At 4.30 a.m., October 22nd, patrols from "A" Company reported Froyennes clear of the enemy, but that they were fired on from the east bank of the river after passing through the village. "A" Company accordingly moved forward, occupied the village, and established posts along the Tournai—Cambrai road.
"B" Company's patrols were fired on from the Convent, but after a few rounds the enemy withdrew. The company followed, and continued the line of posts on the Tournai—Cambrai road. Patrols were at once sent forward, in spite of a brisk fire from the far bank of the river, to try and discover a bridge, but without success. Meanwhile touch was gained with the 74th Division on the right and the 170th Brigade (who had relieved the right brigade of the 59th Division) on the left. No enemy were located on our side of the river except on the extreme right, where contact was gained and two enemy prisoners (91st I.R., 2nd Prussian Division) were captured.
The G.S.O.2 of the Corps visited Captain Eccles during the course of the morning, and agreed that any attempt to cross the river would be absurd. The Commanding Officer, after reconnoitring the line, came to the same conclusion, and the general line of the road was consolidated. "B" Company established their headquarters in the Convent, but made a speedy evacuation on being informed that it was mined. "D" Company were moved up to Trieu de Loquet; and Battalion Headquarters would have moved up to Froyennes but for the information that we were to be relieved early next morning. The enemy kept up a continual harassing fire all day, distributed generally over the front, but causing few casualties.
The weather, after being wet and disagreeable, had now cleared, but it was distinctly cold. It was somewhat strange to be living in houses during active operations; and, indeed, the civilians got rather mixed up with the firing line, as they kept coming along with coffee for the men in the posts. This well-meant but mistaken kindness was very inconvenient, and, in addition, refugees kept coming in from the German line. There were many minor spy scares, some of the civilians, out of friendliness to us or enmity towards their neighbours, being rather inclined to point out people as acting in that capacity. Battalion Headquarters, which was a small isolated house not shown on the map, was in fact destroyed by shell fire the very day after we left it, which rather looked as if the enemy had received information as to its position.
During the night, which was extremely cold, though very fine and with a full moon, an R.E. officer made a complete reconnaissance of the river, but failed to locate any kind of bridge. As a matter of fact, the line on our section of the front remained just as we had established it until the Armistice.
At 8.30 a.m. on October 23rd the 2/7th K.L.R. arrived, and proceeded to take over our line, establishing their headquarters in the house selected by us in Froyennes for the purpose. The battalion moved out to Le Cornet, where an unfortunate incident occurred, owing to the efforts of another Commanding Officer, whose battalion had not been in action, to take forcible possession of our billets, in spite of the presence of our Billeting Officer, who had with full authority taken over from the 2/7th K.L.R. As a result our men had to sit by the roadside, tired and weary after two days' hard fighting, till Divisional Headquarters could be communicated with. The reply from there was as prompt as it was satisfactory, and the offending battalion, who themselves appeared none too pleased with the action of their Commanding Officer, at once withdrew.
The billets were good all round, Headquarters itself being established in a lovely old farm called Hardy Planq, evidently the ancestral residence of some old French family. All were glad of a good rest and a "clean up," as the strain and, for most people, the discomfort of the last two days had been considerable. Our casualties during that time, besides Captain Carr and 2nd-Lieutenant Waln, were seven men killed and twenty-five wounded. In connection with these operations Captain Eccles was shortly after awarded the Military Cross.
Just before we came out of the line Major C. W. Wilson left us for England at his own request. He had not been in good health for some time, and the wound in his foot—a relic of the South African War—bothered him. He was a great loss to the battalion, with which he had served since its formation. His grit and determination, his enthusiasm and energy, were an inspiration to all ranks. His position as Second-in-Command was filled by the Adjutant, Captain Bowring reassuming the latter's duties.
At 2.30 p.m. on October 24th we moved off from our pleasant quarters at Le Cornet and marched back to Willems into Divisional Reserve. We found Willems quite a pleasant little town, and our billets were on the whole good. Battalion Headquarters were situated nearly opposite Divisional Headquarters, and we were thus enabled to renew our acquaintance with the Divisional Staff.
We stayed at Willems till October 30th, and very pleasant it was. We had been on the move almost without a stop since we left Ruitz, and the stay at that place had been no more than a brief pause in our continuous movements which commenced when we left the Scarpe on August 17th, more than two months before. During the two advances—the one on Cambrai, the other on Tournai—dumps had been left at all kinds of places, and we now had to set to work to collect our material and our guards from widely separated spots. This was successfully accomplished in the end, nor was anything of any consequence lost or overlooked in the process.