On The Back Foot

27th April 1915, saw 1st Suffolk in the front line east of the village of Zonnebeke. To their left were the 12th Londons and to their right, were the 2nd Kings Own. 
After 48 hours in the front line, the Battalion was drained. Enemy action had claimed a continuous stream of casualties including Lieutenant D.E. Grose-Hodge.
Educated at Marlborough College, Dorrien Edward Grose-Hodge had joined the Cambridge University OTC whilst he read the Classics at Pembroke College in 1912. Gazetted into 3rd Suffolk in September 1914, he had only joined the Battalion in Belgium a few weeks before. 
By the 29th April, the Battalion had been pulled back in Brigade reserve near the small village of Frezenberg along with the elements of London's and the Welch.  Here they received news on 5th May that they were due for relief on the 8th May. 
With its strength gradually decreasing and the last of the pre-war regular members of the Battalion gradually disappearing, just how much longer could they hold out? Its numbers were falling rapidly. By early May, the Battalion only numbered some 470 men. If an attack were to come, would they be in any fit state to meet it?

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