general advance that followed the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line. The division moved again in July, to Ypres, where the territorials fought in engagements of the Battle of Passchendaele; the 1/5th Battalion in the Battle of Langemarck and the Battle of Broodseinde, and the 1/4th and 1/6th Battalions in the action of 22 August 1917 and the Battle of Poelcappelle. Total losses to the three battalions at Passchendaele numbered 1,186 men. In December 1917, the 48th Division transferred to Italy, where the battalions were weakened by an outbreak of influenza. In June 1918, the 1/5th and 1/6th Battalions were in action during the Second Battle of the Piave River, and the 1/4th and 1/6th Battalions fought their last actions of the war in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto at the beginning of November. Meanwhile, the 1/5th Battalion was transferred in September 1918 to the 75th Brigade of the 25th Division and returned to France. In October, it fought in the capture of the Beaurevoir Line during the Battle of St Quentin Canal, and in the Battle of the Selle. During the latter, the battalion was held up for nearly four hours until Private Francis George Miles went forward alone and knocked out two enemy machine-gun positions, for which action he was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC). The final action of the 1/5th Battalion came in November, during the Battle of the Sambre. Second-line territorials The second-line territorials were raised in September 1914 and remained in the UK until they moved to France in May 1916 as part of 61st (2nd South Midland) Division; the 2/4th and 2/6th Battalions in 183rd Brigade, and the 2/5th Battalion in the 184th Brigade. The three battalions completed tours in the front line around Neuve Chapelle, but for the 2/4th and 2/6th Battalions the first significant action was on 19 July 1916 in a costly and unsuccessful attack in the Battle of Fromelles which cost the two battalions a total of 332 casualties. In March and April 1917, the three battalions saw action in the advance to the Hindenburg Line south of the Somme. The 61st Division moved to Ypres in July, and all three battalions fought near Gheluvelt in the Battle of Passchendaele the following month, when the 2/4th Battalion suffered particularly badly with over 200 casualties. In early December, during the Battle of Cambrai, a heavy German counter-attack forced both the 2/4th