almost ceased to exist.