Monday 27th September 1915

Billeted in huts near Rue Marle

The men rested in their billets and recovered from their exertions of the previous days. The sense of relief after such a harsh and prolonged introduction to trench life is clear from their letters, but so also is their commitment to their task. Pte. Harry Horner (see 25^th September) told his family that,

“On Sunday morning we were very glad to hear the news that we were going out of the trenches, as we had had enough of them. It was our first time in. We were brought right up into the firing line and there we stayed for twelve days.

I am very thankful that I am able to write this letter to you, as I did not think one of us would come out of the trenches alive, after what we have been through these last few days. … The trench which we came out of into the road was full of clay and water which we had to go through. When we had got through it we were all wet through and covered with clay from head to foot. Now we have got our clothes clean, and we have got a good sleep, which we were very much in need of, as we have not much chance of sleep when we are in the trenches. … We are in the best of health and feeling very well and fit and will soon be ready for going back into the trenches again after a few more days rest”. 

J.B. Priestley, in a letter to his family, also found positives in his recent experiences, “I have seen some terrible sights, and endured some hardships, but believe me, I never lost my nerve and, strange to say, I felt a strange exultation of the soul at the expense of the body. Do not be afraid for me; I am not afraid. I suppose I am a man now, and am certainly going through an ordeal. Perhaps it would be as well if everybody went through some test of manhood”.

Harry Horner also reflected more generally on conditions,

“We have to cook our own food when we are in the trenches; we get a fresh supply daily. I have eaten meat that I could not have thought of eating at home, and we have washed ourselves in water in which about a hundred had washed in.

There are people still living in the houses about two miles behind the trenches, and some of them get shells every day; but most of the houses are blown down. At night, when it is dark, the Germans send up a lot of star shells, which light up all round, so that they can see our trenches or any working party which might be out.

We are now about three miles south of where Capt. Preston** lies buried. There are graves where soldiers have been buried all round about here. There is one very near the huts where we are now staying”.

**Captain Thomas Haworth Preston, who like Harry Horner, was from Long Preston, had been killed on 17^th November 1914 while serving with 1^st Battalion, East Lancs Regiment. He is buried at Lancashire Cottage Cemetery.

Pte. Joseph Harry Poole (see 22^nd September) also wrote home about recent events, and part of his letter would be published in the Halifax Courier: “Just a line to let you know that we have been relieved from the trenches for a few days, after 11 days and nights in the first line. It was a bit of a shock to us all when they were bombarding us and the shells were bursting all around us. I had a very narrow escape of being hit. A shell burst quite close to me. I just got a bit in my arm but it was nothing, but I felt the sand go right through my trousers after the explosion. When I looked round I found I had only been missed by a foot, for, close to me, were two holes in the brick platform where we stand to fire from. Our Company lost five men and one young fellow got hit in our trench in the right leg with a piece of shrapnel, and had to have it taken off. Then there were two chaps, both married men, lost their lives”.

During more than three years of further service the Battalion would never again serve such a prolonged tour in the front line.

Pte. Joseph Simpson (see 25^th September), having been treated firstly at 69^th Field Ambulance and subsequently at 12^th Casualty Clearing Station at Hazebrouck, was invalided back to England onboard the hospital ship, Asturias. He went on to be treated at Winwick (check??) Military Hospital, Warrington. His wound eventually resulted in the amputation of two thirds of his right index finger; he never re-joined the Company.