TWENTY-TWO MONTHS UNDER FIRE

When war broke out the author, a TA major, was commanding C Company of the 1st Battalion the Hertfordshire Regiment, a TA regiment. In January 1915 he succeeded to command of the battalion and in February 1916 he was appointed commander of the 68th Brigade, a position he held for the next six months, one of the few TA officers to have command of a brigade. So this story is of one who saw active service on the Western Front as a company, battalion and brigade commander in the space of twenty-two months. He was also MP for Christchurch from 1910 to 1918 and Bournemouth from 1918 to 1940 in which year he was created Baron of Bournemouth.
The battalion landed in France on 6 November 1914 and a fortnight later joined the 4th Guards Brigade in 2nd Division and stayed with it till the Guards Division was formed in August 1915, when it was transferred to the 6th Brigade, still in 2nd Division. The time spent with the Guards Brigade had rubbed off on the battalion – the author refers to them as the ‘Herts Guards’, perhaps with a touch of self-importance. There was plenty of action during this first year described in a series of short chapters, culminating in Croft’s last action as a CO, the Battle of Loos; four months later he took over 68th Brigade in 23rd Division and the second part of the book is an account of this command.