The period too was one of fads which, though they sometimes irritated, often provided a certain amount of amusement. Chief among these were the “Silent Days,” and the wearing of small box respirators. At first the term “silent day” was not very well understood. One company, it is said, suspended all firing, and did not even retaliate when fired upon. But the real purpose was to compel battalions to use means of communication other than the telephone. For twenty-four hours the use of the telephone, either for speaking or buzzing, was forbidden, except in cases of emergency. So pigeons, power buzzers, Lucas lamps, and all the other devices, which had formerly been looked upon as things for signallers to learn but never to use, were pressed into service. The increased use of the power buzzer and wireless speedily showed up the ignorance of certain ciphers, which all officers were supposed to be acquainted with. The wearing of small box respirators was another fad, intended to familiarise all with their use. About every other day, orders would be received that they were to be worn continuously by all ranks during certain hours, and that work was to be continued as if nothing unusual were happening. The practice was mildly resented by some, who thought they had to wear them quite enough when there actually was gas about, without being put to the discomfort of wearing them needlessly. Elaborate precautions were taken to ensure that everyone did wear them at the times stated, and there was unholy delight in the Battalion when two Brigade runners were caught one day not complying with the orders.
During the time the Battalion was holding the Reutel Sector the weather was, on the whole, good. Though trench strength was high, accommodation was not very crowded. All companies had their trench cook-houses, and hot meals were as regular as if the Battalion had been in rest. The transport men were having an easy time, for rations were brought up to Crucifix Dump, not far from the Butte, by light railway. The Quarter Masters of the Brigade took it in turns to come up in charge of the ration train.
The first tour of duty in the Reutel Sector was not a specially eventful one. On February 25th the enemy heavily shelled the front line near the well, blowing in the parapet, causing several casualties, and burying the garrison of a machine gun post. C.S.M. W. Brooke was among the wounded. On this occasion Cpl. H. Kane, M.M., of D Company, behaved with the greatest gallantry. Going to the assistance of the buried men, he quietly set to work to dig them out, and succeeded in doing this, in spite of the heavy bombardment which continued round him, and the fact that he was in full view of an enemy pill-box only about a hundred yards away. For this gallant act he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Early on the morning of February 28th a heavy counter-preparation was put down in front of the line, the higher commands fearing an enemy attack from the direction of Polderhoek Chateau. Except for a certain amount of enemy retaliation, nothing happened. Much attention was paid to the enemy pill-box in front of the Right Company, which has already been mentioned. The Battalion had been detailed to carry out a raid during its next tour, and this pill-box had been selected as the objective.
On March 2nd the Battalion was relieved by the 1/5th Battalion York and Lancs. Regt., and moved to Maida Camp. Here training was carried on as well as possible, but was much hampered by lack of suitable ground. The platoon which had been selected to carry out the raid was sent to the 147th Infantry Brigade School to train, as it was to be left out of the line until the night before the raid. When the Battalion returned to the line, after its six days’ rest, preparations for the raid were completed. The plan was as follows:—
1. The objective was the enemy pill-box already described, which lay rather more than a hundred yards from the line. To the right of it lay an old British tank, stranded and abandoned in one of the attacks of the previous autumn, and known to be occupied by the enemy sometimes.
2. The raiding party was to consist of Sec.-Lieut. L. Gumby and 31 other ranks (one complete platoon) of D Company. Two men of the 147th Light Trench Mortar Battery accompanied the party, carrying with them short-fused Stokes mortar shells, to damage the pill-box.
3. At zero hour (7-0 a.m.) the party was to advance in four sections, one on each flank of the pill-box, one towards it, and one towards the tank.
4. A creeping barrage was to cover the advance, while enemy positions in the vicinity were to be engaged by artillery and trench mortars.
Zero hour had been fixed after dawn as the broken nature of the ground made an advance in the dark extremely difficult.
