On November 10th, we had to move out of Cartignies to a small village, Boulogne-sur-Helpe, near by—the most Easterly point the Battalion ever reached.
November 11th came in just the same as any other day, but quite early a wire from Brigade Headquarters stated that the Germans had agreed to our Armistice terms, and the Great War was over.
CHAPTER XVIII
HOME AGAIN
November 12th, 1918.— July 5th, 1919.
For the next few days we lived in an atmosphere of uncertainty. Were we to be one of the chosen Divisions to go forward as part of the Army of Occupation, or were we to be left to spend weary months scavenging in the fair land of France? There may have been a few who did not want to go on, thinking they would probably lose their chance of an early return home, but in the main we were anxious to push on and satisfy our souls by actually setting foot on German soil as part of the Conquering Army. Our hopes fell from day to day as we heard no orders to prepare to move forward, and eventually, much to our regret, we learnt that after all we were not going to Germany. It was nearly the end of November when we received the following letter from General Sir H. S. Rawlinson, commanding the Fourth Army:—"It is a matter of very deep regret to me that the 46th Division is not accompanying the Fourth Army to the Frontier. I desire, however, to place on record my appreciation of the splendid performances of the Division during the recent operations, and to congratulate all ranks on the conspicuous part they have played in the battles of the 100 days. The forcing of the main Hindenburg line on the Canal, and the capture of Bellenglise rank as one of the finest and most dashing exploits of the war. The attacks of October 3rd, and the subsequent operations about Bohain, together with the later advance towards the Sambre Canal, constitute a record of which all ranks of the Division may justly feel proud. I offer to all ranks my warmest thanks for their great gallantry, and to the leaders and staffs my admiration of their skilful direction and staff work throughout these battles. To every Officer, N.C.O., and man of the Division, I offer my warm thanks and hearty congratulations, and trust that at some future time they may again form part of the Fourth Army."
On the day after the Armistice, Major-General Boyd came to see us, and presented some medal ribbons, and in the afternoon an entertaining football match between Officers and N.C.O.'s was won by the latter, the Officers in a few cases having some difficulty in staying the course.
We left Boulogne-sur-Helpe on November 14th, and marched via Cartignies to Landrecies—a town which had seen much of the recent fighting, as well as having played a prominent part in the early days of the war. The whole of the 139th Brigade was concentrated here, and as our stay was likely to be a lengthy one, we soon set to work to make ourselves comfortable. Most of the Battalion were billeted in one of the French Barracks, D Company being allotted a school near by. Though the town had been considerably damaged by shells, our billets were more or less watertight, and in fairly good order. The Transport and Quarter-Master's Stores were also in the town close to the Barracks.
On Sunday, November 17th, a Church Parade of the whole Division was held at Landrecies, as a Thanksgiving Service, and afterwards the Major-General distributed medal ribbons. He paid us a high compliment as we marched past after the ceremony, when he said that in all his military career he had never seen a Battalion march past in better style!
The work of clearing the battlefield in the area round about Landrecies began at once. We did four hours a day at this work on four days a week, and on the other two days carried out ordinary military training. Education classes were also started and carried on for several months, and though the numbers who attended were not large, there is no doubt that very much useful work was done in this way. Lieut. C. M. Bedford was responsible for the educational work at first, handing it over later to Lieut. Tebbutt. Afternoons were invariably spent in recreation, Inter-Battalion and Inter-Company "Soccer" matches, cross-country runs, and other sports. There were also "Rugger" teams in the Division, and later a Brigade Hockey team was formed. A few lucky ones got trips in Col. Barron's Ambulances to Brussels, Amiens, Valenciennes, and other towns of interest within reach, but this luxury did not last long. A recreation room at the Barracks was started for reading and indoor games, whilst Lieut. Pennington got an extraordinarily good Concert Party going, which was known eventually as "The Penguins" and gave entertainments to several other units. "Robbo" managed to "scrounge" a piano for them from a ruined house in the town, and during the dark nights we had much to thank them for. Later on there were whist drives, and some of the gayer element even went to dances, classes in which gentle art were held by the 6th Battalion. Padre Sturt, in addition to giving valuable help with the Education Classes, started a Debating Society, at which many entertaining topics were discussed.