THE GRENADIER GUARDS IN THE GREAT WAR OF 1914-1918 THE GRENADIER GUARDS IN THE GREAT WAR OF 1914-1918 BY Lieut.-Colonel The Right Hon. SIR FREDERICK PONSONBY (LATE GRENADIER GUARDS) WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY Lieut.-General THE EARL OF CAVAN MAPS BY MR. EMERY WALKER IN THREE VOLUMES VOL. I MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON 1920 Dedicated (BY PERMISSION) TO HIS MAJESTY THE KING COLONEL-IN-CHIEF OF THE GRENADIER GUARDS INTRODUCTION I regard it as a high privilege to be associated with this book, which has been written by an old officer of the Regiment. I can fully appreciate the magnitude of the task which confronted him when he undertook to examine innumerable documents relating to hundreds of thousands of men and covering a period of several years, and select therefrom all that particularly concerned the Regiment. I often think that an officer who finds himself in command of a battalion of Grenadiers on active service must be nicely poised between the weight of responsibility and the upholding power of tradition. At first the former seems to be overwhelming, but in time the feeling of confidence and trust in all ranks of the Regiment is so great that the idea of failure can be eliminated. I think this history will make my meaning clear. As Time marches on with its many inventions, it does not become easier to uphold the traditions so nobly set by our forbears. Gas and high explosives take heavier toll of brave men than the weapons of old, and yet it is still the solid determination of the man that wins the fight, whether offensive or defensive. Although the tale of our great Dead is a long one, and thousands have been maimed in the struggle, the Regiment has borne its part in a manner worthy of it, and in accordance with the parting words of trust of our Sovereign and Colonel-in-Chief. CAVAN, _Lieut.-General_. PREFACE This account of the part taken by the Grenadier Guards in the European War is, substantially, the work of the officers of the Regiment themselves. Letters and diaries full of interesting detail have been sent to me, and a vast amount of information collected by Colonel Sir H. Streatfeild at the Regimental Orderly Room has been placed at my disposal.