The long and unbroken spell in Thiepval Wood caused much hardship to the men. There were no facilities for cooking, and so all food had to be sent up cooked from the transport lines. For six weeks, no one had a decently-prepared dinner. Supplies of clean clothing were not often available, and baths for the men were absolutely impossible. It can be imagined what an awful state they got into, living as they were under filthy conditions during the hottest season of the year, with never a chance of a good wash. At first some men bathed in the Ancre, but this was very dangerous owing to the thick weeds; after a man had been accidentally drowned there about the middle of July, all bathing was strictly forbidden. There can be no doubt that this long period of harassing and filthy conditions seriously affected the men physically.
Towards the end of July, Lieut.-Col. E. G. St. Aubyn came back to the Battalion. From that time, until August 19th, Major J. Walker and Capt. A. L. Mowat shared the duties of second-in-command, taking turns in the line and with the rear echelon.
During July work had consisted mainly of keeping the front line in a habitable condition, and repairing the communication trenches, which were continually being damaged by shell fire. Many bodies too were recovered from No Man’s Land and decently buried. But, about the beginning of August, the digging of the famous parallels began. It had been decided to renew the frontal attack on the sector from Thiepval to the River Ancre, but, after the experience of July 1st, No Man’s Land in that area was considered too wide to attack across successfully. Hence it was determined to push forward the British front line by digging a series of trenches in No Man’s Land. These “parallels” stretched from the Ancre to the top of Inniskilling Avenue, the foremost being roughly along the line of the sunken road, though on the extreme right it crossed the road. In other words, the front on which they were dug corresponded almost exactly with the Battalion sub-sector. Practically none of the actual digging was done by men of the Battalion, but, whenever they were occupying the front line, they had to find covering parties for the work. Every night, as soon as it was dark enough to conceal movement, one platoon per company moved out into No Man’s Land, and took up a line along the northern edge of the sunken road. There they remained so long as the work was in progress. Company Commanders took turns in charge of the whole covering party. The actual working parties—nearly a thousand men nightly—were provided by the 148th Infantry Brigade. Really this number was much too big. Heavy shelling had reduced the communication trenches in Thiepval Wood to a very derelict condition; the movement of large parties along them became very slow, and much time was wasted in coming and going. No Man’s Land too became very congested. As a result, the amount of work done on the parallels was small compared with the number of men engaged.
The work of the covering parties proved tedious, but not particularly dangerous. The enemy infantry made practically no attempt to interfere with the digging, and only once was a party of Germans encountered. It happened in this way. An officer of A Company was on the right of the covering party one night. Following a not uncommon practice of his, he was moving about alone, when he saw a party of men, a little way off on the flank, who did not appear to be working. He went up and gently exhorted them to get on with their job. A chorus of gutterals was his answer, as an affrighted party of Germans made off. But though the enemy infantry was comparatively inactive, this cannot be said of his artillery. Even if the actual working parties were not observed the first night, the results of their labours cannot have escaped the German observers the next day, for the newly-turned chalk showed very white on the ground. From that time the enemy made a practice of putting down a barrage regularly soon after midnight, and there were many casualties among the crowds of men in No Man’s Land. But the barrage did not seriously affect the covering parties, which escaped with very little loss. The parallels were nearly complete before the Battalion left Thiepval Wood, and had been absorbed into the front line system.
Thiepval Wood.
1916.
All things considered, there was not much recognition of the good work done by the men of the Battalion at this period. Mention has already been made of the Military Cross awarded to Sec.-Lieut. H. H. Aykroyd. The only other officer to receive that decoration was Sec.-Lieut. F. V. Blackwell, who was brought to notice by a daring daylight patrol, which resulted in the recovery of several machine guns lost by the British on July 1st. R.S.M. F. P. Stirzaker was also awarded the Military Cross, more for his continuous gallant work than for any specific act; throughout all this period he earned a magnificent name for hard work, devotion to duty and gallantry. But he was not the first warrant officer of the Battalion to receive the Military Cross. That honour had already been won by C.S.M. (now R.Q.M.S.) W. Lee, for conspicuous gallantry while the Battalion was near Ypres in 1915, particularly for his conduct on that never-to-be-forgotten December 19th.
The longest tour comes to an end at last. On August 19th the 9th Battalion Loyal North Lancs. Regt. relieved the Battalion, which moved back to billets near Raincheval. There it remained until August 27th. The 49th Division was at last to be thrown into the attack, and the time at Raincheval was mainly occupied with special assault training. A facsimile of the enemy trenches, which formed the objectives, had been taped out, and over this the men practised every morning. The rest of each day was occupied with the thousand and one preparations essential to the success of any operation.
When the Battalion first moved back to Raincheval, the operation was expected to take place within a very few days. But, like so many of the British attacks, it was postponed. It was a pity that the Battalion did not know from the very first how long a time it would have out of the line. The men were very run down after their long spell in Thiepval Wood, and much might have been done to improve their condition. Instead, they were kept for many days in that nervous state which must precede every attack, and the period of rest could not be utilised nearly so fully as it might have been. Even after a move had been made to Forceville on August 27th, the exact date of zero day still remained for a time in doubt. At length the attack was definitely fixed for September 3rd.