The regimentally significant Great War German Spring Offensive Oppy Wood 28th March 1918 Battalion Commander’s Distinguished Service Order, June 1916 Military Cross, double Mention in Despatches and Territorial Decoration group awarded to Colonel A.F. Marchment, D.S.O., M.C., T.D., London Regiment, Territorial Force, later Territorial Army. Marchment was southeast London born and bred, and lived throughout his life in Lee, becoming an engineer after he left Dulwich College. He was also a noted marksman who first shot for England in 1913, and would continue to do so during the early 1920’s with the exception of the interlude caused by the Great War. A member of the Territorial Force since 1909 with the 3rd and later 1st City of London Battalion’s, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), as of 1913 he was the Instructor of Musketry. With the war, he was present out on the Western Front with the 1st/1st Battalion from March 1915, and fought in the Battle of Aubers Ridge, the Battle of Loos, and in the operations leading to the “Big Push” in July 1916, and in the process was awarded the Military Cross in the King’s Birthday Honours List in June 1916. He then fought throughout the Battle of the Somme, and the Battle of Arras for which he won his first Mention in Despatches. Thrown into the fighting in the Ypres Salient, he assumed command of the 1st/4th City of London Battalion shortly after the Battle of Langemarck in August 1917 and then commanded it for the rest of the war. It was during the German Spring Offensive in the fighting at Oppy Wood and specifically in the defence of Ouse Alley by he and his men of the Advanced Battalion HQ that Marchment won his award of the Distinguished Service Order, which would be gazetted to him in July 1918. He directed the operations from the top of his dug-out, and though under heavy artillery, machine-gun and rifle fire during the day he continued to organise and direct his men with the utmost coolness, in spite of many direct hits. On more than one occasion he organised his battalion headquarter details for counter attack. Marchment was awarded his second and final Mention in Despatches for the Battle of the Hundred Days, before ultimately receiving the Territorial Decoration in April 1924. With the conclusion of the war he returned to his skills as a marksman, and on 11th July 1922 he won the King's Prize at Bisley after a tie with Armourer Sergeant G R King, Royal Marine Artillery, with 230 points. For this achievement, he was carried aloft on a chair carried by Royal Navy sailors. In addition Marchment, was been a National Rifle Association “Service Championship” King’s Prize Finalist in 1913, 1919, 1920, 1922 and 1923, he was the “National Match” England Team Adjutant in 1921 and 1922, and a “National Match” England Team Participant in 1912, 1913, 1922, 1923, and 1924. He shot the “Kolapore Cup Match” in 1921, 1922, 1923 and 1924, and the “Mackinnon Trophy Match” in 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923 and 1924, being thrice the team adjutant for this. In 1924 he participated in the “Empire Trophy Match” and shot the “United Service Match” during 1922, 1923, 1924, and 1926. He was a member of the England team throughout the early 1920’s and was one of the finest target rifle shots of his generation.
Group of 8: Distinguished Service Order, D.S.O., GVR cypher, silver-gilt and enamels, compete with top brooch bar modified for mounting; Military Cross, GVR GRI Cypher; 1914-1915 Star; (CAPT: A.F. MARCHMENT. 1/LOND:R.); British War Medal and Victory Medal with Mention in Despatches Oakleaf; (LT. COL. A.F. MARCHMENT.); Jubilee Medal 1935; Coronation Medal 1937; Territorial Decoration, GVR cypher, complete with top brooch bar modified for mounting. Mounted court style as worn on old ribbons, and housed in a Spink case.
Condition: Good Very Fine.
Together with the following quantity of marksmanship badge, ephemera, and photographs.
Warrant for the award of the Distinguished Service Order, inscribed to: ‘Alan Frederick Marchment Esquire, M.C., Major (Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel) in our Territorial Force’, dated 26th July 1918, and further inscribed: ‘Major (Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel) A.F. Marchment M.C. 1st. Battalion London Regiment attachedv 4th. Battalion.’
Statutes book for the award of the Distinguished Service Order.
Studio photograph of the recipient in uniform taken from the breast upwards and wearing the ribbons of his First World War awards, this taken by the portrait photographer, Frank Arthur Swaine, and signed ‘Swaine’.
Studio photograph of the recipient in uniform, a full length image, and shown wearing the ribbons of his First World War awards when a Lieutenant Colonel, this taken by the portrait photographer, Frank Arthur Swaine, and signed ‘Swaine’.
Great War era group photograph of various officers including Marchment, believed taken in the Tower of London.
Photograph of a Marchment being carried aloft by sailors after he had won the Gold Medal of the National Rifle Association after he had won the King’s Prize at Bisley in 1922.
2 x photographs of Marchment when not in military attire, one being taken in later life.
Together with the following impressive and large quantity of National Rifle Association and related marksmanship badges as awarded to Marchment and representative of his time spent as one of the most regarded marksmen of his generation when shooting at Bisley.
NRA Service Championship” King’s Prize Winner’s Badge for 1922.
5 x NRA “Service Championship” King’s Prize Finalist Badges for 1913, 1919, 1920, 1922 and 1923.
2 x NRA “National Match” England Team Adjutant Badges for 1921 and 1922,
5 x NRA “National Match” England Team Member Badges for 1912, 1913, 1922, 1923, and 1924.
4 x NRA “Kolapore Cup Match” Team Member Badges for 1921, 1922, 1923 and 1924.
3 x NRA “Mackinnon Trophy Match” Team Adjutant Badges for 1921, 1922 and 1923.
3 x NRA “Mackinnon Trophy Match” Team Member Badges for 1920, 1923 and 1924.
1x NRA “Empire Trophy Match” Team Member Badge for 1924.
4 x NRA “United Service Match” Team Member Badges for 1922, 1923, 1924, and 1926.
4 x NRA England Team Members Badges for 1920, 1921, 1922 and 1923.
2 x NRA unidentified participants badges for 1923 and 1926.
Alan Frederick Marchment was born on 17th October 1890, the son of Frederick James Marchment of Manor Park, Lee, and later lived at Wingfield, Hamlet Road, Upper Norwood, London. He was educated at Dulwich College from 1904, and the rowed in an eight for his College annually from 1906 through to 1909. He also excelled as a marksman. Having gone to work as an engineer, he however was commissioned into the Territorial Force as a 2nd Lieutenant with the 3rd (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment - the Royal Fusiliers on 8th June 1909, and on 23rd July 1912 was promoted to Captain at which time he was the Instructor of Musketry to the 1st (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment - the Royal Fusiliers. In 1913 he first shot for England.
With the outbreak of the Great War he was mobilised, and his battalion formed part of the 1st London Brigade in the 1st London Division. As his battalion was a Territorial Force unit he found himself posted out to Malta for garrison duty there in order to relieve the regular units being sent to the front, however he then saw service out on the Western Front from 9th March 1915, where his battalion, now known as the 1st/1st Londons, then formed part of the 25th Brigade, alongside the 1st/13th Kensington’s, as part of the 8th Division, and arrived to replace losses caused during the Battle of Neuve Chapelle.
The 8th Division attacked again at the Battle of Aubers Ridge on 9th May, against the enemy lines in front of Fromelles. However, the inexperienced 1/1st Londons were not committed to the assault, which resulted in the attacking battalions gaining a lodgement in the enemy trenches but being unable to get any further nor were their brigades able to reinforce them across the fire-swept No man’s land. The offensive was broken off that night. The Kensingtons had suffered such severe casualties that they were withdrawn from the front line to line of communication duties, with 1/1st Londons effectively replacing them as the TF extra battalion in 25th Bde. The battalion spent the summer learning the skills of trench warfare.
On 25th September 8th Division carried out a subsidiary attack as a diversion from the Battle of Loos beginning that day. Termed the Action of Bois-Grenier this involved 25th Brigade attacking the opposing trenches between 'Corner Fort' and 'Bridoux Fort' with the aim of breaking through and linking hands with the Indian Corps on Aubers Ridge. Once again, 1/1st Londons remained in support of the assaulting battalions, and once again a lodgement was obtained but the supporting troops were unable to cross No man's land with reinforcements and ammunition. The attack was called off during the afternoon, but the division had taken the opportunity to dig a new trench that was completed that night, shortening and strengthening the British front line.
The 8th Division was not engaged in any further major actions in 1915. In February 1916 the 1st London Division began to re-assemble in France as the 56th (1st London) Division. 1/1st Londons joined 167th (1st London) Brigade at Hallencourt on 8th February, the brigade now consisting of 1/1st and 1/3rd Londons, together with 1/7th and 1/8th Bns, Middlesex Regiment. The battalions making up the reformed division were reorganised to produce the specialist Lewis gun teams, ‘’bombing’ squads etc required by current tactical doctrine, and had to supply men to the new brigade machine gun companies and trench mortar batteries that were being formed. All these specialists underwent intensive training around Le Cauroy, where the division moved in mid-March.
Following its losses from casualties in the previous months of trench warfare, and of men transferred to specialist units, the 1/1st Londons, now under the command of Lt-Col Duncan Smith (one of the battalion's pre-war captains alongside Marchment), were brought back up to strength in May when the battalion absorbed the 2/1st Londons, just returned from Egypt.
On 4th May 167th Bde moved to Hebuterne, later joined by the rest of the division, which began preparing for its role it in that summer's 'Big Push’. The brigade took over the frontline trenches, 1/1st Londons and 1/7th Middlesex using Sailly-au-Bois as their base and alternating tours of duty with the other two battalions of the brigade. Each battalion manned the line with two companies, keeping the other two in support. The trenches were on the right of the Gommecourt Salient, some 700 yards (640 m) away from the German positions. For the coming attack the division needed a jumping-off trench much closer to the enemy, so after it was relieved on 22 May 167th Bde practised the operation. Each battalion was responsible for one sector, that for 1/1st Londons (Sector A) running between the two roads from Hébuterne to Puisieux and to Bucquoy. On the first night (25/26th May) covering parties kept No man's land clear of enemy patrols while the sappers and taping parties marked the trenches to be dug. Carts full of empty biscuit tines were driven up and down the streets of Hébuterne to mask the sound of the work, and the artillery stood by to fire protective barrages if the enemy intervened. The work did not go smoothly in A Sector, where the men had to cope with uncut British barbed wife, clogged communication trenches, and active German patrols, and the marking was not completed by daybreak. The bulk of the work was to be carried out in one night, 26/27th May, by the infantry working parties and carrying parties. This time 1/1st Londons were able to finish before dawn, leaving small parties to hold the shallow new trench. The work was deepened and finished off with support lines and communication trenches the following night, but 1/1st Londons suffered around 34 casualties.
Marchment was awarded the Military Cross in His Majesty’s Birthday Honours List on 3rd June 1916.
After its efforts 167th Bde went into divisional reserve, but the labour did not end. 1/1st and 1/3rd Londons shared the village of St Armand as a base, from which they sent out daily working parties for road repair and preparing dumps. Casualties were light but the intense work throughout June left the battalion exhausted. 167th Brigade held the line in late June while the rest of the division practised the assault they were to make on Z Day (which was delayed by weather to 1st July). The preliminary bombardment began on U Day (24th June), and from 25th June the units holding the line were subject to German counter-preparation shellfire. They were also standing knee-deep in flooded trenches and 'trench foot' was common. On 29 June a patrol of 1/1st Londons reported that the Germans had erected additional wire in front of their positions. Early on the morning of 1 July half of 167th Bde including 1/1st Londons withdrew while the assaulting brigades took up their positions in the new jumping-off trench. 56th (1st L ) Division's Attack on the Gommecourt Salient initially went well, but once again the leading waves were cut off in the captured trenches by the weight of German fire falling on the former No man's land behind them (which was still wide, despite the new jumping-off trench). A gap appeared between the two leading battalions of 168th (2nd London) Brigade and 1/1st Londons were ordered up with the hope that it could link them up, but their positions were untenable and 1/1st Londons were kept in their reserve trench. The divisional commander was ordered to renew the attack after dark with his two reserve battalions, including 1/1st Londons, but the lodgement the division had gained was lost before nightfall. That night 167th Brigade relieved the shattered 168th Brigade in the front line. Despite not having attacked, 1/1st Londons had still suffered 81 casualties during the First Day of the Battle of the Somme.
The Gommecourt attack had been a diversion and no further attack was made in the area. The reduced battalions of 56th (1st L) Division had to hold their line until 20th August while the Somme offensive continued further south. After being relieved, the division moved to the Abbeville area, where it trained with the first tanks to arrive in France.
56th (1st L) Division was warned on 31st August of a move back into the line, and 167th Brigade set off in two trains on 4th September. The division carried out a relief during the night of 6/7 September and took over the trenches between Guillemont and the French army, with 167th Brigade in divisional reserve, ready to launch the next phase of the offensive (the Battle of Ginchy) on 9th September. 168th Brigade attacked before dawn with partial success, but lost direction, and this caused some problems for their relief later in the day by 167th Brigade.
For the much bigger Battle of Flers-Courcelette on 15th September, 167th Brigade attacked towards Bouleaux Wood with two of the new tanks in support. The attack went in at 06.20 with 1/1st London leading, but one tank had broken down, while the other was hit by a field gun and set on fire after giving early support. The Creeping barrage was ineffective. The battalion took the enemy trenches outside and to the right of the wood, but there its attack was brought to a standstill with heavy casualties. Two companies of 1/7th Middlesex passed through at 08.20 to continue the attack, carrying many of the 1/1st Londons forward with them, but the wood was strongly held and they were almost wiped out. The other two companies reinforced 1/1st Londons in the captured trench, Brigade HQ sent up 1/8th Middlesex to renew the attack, but neighbouring troops had not taken the flanking strongpoint known as 'the Quadrilateral' and the attack was another failure. The division's attacks were called off in the afternoon as the fighting settled into a series of 'bombing' attacks by both sides, 1/1st Londons and 1/7th Middlesex taking 'Middle Copse'.
When 167th Brigade attacked again on 18 September it had to use battalions borrowed from other brigades. It was relieved next day, and some reinforcements were received before it returned to the line on 22nd September. When the division attacked again on 25th September (the Battle of Morval), it followed a creeping barrage and Bouleaux Wood had been given special attention by the artillery. 1/1st Londons was holding the line from Leuze Wood and Middle Copse, and when German resistance began to crumble it was able to push patrols forwards. By midnight 167th Bde was in the lower part of Bouleaux Wood and beyond the derelict tank from the 15th September fighting. Next morning 1/1st Londons pushed in to capture Combles.
In early October 167th Bde occupied a line of linked-up outposts in a sea of mud, and the planned attack on 5th October was postponed. It went in on 7th October (the Battle of Le Transloy), 1/1st London and 1/7th Middlesex leading again towards 'Spectrum Trench' about 400 yards (370 m) ahead of the outpost line. 1/1st London had no success except on the left where some of the bombers pushed on with 1/7th Middlesex into the trench. The brigade failed to make any appreciable advance against machine gun fire in the follow-up attack next day. The division was relieved the following night.
There followed months of light training and line-holding in the 'Moated Grange' area of the Neuve Chapelle sector while the units of 56th (1st L) Division were slowly rebuilt. Despite further casualties while holding the line and raiding the enemy, 1/1st Londons attained a strength of 1062 all ranks when it returned to active operations in March 1917.
In March 1917 56th (1st L) Division was preparing to attack as part of the forthcoming Battle of Arras when patrols discovered that the Germans in front had disappeared – the beginning of their retreat to the Hindenburg Line. At Arras this retreat was minor, so the attack went in on schedule on 9th April (the First Battle of the Scarpe), starting from old German communication trenches. 167th Brigade attacked with 1/3rd Londons and 1/8th Middlesex leading, 1/1st Londons in support, the objective being Neuville-Vitasse. 1/3rd Londons progressed well and reached their objective (the Blue Line) by 10.00; 1/8th Middlesex were more held up and did not reach the Blue Line until 16.00. However the delay did not affect 1/1st Londons, who passed through 1/3rd and bypassed this opposition. 1/1st Londons then advanced at 12.40 in two waves, the first intending to capture the front Hindenburg trench, the second to take the next two trenches (Neuville-Vitasse and Cojeul Switch respectively) and the sunken road between them. However, the battalion suffered heavy casualties including their CO Lt-Col Smith mortally wounded (Capt Eiloart took temporary command), and got held up in the Neuville-Vitasse trench and sunken road. 1/7th Middlesex, the reserve battalion, came up to help 1/1st Londons forward, but the troops were now badly bunched up and although together they took the first line of the Cojeul switch (Telegraph Hill Trench) it took until the end of the day to gain the final objective (Ibex Trench). Fighting in the Hindenburg Line with bomb and bayonet went on through the night, so 56th (1st L) Division's morning follow-up attack towards the final objective (the Brown Line) could not be delivered until 12.10. 1/1st Londons advanced in support. However, all it achieved was the clearance of more of the Hindenburg position and rounding up of prisoners. On 11th April, with the aid of four tanks, 167th Brigade carried out a bombing operation down the Hindenburg Line into the Wancourt-Feuchy Line, which helped the neighbouring division. 167th Brigade was then ordered to take Hill 90 as soon as possible next day, but in fact the enemy abandoned it and Wancourt. Exhausted from fighting for four days in thick mud, the brigade was relieved and went to rest at Pommier.
Marchment was promoted to Major on 13th April 1917, and was for gallant and distinguished services was awarded a Mention in Despatches in the London Gazette for 25th May 1917. This award being for his actions during the first part of the Battle of Arras.
56th (1st L) Division renewed its attacks on 3rd May (the Third Battle of the Scarpe) with a pre-dawn assault. In the words of the Official History, 167th Brigade 'never had a chance'. 1/1st Londons and 1/17th Middlesex led off towards 'Tool Trench'. As soon as they started the German defensive barrage came down on them. Tool Trench lay behind a crest and had hardly been touched by the British bombardment; contrary to usual practice the German defenders stood shoulder to shoulder in the trench and their burst of rifle fire completely smashed the attack. The small British parties who penetrated through the trench to 'Lanyard Lane' were rounded up and captured. Both battalions fell back: they would have had few survivors if the attack had been made in daylight. Many men remained in shellholes in No man's land sheltering from the repeated German barrages until the following night. The brigade was withdrawn on 5th May. It later returned to the line and there was much small-scale fighting until the division was relieved on 20th May.
After Arras the BEF began preparing for the Third Ypres Offensive. During July 56th (1st L) division was in GHQ Reserve, undergoing training. On 6 August it was transferred to the Ypres Salient to take part in the second phase of the offensive (the Battle of Langemarck). The offensive was already bogged down in mud, and preparations were hindered by a German attack on 167th Bde's position two days before the battle. Attacking at 04.45 on 16 August, with 1/1st Londons and 1/8th Middlesex in front, 167th Brigade soon found a marsh blocking its advance, which had to be avoided by 1/18th Middlesex edging to the left, pushing 1/1st Londons further left and opening a gap to 169th (3rd London( Brigade on the right. When 167th Bde ran into a second marsh it was held up, under flanking fire from the gap on the right. The rear waves of 1/1st Londons had been heavily shelled; they now became mixed with the leading waves. With 169th Brigade falling back, 167th Brigade went back a little and formed a defensive flank. A German counter-attack also failed in the mud. Prevented from making progress, the brigade withdrew to a more favourable position in the afternoon, having gained just 400 yards. 1/7th Middlesex relieved the other three battalions of the brigade that night, but its CO having been wounded it came under 1/1st Londons.
The casualties from the Ypres fighting were not replaced, and the whole division was numerically weak, so 56th (1st L) Division was pulled out of the line on the 17th August and sent to a quiet sector
One of the other battalions in the 56th Division was the 1st/4th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment, whose commanding officer, Lt-Col H. Campbell, had been wounded during the Battle of Langemarck on 14th August whilst on his way to meet the Brigade commanding the 53rd Brigade to which the 1st/4th Battalion had been temporarily attacked. Command temporarily passed to the second-in-command, and soon afterwards the battalion suffered heavily when in action on 16th August, with some 12 officers and 182 ORs killed or wounded. The battalion left its mud holes and followed the barrage at 05.45 on 16th August, but 7th Bn Bedfordshire Regiment was unable to take a concrete pillbox, which caused many casualties to the 1/4th Londons, who were brought to a standstill and could do no more than form a defensive flank along the edge of Glencorse Wood.
As a result of the unfortunate wounding of the commanding officer, Marchment found himself pulled out of the 1st/1st London’s, and then posted to the 1st/4th Battalion from 14th August 1917 as its commanding officer, though it does not seem that he was in command for the attack on the 16th August and arrived shortly after this. Marchment was promoted to the temporary rank of Lieutenant Colonel on 30th August 1917.
56th Division was given the task of making a demonstration with dummy tanks and figures on the flank of the great tank attack that opened the Battle of Cambrai on 20th November. The demonstration succeeded in attracting German defensive fire, though 1/4th Londons were in reserve behind the line. The battalion moved up early on 23rd November to relieve the London Scottish, who were advancing into Tadpole Copse, and later in the day its companies were drawn into the fighting in the Hindenburg Line trenches with hand and rifle grenades and Lewis guns that lasted three days and cost the battalion 60 casualties before it was relieved and went to hold a quieter sector of the line.
The German spring offensive opened on 21st March 1918 some miles south of 56th Division's positions outside Arras. The 1/4th Bn prepared a defensive flank facing south in case the line was turned, but no attack developed until 03.00 on 28th March (Operation Mars) when the battalion's outposts in Oppy Wood came under heavy bombardment. The two forward companies were overrun by 09.00, despite causing heavy casualties with their Lewis guns. The other two companies in the support trench (the Marquis line) then held the attackers while the defensive flank (Ouse Alley) was manned by details from Advanced Battalion HQ, and artillery fire was brought down on the captured outposts. By 11.30 the pressure on both flanks was too great, and the defenders withdrew to the Red Line (held by the London Scottish), having to go cross-country because Ouse Alley was cut behind them. The Red Line was not seriously attacked: despite the 1/4th Bn's sacrifice (19 killed, 45 wounded, 171 captured and missing), the tactic of holding an outpost line to break up enemy attacks was considered a success.
It was for his actions in command of his battalion on the 28th March 1918 during the fighting at Oppy Wood and specifically in the defence of Ouse Alley by his men of the Battalion HQ that Marchment won his award of the Distinguished Service Order, his award being published in the London Gazette for 26th July 1918.
The citation reads as follows: ‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when commanding his battalion. He directed the operations from the top of his dug-out, and though under heavy artillery, machine-gun and rifle fire during the day he continued to organise and direct his men with the utmost coolness, in spite of many direct hits. On more than one occasion he organised his battalion headquarter details for counter attack. He set a fine example of fearlessness and soldier-like qualities.’
After the fighting on 28th March, the 1st/4th Battalion was relieved and moved to a rest area, and then spent several months doing its share of line holding outside Arras, interspersed with occasional trench raids and bombardments.
The Allied counter-offensive (the Hundred Days Offensive) began in summer 1918, the 56th Division joining in at the Battle of Albert on 23rd August. After rushed preparations, the 1/4th Londons attacked behind an intense barrage at 05.07 towards the village of Boyelles and the trench system at Boisleux-Saint-Marc. Four tanks assisted against Boyelles, where the garrison surrendered, but the left of the battalion was held up by the Marc position until the troops on either flank pressed forward and cleared it. The battalion resumed the advance at 16.30, attacking in widely extended formation and suffering few casualties, capturing machine guns and patrolling 500 yards beyond the Germans' Boyelles Reserve trenches.
Another rushed attack went in on 28th August, towards Bullecourt to clear a section of the Hindenburg Line. 1/4th Londons led 168th Brigade in support of 169th Brigade, some of whom went astray, so the battalion had to mop up obstinate German pockets and it was not until late evening that the area was cleared. The division continued the attack next day, 1/4th Londons being in support. Bullecourt having been recaptured by the Germans, the division attacked again on 31st August, with 1/4th Londons in the centre, clearing the village by mid-afternoon. The battalion gained satisfaction from finally capturing Bullecourt, where the 2/4th Bn had fought the previous year.
When the assault crossing of the Canal du Nord began on 27th September, the 1/4th Londons watched as the rest of the division advanced across their front along the far bank of the canal, before following up themselves on the near (west) bank against slight opposition. The advance was now a pursuit, held up only by German rearguards. On 6th October, patrols from the 1/4th Londons entered Aubencheul au Bac without opposition, taking the line as far as the Sensee Canal.
The battalion was withdrawn for rest, and did not return to the line until 3 November, when it followed up in conjunction with units of Australian Light Horse and New Zealand cyclists. The following day a rushed attack made considerable progress until the battalion ran into stiff resistance at the Aunelle river crossing at Sebourg. The battalion was in support for further attacks over the next few days, but was not involved in any more fighting before the Armistice came into force on 11th November.
Marchment had held command of the 1st/4th Battalion continuously from 14th August 1917 through to the Armistice, and for the final months of the war, specifically the Battle of the Hundred Days including the capture of Bullecourt, he was awarded his second and final award of a Mention in Despatches for his gallant and distinguished services, the award being published in the London Gazette for 30th December 1918.
Marchment appears to have remained in command up until the 1st/4th Battalion was demobilised in early 1919, and whilst still out on the Western Front, it was reduced to Cadre strength of 50 men in May 1919 and then in Cadre strength was returned to England on 21st May, being marched through London to Hoxton.
Marchment returned to his peacetime occupation as an engineer and became secretary of the engineering firm of C.T. Ashby Ltd of Kingston-upon-Thames, until it was wound up in March 1930, and he also returned to his peacetime service in the Territorial Force, which was reconstituted on 7th February 1920, he having reverted to the rank of Major, and he then continued to see service with the 1st (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers). Marchment was promoted back to the rank of Temporary Lieutenant Colonel on 10th April 1921 when with the 1st Defence Force Battalion, London Regiment, which came about owing to his partial mobilisation during the General Strike. With the strike chaos over, he relinquished his temporary rank with the Defence Force on 17th July 1921.
At this time the Territorial Force was coming to an end, and in the following year it was to be reconstituted as the Territorial Army, and he then continued to see service as a Major with the 1st Battalion, London Regiment, being promoted to Major and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel on 17th February 1924, snd awarded the Territorial Decoration in April 1924, he was then promoted to Lieutenant Colonel with seniority from 17th February 1924, this being gazetted on 29th July 1924. From February 1924 onwards he held command of the 1st City of London Regiment as it was then known, and he remained in command until he retired on 17th February 1929..
In this period Marchment had proceeded to excel in his marksmanship. Having first shot for England back in 1913, he was an exceptional shot, and from 1921 was a Member of the Council of the National Rifle Association. On 11th July 1922 he won the King's Prize at Bisley after a tie with Armourer Sergeant G R King, Royal Marine Artillery, with 230 points. For this achievement, he was Chaired, which means that he was paraded on a chair carried by Royal Navy sailors, an event which was documented in photographs from the time and which can also be found online, His prize medal for this, the ‘Highest Possible Score’, is known to exist, having been sold in auction.
In addition Marchment was a National Rifle Association “Service Championship” King’s Prize Finalist in 1913, 1919, 1920, 1922 and 1923, he was the “National Match” England Team Adjutant in 1921 and 1922, and a “National Match” England Team Participant in 1912, 1913, 1922, 1923, and 1924. He shot the “Kolapore Cup Match” in 1921, 1922, 1923 and 1924, and the “Mackinnon Trophy Match” in 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923 and 1924, being thrice the team adjutant for this. In 1924 he participated in the “Empire Trophy Match” and shot the “United Service Match” during 1922, 1923, 1924, and 1926. He was a member of the England team throughout the early 1920’s.
On his retirement from the Territorial Army on 17th February 1929, Marchment had been promoted to Colonel with seniority from 177th February 1928 on his posting to the Territorial Army Reserve. In his capacity as a Colonel with the Territorial Army Reserve, he was awarded both the Jubilee Medal 1935 and the Coronation Medal 1937. Marchment who latterly lived at 57 Manor Park, Lee, died on 12th April 1964 when in Lewisham Hospital.