Monday 6th December 1915

Jesus Farm, Erquinghem

With heavy rain falling, the Battalion relieved 2^nd Northants, as per the orders issued two days earlier, moving forward to take up positions in the front line and support trenches in the Bois Grenier area. Company commanders had already visited the trenches the previous morning to take stock of the situation but the relief itself did not get underway until 11.30 am when the machine gun section moved off, carrying the guns on their limbers as far as Gris Pot before man-handling them for the final two miles so as to be able to establish their positions in daylight. Starting at 3.10 pm, and with an interval of ten minutes between companies, the rest of the Battalion, headed by ‘A’ Company, began the four mile march to the front line. The route took them via Erquinghem, La Rolanderie, Gris Pot and La Vesee. On arrival, ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘D’ Companies took over the front line, with ‘A’ on the extreme right of the Battalion front, near Farm Grande Flamengrie, with ‘B’ and ‘D’ to their left; ‘C’ Company remained in close support in the Bois Grenier Line, either side of the main communication trench, known as Shaftesbury Avenue. Battalion HQ was at Moat Farm on the outskirts of the village of Bois Grenier. The relief was conducted without casualties although it was described in Northants War Diary as having been, “very slow”. Having occupied the trenches it was recorded that, “The trenches are in a bad state owing to bad weather of late, the water being very high in places”.

View of Bois Grenier, taken the Winter of 1915-16 by Cpt. H.L. Oakley, 8th Yorkshires, who would relieve 10DWR at the end of their current tour in the trenches.
Photo reproduced by very kind permission of Jerry Rendell; for more on the fascinating story of Capt. Oakley, see Jerry's excellent book, Profiles of the First World War.

In anticipation of the return to the trenches, Pte. William Knox (see 5^th December) again wrote to his wife, Ethel (I am most grateful to Rachael Broadhead and family for allowing me access to William’s letters).

“I now sit down and write you a few lines hoping they will find you quite well as I am very pleased to say that it leaves me very well at present. I received your parcel dated 29.11.1915 and thank you very much for it. Your mince pies were extra. I had them for tea today, Sunday, but they would have been much nicer if I had been at 25 Grosvenor Square (Knox’s home address in Sheffield). What do you say Love? But I shall have to be satisfied having them somewhere in France.

My word it was an extra long letter you wrote. How many days did it take you to write it? You said that Nelly had written to me but I have not received it as yet but of course the mail seems to be a bit just now but there is no wonder at it. I hope you received your postcard alright. I have sent you eight altogether so you will have as many as you wanted. I have sent you a Christmas card but it is rather early but we go into the trenches tonight, Monday, so I should be too late if I waited until I came out. We go straight into the firing line so with a bit of good luck we shall be out for Xmas Day. Tell Lizzie I will send her one or two when I come out of the trenches again. You need not send me any money out here Dear as I get enough for what I want”.

J.B. Priestley provided an evocative description of conditions in the area:

“Winter has set in very thoroughly, and the trenches are in a frightful state; mud and water everywhere. A great part of the country around here is under water, for it is always raining here. I thought Bradford was a bad place for rain, but it is a Sahara Desert compared with this miserable country. There is very little fighting now because both sides are suffering from the awful conditions.”

Less eloquent perhaps, but no less informative, was the view of Pte. Reuben Smith (see 21^st August), one of ‘Tunstill’s Men’, who wrote to friends at home in Addingham with the news that, “The trenches are in a bad state, and the parapets fall in without anyone touching them. It is awful going into them for water; we have to keep the pumps going all the time”.