We moved on July 10th, by route march to Bellacourt, a village about five miles south-west of Arras, and giving its name to a sector which was to prove easily the most peaceful and enjoyable part of the line we ever held. Transport moved to Bailleulval, where they got good lines in a small orchard, and the Quarter-Master's Stores were comfortably fixed up in billets.
It was from this department that we were first to hear of the activities of our new Divisional Commander, Major-General W. Thwaites, R.A., who made it a practice of frequently visiting transport lines at early morning stables. Torrance with his ready wit at once dubbed him "The Mushroom Picker," an epithet which we were told gave him much pleasure when it reached his ears, but did not have the least effect upon his early morning visits.
Several new Officers had recently joined from our 3rd Line, including 2nd Lieuts. C. F. Woodward, F. M. Corry, H. G. Kirby, B. P. Page, W. B. Easterfield, and D. H. Parker. Second Lieut. A. Bedford also rejoined, and others who arrived shortly afterwards were Lieut. R. Whitton, who had been Adjutant of the 3rd Line, 2nd Lieuts. Skinner and Moore, back for the second time, and 2nd Lieuts. C. H. Hicks, D. F. Ranson, L. E. King-Stephens, G. F. Visser, F. D. Byrne, B. W. Hall, and A. D. Bailey. Comp. Sergt.-Major Haywood rejoined with a draft of 72 reinforcements, and was appointed Comp. Sergt.-Major of C Company, where Sergt. Leivers had been carrying on for a short time in place of Comp. Sergt.-Major J. A. Green, who had been invalided to England.
We were thus fairly well off for numbers, when on July 11th, we relieved the Liverpool Scottish in the left sub-sector of the Brigade sector, this being one of the rare occasions on which relief was carried out by daylight. The distribution was as follows: Right—"The Willows"—A Company (Capt. Vann); Centre "The Osiers"—B Company (Capt. Turner); Left—"The Ravine"—C Company (Capt. Piggford); Reserve—Bretencourt—D Company (Capt. Hill). Battalion Headquarters was in the "Sunken Road," just in front of Bretencourt, off "Engineer Street." Each Company had two platoons in the front line and two in support; a system which, besides being more or less in accordance with Field Service Regulations, worked extremely satisfactorily, for whilst the front line posts could be held by comparatively few men, either in the line or at the heads of the various saps running out into No Man's Land, working parties and patrols were found from the support platoons, and were thus able to get back to the support line on completion of their task, and rest in comparative comfort.
The frontage allotted to us was a long one, and the front line was thinly held, some of the posts being as much as 200 yards apart. Frequent visiting patrols were necessary during the night to prevent any daring Boche from getting into our lines. In the communication trenches, blocking posts and gates were fixed at various points to hold up the enemy if they did ever get in and attempt to push forward. To look after the rear portion of these communication trenches the system of Trench Wardens was instituted during our stay at Bellacourt. These were usually light duty, or warworn men drawn from the various Battalions, whose duty it was to repair broken trench grids, relay any that required it, clear falls of earth, and generally look after upkeep.
This sector was reputed to be the quietest on the British Front, and though we had one or two lively times, there is no doubt that for the period of three-and-a-half months we were there, it lived up to its reputation. Rumour said that some of our troops had been in the habit of going out and repairing the barbed wire by daylight! Certainly it was normally extremely peaceful. The trenches were from 300 to 400 yards apart, and in the region of the Ransart Road on the right, one could indeed go out for some distance without coming in view of the Boche trenches. The weather during most of our stay was of the best, and there could be few things more pleasant than to stroll on a quiet afternoon round some of the communication trenches, e.g., "Dyke Street," "Couturelle," and "La Motte," where masses of wild flowers of every kind and of brilliant colours were in full bloom, and in many parts completely covered the sides of the trenches. Cooking was normally done out of the trenches, and hot meals were carried up in kettles or food containers (something in the nature of large thermos flasks) by the Reserve Company billeted at Bretencourt.
We had something of a shock during our first tour in the trenches, and began to suspect the reports as to the quietness of the sector, for on our second morning the enemy poured over for nearly an hour, between 4.0 a.m. and 5.0 a.m., showers of heavy trench mortars on to part of the front line held by B Company. Their aim was very good, several bombs falling right into the trench and doing considerable damage, whilst Lieut. Lomer's Platoon, which was holding the part bombarded, had four men killed and nine wounded. One man had to have his foot amputated by Johnstone, the Medical Officer, in order to be released from a shelter that had been smashed by the bombs. Sergts. Tanner and Yeomans did splendid work in rescuing the wounded, as did also Sergt. Bescoby, Pvte. Axon and other Stretcher Bearers. This, however, turned out to be the only "hate" of its particular kind that the enemy inflicted on us during our stay. Possibly it was to let us know that he was aware of our recent arrival, and wished to give us a welcome, but most likely it was what we knew as his "Travelling Circus" which he brought up at certain times in order to carry out an organised "straff" on a particular piece of the line.
For some time after this, and in fact for most of Our sojourn here, life in the trenches was of a somewhat humdrum character. There were a few days cf activity now and then, but normally the enemy was very inoffensive so far as we were concerned. He did, however, raid the 6th Battalion one night in the right sub-sector, almost completely levelling one of their communication trenches with heavy trench mortars during the preliminary bombardment, on account of which we had to stand-to, when back at our rest billets at Bailleulval. On another occasion we had a fidgety night owing to a gas alarm having been given. This however, proved but another case of "wind."
The work in the trenches was of a normal character, but we welcomed that new article known as the "A" Frame, consisting as its name indicates of framing shaped like the letter A. This was the best form of support for trench revetment that we ever had, and from this time onwards was used almost universally. A suggestion of this exact form of framing had been made by Col. Blackwall as early as November 1915. and submitted to higher authorities, who turned it down as unsuitable.
A further great advance was made by us here in the provision of deep dug-outs, for which the chalk soil was eminently adapted. Excellent plans were drawn out by Major Zeller, commanding the Field Company attached to our Brigade, for complete systems of these dug-outs to be made in the support line, and a special Brigade Dug-out Company was formed for this purpose, to which we contributed, besides a number of men, 2nd Lieuts. Moore and Powell. Great progress was made with the work, and before we left the sector a large number had been finished, and fitted up with wire beds on wooden framework in two tiers, with rifle racks and other etceteras. The organisation of this work was one of the first tasks of the new Brigade Major, Capt. W. P. Buckley, D.S.O., of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, who had succeeded Major Neilson, when the latter left to take up a higher appointment. In Major Neilson we lost one who was always ready to help and advise on every possible occasion, and though it was with the greatest regret that we said goodbye to him, it was a great pleasure to know that his hard work had brought its reward.