On a very cold and wet day the Battalion remained in training, including, “Special Course in Bayonet Fighting under an Army Instructor, & Special instruction in the use of the Lewis Automatic Rifle by an Instructor from the School at Etaples”. The men of the Battalion were also taken to Poperinghe to bathe in the Divisional Baths. It was here that L.Cpls. Walter Appleby (see 6th February) and Lionel Vickers (see 5th March) found themselves in trouble with CSM James Davis MM (see 16th February); both would be admonished by 2Lt. Harold Watthews (see 20th February), as a result of, “hesitating to obey an order; not having a bath when ordered”.
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| LCpl Lionel Vickers (standing left) Image by kind permission of Henry Bolton |
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| CSM James Davis MM Image by kind permission of Henry Bolton |
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| 2Lt. Harold Watthews |
For the third time in less than six weeks Pte. Ernest Ashness (see 23rd March) was again in trouble, this time having
been found to be “improperly dressed on parade”; on the orders of Capt. Alfred Percy Harrison (see 31st March) he was to
undertake two extra drills.
Less than a week after joining the Battalion, Pte. Harold Precious (see 26th March) was ordered to be confined to barracks
for three days having been reported as having a dirty rifle on parade; his
offence was reported by Sgt. William Henry Mears (see 8th July 1916) and
the punishment ordered by Capt. James
Christopher Bull (see 10th
March).
Pte. Frank William Rabjohn
(see 27th February), who
had been posted back to France a month previously, re-joined the Battalion.
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