The long march to Steenvoorde—17 miles—was endured cheerfully by all ranks, who were overjoyed at leaving Belgium. It was felt that whatever the new area was like, it would not be worse than the experience of the past few weeks. What a tremendous change from the haven of rest of eleven months ago! There were many who would even prefer to go through the Somme experience of a year ago rather than return to the Menin Road.
Those who had been left out as “non-starters” for the battle which did not take place rejoined at Eecke, a little village near Caestre, where two days were spent before the Battalion entrained at Caestre shortly after midnight on the 22nd of September, and started in the best of spirits for the Arras front.
After resting for two nights at the delightful village of Frevin-Capelle, near the source of the Scarpe, a short march in delightful weather brought the Civil Service Rifles to Aubrey Camp—a camp of Nissen huts and tents on the Lens-Arras Road near Roclincourt. A night spent in Aubrey Camp was followed by a march to the front line at Gavrelle where old friends were found in the Drake Battalion of the 63rd (Naval) Division. This Battalion had been attached to the Civil Service Rifles for instruction in trench warfare at Souchez in June 1916.
There followed a spell of peace and quiet which compared very favourably even with the early days at Ypres. The absence of shelling was very noticeable and the trenches were clean and dry. Moreover there was an occasional deep dug-out and as the ground was chalky—it was the southern extremity of Vimy Ridge—more were to be dug by the Royal Engineers. There were never many deep dug-outs in English trenches, but whenever the ground was suitable there were always a good many either under construction or proposed.
There was a good water supply from a well in the trenches, and rations were brought to within 100 yards of Battalion Headquarters, and the Battalion held the front line for eight days without showing any sign of wear. Everyone was happy, except perhaps the energetic Commanding Officer, who wanted to get on with the war. He had little or no use for the quiet life of Gavrelle and seemed happier amid the turmoil of the Ypres Salient.
It was intended that the Division should make a long stay in this sector, and elaborate plans for a winter scheme of defence were made by the Divisional Commander. As in the Ypres Salient, a Battalion when out at rest was always to occupy the same camp—in order to encourage the men to work on camp improvements. The Civil Service Rifles accordingly set to work on Aubrey Camp, and Colonel Segrave claims that his men laid more trench boards per acre than could be found at any other place on the Western front. He also established the Battalion Baths, so that henceforth the Civil Service Rifles would be independent of the Divisional Baths Officer.
Football matches, trips to Arras, and the concerts given by the Divisional Follies were the chief diversions, and, at the end of October, a very successful Regimental concert was held in the Divisional Cinema, the surprise turn of the evening being the R.S.M.’s rendering of “Take me back to dear old Blighty.”
The good spirits of the troops were further raised by a very welcome increase in the leave allotment, which for some time had been very poor, and all leave records were broken on the 6th of November when a party of sixty other ranks left by the light railway from Roclincourt en route for “Blighty.”
The Transport and Quartermaster’s Stores were housed in Roclincourt in the most comfortable billets they had had for some months. It was here that the Transport Section received a shock in the shape of a comb-out by the Commanding Officer. Colonel Segrave was a keen student of man power, and in investigating the strength of his Battalion, he found the Transport Section considerably overstaffed, with the result that eleven of them rejoined their Companies in the trenches.
The sectors of the front line held by the Civil Service Rifles were alternately the Gavrelle Sector, and the posts just south of Oppy Wood. Of these the Gavrelle sector was much the more popular, though neither could compare with the support positions in the Railway Cutting and Roundhay Camp, just by the Arras-Bailleul Road.