The Story of the 2/4th Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry   By: Geoffrey Keith Rose (1889-)

by

CAPTAIN G. K. ROSE, M.C.

With a Preface by Brig. Genl. the Hon. R. WHITE, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O. (late Commander 184th Infantry Brigade)

And an Introduction by Colonel W. H. AMES, T.D.

With Maps and Illustrations by the Author

[Illustration: A soldier of the 2/4th Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry]

Oxford B. H. Blackwell, Broad Street MCMXX

LIST OF PLATES

A Soldier of the Battalion Frontispiece Colonel W. H. Ames, T.D. Facing page 1 Pay day for 'A' Company " " 4 Robecq from the South " " 18 Brigadier General the Hon. R. White, C.B. 48 A Front line Post 68 Company Sergeant Major E. Brooks, V.C. 100 Vlamertinghe The Road to Ypres 128 Hill 35, from an aeroplane photograph 136 A Street in Arras 144 'Tank Dump' 146 In a German gun pit near Gavrelle 150 The Canal du Nord at Ypres 154 Lieut. Colonel H. E. de R. Wetherall, D.S.O., M.C. 168 Robecq. Old Mill and Bridge 185 The Headquarters Runners, July, 1918 198 Corporal A. Wilcox, V.C. 214 Officers of the Battalion, December, 1918 219 184th Infantry Brigade Staff 219 The Adjutant. Cambrai. The Battalion Cooks 220 Lieut. Colonel E. M. Woulfe Flanagan, C.M.G., D.S.O. R.S.M. W. Hedley, D.C.M. R.Q.M.S. Hedges 220

ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

Winchester Trench 11 The March to the Somme 21 Somme Trench Map 36 Maison Ponthieu 45 Harbonnières 50 The Ablaincourt Sector 57 A Duckboarded Communication Trench 72 The Advance to St. Quentin 82 The Raid near St. Quentin 94 Arras: The Grande Place 110 Noeux Village 113 Poperinghe from the West 119 The Attack of August 22, 1917 124 The Attack on Hill 35 132 The Retreat behind the Somme 166 Bird's eye Map of the Robecq Area 180 The Nieppe Forest 202 Merville Church 206 Battalion H.Q. at Chapelle Boom 209

CONTENTS

PAGE INTRODUCTION 1

Chapter I. LAVENTIE, May to October, 1916 8

The 61st Division lands in France. Instruction. The Laventie sector. Trench warfare at its height. Moberly wounded. B Company's raid. Front and back areas. July 19. Changes in the Battalion. A Company's raid. A projected attack. Laventie days. Departure for the Somme.

Chapter II. THE SOMME BATTLEFIELD, November, 1916 19