The Armistice - 11th November

Early in November the German High Command decided that the Allied advance could not be stopped and that terms must be asked for. Their armies, though still retiring in good order, had suffered immense losses and had no reserves left. The nation's will to fight on had been sapped. American man power and resources were only beginning to enter the struggle. There was no line west of the Rhine on which to stand, nor any hope that the river line could be held for long.

The Kaiser offered to abdicate and his ministers resigned. A depu tation under a flag of truce arrived at Marshal Foch's headquarters asking for terms of surrender.

The terms offered by the Allied Governments, as advised by Marshal Foch, were accepted. On 11th November the Armistice was signed. Fighting ceased the same day. The German armies withdrew into Germany unmolested. The Allied armies followed and halted beyond the Rhine, the British occupying the Cologne area.

Retrospect

The Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28th June, 1919. This ends the story of the Regiment in the First World War.

Battle Honours

The First World War added seventy-one battle honours to the Regimental list. Seventeen battalions of the Regiment, the four Regular and thirteen Service battalions (including the 20th and 25th Pioneer Battalions), fought on the Western, Italian and Macedonian Fronts; nine battalions, some of which had a short existence, trained drafts at home.

Among innumerable distinctions gained during the war, eight officers and men were awarded the Victoria Cross.