THE LAST YEAR.
Relieved early in January by the 66th Division, the battalion was employed for nearly a month in constructing a reserve line on Westhock Ridge, a couple of miles in front of Ypres; but in January moved back to billets in Hondeghem, near Hazebrouck. Here, in February, the battalion had its Christmas dinner. There was one large room in the village and there each company in turn was regaled on beef and Yorkshire pudding, pork, cold ham, Christmas pudding and other seasonable fare. About a fortnight was spent at Hondeghem, companies going in rotation to Moulle, near St. Omer, for musketry practice.
At this time it was decided to reduce the number of battalions in an infantry brigade from four to three throughout the British army; as a result many battalions were disbanded and their men sent as drafts to other units. The ⅙th Duke of Wellington’s received about a dozen officers and 300 men from the 5th and 8th battalions of the Duke’s, and were thus brought up to strength.
In the middle of February the battalion was back again in the salient, taking over the Polygon Wood sector with headquarters in the conspicuous mound known as the Butte, one of the few recognizable landmarks in the area. The New Zealanders, whom the battalion relieved, had worked hard at the line and bequeathed to our men quite a respectable line of trenches and a light railway running to within 300 yards of battalion headquarters. In doing this they had suffered heavily, and a subaltern was commanding their brigade; but the ⅙th was very grateful for the shelter afforded, for the shelling all round was fierce and the German artillery had got a very accurate range on all the tracks. There was a good deal of raiding at this time and the battalion had to repulse two attempts upon their lines; they were also spectators of a most successful raid carried out by the 4th Duke’s at Polderhoek.
In this neighbourhood the battalion had three tours of duty in the front line and then moved back to Reninghelst, a village a short distance south of the Ypres-Poperinghe main road.