The exposure and discomfort involved in these first adventures in France—which contrasted so strongly with the expeditious and altogether excellent arrangements on the other side of the Channel—resulted in a good deal of illhealth in the unit, and when on the 30th a move was made to Steenwerck, where Divisional Headquarters had been established, a number of men were suffering from bronchitis and similar troubles.
On the 3rd December, Company Headquarters and Nos. 3 and 4 sections moved into Armentières, and billeted in the tram sheds at L’Attargette, but Nos. 1 and 2 remained with the transport in the Steenwerck area, and were kept busy on hutments and stables for the division for some little time longer.
2. Armentières.
When the 3rd Australian Division first went into the line east of Armentières, the 9th Brigade took over the right or L’Epinette sector astride the Lille railway, while the 10th Brigade was on the left or Houplines sector. The 11th Brigade was in reserve, and with it the 11th Field Company, which took over from the New Zealand Engineers of “Franks Force” the care of the Lys River bridges and also various jobs for the artillery covering the divisional front.
The billets in the town were a great improvement on the dilapidated, damp, and entirely filthy hutments taken over by the division around Steenwerck. The mud around the stables and horse standings in the area was quite appalling, and the transport had no relief until the famous frost of the winter ’16-17 descended on the land and made all clean and dry for a time.
The tramway sheds at L’Attargette, on the northern outskirts of the town, contained a number of cars, which were fitted up by the men of 3 and 4 sections as cubicles. Headquarters was established in the tramway offices, and when Nos. 1 and 2 sections joined up some two or three weeks later they found quite good quarters in the neighbouring Rue de Flandres.
All the existing bridges over the river Lys around Armentières and Houplines had been prepared for demolition, but charges, fittings, and magazines all required a great deal of work.
A number of emergency floating bridges—both pontoon and barrel pier—also required attention and repairs. To facilitate bridge inspection No. 4 section built a rowing boat. Another little job was the construction from salvaged material of a spring cart, which accompanied the unit in all its subsequent wanderings, and was always known as the Souvenir Cart.
Work for the artillery consisted in the construction of O.P.’s and of gunpits among the ruins of Houplines and the outskirts of the town. Lieut. R. W. Lahey was wounded in the head by shrapnel while on this work and evacuated, but returned to the unit shortly afterwards.
The 11th Brigade relieved the 9th Brigade on the 24th December, and at the same time the 11th Field Company took over from the 9th, after spending several days in acquiring knowledge of the trenches. Nos. 1 and 2 sections had previously moved to Armentières. Very vigorous work on trench improvements was at once commenced and an extraordinary amount accomplished. In spite of the unfavourable weather large numbers of dugouts for the accommodation of the garrisons were built, new communication trenches dug, barbed wire put up, and the drainage of the trench system greatly improved. Material was used in vast quantities—sandbags literally by the million, “A” frames, revetting material, duckboards, steel trench shelters, corrugated iron. All this had to be carted to the forward dumps,