The sector was on the whole probably the most remarkable one ever held by the battalion. Representing as it did the high-water mark of a push, it was rather curiously organized. The front line (held by "D" Company) consisted of a number of shell-hole positions, movement along which was impossible in daylight, and three posts in the Houthulst Forest. These latter, as will appear, were mere wooden barricades of a very rough description and absolutely unbulletproof. No cover of any description, either from the weather or from the enemy, existed in any of these posts. There was one pill-box, Colombo House, in what was practically the front-line, and, as usual, with its door facing the enemy. This acted as a kind of advance headquarters for the front-line company.
The next thing in the rear of these scattered posts was a pair of pill-boxes—Ajax House, Battalion Headquarters; and an unnamed one adjoining, which was shared by the front and support company headquarters, "D" and "A" Companies. Ajax House was a magnificent pill-box with a side door; the other one was smaller, and with a door facing the Germans.
Behind Battalion Headquarters came the main line of resistance, Posts "D," "E," "H," and "J," small redoubts organized for all-round resistance; while the counter-attack party of two platoons was considerably farther back at Vee Bend. After about an hour's march back along the duck-boards you came to the reserve company at Gruytezeele, Craonne, and Montmirail Farms; while "C" Company were even more distant, at Lapin Farm. As regards the latter, who were in rear of Brigade Headquarters, it was only after great difficulty that any accommodation could be found for them at all, the fact being that we were much stronger than the 7th Buffs, whom we were relieving.
The relief march up to Battalion Headquarters passed without incident, except for a sudden burst of "whizz-bangs" at Les Cinque Chemins, where, but for the extreme muddiness of the surrounding country, we might have sustained serious casualties. In point of fact, no one was hit with anything worse than lumps of thick mud. The front line company, having now to quit the duck-boards, found their task far from easy. The only key to the situation was a tape line to the various posts, and the going in the Houthulst Forest for those destined for that point was extremely trying. In spite of the heavy shell fire, this was still a large forest; but the number of fallen trees and branches, together with deep pools of mud and water, not to mention miscellaneous stretches of unexpected barbed wire, presented in the dark obstacles to progress of no mean order. At midnight the relief was finally complete, and the 7th Buffs made their way out.
Houthulst Forest Sector.
To face Page [150].
With the exception of the two days in the line in front of Langemarck, the conditions for the men in the front line were probably as unpleasant as at any time in France. The shell-hole posts were literally shell-holes, with the very minimum done to improve them as habitations for six or seven men. The exact locality of the respective British and German front lines was to either side somewhat vague, and we were anxious that the men should not give away their positions by elaborating their shell-holes to such an extent that they would be obviously artificial when examined on an aeroplane photograph. The comfort of this form of abode will be better appreciated when one realizes that the best pattern had been deepened to allow of a sump pit in the centre, across which duck-boards had been fixed to keep the inhabitants above water level. No movement was possible in daylight even in the vicinity of Battalion Headquarters. "Tommy cookers" were allowed in the front line by day, and one man at a time was allowed to smoke.
In the forest itself conditions were slightly better, though the wretched breastworks erected for the protection of the posts were only hurdles of the flimsiest description. The proximity, or the reverse, of the enemy was quite uncertain, and the surrounding mass of gloomy trees and undergrowth was calculated to produce a feeling of considerable uneasiness in the minds of the occupants, which was hardly to be wondered at.
Colombo House was a small pill-box with a large door facing the enemy. The atmosphere within baffles all description. So bad, indeed, was it that the Regimental Sergeant-Major, immediately after entering it, had hastily to withdraw for the purpose of being violently sick. Ajax, on the other hand, never reached quite such a condition. It was a large concrete erection, with walls and roof of reinforced concrete about eight feet thick, much scarred with direct hits, but quite sound. It was square, with a doorway at the side which was protected by a sand-bag wall. In the centre was a huge concrete pillar supporting the roof, and round this the occupants sat on forms. On this occasion the party consisted of the Commanding Officer, Adjutant, and the Intelligence Officer, the Regimental Sergeant-Major, a cook and a servant, six signallers, three gunner signallers, two wireless operators, and some runners. Here we sat from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. There were two bunks in the corner which we shared in turn, and we had two Primus stoves for cooking purposes. The Company Headquarters next door was also a strong pill-box, but owing to the door facing the enemy it had to be entered and quitted after dark with great caution, for fear the light should shine towards the Germans.