As the months went by several changes took place in personnel. We lost Capt. Whitton, who after being Adjutant for 14 months, went for duty to the First Army Rest Camp at the end of June, and was succeeded by 2nd Lieut. Martin. Capt. Warner went to the Divisional Signal Company early in July, and D Company was then taken over by Capt. White. Second Lieuts. Bromham and Russell went down sick, and 2nd Lieut. Elphick to the Machine Gun Corps. New Officers who joined were 2nd Lieuts. E. J. Taylor, James Howard Smith, T. J. Sellis, H. M. Toyne, F. L. Harrap, J. F. Shackleton, F. T. W. Saunders, W. Pennington, S. A. Tebbutt, and S. Bradwell, D.C.M., and we were given a new Padre in the person of D. E. Sturt. Sergt. Bescoby, who had done excellent work in charge of the Stretcher Bearers, became Comp. Quarter-Master Sergt. of A Company, in place of Godfrey, who left to train for a commission. Our strength was kept fairly level by drafts, and we averaged throughout this period about 40 Officers, and 920 other ranks.
Our somewhat humdrum existence eventually came to an end about the middle of August. By this time the German offensive had finally ceased, having received its knock-out blow in the fruitless attack made against the French near Rheims on July 15th. On this occasion the French had received ample warning of the attack, and were consequently able to dispose their forces in such a manner as to inflict appalling casualties on the enemy with insignificant losses to themselves. This was followed up by a series of attacks by French, Americans, British, and Italians, which began on July 18th and finally drove the enemy out of the Marne Valley. Even before that time it had been realised that the Germans were not likely to make any further attacks on our part of the front, and about the middle of July we had gone so far as to contemplate an offensive in the Merville salient. Preliminary plans were actually made for the attack to be made on July 15th, by the Canadians and our own Division, but eventually the scheme was cancelled.
The offensive in the South met with extraordinary success at all points, and soon extended to the Third Army area, nearly as far North as Lens, with the result that in the end the Boche decided that he must take steps to withdraw from the Merville salient. His offensive on this front was, undoubtedly, from the first a serious strategic error. The unexpected ease with which the enemy had advanced on the Portugese front had induced him to push forward further than had been the first intention. Consequently, in holding the inner portion of a most pronounced salient on flat ground, overlooked from the high land south of the La Bassée Canal, he had at last experienced some of those difficulties and losses which had been for so long our experience in the Ypres salient. The many destroyed guns which we ultimately found on our subsequent advance bore witness, not only to the remarkable accuracy and efficiency of our own artillery, but to the folly of attempting to hold the salient when once the possibility of capturing Béthune and the area South of the Canal had disappeared. Owing to this mistake of tactics and strategy there is no question that the enemy's losses had been extremely heavy since his advance in April.