Colonel Pilcher, Officers, Warrant Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and Men of the 4th Battalion Grenadier Guards--The King, the Colonel-in-Chief of the Regiment, has commanded me to entrust to your safe-keeping this colour which His Majesty has presented to you in recognition of your gallantry. Less than three months after your formation you were fighting at Loos. At once you showed how completely you had absorbed the great traditions of the First or Grenadier Regiment of Foot Guards. You added fresh laurels to your record in the great attacks of the Guards Division in the battle of the Somme in September 1916. In the advance on Passchendaele in 1917, and later in the year at Cambrai, you still further enhanced your fighting reputation. Your historic stand in front of Hazebrouck in April last year earned your Battalion its second V.C., and was largely responsible for checking the enemy's advance. It is a special pleasure to me to hand you this colour in the hour of victory, having like yourselves the honour of serving in this our great regiment. May it be a perpetual reminder to you of the honour you have won for yourselves and for the whole regiment in this war. Colonel Pilcher replied as follows: Your Royal Highness--On behalf of the Officers, Warrant Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and Men of the 4th Battalion Grenadier Guards, I beg to thank you for the generous words you have addressed to the Battalion under my command in presenting this colour, the gift of His Majesty, the Colonel-in-Chief of the Regiment. This gracious mark of His Majesty's recognition of the services of the Battalion during the war is most deeply appreciated by all ranks who are in Your Royal Highness's presence amongst us here to-day on enemy soil--a memorable symbol of the completeness of the victory of our arms. In thanking Your Royal Highness for coming here to-day, may I request you to beg His Majesty the King, the Colonel-in-Chief of the Regiment, to accept the grateful and loyal thanks of the 4th Battalion Grenadier Guards. In February orders for the Guards Division to return home were received, and one by one the Battalions went to Dunkirk, where they embarked for England. The 2nd Battalion was the first to reach London, and its reception by the crowd, assembled to welcome the men home, was most enthusiastic.