We had now left the reserve training area of the north, and were in the zone of possible invasion. The First Line Division had gone overseas piecemeal, and their Divisional and Brigade Staffs now took charge of us. Major-General J. B. Forster, C.B., commanded our Division, which was a unit of the Central Force, commanded by General Sir Ian Hamilton; while our Brigade was commanded by Brigadier-General A. R. Gilbert, D.S.O., with Major Fulton, of the Worcesters, as Brigade Major, and Captain Beazley, of the 1/6th, as Staff Captain. Soon after our arrival in Margate, Major Temple, to our great regret, left us, being seconded to the Navy for special service, with the rank of Commander. He had been the principal pioneer of our battalion, and had done all that industry and money could do to further our interests. Though detached from us, we are glad to think he followed our movements and furthered our schemes by every means in his power. We now entered on a series of inspections by many Generals, including Lieutenant-General Hon. Sir Frederick Stopford, Commanding the Second Army, Central Force, in Dane Park, when he was good enough to say that we were one of the best units he had seen. Equipment now began to arrive, and Japanese rifles, which we could really fire, and we began to feel that we were becoming a fighting, and not merely an ornamental, battalion. We were responsible for the Margate defences, and alarms, practice or otherwise, occurred at most inconvenient moments with most unpleasant frequency. Many are the stories connected with these alarms, but lack of space prevents their narration. Easter Monday morning, in particular, saw us marching hurriedly to Broadstairs at 5.30 a.m., where the remainder of the Brigade met us from Canterbury. This was believed to have been a genuine alarm, but it ended in nothing. Zeppelins were the only form of enemy we saw, and they dropped no bombs on Margate while we were there. Musketry parties were now busy at Sandwich, where they were billeted in the Golf Club-house; and a Vickers' machine-gun was received, which enabled Lieutenant Bowring to teach his most efficient section with something more satisfying than a wooden dummy. In the middle of April those who had not signed the form in which the obligation to serve overseas was accepted were separated, and formed, with others, the 43rd Provisional Battalion for Home Defence. This left us only 700 strong, but the defence of Margate and the entrenching in connection with it passed from our hands, and left us more time for training. It may be worth recalling that some of the men who elected to join a Home Service Battalion actually proceeded overseas, by reason of the Military Service Act, before we did.