The Day After

Around 2.00am on the morning of the 27th, Captain Packard’s company were relived by elements of The Coldstream Guards and were withdrawn and ordered back towards Vermelles. 
Owing to the late hour and the fact that the men had been on the go for almost 24 hours, a halt was made along the Vermelles road, where the men bivouacked here for the night before proceeding to the Brigade encampment at Sailly La Bourse, later that morning.
When the roll was called, remarkably, losses had been  quite slight. One officer had been killed and six wounded. Nine men killed, two died of wounds, 81 wounded and 45 missing. The remainder of the day was spent resting. Blankets were brought up for the men, since most of their equipment and their greatcoats inter ditched large packs, had been left strewn across the battlefield. For the 9th Battalion, the Battle of Loos was over. 
Captain C.T. Packard’s actions that day in taking over command of the Battalion and rallying it back to their start lines was reported to the Brigadier the following morning and Packard was subsequently awarded the Military Cross for his actions. Military Crosses were also awarded to Captain G.B. Steward and Lieutenant Beyts for the same action. Sergeant Bollinbroke, Privates Mann and Haynes were all awarded the DCM for their part that day. 

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