This new area, just north of our previous line at Aveluy, had previously been reconnoitred by our Officers and was, therefore, more or less familiar. It was roughly the segment of a circle, of which the centre was the village of Authuille. The boundary radii were Campbell Avenue and Thiepval Avenue. The former followed the course of the road that inclined from Authuille to Ovillers. The other avenue led direct to Thiepval of evil fame, until the bulwark of our front line rudely cut it short at a point where a solitary telegraph pole shot up out of an immense wilderness of weeds. Within this circumscribed area were many once excellent trenches, but now in bad condition, and a few on which a malevolent influence seemed continually to rest. The shelters as they existed were designed to withstand only a moderate shelling, were in poor condition, but they fulfilled our modest expectations. All were accommodated in trenches or shelters, including Headquarters, except the latter’s Mess. Some inspired scout had discovered a disused and comfortable cellar in the village, and this provided an excellent mess room. It was a very quiet period.

On the 22nd we were relieved by the 4th Loyals and went into dugouts in Authuille. The chief desideratum was to keep warm, and the demands on the Quartermaster for coal, coke and charcoal for the braziers were peremptory. In the conveyance of these supplies the writer witnessed a small epic in transport. The route led from Martinsart, where Driver “Dorcas” Dixon harnessed his pair of mules to a limber and departed, loaded above the military Plimsoll line. These mules, the pride of their driver, were sleek creatures, slender-limbed and thin-flanked, with a gliding motion deceptive to the uninitiated. Skimming along with their 2½ ton burden all went well until, half-way through the Bois d’Aveluy, the worn track crossed a shallow depression filled with 18 inches of mud. The mules’ attempt to negotiate this was all but successful, but they came to a compulsory halt just short. No persuasion and certainly no violence would have stirred them. They had done their best and achieved a splendid failure.

From the 23rd to the 27th was a very quiet period. The usual working parties were furnished. A draft of forty-four men arrived, including some we had left behind in England. Lieut. Brocklebank rejoined after undergoing instruction in Adjutant’s duties with the 1st Cheshire Regiment. On the 28th we were relieved by the 5th Seaforths and returned to billets in Hénencourt. We had suffered only one casualty, but we here lost the further services of Major Rutherford, the Medical Officer, who was incapacitated by the recent rigours of trench life and was now transferred for duty with the Divisional Field Ambulance. His place was taken temporarily by Captain Titmas, R.A.M.C.

Nov.–Dec., 1915

Until the 5th December we followed the usual “rest” routine in these well-tried billets. Much time was spent in removing mud from equipment and clothing. This tenacious element, matter in the wrong place, added considerably to the difficulties of marching. On this day we marched back to trenches and relieved a unit of the 153rd Brigade on the left of “F.1” sector at Aveluy. Three Companies were in the firing line and one in support. The front line was divided into three groups, the spaces in between being impassable owing to mud. The trench in the middle of the salient was badly smashed up by a bombardment a few days previously. Battalion Headquarters were at Lower Donnet. The three Companies in the front line were relieved the following day by two Companies (overstrength) of the 17th Highland Light Infantry, the relieved Companies going into billets in Aveluy. Captain J. Caddy and Lieut. J. A. T. Clarke joined from the third line unit. Captain Caddy had served as Staff Captain of our Brigade until invalided some few months previously and now rejoined for duty. He was succeeded as Staff Captain by Captain J. Fisher. Some shells fell on Aveluy on and around the railway bridge, and one man was wounded.

On the 11th we relieved the 17th Highland Light Infantry in the trenches, where conditions were now exceedingly bad, especially for “A” and “C” Companies. Mud was over the knees in most places. Things were very quiet, accounted for by the fact that the enemy’s trenches were in a similar predicament to our own, as reported by one of our reconnoitring patrols under Lance-Corporal Bates. The time was occupied in attempting to clean the trench, and cases of trench feet began to occur through constant standing in the wet.

December, 1915

Captain J. V. Barrow and Lieut. A. Beardsley were here ordered to proceed to England to report to the War Office and left the Battalion, much to our regret. On the 16th we were relieved and marched back to billets in Hénencourt. Here the usual peaceful routine was shattered by a tragedy. Second-Lieut. Ward, whilst demonstrating to a class of beginners in the use of Hand Grenade No. 1, accidentally exploded the bomb, with the result that he was badly wounded and died almost immediately afterwards. One man was killed and thirteen others wounded. Needless to say this event cast a gloom over the remainder of our stay in billets.

January, 1916

Lieut. J. H. C. Gatchell, R.A.M.C., was appointed Medical Officer of the unit in place of Captain Titmas, and forty reinforcements arrived. On the 21st we relieved the 6th Black Watch in Authuille village, with “C” Company in Mound Keep, the time being devoted to cleaning shelters and putting up wire beds. The enemy put over thirty-two shells in the vicinity of Mound Keep, which seemed to be intended for MacMahon’s Blockhouse. No shell hit the building and no casualties or damage was done. We marked Christmas Day by moving into the front line in relief of the 4th Loyals, and the Germans shelled Martinsart and killed one of our mules. We were thankful to find the trenches comparatively dry, and after being worked at, habitable. We here lost Major R. P. Little, who was sent to hospital and thence to England, sick. Lieut. E. Spearing had the bad luck to get in the way of a rifle grenade, which he received in the shoulder, and went to the Field Ambulance, wounded. Second-Lieut. Leslie Bowman joined the Battalion from the third line unit. The trenches were fairly quiet, trench mortars being the chief offenders. Several dud “oil cans” were sent over by “Fritz.” Evidence had been accumulating for some time that moves on an unusual scale were being contemplated. This evidence was confirmed when the Brigade was relieved on the 2nd January by the 96th Infantry Brigade, and we marched into billets once more at Hénencourt.