Friday 10th March 1916

Front line trenches east of Souchez

The day passed off quietly with little shelling or rifle fire. In the evening the Battalion was relieved by 2^nd Northants, but their ordeal was by no means over as Pte. Irvine Clark (see 9^th March) made clear,

“Setting out we had a rougher time than going in; men were sinking up to their waist in mud; the Germans were throwing lights up; we thought they would spot us, and send a few whizz-bangs, but we came through all right. Six of us had to go back some distance and pull a man out who was nearly overhead in mud, and we had a job I can tell you. When we arrived at our billets at six o’clock next morning we were all about dead beat. Our clothes were covered with mud from head to foot, and we have done nothing but scrape and clean them since we came out”.

The march back to billets at the Bois de Bouvigny, was not completed until after 3 am on the morning of 11th March.

The relieving Battalion, 2^nd Northants, reported their experience of the conditions and also gave their interpretation of the reasons for the new-found peace and quiet:

“Only 166 men in front line, which is no line at all, the company posts varying from (less than) 10 yards to 100 yards, with spaces in between of 200 yards. A relief for the front line lives in a quarry some 200 yards in rear, the remainder in Ablain St Nazaire. The ground is in such a bad state that no-one could attack; it being 2 to 3 feet deep in sliding mud. The enemy (Saxons) are doing 60 days trenches as punishment and do not fire a round and walk about outside their line, allowing our men to do the same … Peace continues. If it did not, our casualties would be very heavy as the men have no cover except from view when they are sitting down. Work is usually impossible as the mud will not leave the shovel. The CO took 3 ½ hours to visit the right and left sections; the party getting completely stuck in the mud on several occasions. Communication trenches do not exist. … It is impossible to visit any part of the line by day from Battalion HQ or to get out on the telephone wires, which are in a bad state, because the enemy snipes from long range from the other side of the Souchez River, with rifle and "whiz“-bang”.

The difficulty of movement in the sector is also made clear in the report by 69^th Brigade Field Ambulance on their dispositions in the sector:

“Medical arrangements for right half of Souchez-Givency sector, taken over from French. Dressing station at Le Quatre Vents. One motor ambulance at Villers au Bois; one motor ambulance, one NCO and four men at Point G.; one officer, one NCO and 19 men at Cabaret Rouge. Two regimental aid posts, on right at Boyau Gobron, on left at Boyau Cobourg. Wounded from first via B. des Uhlans to Cabaret Rouge; from second, via B. de Ersatz; carrying time about one hour each. Accommodation at Cabaret Rouge in dugouts under crest, good protection. Carry from Cabaret Rouge to Junction Genet one hour; from Junction Genet to Point G. by wheeled stretcher, 10 minutes; good protection at Point G. under crest. From Point G. by motor to Quatre Vents 40 mins; road bad and under shell fire at times as far as Villers au Bois, but usable day and night”.

From this description it is clear that it could be expected to take around three hours for a casualty to be evacuated from the front line back to the dressing station.

One of the men passed back through the chain and eventually reaching Number 18 Casualty Clearing Station was L.Cpl. Maurice Harcourt Denham. However, his injury was routine, rather than related to the recent action; he was to be treated for an ingrowing toenail on his left foot. Denham had joined up on 10^th September 1914 in Halifax, at which point he was 19 years old and been working as a bank clerk. He was not a member of Tunstill’s Company but had been serving with ‘C’ Company and had been promoted Lance Corporal in June 1915. He would, however, later be transferred to ‘A’ Company.

L.Cpl. Michael Kenefick (see 13^th February) was admitted to 70^th Field Ambulance (cause unknown) but would be discharged to duty the following day.

L.Cpl. Thomas Butler (see 21^st February) was promoted Acting Corporal.

Pte. John Edward Atkinson (see 26^th February), who had been away from the Battalion for a month for treatment to a corneal ulcer, re-joined from 23^rd Infantry Base Depot at Etaples.

Ptes. Charles Davey (see 5^th January), George Illingworth (see below) and Sam Sunderland (see below) reported for duty with the Battalion having been posted from 3DWR. Pte. Davey had been in England since October 1915. George Illingworth was a 21 year-old cleaner from Liversedge and had originally served with 8DWR, going to Gallipoli in July 1915. He had been invalided back to England in October 1915, suffering from enteric fever. Sam Sunderland was posted to active service for the first time; he was a 34 year-old ‘hawker’ from Bradford.

A week after arriving at 17^th Infantry Base Depot at Etaples en route to joining 9DWR, Pte. James Leonard Bloomer (see 3^rd March) found himself on a serious charge. He was reported as, “Being in Etaples and having a false pass; stating a falsehood to the Military Police; and breaking away from the Military Police”; he was sentenced to 14 days’ Field Punishment no.2.

Pte. Fred Richmond (see 24^th November 1915), who had been seriously wounded in November 1915 was posted to 11^th (Reserve) Battalion West Ridings at Brocton Camp, Cannock Chase, Staffs.

Trooper Claude Darwin, who had been serving with the Australian Light Horse in Egypt (see 5^th March) was released from hospital after being treated for several days for the effects of a horesbite; he was discharged to the Base Depot at Heliopolis. He was the brother of Tunstill recruit, Pte. Tom Darwin, who was currently himself in hospital being treated for ‘debility’ whilst serving with 10DWR (see 14^th February).

L.Cpl. William George Wade (see 26^th February), serving with the Army Cyclist Corps, completed his application for a Temporary Commission; he would later be commissioned and join 10DWR.