The last days of the battalion require but a brief telling. More drafts left for the Army of Occupation; more officers and men went off to complete the tour of rest camps, "delousing camps," demobilization camps, and finally dispersal camps _en route_ for civilian life. From Christmas onwards the melancholy break-up of our old battalion, of which we had been such proud and happy members, had been proceeding apace. Friendships that had seemed the normal part of our existence were now rudely rent asunder. Men whom we had grown to admire and love vanished one by one, perhaps never to be seen again. The memories of the past grew daily more distant and more unreal as the prospect of civilian life came steadily nearer. On March 18th the fragments of the battalion, now one company strong, moved to the Brigade Concentration Camp at Maroeuil; and here the gradually diminishing force remained till May 11th, ever expecting to move, only to be disappointed again. At last, after one or two false alarms, the party, having handed over all its animals, proceeded at 9.5 p.m. on May 11th, with all its transport vehicles, by train for the Base. At 10.45 p.m. the engine did its best still further to delay matters by leaving the train on a downward slope and coming back to meet it when the train had gathered a good speed. Several vehicles of ours were destroyed, and several men of other cadres injured. A bridge party, consisting of the Commanding Officer, Adjutant, Quartermaster, and Lieutenant Wilson, seated on plush chairs in a cattle truck, was indeed slightly disarranged, but beyond the destruction of the whisky bottle only slight injuries were inflicted. At 2.35 p.m. on May 12th Havre was reached, and Harfleur Reception Camp was the home for the night. Thence next day the cadre joined No. 2 Wing Despatch Division, and after many formalities embarked on May 15th for Southampton in s.s. _Lydia_. From Southampton to Felixstowe, and thence to Prees Heath, took a few days more, and much man-handling of vehicles and stores; but by 12 noon on May 22nd, 1919, the 2/6th (Rifle) Battalion "The King's" Liverpool Regiment had ceased to exist. [Illustration: LT.-COL. C. L. MACDONALD, D.S.O. LT.-COL. C.C. STAPLEDON.] But in the hearts of those who were numbered among its members the memory of it, and of those who lie buried in the cemeteries of France, will live for ever; and when in years to come, in the different quarters of the world, men meet each other, how gladly will they cast back their minds to the good old days in the "Second Sixth"! FINIS. APPENDICES APPENDIX I BRIEF NOTES ON SPECIALISTS