THE PASSAGE OF THE AISNE (2ND BATTALION) 54 CHAPTER VI THE FIRST BATTLE OF YPRES (1ST BATTALION) 83 CHAPTER VII THE FIRST BATTLE OF YPRES (2ND BATTALION) 143 CHAPTER VIII NOVEMBER 1914 TO MARCH 1915 (1ST BATTALION) 187 CHAPTER IX NOVEMBER 1914 TO MARCH 1915 (2ND BATTALION) 201 CHAPTER X THE BATTLE OF NEUVE CHAPELLE (1ST BATTALION) 224 CHAPTER XI THE BATTLE OF FESTUBERT (1ST AND 2ND BATTALIONS) 247 CHAPTER XII MAY TO SEPTEMBER 1915 (1ST BATTALION) 264 CHAPTER XIII MAY TO SEPTEMBER 1915 (2ND BATTALION) 272 CHAPTER XIV FORMATION OF THE GUARDS DIVISION 283 CHAPTER XV THE BATTLE OF LOOS (1ST, 2ND, 3RD, AND 4TH BATTALIONS) 290 CHAPTER XVI OCTOBER TO DECEMBER 1915 (1ST, 2ND, 3RD, AND 4TH BATTALIONS) 322 CHAPTER XVII JANUARY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 1, 1916 (1ST AND 2ND BATTS.) 352 ILLUSTRATIONS The King, Colonel-in-Chief _Frontispiece_ Lieutenant-Colonel W. R. A. Smith, C.M.G., Commanding 2nd Battalion 144 Lieutenant-Colonel L. R. Fisher-Rowe, Commanding 1st Battalion 198 Officers of the Second Battalion Grenadier Guards 276 Colonel Sir Henry Streatfeild, K.C.V.O., Commanding the Regiment 288 MAPS Route of the Second Battalion, 1914, and the Mons Area, 1914 16 Route taken by the Second Battalion Grenadier Guards during the Retreat from Mons, and subsequent advance to the Marne and the Aisne, 1914 24 Sketch plan of Landrecies, August 25, 1914 28 Engagement at Villers-Cotterêts, September 1, 1914 34 Battle of the Marne--Position of the British Army on September 8, 1914 46 The Passage of the Aisne, September 14, 1914 58 Ypres and the neighbouring country where the First Battle of Ypres was fought, October and November 1914 84 Route taken by the First Battalion Grenadier Guards through Belgium in October 1914 90 The Grenadier Guards at Ypres 142 Battle of Neuve Chapelle, March 11, 1915 226 Neuve Chapelle, March 12, 1915 235 Neuve Chapelle, March 13, 1915 241 Festubert--Position on the evening of May 17, 1915 248 Battle of Loos, September 26, 1915 298 CHAPTER I THE SITUATION BEFORE THE WAR When the Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated at Sarajevo in Serbia on June 28, 1914, it never for a moment occurred to any one in this country that the crime could in any way affect the destinies of the First or Grenadier Regiment of Footguards. No one dreamed that, before another year had passed, not only would the three Battalions be fighting in a European war, but there would even be a 4th Battalion at the front, in addition to a 5th Reserve Battalion of almost unwieldy proportions.