Aftermath

On 27th August at 5.00am; the day after the battle of Le Cateau, the remnants of the Battalion arrived at St. Quentin. 
They called the roll and it soon became apparent that the action had been more costly than it was originally thought. The War Diary for that day noted just who was left: 
"Officers (Captain Blackwell and Lieutenant Oates) 1 Medical Officer (Captain Phelan R.A.M.C.) A Coy - 31, B - 19, C - 38, D - 16, Attached - 7. Total 114"
The first major engagement of The Suffolk Regiment was a costly one. The losses to the Battalion in killed, wounded or captured, were a staggering 88%; so high in fact that the Battalion could never be reformed from its remaining ranks. 
It would become a single company of the East Surrey Regiment, only being re-embodied the following spring. "Le Cateau" would soon rank beside Dettingen, Minden and Gibraltar as a major Battle Honour of the Regiment.

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