On the 21st the Brigade marched past Field-Marshal Sir John French in the big square at St. Omer, and presented a very fine appearance. So smart did it look that many of the onlookers were under the impression that it had just come out from England, and one man in the crowd was heard to say as the Grenadiers went past: "Wait till you've been in the trenches a bit, then you won't look so clean and smart, my boys."
In the evening the 4th Brigade received the following message:
The Commander-in-Chief wishes to thank all ranks for the splendid services they have rendered. He is much impressed by their soldier-like bearing, and very much regrets that owing to pressure of work he is unable himself to come and visit all units and speak to them himself.
After marching for several days the Battalion arrived at Campagne les Boulonnais, where it joined the rest of the Guards Division, and remained until September 22.
On August 21 Second Lieutenant the Hon. W. A. D. Parnell, and on the 24th Second Lieutenant H. G. W. Sandeman joined the Battalion.
CHAPTER XIV FORMATION OF THE GUARDS DIVISION
[Sidenote: The Guards Division. Sept. 1915.]
The creation of a Guards Division was not regarded without misapprehension by some of the older officers of the Guards. The reputation that had been so dearly won by the original officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the regiments of Guards, at the expense of thousands of lives, might possibly be thrown away by their successors. The flooding of the army with new recruits might produce an entirely new stamp of man. Was the system alone good enough, were the traditions alone strong enough, to produce the fighting man who had hitherto, rightly or wrongly, been associated with the regiments of Guards? At the time there was no thought of conscription, and therefore it might be necessary to take any men who were willing to join. Would there be a sufficient nucleus of old Guardsmen to ensure that the traditions carefully preserved through many generations were strictly maintained?
The mill through which men of the Guards have to pass, however, is so severe, and the discipline so stern, that no one need have doubted that the new recruits would prove equal to their predecessors.