The following pages have been written at the suggestion of Lieut.-Col. H. G. Wilson, D.S.O., the present Commanding Officer of the Battalion, who has given me most valuable assistance, both in furnishing me with all the material and information at his disposal, and in very kindly arranging for the publication of the volume.
No attempt has been made, except in so far as is necessary to render the narrative intelligible, to describe the military operations in which the Battalion took part, as it appears outside the scope of a simple Battalion record to deal adequately with tactical situations, which would necessarily involve the consideration of the actions of other units and higher formations.
Some errors in a record such as this, compiled from many different sources, are almost inevitable, and for these I must plead forgiveness as well as for many omissions, which those who know the story of the Battalion will no doubt detect. It must be remembered, however, that in the stress of active service much good work by individuals passes unnoticed, many gallant actions are performed that are never placed on record, and I can only hope that, in spite of its numerous defects, what I have written may be deemed an adequate record and worthy of the Battalion, to which all who served with it were proud to belong.
I desire to tender my sincere thanks to all those who have placed materials at my disposal on which a narrative could be based, especially Lieut.-Col. H. G. Wilson [pvi] , D.S.O., for his record of recommendations for Honours, Capt. O. Dixon for his notes on the Machine Gun Section, Capt. A. L. Binns, M.C., for his notes on the period from October 1915 to April 1916, Capt. R. S. Fieldsend, and Capt. C. F. W. Haseldine.
I also wish to thank Capt. W. H. Plumtree for the help which he so kindly gave me by supplying extracts from the official War Diaries, placed at our disposal by the courtesy of the Officer-in-Charge Records at Lichfield by permission of the War Office. I must also thank my daughter, Miss V. Sandall, for her help in preparing the work for the Press.
T. E. Sandall. 114 Banbury Road, Oxford. July, 1922.
