To relieve the monotony of the training, as well as to be prepared for any eventuality, the Battalions were now trained in open warfare. On the 10th the 1st Battalion moved in French motor buses to the sandpits at Méaulte, where it remained five days. After spending forty-eight hours at D Camp in Trônes Wood, it went into the front trenches east of Gueudecourt, with the Australian Division on the left and the 1st Guards Brigade on the right. The Battalion spent three uneventful days in the trenches, except that while it was being relieved by the 59th Australian Infantry, Lieutenant V. C. H. Gordon-Lennox was wounded. On the 20th the Battalion proceeded to Montauban, moving on the following day to Méaulte. On the 2nd Captain C. V. Fisher-Rowe joined the Battalion, and on the 13th Lieutenant W. J. Dashwood arrived. [Sidenote: Dec.] After a fortnight at Méaulte the Battalion went into dug-outs in Bouleaux Wood on December 6, and two days later relieved the 4th Battalion in the trenches. On the 11th it retired to Maltzhorn Camp, moving on the following day to Bronfay, and then back to Bouleaux Wood. This routine was followed up to the end of the month, the Battalion spending three days in the trenches followed by a week at Maltzhorn, Bronfay, and Bouleaux, but nothing of importance happened. On the 17th Captain P. J. S. Pearson-Gregory joined, and during the month several drafts arrived to bring the Battalion up to strength. [Illustration: INSPECTION OF THE GUARDS DIVISION BY FIELD-MARSHAL H.R.H. THE DUKE OF CONNAUGHT, K.G. NOVEMBER 1, 1916.] THE 2ND BATTALION [Sidenote: 2nd Batt. Oct.] After spending the end of September at Morlancourt, the 2nd Battalion proceeded in buses lent by the French Government to Aumont, where it remained for six weeks. The time was spent in training and musketry, with instruction in bombing and Lewis gunnery. The following officers joined during the month: Second Lieutenant W. H. S. Dent on the 2nd; Captain E. O. Stewart on the 5th; Lieutenant the Hon. F. H. Manners and Lieutenant F. A. M. Browning, Second Lieutenant R. A. W. Bicknell and Second Lieutenant J. H. Jacob on the 6th; Second Lieutenant E. W. Seymour on the 7th; Captain C. F. A. Walker, M.C., and Second Lieutenant J. D. C. Wilton on the 12th; Captain I. St. C. Rose, Captain Lord Frederick Blackwood, D.S.O., Lieutenant A. H. Penn, and Second Lieutenant Lord Basil Blackwood on the 16th. On the 10th Captain the Hon. W. R. Bailey, D.S.O., was granted the temporary rank of Major, and became Second in Command of the Battalion, his place as Adjutant being taken by Lieutenant A. H. Penn. [Sidenote: Nov.]