Needless to say, this particularly daring enterprise—the enemy front had been penetrated to a depth of 700 yards—caused considerable stir, and C.S.M. W. Medley and the Battalion received many congratulations. Lieut.-General R. Haking, in forwarding the report to the Army Commander, wrote: “It is one of the best examples of good patrol work that I have ever heard of.... I am of the opinion that the whole operation was a model of how to carry out an enterprise of this nature.” The Army Commander fully agreed, and spoke of it as “a very fine example of an offensive patrol.” The G.O.C., 147th Infantry Brigade, in congratulating the Battalion on its success after so many disappointments, said “The skilful handling of the commander, and the courage of all ranks was only excelled by their spirit of determination to succeed in their task before returning. Men who have such a spirit cannot be beaten.” For his work on this occasion C.S.M. W. Medley received the Military Cross, and the Military Medal was awarded to four other members of the patrol.
During the latter part of the Battalion’s stay in the area the main feature was the arrival of two divisions of the Portuguese Expeditionary Force, which were to take over that part of the line. They had been excellently equipped by the British Government, but lacked the experience of trench warfare necessary before they could be trusted with the defence of a sector. The front between the River Lys and the La Bassée Canal had always been considered a suitable one for the training of new troops, and so a number of Portuguese units were attached to the 49th Division for instruction. At first, only some officers and N.C.O’s came up to the line for a few days at a time. But, towards the end of April, a whole company was sent up for 48 hours, and from that time, until the Battalion left the sector, there were usually some Portuguese in the line with it. As is usual with troops sent in for instruction, the Portuguese were not entrusted with the actual holding of any part of the line. When a company came up, one of its platoons would be sent to each of the four British companies; the company commander would attach a section to each of his platoons; while the platoon commander would arrange that every Portuguese soldier should be attached to a British soldier, should work with him everywhere, and thus get an idea of the routine of trench life. Language was a difficulty and interpreters were not always available; but, as many of the Portuguese officers and a few of the men had a knowledge of French, this was used whenever possible. Yet, on the whole, though they had no common language, the private soldiers seemed to be able to make themselves better understood than their officers. Another difficulty was accommodation—there was not room for two or three hundred additional men in the shelters; however, as the weather was fine and warm for the time of the year, this was overcome.
Some Portuguese transport men were also sent to the Battalion for instruction, but they learned little. Love of their animals and a high standard in turn-out were strong points with Sergt. Crossley’s men. But the Portuguese were very different. Few of them cared anything for their animals and the majority were deliberately cruel; they knew nothing of “eye-wash” and the appearance of their transport on the road was a standing joke among the British. Their “A” and “Q” departments were also far from efficient. They never seemed to know how many men they had, nor what rations they ought to receive. Certain it was that the Battalion was better off for rations while the Portuguese were in the line with it than it had been before.
When the 147th Infantry Brigade finally left the sector it was taken over by the Portuguese and was held by them until the German offensive in April of the following year.
On May 16th the Battalion was relieved in the Ferme du Bois Sector for the last time and went back into Brigade Reserve.
(b) The Cordonnerie Sector.
Towards the end of May the whole of the 147th Infantry Brigade had been withdrawn from the line, but, as the relief of the other Brigades of the 49th Division by the Portuguese was not complete, the Division could not yet be made use of in any other sector. Just north of the 49th Division was the 57th Division—a Lancashire Territorial Division, recently out from England. The attack on the Messines Ridge by the Second Army was timed to begin early in June, and the 57th Division had to send two battalions to support the flank of that attack. To replace these in the line, the 1/4th and 1/5th Battalions, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment were lent by the 147th Infantry Brigade.
On May 25th the Battalion marched to Estaires, where it remained for one night. The next day it moved to Sailly-sur-la-Lys, and on May 27th it took over the Cordonnerie Sector from the 2/5th Battalion Loyal North Lancashire Regt. Here it came temporarily under the orders of the 170th Infantry Brigade, 57th Division.
The Battalion sector was a very long one—about 2,800 yards—and the front line was very thinly held. It was divided into three company fronts, but each company had only one platoon in the front line, scattered in small posts. At night a second platoon was sent up to patrol between the posts on the company front. The other two platoons were in the support line for garrison and counter-attack. The fourth company also lived in the support line but was held in Battalion Reserve. The defences of this sector were very similar to those which the Battalion had just left, but were in better condition. The New Zealand Division had held the front recently and had done a great deal of work there; the support line was well supplied in parts with concrete dugouts, and two very large dugouts, each of which would easily hold a company, had been constructed by the Maori Pioneer Battalion. There were many communication trenches between the front and support lines, and there was an exceptionally comfortable Battalion H.Q. in a farmhouse which had been knocked about very little. There was a bath-house on the premises, and also a bakery—the pride of the 2/5th Battalion Loyal North Lancs.; but the latter was not used by the Battalion.
Perhaps the most interesting feature of the sector was that it included about half of the old No. 3 Section, Fleurbaix—the very first sector the Battalion had held on coming to France. Its present left extended almost as far as the Convent Wall, and the left communication trench was that very Dead Dog Alley which had been dug by it two years before. There, too, were the graves of the men who had been the first to lay down their lives; these were sought out and put in good repair, for it was always the practice of the Battalion to pay this tribute to its lost ones whenever it had the opportunity. Officers were able to revisit some of their old haunts, particularly Capt. W. C. Fenton who stood again on the Rue des Bassiéres, happily without stopping another machine gun bullet. But how changed were the conditions in other ways! In 1915 the Battalion held a 1,000 yard front with something like 700 men in the front line; in 1917 it was holding a front nearly three times that length with only about 100 men permanently posted in the front line. In 1915 troops depended almost entirely on their rifles to maintain their position; in 1917 they had Lewis and machine guns, artillery and trench mortars, and they preferred to defend their positions by counter-attack rather than by original fire effect.