The newly appointed Secretary of State for War, Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, issued his famous call to arms: 'Your King and Country Need You', urging the first 100,000 volunteers to come forward.

[1][2] Meanwhile, on 19 August the Director of Recruiting at the War Office (WO), Major-General Sir Henry Rawlinson, wrote to his friend Major the Hon Robert 'Bobby' White, who worked at the stockbrokers Govett & Sons in the City of London.

Lieutenant-Colonel Claude Hawker, formerly of the Coldstream Guards and just returned from service with the Anatolian Gendarmerie in the Turkish Empire,[11] was appointed commanding officer (CO) with White as second-in-command.

White had been able to obtain 25 ex-non-commissioned officers (NCOs) from the Brigade of Guards to assist with the training, which proceeded rapidly, although there were not enough rifles to equip the whole battalion.

As the war progressed, more and more men were recruited for their language skills, ranging from idle rich travellers to a showman who trained Russian bears and an Anglo-Armenian sergeant born in France and educated in Czechoslovakia.

[25][26] At the end of August 37 Division entrained for Doullens and then marched to Foncquevillers in the Somme sector, where the BEF was taking over more of the line from French troops.

From 23 to 27 September during the Battle of Loos the division was stationed at La Cauchie to act as reserve for the French Tenth Army's attack, but then returned to Foncquevillers and the routine of trench holding alternating with billets in Souastre through the autumn and winter.

[28] On 2 January 1916 the second-in-command of the 10th RF was promoted to command another battalion, and was replaced by Major Winston Churchill, who had resigned from the government after the Dardanelles affair and had been serving with the Grenadier Guards.

[29] On the moonless night of 13/14 January 10th RF made use of a gap in the German barbed wire to carry out a large raid, but the raiders were spotted and fired upon at close range, suffering casualties as they withdrew.

The artillery bombardment began on 23 June and 10th RF supplied working parties to carry forward gas cylinders for release when the assault was launched on 1 July.

Fighting went on round the village all day but despite a new artillery bombardment from 17.00 to 18.00 10th RF's second attack was disjointed when the damp signal rockets failed to fire.

It spent some days improving the support trenches, then on 3 August it moved up to hold the front line while 16th Royal Scots (101st Bde) attacked as part of the Battle of Pozières Ridge.

The fresh 37th Division waiting in the Arras suburbs would then pass through to capture the final (Green Line) objective, just beyond Monchy, but it was unclear whether this could be tackled on the first day.

111th Brigade followed and launched its assault about 12.00 in a snowstorm from the northern slope of Orange Hill, making ground rapidly despite the lack of field artillery support (although the heavy guns were bombarding Monchy).

The offensive began with the Battle of Pilckem Ridge on 31 July, in which Second Army played a minor role, advancing its line slightly, with 10th RF supporting 63rd Bde.

[15][16][54][55] The battalion did another tour of duty in the front line from 26 August to 3 September, then provided working parties to dig cable trenches, suffering some casualties from Mustard gas shelling.

Throughout the day 10th RF was required to send detachments up from the support trench to assist battalions in the front line, leaving only 40 men available at one point.

[15][16][56][57][58] 10th Royal Fusiliers spent the following months training, providing working parties, and holding the line in the Hollebeke and White Chateau sector of the Salient, where raiding and gas attacks were common.

No help arrived and the two men fell back to another defended position, then were forced to withdraw a further 10 yards (9.1 m), where Robertson mounted the Lewis gun on the parapet.

C Company was detailed to mop up the village, being held up by a machine gun position that had been too close to the start line for effective artillery bombardment, but the infantry quickly dealt with the post.

111th Bde advanced at 11.00 with 13th KRRC and 13th RB in line, supported by tanks, then 10th RF passed through at 13.20 behind a fresh hour-long barrage and took Bihucourt despite strong opposition and an open flank where a neighbouring battalion had not kept up.

The battalion found 13th KRRC pinned down in front of Favreuil, so it moved up a valley west of the village and delivered an assault from the flank, causing the defenders to surrender.

The Germans counter-attacked at midday, pushing the battalion down the trenches, and Lt-Col Tanner was ordered to withdraw from the most exposed position, but enemy fire still made the road dangerous for carrying parties.

Lieutenant-Col Tanner requested artillery support for a renewed attack, but was ordered to hold fast, and the battalion was relieved on the night of 15/16 September, having lost 1 officer and 26 ORs killed.

[15][16][71][72][73] The Allies carried out a series of coordinated attacks along the Western Front on 26–29 September, including an assault crossing of part of the Canal du Nord.

On 30 September 111th Bde found that the German bridgehead at Banteux had been abandoned, and 10th RF closed up to form an outpost line along the bank of the Escaut Canal.

The battalion was held up by two belts of barbed wire that had been insufficiently cut by the artillery, and by machine guns in concrete emplacements, but with the help of tanks the Fusiliers forced their way through.

After passing through 13th KRRC on the Blue Line, 10th RF continued forward, dealing with machine gun posts, D Company then pushing through Louvignies, killing or capturing all the Germans in the village.

During February 253 men were demobilised, and 200 more left the battalion, having volunteered for duty with 23rd RF in the occupation force in Germany (the British Army of the Rhine) .

[85][32][86] There are a memorial plaque and roll of honour to the dead of 10th Royal Fusiliers (Stockbrokers) in the church of St Michael, Cornhill, in the City of London.