Thursday 9th December 1915

Front line trenches east of Bois Grenier.

Light rain continued to fall through most of the day and, as J.B. Priestley had noted in one of his letters home (see 6^th December), the Germans were suffering in equal measure with the British from high water levels in the trenches. In response, they had improvised a dam, behind which they were attempting to hold back some of the water which they were pumping from their trenches. This activity attracted the attention of the British artillery and, at 10am, the Battalion was warned that the dam was to be shelled. The information was passed to all men in the line so that they could take cover in the event that any of the shells might burst prematurely. It was reported that, “The bombardment was effective and the desired results obtained”. The Germans responded with a considerable barrage of their own, but little damage was done and no casualties were sustained. The overnight period saw much more activity than in recent nights, with German machine guns sweeping the British parapets, though without inflicting any casualties.

Orders were received for the Battalion to be prepared to be relieved next day.

Pte. John Edward Atkinson (see 11^th September) wrote to a friend in Halifax (an extract from the letter would be published in the Halifax Courier on 24^th December under the headline ‘Efficiency of the British Shells’):

“We have had some bad weather just lately and are up to the knees in mud and water and in some places it is even worse than this. It does not trouble us now we have all had top boots and waterproof capes issued. We have also got fur coats. Except for our artillery fire it is very quiet now and they don’t send many in return. We fire more shells in a day than the Germans do in a week. Their shells are much inferior to ours as the majority fail to explode. It would do your eyes good to see our shells playing pitch and toss with their parapets. I am writing this in the dugout. It is very slow work as my pals keep blowing the candle out. I wish there were a few more Halifax lads to help us on the way to victory, which I think will not be so long, at any rate I hope not, as I am looking forward to seeing the old town again. If there are any lads in Halifax who have not joined they had better hurry up before it’s too late. We will find them a nice little dugout and plenty of company”