The Division had now settled down to a very stereotyped form of warfare, and as there seemed every likelihood that no move would take place for some months, an elaborate programme of work for improving the accommodation both in trenches and camps was embarked upon.
There were two Brigades holding the line and one in reserve occupying four hutted camps in the neighbourhood of the villages of Ouderdom and Busseboom. It was arranged that whenever a Brigade was in reserve, the various Battalions should always go to the same camp. So it came about that the Civil Service Rifles always went to Ottawa Camp. This arrangement, it was hoped, would encourage Battalions to work hard at camp improvements. Works Officers were appointed and pioneer platoons were detailed in each Company for this purpose, but every time the Civil Service Rifles returned to Ottawa Camp they swore no work had been done since they were last there.
Somebody did work in Ottawa Camp, however, for in course of time it became transformed from the sea of mud, with a collection of broken-down, draughty huts, into a tolerably comfortable camp—if any camp in Belgium could be comfortable. The Battalion Mess for sergeants was revived, and under the stewardship of Sergeant R. F. M. Bigby, a fairly successful attempt was made to restore the former glory of the Civil Service Rifles Sergeants’ Mess.
In looking back on the year spent in the Ypres Salient, the average member of the Civil Service Rifles, full of the bitter memories of the Menin Road, Hooge and Château Wood, is apt to forget that there was a time when life was quite enjoyable in Ottawa Camp, with the trips to Poperinghe, where there was much gaiety.
It is quite true, however, that at first Ottawa Camp was better known for its discomfort than for anything else, and it was a curious fact that Halifax Camp, which was the home of one of the Support Battalions of a Brigade holding the front line, was much more comfortable.
The month of December 1916 is chiefly notable for the formation of what was known as the “football team”—two officers (Second Lieutenants H. S. Gosney and C. E. Groves) and fifty other ranks. This team began to train for a raid on the German trenches, when they hoped to atone for the ill-luck which had attended previous Civil Service Rifles’ raids.
Sketch Map to illustrate the twelve months in the Ypres Salient October 1916-September 1917.
The party was housed in reserve dug-outs in the trenches about Château Ségard, one of the support positions for the Ravine sector, and in addition to training in the surrounding trenches after dark, parties went up to the front line nightly to patrol No Man’s Land and inspect the enemy wire.
The scheme was entered into with enthusiasm by the whole party, which was split up into six groups, each with a definite job to do, and they were all brim full of confidence when, at 5.45 p.m. on the 23rd of December, they set out from the front line on their adventure—to the strains of music from a violin in the German lines!