Sergeant Levey was a most enthusiastic member of the Regiment who had distinguished himself by his skill with the rifle. Fortunately he recovered sufficiently from his wounds to return to the Regiment some months later, when he quickly rose to the rank of C.S.M. of his Company. His prowess in the football field gained him fame not only in the Battalion, but throughout the Division.
In addition to the fighting portion of the Battalion, the Transport Section and Quartermaster’s staff suffered casualties in and around Bourlon Wood, the Quartermaster himself, Lieutenant W. G. Hodge, better known as “Ben Hodge,” being gassed on the night of the 29th November while at Battalion Headquarters. On the same night the Transport Column was heavily shelled on the Bapaume-Cambrai Road, with the result that several of the most experienced drivers and horses were wounded.
But in spite of the heavy casualties in Bourlon Wood, and the fact that the enemy bombardment was the most severe and prolonged that the Battalion was called upon to face during the war, the men of the Civil Service Rifles could look back with justifiable pride on their share in the battle, during which they did not yield an inch of ground, although the Bosches gained considerable success in neighbouring parts of the line.
The remnants of the Battalion numbered only about 200, all ranks, when they reached Femy Wood on the 2nd of December with scarcely a kick left in them after their exertions of the past few days, and it came as a great surprise when they had to return to the front line on the 4th of December reinforced by a handful of officers and other ranks from the “non-starters’ camp.”
In order to cover the withdrawal of the 142nd Infantry Brigade from Bourlon Wood, a defensive position on either side of the village of Graincourt was taken up, and there, on the 5th and 6th of December, the Battalion gave yet another exhibition of splendid fighting qualities in its second defensive battle within a week.
The officers who had come up included Major H. Marshall, who was in command of the Battalion, Major H. F. M. Warne, who acted as his second in command, and Captain L. L. Burtt, who commanded “C” and “D” Companies, now formed into one Company. “A” and “B” Companies were amalgamated under Lieutenant L. C. Morris, M.C.
The positions were taken up at dusk, “A” and “B” Companies being on the left along a sunken road running in a north-westerly direction from about the centre of the village, and “C” and “D” on the right were along a similar road which ran due east from the village. The village itself was not occupied, but posts were established near the cemetery in the sunken roads north-east of the village. These were withdrawn at dawn. The 2nd Division was on the left of “A” and “B” Companies, and the 59th Division was on the right of “C” and “D” Companies.
The troops from the front line in Bourlon Wood passed through as arranged, the evacuation of the wood having been rendered necessary owing to the forcing in by the Germans of both arms of the Cambrai Salient.
The whole front was patrolled throughout the night, but until daylight nothing was seen or heard of the enemy, whose front line was about two miles away. Numerous explosions heard in the wood showed that the Royal Engineers were destroying dug-outs and anything likely to be of use to the enemy.
The garrison on the right, numbering less than 120, all ranks, after trying to dig themselves in in the frost bound ground along the side of the road, moved forward to a well-camouflaged German trench which started just outside the village and continued almost to the 59th Division on the right. Leading out of the back of the trench were four old gun pits with the dismantled 5·9’s still there, and at the village end was a trench running forward at right angles.