2nd Seaforth Highlanders, possibly at Shorncliffe Camp before departure to France in 1914. From the Queen's Own Highlanders History (pages 59 - 60) When war broke out, the 2nd Seaforth were stationed at Shornomcliffe. They went to France with the 10th Brigade of the 4th Dlivision in the British Expeditionary Force. The 2nd Seaforth were sent into the line at Le Chateau. They fought with the 10th Brigade in the retreat from Mons, ending in the victory at the Battle of the River Marne which hatlted the German advance in early September 1914. The 2nd Seaforth took part in the attack on the German held village of Meteren on 10 October 1914. It was one of the last actions to be fought before the war developed into trench warfare. During April - May 1915 the 2nd Seaforth were heavily engaged in the defence of the Ypres salient against the German attacks. On 25 April they suffered their first major casualties when they took part in the costly attack on St Julien, losing 348 officers and men killed or wounded. On 2 May the battalion had its first experience of poison gas. At the time there was little protection against gas except for an ineffective respirator of impregnated cloth or even a handkerchief, and the battalion lost 24 dead from gas, with 324 sick. The German attacks between 25 April - 24 May 1915 cost the battalion over 1000 casualties. After the crippling casualties suffered at Ypres, the 2nd Seaforth were transferred to the quieter sector of the 3rd Army front between Albert and Arras. Here they took part in minor operations but also had a chance to absorb reinforcements and carry out retraining between periods in the trenches. On 1 July 1916 the British offensive on the River Somme started, after an artillery ombardment of seven days. The objective of the 2nd Seaforth was the village of Beaumont Hamel. By the end of the first day the British Army had lost 57,470 casualties, over 20,000 of whom were dead. The 2nd Seaforth alone lost over 500 killed and wounded. The battle of the Somme lasted for four months and the total gain was three or four miles of enemy held ground. The 2nd Seaforth remained in and out of the front line for four months during the battle. After a winter in the trenches, the 2nd Seaforth took part in the attacks at Arras in April - May 1917. In the first action on 9th April 1917 the 2nd Seaforth, in the attack by the 4th Division, had a successful advance to their objective four-and-a-half miles inside the German lines. But on 11 April the attacks ran into the same deadly stalemate of trench warfare. Ordered to attack the chemical works at Roeux, the 2nd Seaforth suffered 526 casualties, which was 93% of the battalion. Three of the companies lost all their officers. In the further grim attempts to break the stalemate at Ypres, the 2nd Seaforth took part in the attack in Octobee 1917 to drive the Germans off the Passchendaele Ridge overlooking Ypres. The battalion suffered 457 casualties during the month. After another winter in the trenches, the 2nd Seaforth were in the line at Arras when the Germans launched the final offensive on 21 March 1918. Arras lay between the two main German attacks and, as the Allied lines fell back on each side, it became a salient. When the German advance eventually ground to a halt, the 2nd Seaforth were sent to reinforce the front at La Bassee. In the final Allied counter-offensive which began in early August 1918, the 2nd Seaforth advanced again. They took part in the fighting but with relatively few casualties. The ended the war for them near Valenciennes