on 13 october 1915 the company left its depot at gillingham and proceeded to devonport where the boarded the troopship "scotian" bound for gallipoli via mudros. on arrival at mudros on 27 october the troops were transferred to the auxiliary minesweeper hms "hythe" to be landed at suvla bay the following morning. in the early hours of 28 october the "hythe" was involved in a collision with the much larger troopship "sarnia". the "hythe" sank within minutes, taking down most of its crew and passengers. the company lost its officer commanding, capt d.r. salomons (only son and heir of the honorary colonel), and 128 other ranks, almost all recruited from the tonbridge area. the survivors (4 officers and 78 other ranks) were picked up by the "sarnia" and returned to mudros.