On November 12th a move was made to the Bouvelinghem area, still further from the line. The 156th Brigade found billets in Bas Loquin and Warlez, the 162nd in Alquines, Le Buisson and Haute Planque. Billets were none too good and horse lines had to be set up in the open, but the surrounding country was more suitable for the advanced training which now became possible, and in real earnest did the instruction and drilling of the batteries set in. Gun drill and driving drill became a daily affair, while battery staff work and manœuvring in the open were added to the curriculum. Training of every description, combined with sports, races and concerts, kept the men busy and contented, with the result that efficiency and smartness appeared once more and the havoc of the autumn became almost completely effaced. As the month wore on and time for a return into action drew near the condition of the batteries grew daily better, and by the end of November it could fairly be said that both brigades had very nearly reached their old high standard once more.
It had been generally understood that a bare four weeks of rest could be hoped for, and that the end of the month would see a return into action. On November 22nd Brigadier-General Stewart and his staff had moved up to the Menin Gate at Ypres to take over command of the artillery covering the infantry of the 33rd Division, then holding the line at Passchendaele, and daily the order was expected for the batteries to follow. Semi-officially it had been stated that the brigades would be in action by December 3rd, but night set in on November 30th without any warning order having been received, and the line was distant a full three days' march. It was difficult to believe that, with so much time to spare for the issuing of warning orders, any sudden move could be contemplated, yet that was actually what took place. At five o'clock on the evening of Saturday, December 1st, orders were received for the batteries to march at 8.0 A.M. on the following morning and, moreover, to be in action by the evening of December 3rd.
Such haste, such rushing and such short notice seemed strange, in view of the fact that for over a week the batteries might have had the preliminary notice; yet fourteen hours, and fourteen hours of darkness at that, was all the warning that was received, and far into the night the detachments laboured by the light of lanterns, packing the vehicles and getting ready to move at daybreak. To reach the line in two days meant a very considerable march table for each day, and Zermezeele had accordingly been fixed as the billeting area of the batteries for the night of December 2nd/3rd. Late in that evening and in darkness the brigades, after a long day of trekking, laboured in to the lines allotted to them and hastily settled for the night, as an early start was ordered to be made on the following day.
ORDER OF BATTLE.
December 1917—March 1918.
| H.Q.R.A. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| C.R.A. | Brigade Major. | Staff Captain. | |
| Brig.-Gen. C. G. Stewart, C.M.G., D.S.O. | Major T. E. Durie, D.S.O., M.C. | Capt. W. E. Bownass, M.C. | |
| 156th Brigade. | |||
| Lieut.-Colonel B. A. B. Butler, D.S.O. | |||
| Adjutant: Capt. H. W. Smail, M.C. | |||
| "A" Battery. | "B" Battery. | "C" Battery. | "D" Battery. |
| Major F. B. Carrell. | Major M. A. Studd, M.C. | Major Barker, D.S.O., M.C. | Major D. Jones, M.C. |
| Capt. S. G. Taylor. | |||
| 162nd Brigade. | |||
| Lieut.-Colonel E. J. Skinner, D.S.O. | |||
| Adjutant: Capt. R. H. Pavitt. | |||
| "A" Battery. | "B" Battery. | "C" Battery. | "D" Battery. |
| Major W. G. Pringle, M.C. | Major H. C. Cory, M.C. | Major M. M. I. Body, M.C. | Major F. L. Lee, M.C. |
| Major G. Fetherston, M.C. | |||
At daybreak on December 3rd the march was resumed, and now further rush tactics were adopted. The personnel of one section per battery was conveyed to Ypres by motor lorry while the remainder of the batteries continued the march by road, for it was intended to take over a portion of the battery positions that very night in the line, so that on the following morning the 33rd Divisional Artillery would be able to assume responsibility for the artillery support of the zone without further delay. By midday these advance parties had "debussed" at Potijze Château, where guides were waiting for them, and by three o'clock in the afternoon control of one section per battery had been taken over, while every battery commander was busying himself in learning from his "opposite number" the zone to be covered and the general characteristics of the battery position itself. Thus the programme had been adhered to, and by the evening of the 3rd a portion of the relief was carried out; just forty-eight hours after the receipt of the warning order, and thirty-six hours since the beginning of the march from a training area so far distant as to be within ten miles of Boulogne, two guns per battery of both brigades were in action once more.
While all this had been going on at the gun line, the remainder of the brigades had marched to the wagon-lines which they were to occupy during such time as the batteries were in action—the 156th Brigade taking over an area 1,200 yards south-east of Vlamertinghe, where permanent huts and stables were being built on either side of the road, while to the 162nd Brigade had been allotted an open area half a mile west of Ypres, between Goldfish Château and Belgian Battery Corner. These lines were reached late on the evening of the 3rd and were extremely difficult to get into, in the case of the 162nd Brigade, owing to the fact that the approaches from the road were rendered quite impassable by mud. A most uncomfortable night was spent on the side of the road, and not until daylight came was there any chance of getting horses and men into their permanent "billets"—mud lines and tents in the month of December! Longer notice, less rushing and a spreading of the march over three days would have meant much to both horses and men, yet the programme had been organised and ordered by some Higher Command which was for ever impressing upon Divisional Artilleries the importance of the care of horses and the need of avoiding any unnecessary overwork or strain!
On Tuesday, December 4th, the remaining two sections per battery marched up to the gun line, led by guides from the advance parties, and completed the relief of the outgoing units, the 26th and 311th Army Field Artillery Brigades. The 156th Brigade together with D/162 formed No. 1 Group of the artillery covering the divisional front and was placed under the command of 158th Brigade Headquarters, while Lieut.-Colonel Skinner (162nd Brigade) commanded No. 2 Group which comprised the 18-pdr. batteries of his own brigade. This was, however, only a temporary arrangement, for on December 17th Lieut.-Colonel Butler (156th Brigade) took over command of No. 1 Group which was enlarged to contain the whole of the 33rd Divisional Artillery, while Colonel Skinner and his headquarters moved out to the wagon-line, leaving the 186th Brigade to form No. 2 Group.
