Of course, previous to our taking over the sector, the Divisional artillery had begun to wake up the Hun by concentration shoots, which were continued at intervals—the retaliation was mostly in the shape of Minenwerfer on GILLEMONT POST, which reminded us, on that account, of RAILWAY WOOD.
During the five days we had plenty to do in becoming acclimatised and establishing the old trench routine again with a new set of Officers and men; very few were left now of the June lot, and many of the N.C.O.’s had never seen a trench before. Here Second Lieutenants W. G. E. Taylor, C. A. Rush, Hornby, and 12 Other Ranks reinforced us. A perpetual source of joy to the old ones these drafts were; first they had to be taken down and “put through it,” and then taught how to behave, if they didn’t know, but somehow or other at the end of a fortnight, they seemed to have settled down and become part of us.
The 1/4th KING’S OWN relieved us on the 23rd, and we went back to ST. EMILIE, whence, during the next few days, we provided working parties for the front line, going into the line again on the 29th, when we relieved the 1/5th South Lancashires in the BIRDCAGE sector—the relief was completed without casualties by 8 30 p.m. The Medical Officer, who had had a pretty stiff time on 20th September, went sick that night, and Captain E. Watson Williams, R.A.M.C., took over his duties.
On the 30th October the enemy trench-mortared our front line, killing three and wounding nine men; otherwise the tour was quiet, and on 1st December we were relieved by the 1/9th King’s Liverpool Regiment and went by light railway to HAMEL or TINCOURT—it was a double village, and usually known by this latter name. It was stated above that every village in the area had been destroyed—this place was an exception, as some of the civil population had been left there by the Hun, so that we found it almost intact. The Companies’ billets had wire beds in them, and we added to these while we were there. Our total strength at this time was 39 Officers and 777 Other Ranks—the fighting strength being 24 Officers and 546 Other Ranks, so that in numbers, at any rate, we had partly recovered from our losses in the SALIENT.
Map No. 4
GILLEMONT FARM SECTOR
November, 1917
We had a very pleasant time at HAMEL till the 16th, when we returned to ST. EMILIE; during the period Captain Buckmaster assumed command of B Company and Second Lieutenant Pruden became Adjutant of the Battalion, a position he retained till the Armistice. Lieutenant-Colonel Hindle had been at Brigade since the 13th, commanding the 164th Brigade during the absence of Brigadier-General Stockwell on leave, afterwards going on leave himself, and Major Crump had been in command of the Battalion.
On the 16th we moved back to ST. EMILIE, and on the 17th we relieved the 1/5th King’s Liverpool Regiment in the GILLEMONT sector.
On the morning of the 18th November, the Battalion was disposed as follows (see map):—