It was always a remarkable thing to us who lived there that Crown Prince House was not shelled. It was a large house in full view of the enemy, standing quite isolated at the side of a long straight road. It must have been very tempting to the German gunners, who liked to see the red dust rise from a direct hit on a house. There was no sort of cellar accommodation worth mentioning. Signals had the only cellar, and that was but half underground. We used to encourage one another by saying that the Germans could not shell the house without committing lèse majesté (the Crown Prince was reputed once to have made his Headquarters there), though some very recent shell-holes at the entrance seemed to prove that they were prepared occasionally to risk being guilty of that serious offence. As a matter of fact, the Headquarters of a South Lancashire Battalion were soon afterwards shelled out of the house, and a very unpleasant proceeding they found it.
The only other excitement was the sudden arrival of a shell in Armentières; not by the railway-station, a place not infrequently shelled in retaliation for a 12-inch railway mounting gun which used to come up there occasionally, but right into the town, and only just over the Rue de Lille. This single shell caused quite a sensation, but as nothing more happened we concluded that the enemy had let off a gun by mistake.
On March 13th after dinner the battalion (less "D" Company) moved off to billets in the Rue Dormoire, the 2/5th South Lancashire Regiment moving in at the same moment. In spite of all precautions, the congestion of traffic was very great for a short time, but was soon straightened out. We crossed Rue Marle Level Crossing, then left-handed up the Boulevard Faidherbe, and so round to the Armentières Level Crossing. The route after that was the main road through Erquinghem, about a mile beyond which lay our new area. Headquarters was situated in a fine old seventeenth-century farmhouse, built round the usual quadrangle, with its usual vast heap of manure. Two sides were flanked by a moat which you crossed by a brick bridge, entering the farm through an archway. Opposite the entrance, and on the other side of the road, was a large open field with a duck-board track running across it, which led to two blocks of Nissen huts, occupied by "C" and "D" Companies, the latter not expected to arrive from the subsidiary line before midnight; though, owing to confusion over the transport for the Lewis gunners, this estimate proved highly optimistic. Continuing down the lane past Battalion Headquarters—and an unpleasant lane it was, full of the most appalling holes and ruts, and deep in liquid mud which concealed many a sharp stone and pitfall—you eventually arrived at a group of farms. Here "A" and "B" Companies were accommodated in large barns in which great tiers of bunks had been erected. These were promptly nicknamed the "birdcage."
Reconnoitring of emergency routes and schemes for the reinforcing of divisions in front or on the flanks again came to the fore. Though all was quiet in our neighbourhood, considerable activity was apparent at night north of the Lys opposite the Messines Ridge, where bursting shrapnel and coloured lights were eloquent of raids in progress. Working parties (of a minimum strength of a platoon) and training became once more the order of the day. Rifle-grenade practice with "Newtons" was very popular, even after Lance-Corporal Cathels and a rifleman had been injured by the bursting of the breech of a rifle.
CHAPTER IV
ARMENTIÈRES UP TO GAS ATTACK
On April 19th we received orders to reconnoitre the Boutillerie sector, held by the 2/5th King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, with a view to early relief; and the Commanding Officer, Adjutant, and Company Commanders proceeded the same day to Foray House, the "King's Own" Headquarters. This sector was a combination of the old Boutillerie trenches, held by us in February, and the trenches on our immediate right. There had been several British and enemy raids since then, and the damage caused had been considerable. The difficulty of maintaining 2,800 yards of front in a decent state of repair throughout its whole length had further impaired the condition of the trenches, and we were not surprised to find serious signs of decay on every hand. Our first experience, moreover, of walking quite considerable distances—i.e., several hundred yards—without finding a trace of the defenders proved very instructive, and showed us what to expect for the future. The next day (April 20th, 1917) these orders were cancelled, and we were now informed that on the 26th we were to take over the Houplines sector in front of Armentières from the Australians. We set out once more on a tour of exploration. We rode to the Australian Brigade Headquarters in the Rue Jesuit, and thence on foot along the Houplines road to Tissage Dump, where the trenches began.
Those who now saw Armentières for the first time might well be impressed by the feeling of desolation which prevailed. The silent, shuttered houses, the empty streets, the ruins and the débris were familiar from the villages which had been already visited, but nowhere hitherto had the picture been on so large a scale as here. Armentières had been a bright and busy town before the war, with a population of some 30,000 people. Large spinning factories, fine houses and handsome shops abounded. Many of the streets, it is true, still contained quite a number of inhabitants; but as you made your way down the Rue Jesuit towards the line, fewer and fewer grew the signs of any civil population, and more and more battered became the houses. It is a long walk to Tissage Dump. On the left you soon passed Barbed-Wire Square, then quite a pleasant grass-grown square with young trees just beginning to bud. In the far corner a wonderful green and blue tiled house had apparently been the residence of a lady fortune-teller. The next landmark was the level-crossing, beside which a huge church bell was suspended on a wooden frame to give warning against gas. The road a little farther on swung round first to the right, past some very dilapidated workmen's cottages of a curious blue tint; and then to the left, where stood L'Octroi d'Houplines, the familiar little wooden erection to be found on the outskirts of every French town. This had been hit by a shell; it was a corner of ill repute, and the board bearing its title hung at an acute angle, being only supported by a fastening at one end. On the left of the road, next to the factory belonging to an English firm, stood Von Kluck's house, alleged to have been once the Headquarters of that famous General, and now used as the A.D.S., which for many months escaped a direct hit, while neighbouring houses were all but obliterated. A strip of open country followed; on the left, a wilderness of ruins and marshland, with a glimpse of 18-pounders cleverly concealed; on the right, loop-holed screening with a considerable view of the country beyond.
Nouvel Houplines (often thought to be Houplines itself, which was close to the river) consisted of two main streets forming an acute angle. At the junction stood Tissage Dump, where R.E. material for the line was stored. In the adjoining houses were a pioneer workshop, an observation post, the canteen, and the regimental aid post. The trench tram line (a continuation of the ordinary tram line from Armentières) divided here, one line running up alongside Gloucester Avenue to the trenches, the other following round to Durham Castle and other dumps. Several tall factory chimneys were grouped about this spot, all used as observation posts, and rejoicing in colonial names difficult to pronounce. Most of them bore signs of shell fire, one having been pierced right through close to its base, another having a large piece taken right out of its side.