Roses For The King

The month of May had seen the 2nd Battalion in the front line around the village of Monchy, east of Arras, where they had been continuously serving with the other units in their Brigade.
The month did however bring many awards for men of the Battalion for the gallant actions they had shown at Arras the previous month. Two Military Crosses were presented to Captain Baker and Lieutenant Pryke, and five Military Medals were awarded to Sergeant Jackson and Privates Ashworth, Anderson, Howes and Tribe. The presentation of the ribbons for these awards was made by the G.O.C. 3rd Division on the "football ground" at Arras on 21st May, and a week later, a further four officers; Lieut-Colonel Stubbs, Captain Curtis, and Lieutenant Russell and Harrup and two other ranks; Sgt. Gillson and Pte. Anderson (again) were Mentioned-in-Dispatches by Sir Douglas Haig for their previous gallantry.
June 3rd 1916, found the 2nd Battalion training near Arras, where in honour of the King's Birthday, they wore roses in their headdress. Continuation of age-old customs was evermore important in wartime to keep up morale and strengthen the esprit-de-corps within the Battalion. As the numbers of men in the Battalion who had survived the battles of Le Cateau, Ypres and more recently, the Somme dwindled, new men who had joined the Battalion since, learnt the history of this ever-proud Regiment to which they were now a part of.

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