1917 during the Samarra offensive. It spent the next 15 months mostly on defensive and garrison duties and was disbanded in September 1919. 8th Battalion The 8th Battalion was raised in Bristol in September 1914. It arrived in France in July 1915 as part of the 57th Brigade in the 19th (Western) Division and saw its first action the next year during the Battle of Albert, in which it helped capture La Boisselle. The division's 58th Brigade had captured the western half of the village on 2 July, and the 8th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment and 10th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment, both of the 57th Brigade, assisted in the capture of the rest of the village the next day. A German counter-attack regained the eastern half of the village, and the 8th Glosters suffered 302 casualties when it fought alongside the 10th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment to help retake it. During the battle, the Glosters' commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Adrian Carton de Wiart, assumed command of all four 57th Brigade battalions when the other three commanding officers became casualties, and for his actions in averting a serious reverse he was awarded the VC. Later the same month, during the Battle of Pozières, the battalion made two unsuccessful attacks against the German line east of the village which together cost it 374 casualties, among whom were Carton de Wiart and his successor, Major Lord A.G. Thynne, both wounded. On 18 November, the last day of the Somme offensive, the battalion suffered 295 casualties when it captured Grandcourt during the Battle of the Ancre. In 1917, the 8th Battalion saw action in June during the Battle of Messines, fought two minor actions in July near Oosttaverne, south of Ypres, and was involved in the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge in August. The battalion was next in action on the evening of 21 March 1918, the first day of the German Spring Offensive, when the Germans captured Doignies. Unable to recapture the village, the battalion blocked any further enemy progress until the morning of 23 March, when German forces broke through on the left and threatened to outflank it. Company A fought to the last man covering the battalion's withdrawal, for which action the company commander, Captain Manley Angell James, was awarded the VC. By the time the 19th Division withdrew to Doullens on 28 March the battalion had suffered 323 casualties. In April,