With the exception of its first tour, the Battalion always held the extreme left sector. Its left flank rested on the River Ancre and its right on Union Street, the length of front being about a thousand yards. All four companies held portions of the front line, and, tour after tour, they returned to the same positions—A, B, C, D from right to left. No Man’s Land varied from about 250 to 400 yards in width. Along it, and roughly parallel to the opposing lines, lay the sunken Thiepval Road. Crowded as it was with the bodies of the Ulstermen, who had fallen or crawled there to die on July 1st, this road was a ghastly place. The British front line lay along the north and north-eastern edges of Thiepval Wood. Hewn out of the chalk, the trenches had been comparatively good up to the opening of the battle; but the fearful hammering they had since received had almost obliterated them in many places. There were some good deep dugouts, but not nearly enough to accommodate all the men. The communication trenches, which led back to Battalion H.Q. and the crossings over the Ancre, were badly constructed and sited; the main ones lay along, or just beside, the chief rides in the wood, and they were so straight that they could easily be enfiladed by the enemy artillery.
Battalion H.Q. was at Gordon Castle. There, too, accommodation was scanty. Some attempts were made to improve it, but these were greatly hampered by enemy shelling. In particular, a bath-house was planned and, after a week’s hard work, was completed, only to be demolished the following morning by a shell. Nothing daunted, Lieut. J. T. Riley set to work to rebuild it. But the second attempt had no more success than the first. The very night the building was pronounced ready for use, another shell knocked off one of the corners. That was too much. The yearning for cleanliness had to remain unsatisfied, while the remnants of the building were used for the holding of the numerous courts of enquiry which were so popular about that time.
Throughout this period, though the role of the Battalion was the purely passive one of holding a portion of the line, that line was situated right in the middle of a furious battle. The first attacks on Thiepval had failed; but the very substantial successes, which were being gained further to the south, were gradually turning the defences of that village on the east. The enemy undoubtedly feared a repetition of the attack, made by the X. Corps on July 1st. His artillery was always active, and often regular barrages would fall on the wood. The front line came in for a great deal of attention, and it was only by much labour that posts at all fit for occupation could be maintained. Elgin and Inniskilling Avenues, the two chief communication trenches to Battalion H.Q., were often enfiladed by field guns. But the worst shelled area of all was the Ancre, in the neighbourhood of which ration-carrying parties had a very bad time. As the weeks dragged on the wood became thinner and thinner, until all the trenches were easily visible to aircraft and even to ground observers. Then artillery, from the heights north of the river near Beaumont Hamel, began to take the wood in enfilade, and caused much damage. But, apart from artillery fire the enemy was not very aggressive. There was not much rifle fire, and, except to repel a definite attack, machine guns were little used. Taking everything into account, the casualties suffered by the Battalion were not excessive. They were constant—it is doubtful whether a day passed without some men being killed or wounded—but they were not out of proportion to the enormous weight of artillery fire.
Since the early days of July, the direct attacks on Thiepval had been discontinued, and a defensive policy had been adopted on that sector, for the time being. Nevertheless, there was considerable activity, every effort being made to pin the enemy to his ground, and to distract his attention as much as possible from the operations of the Fourth Army on the right. The British artillery fire never slackened; day after day, and week after week, the deluge of shells was kept up. This fire was supplemented by the trench mortars, with which the troops were now much better supplied. Considerable use was made of the new Lewis guns, especially at night; and C.S.M. McNulty was again to the fore with his Winchester. Minor demonstrations were constantly being made, with the object of deceiving the enemy and making him believe that an attack was imminent. The following order, from 147th Infantry Brigade, is an example of what the Battalion was frequently called upon to do:—
“The Army Commander wishes everything possible to be done to keep the enemy in front of the Division on the alert, make him man his parapets and get him under our shrapnel fire.
With this object the following demonstration will be made to induce the enemy to man his parapets. At 1-0 p.m. to-day as many bayonets as possible will be shown along the whole front of the Brigade as if assault is imminent and timed for 1-0 p.m. For five or ten minutes previous to this hour whistles should be blown at intervals along the front as if signals were being made. The tops of ladders or trench grids should be shown over the parapets. The artillery immediately after 1-0 p.m. will open bombardment on enemy front and support trenches, especially on those trenches which can be taken in enfilade.
Any other device which can lead the enemy in front line to expect an assault at 1-0 p.m. should also be employed and Machine guns will fire during the artillery bombardment.”
On several occasions smoke barrages were put up by the Battalion. For this purpose, special emplacements were constructed about every twenty-five yards along the front line, and from these smoke bombs were thrown out into No Man’s Land. Usually the wind changed just before zero hour and Thiepval Wood was enveloped in a wonderful haze of smoke. There can be no doubt that these activities met with a certain amount of success. This was amply proved by the speed with which the enemy put down his defensive barrages time after time.
Patrolling too was very active. It was mainly carried out by the Battalion H.Q. Scouts, and much very useful, and often dangerous, work was done by them. In particular, some extremely daring and skilful patrols were done by Sec.-Lieut. H. H. Aykroyd, the Battalion Intelligence Officer, in the Ancre valley, for which he was awarded the Military Cross. On one occasion, when visiting the neighbouring battalion’s post at the Mill, he had the unpleasant experience of being mistaken for an enemy patrol, and was heavily bombed.
Reliefs were carried out with the 5th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s Regiment every few days and soon became very simple, for companies always occupied the same positions, both in the front line and in reserve. Battalion H.Q. only had to move about two hundred yards from Gordon Castle to Belfast City. When in Brigade Reserve, two companies were in support to each of the battalions in the front line. During the day there was little to do, but at night working parties had to be found. It was a dreary life, though enlivened occasionally by the exploits of the Intelligence Officer. He it was who, whilst engaged in a scientific investigation of German flares, nearly burnt out Battalion H.Q. To him also was due the wondrous camouflaging of Belfast City, the remains of which may still be seen in Thiepval Wood.