The period spent in the subsidiary line was very quiet, except for the large wiring parties on the left, for which men were drawn from all the reserve companies. Parties were also withdrawn from the trenches for Lewis gun instruction, and others for baths. The Commanding Officer proceeded on leave on January 8th, which left Captain C. W. Wilson in command.
An amusing incident occurred while Headquarters was in billets by the level-crossing. A guard was posted there to stop anyone not in possession of a pass, and it so happened that they had red flashes behind the cap badge not dissimilar to ours. One day we received from Brigade a letter from Division complaining that the sentry at the level-crossing had not turned out the guard to the G.O.C., but merely sloped arms and tapped the sling. This amused us not a little, and we respectfully replied, first, that we had no guard at the level-crossing, and, secondly, that under no circumstances would a rifleman slope arms!
A draft consisting of 2nd-Lieutenant Hicks and twenty men arrived while we were here, most of the men being returned casualties. On January 13th the battalion was relieved by the 2/10th K.L.R., and moved back to Hollebeque Camp. The first three days in camp saw the whole battalion out on wiring and working parties, day and night, in the Houplines sector. This meant at least an hour and a half's march each way, and it simply streamed with rain. The men were required to complete an elaborate system of wiring in rear of the subsidiary line and in front of some pill-boxes, and also to finish other defences which were being constructed in Nouvel Houplines itself. The nights were of the blackest, and the organization the most inefficient; with the result that six hours were wasted nightly in the most torrential rain. Fuel was indented for and drying-rooms hastily instituted, but the men got so soaked that it was impossible to dry their garments. Fortunately, after our share of working parties was finished, we had three quiet days in which to get dry. We should have had more, only the Lys proceeded to flood the trenches, and the Liverpool Scottish had a bad time. The Scots were nearly drowned, and we were ordered in early to relieve them.
The relief was to take place on January 21st, and that morning Captain Wilson, who had been unwell for some days, was at last removed to hospital seriously ill, and the Adjutant assumed command. The route to the line was viâ Nieppe and Pont de Nieppe, as the Erquinghem Bridge was under water. The battalion moved off at 2 p.m. and proceeded on their long trek to the line. Passing up the road to Pont de Nieppe, it was rather amusing to see some "silent" 6-inch batteries lying like little islands in the sea, with their camouflage showing up beyond any possible hope of concealment. Companies halted one by one in Armentières to put on gum-boots, and an elaborate system of dumps had been arranged in the vicinity of Tissage Dump. The latter, like most complicated systems, proved a failure. Relief was complete at 8.30 p.m., and then one had an opportunity to appreciate the state of the sector. The subsidiary line was dry in the main, but immediately forward of it you got into water, which as you went forward got well over the knees, and in places where the duck-boards were not nailed down you sank up to the top of your thighs. The whole of the support line was knee-deep in water, and so was a great part of the front line; while the last stretch of communication trench in front of the front line was flooded to a considerable depth. Posts Nos. 6 and 7 were completely flooded out and had to be abandoned. The "cricket field" in front of the left company support line was converted into a very fine lake, and it was impossible to see where the Lys began and ended. Movement throughout the sector was most difficult. Many of the duck-boards were floating about, and the mud at the bottom of the water in the trenches was very difficult to negotiate.
Official Photograph by permission of The Imperial War Museum.
THE TRAIL TO PASSCHENDAELE.
Official Photograph by permission of The Imperial War Museum.