volunteered for overseas service or were unfit, together with the recruits flooding in. Thus the parent battalion at Chelmsford was designated the 1/6th Bn, that at Birmingham was the 2/6th Bn. Later a 3rd-Line or reserve battalion was also formed to train drafts for the other two. 1/6th Royal Warwicks The South Midland Division was selected to proceed to France to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) early in 1915, and the 1/6th Royal Warwicks disembarked at Le Havre at the beginning of April. Within days it began learning the routine of trench warfare around St Yves, Messines and Ploegsteert. On 12 May the division was designated the 48th (South Midland) Division and the brigade became the 143rd (Warwickshire) Brigade. The battalion later moved south to a section of the line around Hébuterne, Foncquevillers and Gommecourt. It was still in this area a year later when the Battle of the Somme began. Somme Although 48th Division was in Corps Reserve for the First day on the Somme, two battalions (1/6th and 1/8th Royal Warwicks) were detailed to attack with 11th Brigade leading the assault of 4th Division towards 'Redan Ridge'. Even before Zero hour the 'jumping-off' trenches came under fire from 'crumps' of enemy artillery, and machine guns began playing over No man's land from both flanks. 1/8th Royal Warwicks was shielded by the ground from direct fire and managed to get into the German second line and into 'Quadrilateral Redoubt' (the Heidenkopf, which German engineers had blown up too early). 1/6th Battalion, following up, passed the Quadrilateral. The right hand companies of both battalions pushed on and made contact with the rest of 11th Brigade in 'Munich Trench', but the left companies suffered heavy casualties from the village of Serre, which 31st Division had been unable to reach. 4th Division's support brigades now arrived: it was too late to stop their leading battalions, who also suffered heavy casualties crossing No man's land to join 11th Brigade. Although 4th Division had broken into the German positions, it now came under attack from both flanks, many of the men who had advanced furthest being cut off and shot down. Running short of hand grenades and ammunition, and attacked by German troops moving down from Serre, the survivors were forced back from Munich Trench to the Quadrilateral. The brigadier and all the battalion commanders of 11th Brigade had become casualties (Lt-Col H.