 The 4th August 1916 dawned with men of 4th Suffolk returning from a wiring party into no-mans-land.
Tired and hungry, the men returned to the trenches before first light to get cleaned up. They had spent the early hours banging in iron pickets, muffled with sandbags to bolster the defences opposite their positions. Throughout the day, training continued at Mericourt with gas drills taking place in the afternoon. Around 3.00pm, a message was received from 2nd Suffolk to ask the officers to come to dinner. In the pre-war era, such an occurrence would not have taken place for regimental etiquette - where a regular Battalion invited the Volunteers to dine. However, pleased at not having to cook, a party of 6 officers set off once more to Mericourt for dinner. Having consumed a fair amount of homemade fruit cake, sent out from England, and bottle of liberated wine, the officers of the 4th Battalion returned to their billets in the early hours. For a brief few hours, Suffolks, regular and territorial, talked of home and of the recent battles past. Regimental tradition and snobbery was forgotten. Comments are closed.
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Welcome to our online 'chronicle' that charted the history of the many battalions of the Suffolk Regiment throughout their service during the Great War.
This record is now closed, but we have retained all our original posts here for you to search through and in the fullness of time, we hope to add to it as and where new stories come to light. It was at times, a challenging but rewarding endeavour which has helped many people in their research of the Regiment. If you know the specific month of an action of the Regiment, you can search for it in the list below: Archives
February 2025
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