(c) Bailleul.
About a mile from Bailleul the road to Armentiéres almost touches the railway. It was at this point that 147th Infantry Brigade H.Q. was established, the battalions occupying positions in the fields just to the south of the railway. The position was not really intended to be a defensive one, for other troops were well out in front of the Brigade. Nevertheless, the men dug in, and patrols were pushed out down the roads. The rest of the night passed quietly.
On April 12th, though there were some mild alarms during the morning, nothing special happened until after mid-day. Occasional shells burst near the Battalion’s positions, one of which wounded Sec.-Lieut. F. Akroyd. But about 1-0 p.m. a heavy bombardment opened, and quickly drove Battalion H.Q. from its cottage to seek a hole in the ground, among the slits which had been dug the previous night. Intermittent shelling went on for the whole afternoon and caused several casualties, among them being Lieut. B. M. Machin and Sergt. F. Firth, the pioneer sergeant.
About 4-0 p.m. the Commanding Officer, who had been to Brigade H.Q., returned with the alarming news that the enemy had entered Bailleul from the west. The Battalion was ordered to move at once and expel him. Company commanders were summoned, and columns were detailed to enter the town by different roads. The operation was carried out with unexpected ease. The report was found to be incorrect. Nothing of the enemy could be seen in Bailleul; in fact, the town was deserted, except for an Australian corporal who had just set fire to the Australian Comforts Store, much to the disgust of the Battalion which could have done with many of the articles thus destroyed. The companies moved through the deserted town and established a picquet line in the fields to the west of it, roughly along the line of the Becque de la Flanche, and covering all the roads in that direction.
Up to this time there had been little activity in the area occupied by battalions of the 147th Infantry Brigade. But early in the evening the advanced troops began rapidly to retire through them. Numbers of stragglers of different units entered Bailleul from the south, and the situation began to look serious. It was restored by Capt. Fenton, who took charge of a number of stragglers and posted them with D Company, in and around Bailleul Station. About this time the enemy began to shell the town, possibly attracted by the fire at the Australian Comforts Store, which was now burning furiously. One shell burst near a group of H.Q. details, as they were marching up the Station Road, killing one and wounding about fifteen of them.
When darkness fell the dispositions of the Battalion were as follows:—
D Company, with a number of stragglers of other units, was holding the railway line on both sides of the Station. The 6th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s Regt. was holding a line in front of it.
A Company had a line of posts along the Becque de la Flanche, from the railway west of the Station, where it was in touch with the right of the 6th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s Regt., to Steam Mill.
B Company continued this line due north as far as the Meteren Road.
Battalion H.Q. and C Company, which was in Battalion Reserve, occupied houses on the Station Road.