On the 1st December we moved back once more into Albert, via Laviville and Millencourt, preparatory to going into the line. While behind the line we had a strenuous time cleaning and repairing the roads. The Corps Commander issued a special Order, stating that "He wished to place on record his great appreciation of the work done by the troops on the roads, railways, and tramlines during our last six weeks in the Corps area, and that with the adverse conditions he fully realised the great amount of extra work which it involved, but trusted that all ranks would realise how essential the work was in view of future operations, and, further, for their own welfare."
Moving into "Scots Redoubt," on the 16th, we once more took up our duty in the front line. By this time trench feet began to appear—a trouble which always existed during the mud, cold and wet of winter. It was a satisfaction to know, however, that the Highland Brigade suffered less in this respect than any other brigade in the Division, the possible reason being the wearing of hose tops instead of puttees. When the puttee gets wet it is very apt to shrink and press upon the leg, interfering with the circulation. The Highlanders, however, were able to wear two pairs of hose tops, thereby keeping the men's legs warm without interfering with the circulation, by pressing the feet into boots when wearing two pairs of socks. They acted the same way as mittens do for the hands. It is pleasing to realise that the Highland garb once more proved of value as a fighting kit. In order to prevent trench feet all men had to rub their feet and legs with whale oil. This order had to be carried out most strictly, fault always being found if it was not done.
On one occasion, when some men were in the outpost line for 12 hours—which consisted of a small shell-hole full of water—one of them developed trench feet on his return. Fault was found because he had gone 12 hours without oiling his feet, even although he had done so immediately before going on and coming off duty. On it being pointed out that it was impossible for a man to go through this performance while standing in water in an exposed shell-hole, the reply came back that there was no reason why he should not stand on one foot, lift the other out of the water, oil it and put it back again! A performance which no doubt seemed simple to those behind the lines, but was not so easily carried out in practice. Another point which was insisted on was trying to get the men to put on dry socks. Of course it was quite impossible to dry the socks in the line, but some genius behind the lines was struck with the brilliant idea that the men should carry a sock in each trouser pocket, which would be an effective way of drying them. This order was circulated around the whole of the Highland Brigade, without anybody realising the difficulty that a man in the kilt would have in finding his trouser pockets!
No movement could take place near the outpost lines in daylight, which necessitated the C.O. and others, if they wished to see the outpost and forward lines, making a tour just before sunrise. Hardly was there a day that the Brigadier and his staff did not go round these posts, no matter whether they were deep in mud or snow. There being no continuous line of trenches, it was the simplest thing to lose one's way. One morning an officer who had just relieved one of the posts, bringing with him the rum ration, set out to walk over to the next post in order to give them their ration. It was a foggy morning with snow on the ground, and, unfortunately, he missed the post and wandered on into the German lines, the Battalion thereby losing a very capable officer and also the rum ration, which from the men in the post's point of view, was possibly the more serious. The enemy, however, were apt to do the same, and on more than one occasion we got German prisoners who had wandered from their own line.
We were unfortunate enough to have to spend Christmas in the front line, but were relieved on Christmas night, and moved back to Shelter Wood. It was quite impossible to hold our Christmas and New Year dinner there, as the camps were hardly more comfortable than the front line. The mud was indescribable, and it was with the greatest difficulty that ordinary rations could be got. Thanks to the sea of mud, it was not possible to distinguish between the points where the road was solid and where there was a shell hole. It was no uncommon sight to see a mule team up to their necks in water. Sometimes it even necessitated the wretched animals being destroyed. One of the senior officers took it upon himself to try and cope with the mud in the camp, and was promptly appointed "O.C. Mud!" His system was to cut trenches into which the mud was pushed by means of a kind of shovel, then everybody stood along the trench armed with more of these shovels and kept the mud on the move till it reached the edge of the camp. The idea was good, but unfortunately mud seemed to be created as quickly as it was removed, and for those moving about at night these trenches with their slimy contents were regular traps.
In consequence of the difficulties of transport all stores were very short, especially coal. One had, therefore, to resort to all kinds of means in order to get fuel. Luckily, what once had been beautiful woods were situated near the camp, but now all the trees were smashed and torn up by artillery. There were strict orders, however, that no wood should be cut without permission being received from the French Woods and Forests Department, Paris. The acting C.O. used, therefore, to sally forth into the wood with a party of men to collect fuel, much to the fear of the Adjutant, who always expected to see him arrested for doing so. He, however, calmed his conscience (if that was necessary) by only removing the fallen timber.
It was our fate to spend Hogmanay of this year once again in the front line. It was generally expected that the Boches would do something to celebrate the occasion, but luckily our prophecies proved wrong.
We could look back on the old year 1916, with pride. We had done a lot of hard work and strenuous fighting. In spite of heavy casualties, the Battalion was as keen and efficient as ever. Our successes had added to our esprit de corps. We were no longer a new Battalion without a history. We could now draw inspiration from the feats of arms we had ourselves accomplished, as well as from that of the old Regiment to which we were all so proud to belong.
Sometimes one wonders if the ardour of the work, apart from its discomfort and danger, is fully realised by those who never experienced it. How often has one heard those at home remark: "Oh, yes, while you fellows are fighting, we are doing our bit at home—we have curtailed our holidays, and we don't get away from our work till 6 and 7 at night." Even Staff Officers would impress on you the long hours they worked, and without doubt most of them did work hard: an officer at G.H.Q. would be in his office by 9 a.m., and, with the exception of meal hours and an hour for necessary exercise, he would not leave his duties till after 10 p.m. While all this is admitted, yet it would be wrong to imagine that the Regimental Officer did not also have long hours. Moreover, when his work was done he had no comfortable bed in which to rest. Even to take one's clothes off was looked upon as a luxury. It might be of interest, therefore, to put on record an ordinary day's work of a Company Commander in the line.
During the day he was kept busy with inspecting his line, visits from Staff Officer, making up returns, answering correspondence, organising night working parties, indenting for material, and the many other matters of the daily routine. At night again, when the rations came up, the C.Q.M.S. would arrive for instructions regarding pay, rations, detailing of men for leave, courses, etc. After that he had working parties to visit, sentries to be inspected, examining localities which could not be visited in daylight, officers coming from patrols to interview, prepare and write out patrol and other reports which had to be at Brigade Headquarters before 6 a.m. These are some of the duties which occupied him during the night. From this it can be realised that the officer in the line generally got two or three hours sleep at odd intervals during the night, and with luck another two hours during the day. And remember that he had to sleep often in a damp shelter or draughty dug-out in his wet clothes without even a valise to lie on, many a time with not so much as a blanket to roll round him. When behind the line in "rest billets" he was more comfortable, as he would have his "flea-bag" on the floor of a Nissen hut, but still he was hard worked. His day was occupied with training, clothing, etc., and his evening with preparing training programmes and the many other details of running a Company. There were also night working parties of which he would have to take his turn every third or fourth night, when he would be up until 3 or 4 in the morning. From this the civilian who thinks he was hard worked by doing eight hours a day without any days off (on big pay) can realise that the soldier was doing as much, if not more, with all the discomforts and risks over and above.