Renty, SW of Saint-Omer, arriving on 18 December, moving to Setques in early January, where they carried out training. The battalion went back into the line on 18 January 1918, holding a series of shellholes near Passchendaele. Disbandment By early 1918 the BEF was suffering a severe manpower shortage: roughly one in four infantry battalions had to be disbanded and their surviving personnel drafted to reinforce other units. After its last tour of trench duty from 23 to 26 January the battalion was sent to work on defences at Gravenstafel, where orders arrived to disband the battalion. 16th Middlesex sent drafts to the 2nd, 18th (1st Public Works Pioneers) and 20th (Shoreditch) Battalions of the Middlesex Regiment (in 8th, 33rd and 14th (Light) divisions respectively). Then on 11 February battalion headquarters and the last details (three officers and 58 ORs) went to VIII Corps' reinforcement camp and the battalion was formally disbanded. See also Hawthorn Ridge mine detonation On YouTube 24th (Reserve) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment When the four service companies of the 16th Middlesex went to Clipstone Camp they left the two depot companies (E and F) at Woldingham under the command of Lt-Col MacKay. They later moved to Tring in Hertfordshire and formed into 24th (Reserve) Battalion on 25 September 1915 to supply reinforcement drafts to the parent battalion. It joined 23rd Reserve Brigade at Northampton, moving to Aldershot by May 1916. On 1 September it became 100th Training Reserve (TR) Battalion in 23rd Reserve Bde. It was redesignated as 256th (Infantry) Bn of the TR on 6 September 1917, then transferred to the Royal Sussex Regiment on 27 October 1917 as 52nd (Graduated) Battalion, engaged in progressive training of 18–19-year-olds. Finally, on 8 February 1919, after the Armistice, it became a Service battalion of the Royal Sussex. It was disbanded on 27 March 1920. 18th–21st (Service) Battalions, Royal Fusiliers (1st–4th Public Schools) The four Public Schools Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers formed at Epsom Downs Racecourse on 11 September 1914: 18th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (1st Public Schools) 19th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (2nd Public Schools) 20th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (3rd Public Schools) 21st (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (4th Public Schools) Their training experience was similar to the 16th Middlesex and other Kitchener battalions. Like all Kitchener units, there was an initial shortage of experienced officers and NCOs to train the battalions. The commanding officer appointed to