In April 1916 preparations for the offensive operations on the Somme were begun, and the Entrenching Battalion played a great part during this battle, which lasted six months. The Guards Division was not employed in the initial stages of the battle, and it was therefore not until July that the Entrenching Battalion moved up to the vicinity of Fricourt, to take over the forward roads in the battle area. The constant shelling, combined with the heavy traffic, made it peculiarly difficult to keep the roads in sufficiently good repair for constant use, but in spite of all difficulties the roads were kept open all the time, and this was entirely due to the ability and energy of the officers and the efficiency and discipline of the men. Throughout the year the duties of the Entrenching Battalion were many and various, and at times the work was very heavy, but it was always cheerfully undertaken, because the men prided themselves on being part of the Guards Division, and knew that more than the average amount of work done by the other entrenching battalions was expected from them. [Sidenote: 1917.] In January 1917 the Battalion was employed in strengthening the defences of Ginchy and Combles, and in the successful operations against the Germans early that year it participated in the various works, on which all arms were engaged. In April it was encamped for some months in the neighbourhood of Havrincourt Wood, and was employed in preparations for the offensive in the direction of Cambrai, which, however, did not take place till November. In June the Battalion made a farther move to Roisel, where for some months it was busily employed in digging a line of trenches some nine miles long, from Epeley to within three miles of St. Quentin. The strength of the Battalion had now risen to over 2000 men. The work on these trenches was very interesting, as it was in sight of the Hindenburg line, and although works of some importance were undertaken, Major Ellice and his Entrenching Battalion were given complete charge of this area. Although the Guards Entrenching Battalion had constantly worked in the forward areas, the other entrenching battalions had been employed mostly in rear on work which could as easily have been done by labour battalions or Chinese, and they had consequently diminished in strength. In September 1917 the attention of the military authorities was directed to these entrenching battalions, with the result that it was decided to disband them. General Feilding asked that the Guards Entrenching Battalion might be maintained, but this was not considered possible. In October the final disbandment took place. CHAPTER XXXVIII THE RESERVE BATTALION [Sidenote: Reserve Battalion. 1914-18.]