The 23rd (Service) Battalion Royal Fusiliers (First Sportsman's) A Record of its Services in the Great War, 1914-1919   By: Fred W. Ward

(FIRST SPORTSMAN'S)

[Illustration: Army and Navy Stores, photo. COL. THE VISCOUNT MAITLAND. Frontispiece ]

THE 23RD (SERVICE) BATTALION ROYAL FUSILIERS

(FIRST SPORTSMAN'S)

A RECORD OF ITS SERVICES IN THE GREAT WAR, 1914 1919

BY

FRED. W. WARD

CAPTAIN R.E., FORMERLY NO. 662 FIRST SPORTSMAN'S BATTALION

LONDON SIDGWICK & JACKSON, LTD. 1920

CONTENTS

PAGE

FOREWORDS 1

THE SPORTSMEN 3

FROM MAJOR GENERAL SIR C.E. PEREIRA, K.C.B., C.M.G. 4

FROM MAJOR GENERAL R.O. KELLETT, C.B., C.M.G. 7

FORMATION OF THE BATTALION, THE HONOURS GAINED, AND ITS RECORD IN BRIEF 9

A NEW TYPE OF SOLDIER THE COSMOPOLITAN COMPOSITION OF THE BATTALION 15

TRAINING AT HOME HOW THE FINISHED SOLDIER EMERGED FROM THE ROUGH MATERIAL 23

SERVICE OVERSEAS HEAVY FIGHTING ALL ALONG THE FRONT, AND A TRIUMPHAL MARCH INTO GERMANY 35

GREAT WORK ACCOMPLISHED HOLDING UP A GERMAN ADVANCE SILENCING SNIPERS IN A DERELICT TANK AND SOME OTHER THINGS 67

PRESENTATION OF THE KING'S COLOUR MAJOR GENERAL SIR C.E. PEREIRA, K.C.B., C.M.G., AND HIS PRIDE IN THE BATTALION 73

"GOOD BYE AND GOOD LUCK" BRIGADIER GENERAL A.E. MCNAMARA, C.M.G., D.S.O., AND HIS FAREWELL TO THE 23RD ROYAL FUSILIERS 77

THE BATTLE OF DELVILLE WOOD AN ADVANCE IN FACE OF HUNDREDS OF MACHINE GUNS A PERSONAL NARRATIVE 81

EXPERIENCES AS A PRISONER OF WAR EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY KEPT BY "MR. BROOKS, THE SCHOOLMASTER" 93

THE HONOURS' LIST: NAMES OF OFFICERS AND MEN AWARDED DECORATIONS AND MENTIONED IN DESPATCHES 103

THE ROLL OF HONOUR: OFFICERS AND OTHER RANKS WHO DIED THAT ENGLAND MIGHT LIVE 111

THE NOMINAL ROLL: NAMES AND NUMBERS OF THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF THE BATTALION WHO JOINED EITHER AT THE HOTEL CECIL, LONDON, OR AT HORNCHURCH, ESSEX 143

EDITOR'S NOTE 167

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

COLONEL THE VISCOUNT MAITLAND Frontispiece

FIRST INSPECTION OF BATTALION: HYDE PARK, OCTOBER, 1914 to face p. 20

MARCHING AWAY FROM HYDE PARK TO ENTRAIN FOR HORNCHURCH to face p. 28

THE CAMP, HORNCHURCH " 30

INTERIOR OF A HUT, HORNCHURCH " 30

LIEUTENANT COLONEL H.A. VERNON, D.S.O. " 42

LIEUTENANT COLONEL E.A. WINTER, D.S.O., M.C. " 50

PRESENTATION OF COLOURS: NIEDERAUSSEM, GERMANY, JUNE 24, 1919 to face p. 66

BATTALION HEADQUARTERS, HORNCHURCH " 80

THE BATTALION PIERROT TROUPE: GERMANY " 80

FOREWORDS

THE SPORTSMEN