For four days at La Rolanderie the men had rested and the
weather, though cold, had at least been dry and bright. However, the rigours of
their recent tours was slowly but surely wearing down some of the men. As with
Major Hildyard (see 15th January), the
ailments may well have been mental as much as physical, given the stress they
were routinely suffering. Tunstill’s Man Pte. Tom Darwin, for example, reported sick as the Battalion was about
to return to the line. He had only recently been home on leave (see 8th January), but now was
diagnosed as suffering from ‘debility’. He would be treated locally by 6r Field
Ambulance for the next ten days. J.B Priestley had described his interpretation
of ‘debility’ (as a result of which he had also recently spent time in
hospital), “My illness had nothing whatever to do with my kidneys or my bowels,
it was a common complaint out here – a sort of debility, due to overwork, lack
of sleep and general rotten conditions. The hospitals are so crammed full of
sick men now”.
The Battalion returned to the front line, occupying the same
trenches as on their previous tour (see 27th
January) although on this occasion ‘B’ Company remained in the Bois Grenier
Line, with ‘C’ taking their place in the centre of the Battalion front. The
Battalion was again to act as ‘instructors’, in this case to two companies of
11th Suffolk Regiment. Unlike during the previous tour, it was now
reported that “All along our front for the past few days has been most
unusually quiet”, and the evening and overnight remained so, other than for
some activity from the German machine guns.
Pte. Edmund Peacock
(see 4th January) who had
been wounded on 18th November 1915 and had been treated in hospital
in both Cambridge and Eastbourne was posted to 11th Battalion West
Riding Regiment, based at Brocton Camp. Cannock Chase, Staffs, in preparation
for a return to active service.
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