On the 24th a new artillery commander seems to have taken over the German guns, for the front trenches were subjected to a sound and perfectly accurate fire, which contrasted strangely with the previous desultory and usually ill-directed fire. The Battalion spent Christmas Day in the trenches, and a plum-pudding and a pint of beer were given to each man. On the 26th it left the trenches and marched to Merville. The 4th Battalion ROLL OF OFFICERS Capt. J. A. Morrison, Commanding Officer. Lieut. R. S. Lambert, Acting Adjutant. Lieut. M. G. Williams, Machine-Gun Officer. Lieut. C. E. M. Ellison, Machine-Gun Officer. 2nd Lieut. E. Ludlow, Quartermaster. Capt. C. L. Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell, No. 1 Company. 2nd Lieut. G. A. Ponsonby, No. 1 Company. Lieut. C. R. Britten, No. 2 Company. Lieut. E. F. Penn, No. 2 Company. Capt. E. D. Ridley, No. 3 Company. Lieut. B. C. Layton, No. 3 Company. Lieut. the Hon. E. W. Tennant, No. 4 Company. Lieut. R. D. Leigh-Pemberton, No. 4 Company. Lieut. E. R. Brunton, R.A.M.C., Medical Officer. [Sidenote: Oct.] After the heavy casualties it had suffered at Loos, the 4th Battalion had to be reorganised; and Captain Morrison, now in command, redistributed the officers and non-commissioned officers, and as far as possible made up the deficiencies. The Battalion remained in billets at La Bourse until the 3rd, when it was ordered to occupy the trenches on the left of the Hulluch--Vermelles road. Here there was a certain amount of shelling. The system of trenches was highly complicated, and extensive works were being undertaken. The Battalion was ordered to prepare communicating trenches running parallel to Hulluch--Vermelles road, and this work kept the men fully employed for two days. On the 5th the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards was in trouble, and sent for assistance, as it had had a portion of its trench blown in, and was harassed by the enemy's bombs. Captain E. Penn was sent off at once by Captain Morrison, with 100 men of No. 2 Company and 20 bombers, and told to report himself to Lieut.-Colonel Cator. Lieutenant Sitwell, with No. 4 Company, was ordered to be ready to follow, but no real attack on the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards developed, and neither company, therefore, was wanted. That evening the Battalion retired into billets at Vermelles, but were not free from the shells there, and three high-explosive shells pitched quite close to its billets. Lieutenant E. R. Brunton, R.A.M.C., who had come out with the Battalion, and been with them through the battle of Loos, was killed by a shell on the 8th as he was going round the billets.