The C.O. directs that the above is read to all platoons, and
not more than one platoon at a time.
(Sd.) Desmond FitzGerald,
Captain Adjutant,
1st Battalion Irish Guards.
26th June 1915.
It was the Brigadier's reference to their having
proved themselves worthy to take place with the other
regiments of the Brigade of Guards, "and more so,"
that delighted them most; for the Battalion felt that
it had won its spurs in every field. Yet, for all that,
the Diary which, under the well-worn official phrases,
represents the soul of the regiment and knows how
that soul is made and tempered, emphasizes the fact
that at Béthune there are some "quite good parade-grounds,
where a good deal of steady drill will be carried
out" and plenty of country for route-marching,
where the men could learn how to bear themselves without
"budging" beneath the casual shells that dropped
miles behind the line.
So they "rested" at Béthune and gave a concert in the theatre, to which they invited many inhabitants of the town who, being new to the manners and customs of the Irish, "could not understand much," but a French officer sang the "Marseillaise" with great effect, and at dinner afterwards, when the Prince of Wales was among the guests, there were not only red and white roses on the table, but, according to one account, "silver spoons and forks," provided by the owner of the house. If Béthune did not yet comprehend the songs of these wild outlanders, it had full confidence in them.
Cuinchy
The first week of July saw them returned to their own old trenches at Cuinchy—the fifty times fought-over line that ran from the La Bassée Canal to within a hundred yards of the La Bassée-Béthune road. A couple of companies of the Herts, one on each side of
