Like most British army regiments in 1914 the 42nd had only two Battalions,and like most bt 1918 it had been massively expanded to contain a widely spread number of battalions fighting on many fronts(most on the western front).However unlike most British Regiments the 42nd(like the Grenadier guards etc)suffered very little decline in fighting ability. The Germans hated fighting these sort of troops-just like British troops hated fighting Prussian Guardsmen etc.