the 24th May General Horne came to inspect and complimented them. His compliments are nowhere recorded, but it was remarked with satisfaction at his parade that the men “stood very steady and moved their arms well considering that they have not had much practice in steady drill lately.” They had merely practised unbroken discipline among the dead and the dying in a hopeless fight.
A draft of 126 men, under Lieutenant A. F. Gordon, arrived, and Lieutenant R. Rankin, who had been attached to the 1st Scots Guards since February, joined them at Lapugnoy, and the Rev. S. Knapp, R.C. Chaplain from the 25th Brigade, took temporary charge of spiritual affairs while their own Father Gwynne, who never spared himself, was trying electric treatment in Paris for lumbago, induced, as every one knew, by unsparing exposure.
On the 25th May they moved from Lapugnoy via Chocques to Oblinghem, some five miles to the northeast, a village of many and varied smells, close to an aerodrome where they lay at a moment’s notice, which meant that no one could take off his boots. A new type of gas-mask was issued here, and the men drilled in the use of it. Captain A. H. L. McCarthy, the medical officer who had been with them since October 25, accidentally broke his arm, and his duties were taken over by Lieutenant L. W. Bain, R.A.M.C.
On the 28th May a draft of 214 N.C.O.’s, and men under Lieutenant L. R. Hargreaves, 2nd Lieutenants N. F. Durant and L. C. Whitefoord, arrived, and the next day (29th) twelve more officers came in from England: Major G. H. C. Madden; Captain V. C. J. Blake; Captain M. V. Gore-Langton; 2nd Lieutenant J. T. Robyns; 2nd Lieutenant K. E. Dormer; 2nd Lieutenant Hon. H. B. O’Brien; 2nd Lieutenant R. J. P. Rodakowski; 2nd Lieutenant K. W. Hogg; 2nd Lieutenant J. Grayling-Major; 2nd Lieutenant F. H. Witts; 2nd Lieutenant W. B. Stevens; 2nd Lieutenant P. H. J. Close; bringing the Battalion up to 28 officers and 958 other ranks.
Headquarters and Companies then stood as follows:
| Headquarters | ||
| Major the Hon. J. F. Trefusis | Commanding Officer. | |
| Major G. H. Madden | Second in Command. | |
| Capt. Lord Desmond FitzGerald | Adjutant. | |
| Lieut. P. H. Antrobus | Transport Officer. | |
| 2nd Lieut. L. S. Straker | Machine-gun Officer. | |
| The Rev. S. Knapp | Chaplain. | |
| Lieut. L. W. Bain | Medical Officer. | |
| Lieut. H. Hickie | Quartermaster. | |
| No. 1 Company | ||
| Capt. M. V. Gore-Langton. | 2nd Lieut. R. H. W. Heard. | |
| Lieut. R. C. G. Yerburgh. | 2nd Lieut. J. Grayling-Major. | |
| 2nd Lieut. F. H. Witts. | ||
| No. 2 Company | ||
| Capt. T. W. D. Bailie. | 2nd Lieut. L. C. Whitefoord. | |
| Lieut. R. Rankin. | 2nd Lieut. Hon. H. B. O’Brien. | |
| 2nd Lieut. W. B. Stevens. | 2nd Lieut. K. E. Dormer. | |
| No. 3 Company | ||
| Capt. V. C. J. Blake. | 2nd Lieut. N. F. Durant. | |
| Lieut. C. D. Wynter. | 2nd Lieut. K. W. Hogg. | |
| 2nd Lieut. J. T. Robyns. | ||
| No. 4 Company | ||
| Lieut. J. S. N. FitzGerald. | 2nd Lieut. P. H. J. Close. | |
| Lieut. L. R. Hargreaves. | 2nd Lieut. R. J. P. Rodakowski. | |
| 2nd Lieut. A. F. L. Gordon. | ||
There is no hint of the desperate hard work of the 2nd, reserve, Battalion at Warley, which made possible the supply at such short notice of so many officers of such quality. These inner workings of a regiment are known only to those who have borne the burden.
On the 31st May the 4th (Guards) Brigade was shifted from Oblinghem to billets near the most unpleasing village of Nœux-les-Mines, farther south than they had ever been before, as Divisional Reserve to a couple of brigades of the 2nd Division in trenches recently taken over from the French. The Brigade moved off in two columns, through Béthune down the main road to Arras, where they were seen by the Germans and shelled both en route and as they were billeting, but, as chance chose, without accident. The billets were good, though, like most in the early days, they needed cleansing, and a rumour went about that the trenches to which the Battalion was assigned were peculiarly foul, in very bad shape and would probably need re-making throughout.
Bombing classes with a new and an “absolutely safe” bomb (Mills), the routine of company drills and exercise, sports and an Eton dinner on the 4th June, filled the warm, peaceful days till it left Nœux-lesMines for Sailly-Labourse. This was not the sector they had expected, but one farther to the north and nearer Cuinchy. Their trenches were an unsatisfactory line with insufficient traverses, not too many dug-outs, and inadequate parapets facing fields of fast-growing corn, which marked the German front two hundred yards away. They were reached from Cambrin through a mile and a half of communication-trenches, up which every drop of water had to be carried in tins. A recent draft of fifty had increased the Battalion to over a thousand men, and, apparently by way of breaking in the new hands, it was suggested that the Battalion should dig a complete new line of trenches. They compromised, however, by improving the existing one, which they shared with the 2nd Grenadiers, changing over on the 12th June to a stretch of fifteen hundred yards, held by the 2nd Coldstream. This necessitated three companies instead of two in the front line and the fourth in support.
The enemy here confined themselves to shelling timed to catch reliefs, but rarely heavy enough to interfere with working parties digging or wiring in the tough chalk. On one occasion a selection of coloured lights, red, green, and white, had been sent up for the battalions to test. They chose a night when the enemy was experimenting on a collection of lights of his own, but soon discovered that rocket-lights were inadvisable, as their fiery tails gave away positions and drew fire. This disadvantage might have been found out in England by the makers instead of at 1 A.M. by a wearied Commanding Officer, whose duty was to link up and strengthen his trenches, keep an eye on the baffling breadths of corn in front of him, send reconnoitring parties out on all possible occasions, procure wire and Engineers to set it up, and at the same time keep all men and material in readiness for any possible attack that might develop on the heels of the bombardments that came and went like the summer thunder-storms along the tense line.
Sometimes they watched our own shells bursting in the German trenches opposite Givenchy, where the Battalion had stayed so long; sometimes they heard unexplained French fire to the southward. Next day would bring its rumours of gains won and lost, or warnings to stand-to for expected counter-attacks that turned out to be no more than the rumble of German