Berkshire and The War: the "Reading Standard" pictorial record. Volume 4. p 942

Return of the 2nd Batt. Royal Berkshires -€” continued.

Casualties in the Battalion.

The following are the numbers of officers and other ranks who have joined, who have become casualties: -€”
Officers. - Joined 344, killed 58, wounded 193, missing 31.
Other ranks. -€” Joined 6,163, killed 887, wounded 3,138, missing 842.

Honours and Awards.

D.S.O.s 18.
M.C.'€™ 15.
D.C.M.s 36.
M.M. 112.
M.S.M. 9.
Mentions 55.
Cross of St. George, 4th Class 1.
Medal of St. George, 3rd Class, 2.
Medal of St. George, 4th Class, 4.
Croix de Guerre, 4.
Parchment Certificates, 50.

Thanksgiving Service at St. Mary'€™s, Reading.

On Sunday, May 18th, a service was held at the Parish Church of St. Mary in commemoration of their return, the preacher being the Rev. F. J. C. Gillmor, S.C.F. (vicar of St. Giles').

A procession was formed at the Church House, and proceeded to St. Mary's Church in the following order: Mayor and Mayoress (Ald. and Mrs. S. Hayward), the Deputy Mayor (Councillor F. A. Sarjeant), the Town Clerk (Mr. C. S. Johnson), Aldermen F. A. Cox, A. H. Bull, C. G. Field (a church warden), Councillors W. E. Butler, T. Norris, F. W. Dormer, W. Sparks, E. Jackson, W. Rudland, F. Winter, H. G. Rainbow, H. T. Morley, H. Watts, E. O. Farrer, R. J. Tyrrell and Miss E. M. Sutton.

Others present were Mr. C. E. Keyser, J.P., Dr. J. T. R. Holden (hon. curator), the Rev. S. O. Ridley, the Rev. E. O. Shrubsole, Dr. Campbell Highet. (medical officer Berks V.A.D.), Messrs. H. Dawson Barkas (hon. curator), J. R. Bedford (deputy clerk, Board of Guardians), W. Brown (Lighting Committee), J. Bond and F. Allum (Board of Guardians), H. Wright (Inspector of Weights and Measures), L. Walker (Waterworks Manager), S. R. Whitley, J.P., H. S. Cooke, J. Milsom, J.P., H. G. Barker, Mrs. C. H. Davis (Maternity and Child Welfare Committee), Miss Collins (Reading Insurance Committee), Mr. H. T. Pugh (clerk to Education Committee), the Chief Constable (Captain J. S. Henderson), Lieut.-Col. and Mrs. J. G. R. Walsh, Major M. L. Porter, M.B.E., Major A. S. Turner, Lieut, and Q.M. P. Greenall (Berks Volunteers), Capt. H. C. Blyde, M.C., and Mrs. Blyde, Captain R. D. H. Norman (Adjutant, Depot Royal Berks), Major W. Aldworth, Mr. W. Lickman, Lieut. J. H. Oldridge, Second Lieut. A. C. Rees, and the Bands of the 1st and 2nd Battalions under Bandmasters White and Weaver respectively. The troops on parade were, in addition to the cadre, a contingent from the Reading Barracks, under Sergt.-Major Trinder, and the Reading Cadet Battalion, with the following officers: Captain F. W. Spring (in command), Captain A. G. Hibberd, Captain F. Hawkes, and Lieut. I. R. Broad.

The clergy present were the Rev. Canon Ducat (Archdeacon of Berkshire), the Rev. R. Wickham Legg (Vicar of St. Mary's), Canon R. P. Newhouse (St. Laurence's), the Rev. F. J. C. Gillmor, S.C.F. (St. Giles'), Rev. W. Harper (St. George's, Tilehurst), the Rev. Walker and the Rev. F. Burnett (St. Mary's, Castle Street). Mr. G. O. Daughtry was at the organ.

The rev. gentleman said that the officers and men of the 2nd Battalion well knew of the danger they had been in from shot and hell.
They knew how real and tremendous was the danger from which they had been mercifully saved. It was

No Question of Good Luck,

or good fortune, but it was the good hand of Almighty God upon them. It was not possible for them, having gone through such an experience, to be quite the same again. They would be indeed deaf and blind if they had not in those four and a half years learned some great and solemn lessons. They had realised the tremendous seriousness of this great European war, and their entire absolute dependence upon God; so they came that day to one of the ancient churches of that ancient borough. It was so very easy when the danger was over and past to forget; but to-day they remembered, and he was sure that in their lives and in their hearts they thanked God for bringing them home again. The day before they had received the official welcome home of the county and the borough, a welcome home only too short, but it meant very much to each one of them. Four and a half years ago perhaps they did not realise all that home meant. They did not think that the war would last so long. Perhaps some of them had not been away much from their homes; but now "there is no place like home" had a new significance. England and home to-day had a deeper significance for every one of them. During all those dreary months of anxiety they were never forgotten.

[photo, group, exterior] THE MAYOR AND CORPORATION ATTEND THE THANKSGIVING SERVICE. [Photo by C. E. & A. May.]

Berkshire Did Not Forget Them,

day by day, and week by week, they prayed for them and followed them in thought, and they rejoiced that they so gallantly and nobly upheld the best traditions of the regiment to which they belonged. They were in the best sense of the word proud of them. But they had no right to forget that many who went out with them had not returned, and their hearts that day went out in loving sympathy to those who were mourning the loss of a husband, or a brother, or a son, or a lover -€” the gallant dead. Might God grant they would never forget them, for they had died a noble death for a righteous cause. They had not returned. Their bodies lay in distant graves, but only their bodies; they were alive, and let them say with God in Paradise. They had indeed a different welcome home in another world, and he trusted it would please God, if they died in the faith and in penitence, that they would be with them again. "Therefore will I praise Thy name and give Thee thanks, O Lord." They knew that their thanksgiving was not to end with that service, they had to live out this life of thanksgiving, and they had a duty to fulfil for His unfailing mercies in the past. They had brought back with them, he was sure, a deeper sense of the reality of life, how much there was to be done in it, and they must at all times carry out self-control, self-sacrifice, discipline and endurance. They required the spirit of brotherhood in England to-day, and it was for men like them to show them a lead. Lastly, they had brought back a new thought of God, who had preserved them in many dangers and difficulties, and helped them in many a trouble. If they were to have God with them when death came, they must have Him with them in life; he, therefore, urged them to live in the service of Almighty God. "Welcome home, then, men," he concluded, "and may this service you have given to England be a fair test of that you will give to God for His infinite mercy in the past, and for a sure and certain hope in the present and whatever lies ahead of you; let us give thanks unto Almighty God, for it is right so to do."
€
The singing of "Now praise we all our God", the "Te Deum",€ and the "National Anthem" brought a most impressive service to an end.

The collection, which was given to the local Care and Comforts Committee, to keep Reading soldiers'€™ graves in order, amounted to nearly £7.