England. The school at Mazingarbe made an excellent dining room for two of
the companies and through the kindness of a Royal Engineer company in the
village the officers were able to secure the necessary timber to improvise
tables and chairs. The dinner was a great success and contributed not a
little to the good feeling which existed between officers and men.

The next day the Battalion returned to the line. Though not known at the
time this was to be the last tour of duty with the 1st Division. Early in
January the truth became known that the Battalion was to leave the
Division, and on the 7th it proceeded by train to Hocquincourt.

In the 1st Division it had had the honour of serving alongside some of the
most illustrious regiments of the Regular Army. The example set by these
famous regiments was readily copied, and in some respects emulated, and it
is not untrue to say that none of these Regular battalions assumed an air
of superiority, but displayed a sense of admiration that Territorial
soldiers could have so quickly learnt the profession of war. So good was
the human material in the Battalion that, in the space of a few months
spent on active service, a body of men picked in a desultory fashion from
various trades and occupations was quickly formed into an entity which was
able to take its place alongside experienced units of the Army.

The Regiment had already won its laurels at the Battle of Loos. Its
glorious achievements were known in Liverpool. It was a Battalion to which
all its members were proud to belong. The fame of a military body is a
bond of unity which those who have not been soldiers can scarcely
understand. The reputation of one's regiment is a matter of personal
pride. It is a kind of cement which holds it together at all times. The
old spirit soon permeates the newcomers, the recruits become imbued with
the spirit which led the veterans to victory, and so it was with this