7 Coy1916Diary

7 Field Company Royal Engineers War Diary 1916

Three styles of King George V RE cap badges used in WW1

Date	Event Campaign
1 January 1916	Throughout this month the disposition of the Company remained the same as at the end of December. 2nd Lt Glubb who was wounded on 20.12.15 went into hospital at Hazebroock on 1.1.16 from which he has returned to duty on 25.1.16. This left the Company with 3 officers, 2 of whom lived up at Zillerbeke, the OC living at the back billet.The chief work undertaken was as follows:- Left Section (trenches B1 to B7 Inclusive) Flooring and revetting the back of the 'LOOP' Revettng and defilading Gourock Road.This continued throughout the month Maintaining in a usable state of repair the wooden trench tramway. This later was in a very bad condition owing to the mud and broke in several places every night, it was therefore decided to lay a steel track beside the wooden one but out of the mud zone. This was started on the 7th, and was nearly completed at the end of the month. Right Sector (trenches A7- A12 inclusive) Flooring and revetting the front line. Honing and revetting SACKVILLE ST. Reclaiming support point RE. In addition to the above several dugouts were erected in both Sectors, and 6 strong machine gun emplacements, many minor works were also undertaken, such as repairing the road through Zillerbeke, strengthening the dressing station at MAPLE COPSE, keeping the main communication trenches in good order etc. On the 11th Nos 1 and 2 Sections relieved Nos 3 and 4, the next relief occurring on the 29th. On this date 2nd Lt Baker came down from Zillebeke with his Section (no2) after spending 6 weeks in the trenches. The back Sections were employed: 1. At reclaiming the supporting points Ho and Hq behind DICKEBUSH ii. At improving advanced Divisional H.Q. Iii. At making up trench stores in the billet. 2nd Lt Aldin was temporarily attached to the Company from 9.1.16. 1 January, 1916: Dad sent his car and fetched me over to Second Army headquarters for a day. There I saw a doctor who sent me to hospital. This was a trick of Dad's. He knew that I would never willingly leave my company. 2- 24 January: In No 12 Casualty Clearing Station, Hazebrouck. It was as well that I went to hospital. The bones of my toe had been shattered and the wound was full of the splinters of dead bone. It would never have healed until these were removed. When I arrived at the C. C. S., an R. A. M. C. corporal met the ambulance at the entrance and carried my bag into the building. I tipped him sixpence, which he accepted without comment. I discovered later that he was the Earl of Crawford, the Premier Earl of Scotland. Being too old to get a commission, he enlisted as a private in the R. A. M. C., and so got out to France. I don't suppose I shall ever again have the chance to give a sixpenny tip to an earl. I was three weeks in hospital at Hazebrouck. We had a gramophone which played endlessly. The song I remember best was a stirring ballad, These are the men who fought and died, In the ranks of the Deathless Army. But there were plenty of sentimental ones too, like 'Pale hands I loved, Beside the Shalimar.' 25 January: I was discharged from hospital and spent the night with Dad at Second Army headquarters at Cassel. The nextday I returned to the company rear billet at Vlamertinghe. 26 January - 8 February 1916: With my section, which is resting in the rear billet, near Vlamertinghe. We call it H21 b 2 2 (aitch twenty-one bee two two), which is the map reference. The troops call it Germaine's Farm. Germaine is the buxom eldest daughter of the farmer and his wife, Monsieur and Madame Heuge Jaart. The family allows the troops into their big kitchen every evening, and sells them beer, with Germaine as barmaid. The officers' mess is in the next room. All the evening, we hear the boys playing 'house' - Twenty-four, clickety-click, number eight, thirty-two and so on, until someone yells 'House.' At other times we are treated to a rousing chorus: I want to go home! I want to go home! I don't want to go to the trenches no more, Where the whizz-bangs and shrapnel they whistle and roar. Take me over the sea, Where the Allemans cannot catch me, Oh my! I don't want to die, , I want to go home! -followed by loud cheers. I wonder if the Boche intelligence have received copies of this song, and reported that the morale of the British Army is cracking. I walked about for a few days but my foot opened up again, so I took a week more lying up. After that I rode Minx -she is getting fitter and is very handy and pleasant to ride. The troops had a concert on the night of 7 February in one of the barns. Several brilliant comedians appeared in No 2 Section. The officers were ushered into the barn, and sat on stiff chairs behind a table with candles stuck in bottles burning on it in front of us, as if we were Roman Catholic saints. Champagne was served to officers. It was a very good show. Perhaps the most applause was earned by a corporal in No 2 Section. Being a regular unit in a territorial division, the company is a bit snobbish. However we live entirely among territorials, so we could not be rude to them. But 'Kitchener's Army ' was a legitimate butt for our sarcasm.There was a popular song just before the war,called 'The Galloping Major '. The corporal sang a parody of this; Whenever we go to war, We drive the enemy barmy, Hi! Hi! Never say die! Here comes Kitchener's Army. Since Symons was hit, Atkinson, the second-in-command, a regular captain, has been commanding the company. Atkinson is a very keen soldier. He spends every leisure moment studying Napoleon's campaigns, spreading maps of Austerlitz, Jena or Auerstadt, all over the officers' mess table.
1 February 1916	Throughout Feb the distribution of the Coy remained the same,V12- No2 Section in advanced billets in Zillebeke. 2 Sections in back billets. Reliefs of Sections in Zillebeke begining on 8 Feb, 22 Feb - During this period 2 Bdes were in the line, 1 bde in reserve, consequently the Coy was affiliated to the 3 Bdes in turn in the following order:- V12 - 151 Bde, 149 Bde,150 Bde. The Bde area worked by the Coy remained the same V12 - trenches A5-B7 inclusive-this Sector being subdivided into left and right sub Sections: 1 and 3 Sections in turn worked the left Sector, 3 and 4 the right:- Late in Jan as result of Divisional conferences it was decided that it was of first importance to make the high ground comprised of trenches A5 - A12 into an independent fortified zone ie.a zone that could be held even if trenches left and right of it were occupied by the enemy. This fortified zone was termed 'CANNY HILL'. A great deal of work was projected the main features being (a) Construction of good support line ( V12- reclaiming position of old mined support line + digging 200yds of new S.L) (b) Opening up of ruins, important communication trenches V12 - SACKVILLE ST, TORR TOP,CRAD CRANE, ST PETERS STR. (c) construction of really good dugouts for numerous machine guns (d) Reclaiming and making good as fire trench, WARRINGTON AVE' to effectively protect right flank of 'CANNY HILL' (e) Working the support line throughout (done by Pioneer battalion 7 DLI) Various other works carried out throughout the month comprised:- making of a new communication trench 'CENTAN AVE', building up sides of Gourock Rd C.T. trench - the latter being somewhat conspicuous and the only CT to the B trenches was a favorite target for German 'Whizz Bangs', snipers, and was from time to time knocked in and rebuilt 'CENTAN AVE' provided a good alternative way up, erection of new Battalion Headquarters for the left Battalion, completion of new steel tramway from Zillebeke to Sanctuary Wood dump, maintenance of existing wood tramway, revetment to the main communication trenches, Promenade, Dormy Ho Lane. The camid by Pioneer Battalion 7 DLI under RE supervision. On the whole good progress was made with all work considering the circumstances under which it was carried out V12 - frequent Bde and Batt'n whifs, comparatively weak strengths of Bdes tendering large infantry working parties impossible, wet and cold weather particularly the fact that owing to a heavy marked increase in German activity it became impracticable to do much work by day and working parties were more or less disturbed by whizz-bangs. The one structure of the new support line was rendered difficult owing to its very ? and in places was overlooked by the German trenches in the neighbourhood of hill 60 - some difficulty was also experienced in getting materials to the work principally owing to congested traffic on the trench tramways, by the end of February the support line was erected for a number of bays either side of the communications trenches and the remainder had a firing step for and was tenable by infantry - which was of much use as the line was occupied early in March by the infantry at a time when German activity necessitated the line being held in greater strength than formerly. The 2 sections at back billets were employed on reclaiming and completing the fortified localities " HO" & "HQ" as before for which working parties 50 - 100 men of an entrenching battalion were available. Making Steel Sector dugouts at advanced Div HQ, and usual work in workshop making up dugout frames, front boxes, Lewis gun boxes and rifle racks. A good deal of sickness was prevalent at the back billets, this being due partly to the ground being water logged and consequent dampness and the farm accommodation indifferent. It was noticeable that there was little sickness with the advanced sections in Zillebeke. A few casualties occurred during the month-very few under the circumstances: 8 Feb Lt Atkinson wounded by shell fire ( right elbow badly shattered) - This officer was at the time was acting OC the Coy. (during absence on leave of Capt McQueen) He had acted OC during the period middle December when Major Symons was wounded, while appointment of new OC. He had served with the Company for 14 months of the war, and the loss of his services was much felt. 2nd Lt Glubb was grazed by shell splinter at the same time but was fit for duty a few days later. Statement of promotions, casualties etc attached. 2nd Lt Chaplain joined on 14 Feb taking over No1 Section from 2nd Lt Glubb. Sgt Frankenberg- Sect Sgt No2 Section. Throughout the month the transport taking stores to Zillebeke ( via Ypres, Lille Gate, Shrapnel Corner, Zillebeke, Ypres, (Menin Gate), Krustraat had some "warm" passages but were very fortunate in having no casualties in man or horse. The horses were kept as usual very well, owing to bad roads it was difficult to keep the wagons in good repair. 8 February: Went up to Zillebeke to take over my section agairi, but found that Atkinson had been wounded. His right arm was badly smashed at the elbow. A strafe on our front line has been going on all day. I am now commanding the company till a Captain McQueen arrives, who has been posted to replace Symons, but is now on leave. The principal problem in the Ypres salient is that, during the German gas attack last April, the enemy was everywhere able to seize the high ground, and now completely overlooks our positions and all our communications to the rear. This enables him to inflict continual daily casualties on us by sniping with observed artillery fire. Sanctuary Wood and Zillebeke are overlooked by high ground to the east. In our southern half of the salient, south of the Ypres - Menin road, however, the worst enemy observation points are Hill 60, and the Bluff. Both of these are spoil heaps, but so flat is the whole country that an artificial mound a few feet high constitutes a priceless observation post to capture, which thousands of men of both sides may die. Hill 60 is a spoil heap consisting of earth excavated in the making of the Ypres-Comines Railway. The Bluff was produced by the excavation of the Ypres-Comines canal.The second problem facing us in the Ypres salient is the existence of the Yser Canal, and its southern continuation which runs from Ypres to the River Lys at Comines. There are no bridges over the canal, excepting directly into the town of Ypres. This means that Ypres is a bottleneck for all communications to some ten miles of front line trenches. All rations, ammunition, stores and relieving troops have to pass through Ypres town to reach the trenches and return. As a result, the Boche shells Ypres almost continuously, and especially at night, with seventeen inch howitzers and other very heavy artillery, causing severe losses to transport and relieving troops. And now to return to my daily diary entries. 10, 11 and 12 February: We worked hard day and night to rebuild Gourock Road trench in Sanctuary Wood. Parade was daily at 8 a.m., and we got back to Zillebeke at midnight or 1 a.m. 13 February: Sanctuary Wood heavily shelled all day. A gas attack is expected. Our. guns seem afraid to reply. In the afternoon, there was a heavy battle at the Bluff to the south. We lost 400 yards of our front line trenches. 14 February: We made a heavy counter-attack on the Bluff trenches during the night. A concentrated bombardment by us was taking place at the Bluff, when we came back from work in Sanctuary Wood at 1 a.m. It was a very fine sight. The Boche kept up a continuous stream of Very lights, in the light of which the blue smoke from the shell bursts could be seen hanging over the trenches, as if the ashes of a bonfire had been raked out. At the same time, orange flashes of bursting shrapnel kept dotting the line up and down. Though it was several miles away, there was a continuous deafening roar of artillery from before midnight till 1.30a.m. Walking home in the night from Sanctuary Wood down Dormy House Lane, I trod on a rat. He was sitting up in the trench watching the fireworks at the Bluff, as I was, so we did not see each other. The roar of the bombardment was so loud that he had not heard us coming, though I had a section of sappers behind me. Unfortunately we failed to retake our trenches. The Boche still hold the Bluff, an observation post which overlooks our lines for miles around. The trenches belonged to the 17th Division who, I believe, are not considered creme de la creme. However they do not seem to be much to blame for losing their trenches, as all the occupants of the front line had been killed by shellfire. Our guns made a most inadequate reply. 15 February: An unlucky day for No 1Section. At 6.30 a.m. a 4.2 howitzer shell fell just by the cookhouse wall, injured Sapper Campion and smashed his treasured violin. At 11 a.m., we were working in Warrington Avenue in Sanctuary Wood, when a salvo of whizz-bangs came over at our party. One shell burst in a bay where the sappers were working, killing Sapper Smith, and wounding Penson and Girdler. Sapper Roles got a scratch on his cheek . Another whizz-bang burst on the parapet of the next bay, where I was sitting on the firestep talking to Corporal Adams. A tiny splinter went through my cap and just drew blood from my head. Penson, Girdler and I were evacuated to Vlamertinghe the same afternoon, whence I got leave to return to Germaine's Farm. The next day Dad, who had heard I had been wounded again, came to see me with a doctor, and took me off for a rest to Cassel. Chaplin, a new officer who had just joined the company, went up to Zillebeke to take over my section.Three days later, I returned to Germaine's Farm, and went straight up to Zillebeke to see our new company commander, Captain J.A. McQueen, who had meanwhile arrived. I wanted to persuade him to let me return to my old section in Zillebeke, but in vain. Since Atkinson was wounded, I am the next senior officer after McQueen, and am to take over second-in-command and work at the rear billet. I would give anything to get back to my old section. 29 February: Tessier came down from Zillebeke sick, so I seized the opportunity to go up and take over No 3 Section for a week. A strafe is expected, as we are about to try and take back our trenches in front of the Bluff, lost on 13 February. A diversion is to be made in Sanctuary Wood, and a smoke cloud released, if the wind is favourable. Worked all night in Warrington Avenue and Centen Avenue.
1 March 1916 S W Ypres	Work in hand continuation of that detailed in February summary, the defences of "CANNY HILL" being the main feature. Nos 3&4 Sections in adanced billets in Zillebeke, working with 150 Bde, 1&2 Sections in back billets working on defended localities "HO" & "HQ", advanced D.H.Q, shops-in view of anticipated fighting round the "bluff" on our immediate right, our section of line was manned and prepared for any eventuality. 2 days reserve rations sent up to forward sections. No working parties night of 1&2 March. O.C. proceeded to 150 B.H.Q for the night in acc. with "defence scheme". 1 March: Infantry took back the Bluff trenches at 4.30 a.m . this morning by surprise. Intense bombardment from 4.32 to 5 a.m. In Sanctuary Wood, we created a diversion with bombs, trench mortars, and by blowing up a mine, and got heavily shelled in return. We worked all night repairing our trenches without help from the infantry.
2 March 1916	Heavy bombardment of trenches in neighbourhood of "The Bluff" followed by attack reported as succesfull. Sector worked by 7 Coy RE came in for considerable shelling. The support line was occupied by the infantry in being of the reserve line. This turned out to be of great use as reserve line was heavily shelled. No casualties to sections in Zillebeke. Ny shelling there taking the form of shrapnel and 'whiz-bang' barages only. Work carried out by day as usual not without usual infantry working parties.
3 March 1916	Comparitively quiet day on the line, work as usual with the infantry 3 - 8 March: During this week, we worked continuously repairing the trenches in Sanctuary Wood. A good deal of snow fell, followed by alternate frosts and thaws.
4 March 1916	---------------"---------------"------------- Snow fell during the day also heavy rain storm. Nights very dark and little progress made on the work. ( reserve ration store constructed in Vigo Street)
5 March 1916	Quiet day on the line, good progress being made on TOR TOP. CT - new section of support line
6 March 1916	As per the 5th, MG Emplacement put in immediately East of Zillerbeke in the "switch" also reserve ration store in MAPLE COPSE Received orders from CRE at 8pm to get in touch with O.C. 104 Coy RE to hand over all work on the line to that unit and all of Sections loaned be returned on nights 8/9th. List of "recommendations" called for and submitted - these include names finished at my request by Major Symons for period April-December 1915
7 March 1916	Owing to Germans having handled front line trenches somewhat severely of late the battalion in the front line unable to find any working parties for work directly superintended by RE, only work parties obtainable being those from Battalion in reserve. O.C took Major King RE (O.C. 104 Coy RE) over the line and handed over all information respecting the work. Details of which on the 8/9th arrived.
8 March 1916	Work on H.O & H.Q as usual, work on Bde's DHQ completed. Nos 3 & 4 Sections relieved by 104 Coy RE. (2 Sections) and returned to back billets. 7.40am 2nd Lt Glubb and 2nd Lt Baldwin took officers and NCOs of 104 Field Coy over the line during the morning prior to handing over
9 March 1916	Received orders 9am to put in hand certain urgent work that and following nights V12:- (a) reclaiming disused Johnson's C.T. from Jacksons Str to (B) "The Dump" by Hill 60 (400yds) Lt Baker with No2 Section and works party 120 men Northumberland Fusiliers worked on it's draining and trench tramway. Good progress considering the very bad state of the trench ( Sapper Levine wounded, bullet in arm) (b) making barriers and ?? Railway at Jacksons Str. (c) Making MG emplacements and dugout near LATCHWOOD dugouts. (b)+(c) put in hand by Lt Chaplin and No1 Section + W.P. 60 men 8th D.L.I 9 March: Two officers of·104th Field Company came up to Zillebeke to take over, and I showed, them round our trenches. We bade farewell to Zillebeke, and marched back to the rear billet for the last time. How often I have done this wearisome night march at the end of a day's work in the line. We used to have to leave Zillebeke after dark, as the country to be crossed was in 'view. Then we passed through Kruistraat, a southern suburb of Ypres, where a number of roads intersected and which the Boche shelled frequently. The last part of the march, from Kruistraat to Germaine's Farm, was out of range of ordinary shelling, but by this time everyone was dog-tired. 'It fair breaks your heart, that last bit,' Corporal Adams remarked. For some reason or other, the company had a craze for an American popular song, 'Sailing up Chesapeake Bay', which they used to start up, when plodding along in the dark: Doesn't she look pretty as she hugs the shore, Sailing for -baltimore. Come on, Nancy, put your best dress on! . .. Perhaps the picture conjured up by such words formed a pleasant contrast to the cold, mud, dark and weariness of a Flanders winter night.
10 March 1916	Same as 9/3/16:- (a) drained throughout length (500yds) and about 50yds trench braided, (b) little progress for want of men, (c) M.G. Dugout completed with solid steel roof 10 March: Sappers are never allowed to rest. We have a new job. We have got the wind up that our trenches at Verbranden Molen (just on the right of our old sector) are. mined near Hill 60, and so we are digging out some old trenches just behind, to be occupied in case the .mines go up. I went up with Chaplin and Baker, to help them start work on remaking Johnson Trench, just behind Hill 60. When Baker and I reached the back of the railway cutting behind Hill 60, the 'overs' from the front line were· coming over quite fast, and hitting into the tree stumps and the ground with a whop. We had several casualties.
11 March 1916	No work done- Johnsons C.T. and railway cutting + Jacksons C.T. Shelled every quarter of an hour for a period of 5 mins - from 4.45pm till 4.15 am 12/3/16. Sapper W.P keep low till 11pm then marched back 11 March: The Boche must have discovered we had worked last night, as Johnson Trench was strafed continuously all tonight. 11 -20 March: We continued the work on Johnson Trench, having two or three casualties every night among the sappers and the infantry working parties. I was up at the work myself, two nights out of three. Sometimes I only went as far as Transport Farm, to see a job on the road between there and Shrapnel Comer. The road here is almost impassable for shell-holes, some of them three feet deep. We have got these "filled with brick at the bottom and road metal on top and have revetted the sides of the pave with logs. and pickets. Apart from a very rough night of shelling on 11 March, things were fairly quiet. On the way to work and back, we were shelled at Kruistraat on 15th, and Belgian Chateau on the 18th. It was all very hard work for the sappers, especially as they had to march there and back every night from Germaine's Farm. We set out each evening at 6 p.m . and got back as dawn was breaking. Nevertheless the boys usually used to sing on the road from Kruistraat to home. We have succeeded in disposing of poor old Sergeant Macey of No1 Section. His name was sent in to be put in charge of a coffee-stall in Kruistraat. How are the mighty fallen! An R.E. sergeant too! But we could not get rid of him any other way. He had been out since August 1914 and was too war-weary to be any good in the line. The joke was that, having been sent to Kruistraat for a quiet rest, the place was shelled to blazes a few days later and his coffee-stall was completely demolished. The old man was lucky to come out of it alive. This is the third week of the Battle of Verdun, with huge events in the balance. The Boches are running this attack on a gigantic scale. The losses on both sides and the artillery preparations are colossal. I believe it was touch and go at the beginning, until a certain General Petain arrived, who is the latest soldier to become famous. I don't think we can say the Boche has no sense of humour. At Loos, for example, we used gas for the first time. This was done with huge secrecy, even the infantry in the line, and the sappers who made the emplacements, were not supposed to know what for. The generals were patting themselves on the back for their cleverness and anticipating the complete surprise which would come off . Two or three days of unfavourable wind preceded the attack. On the third morning, a notice was seen stuck up over the Boche trenches - Wind still wrong for your damned gas! They used to be quite amusing about our old Very lights, which were no use compared to theirs. These, especially on Christmas Eve,1914, provided great butts for Boche ,wit, and used to be greeted by cheers and shouts of 'Why not try a match?' When we got our new Very lights, a German voice called out from their trenches at Armentieres, 'That's a b- -y good light , sir.' However, all this has been stopped now by us . If the Boche shout, we open rifle and machine-gun fire, while for one of us to shout is a court-martial offence. The Corps and Divisional summaries which we get each night are getting quite blood-thirsty too. For instance, a few nights ago, they told of a trench mortar strafe. After describing the shooting, they went on to say, 'when fire ceased, cries of pain were heard from the enemy's trenches, as if someone had been hit. Fire was immediately re-opened .. . At 8 p .m . our Lewis guns played on the road at BLANK-- Apparently the enemy were considerably inconvenienced, as numerous shrieks and groans were heard.' All this frightfulness seems to me regrettable. After all, they are experiencing the same sufferings as we are. If we exchange a few witticisms, it does not mean we are going to betray our trust. We are in this job until we win. But occasional intervals of humour bring brief relief to the savagery.
12 March 1916	Nos 1&2 Sections work on trenches, 3&4 at billets (No 3 Section 2nd Lt Chaplin, No 4 Section 2nd Lt Baldwin) Work same as 10/3/16 - (a) 250yds trench braided (b) Site of barrier changed by CRE and started again opposite entrance to LATCHWOOD dugouts. W.P 180 men 7th N.F. Lt Tesnis proceeded LTA 25 Dronck for inspection by Med Board.
13 March 1916	Same as 12/3/16 - (a) Remaining 250yds Johnson's C.T. Trench braided - V good progress - (b) bridge on train carriageway barrier completed. Sandbags carried to new site. Sapper Atkinson wounded (bullet through chest) - W.P 180 men 7th N.F
14 March 1916	Same as 13/3/16 - (a) 250 yds Johmson's C.T deepened by 2' this followed by large slips caused by heavy shower. W.P 140 men 7th D.L.I (pioneers) Necessary to put revetment in hand at once (U frames) (b) no infantry W.P but all sandbags connected then laid by Sappers
15 March 1916	Same as 14/3/16 - (a) Johnson's C.T (500yds) deepened throughout to about 5' 6" in depth, - U framing started. Shell fire on junction Jackson Str and railway 7 min intervals, interfered with carriage of materials - Sapper Wilkins slightly wounded (shrapnel) W.P 100 men 7th D.L.I (pioneers) 50 9th D.L.I - V. G. Progress. (b) 1300 sandbags filled and laid in barrier 9' at base bringing it up to height of 2' 6" throughout length.
16 March 1916	Same as 15/3/16 - (a) Johnson's C.T.- 130 U frames put in & canvas + wire netting erectment. (b) 1&2 Sections, 1700 sandbags laid, - W.P. 100 9th D.L.I, V.G.Progress.Quiet night on the whole after 11pm. Cutting and Junction Jackson's Str - Johnson's shelled at intervals up to 11pm.
17 March 1916	Same as 16/3/16 (a) Johnson's C.T. - 80 U frames put in & entrenchment - 140yds of C.T now completely revetted. (b) 1000 sand bags filled and laid giving barrier 9' broad at base, 6' at top and 6' high across railway cutting, - V quiet night except for rifle fire on railway.
18 March 1916	Same as 17/3/16 (a) johnson's C.T. 60 U frames put in and entrenchment. 170 yds C.T completely revetted. (b) Bridges made to take parados to barrier
19-21 March 1916	Nos 3 & 4 Sections relieved 1 & 2 Sections in trenches, 1&2 returning to billets - except for night of 20/21 work was not possible, halted by shell fire. (a) Johnson's street 250 yds revetted, all drains cleaned again, (b) Barrier parados brought to height of 6', barrier itself to 9' - cutting made ready for covered way. 20 March: I went up to the Bluff trenches with the O.C. We are apparently taking them over from the 3rd Division. This is where, in February, all the battles took place which we used to watch from Zillebeke. The trenches are not so bad, but the front line is very isolated and consists of several disconnected pieces of trench, accessible only by night. The 3rd Division have been using three field companies, one fortress company and a pioneer battalion on the sector that we are taking over with our one company alone. The navigable Ypres-Comines Canal crosses the front line at this point, and the Bluff is a long artificial ridge running parallel to the canal, and formed by the spoil dug out to make the canal. It is easy to see the Boche objective in the battle of 13 February. Our reserve line is on top of this artificial ridge, and from it one can see for miles all over the southern half of the salient from Ypres to Kemmel. They just missed this, however, for during the battle it became our front line. The Dorsets, of the 17th Division, were holding the trenches and lost them, every man in the front line being killed. Our dead are still lying in large numbers on the slopes of the Bluff, killed by machine-gun fire during the Dorsets' counter-attack. There was one corpse in particular which became quite the stock thing to show to visitors. He had been killed while climbing up the steep bank of the Bluff, and had one foot raised and a hand stretched out to pull himself up by. By some miracle, he remained in the same identical position. Except for the green colour of his face and hand, one would never have believed that he was dead. We went round the trenches with young Congreve, who was the Brigade Major. He was famous as a brave man, and already had a V. C. and a D.S.O. [He was killed later]. His father had won a V.C. and lost an arm at the Battle of Colenso, and is now commanding a corps. Bravery seemed to run in the family. When we were walking with him in the line, between the Bluff and the canal, he suddenly spotted a broken machine-gun lying in the open on top of the Bluff spoil bank itself. He calmly climbed out of the trench and walked up the slope of the Bluff in the open to look at it. He must have been in full view of the Boche line for miles. Presumably none of the enemy was looking, as nobody would ever have dreamt that anyone would walk there in daylight. Congreve had a great effect on the morale of his brigade. When they were relieved by the 3rd Division, the 17th Division were very much shaken, and were crawling about on all fours, for fear of snipers. The lst Gordons of the 3rd Division came in full of beans to relieve them, and all stood on the fire step at once, a la Congreve, fo look over the top and see where Jerry was.
22-23 March 1916	Orders received on 21/3/16 to stop work on Johnson's Street and barrier ( in RV Cutting by hill 60) and to rest Sections prior to taking up "the Bluff" Sector with 151 Bde on night 23/24. The O.C revisited "the Bluff" with O.C East Riding Co RE on 21/3/16 - this area had lately been the scene of serious fighting V12:- the Germans captured the Bluff and 600 yds front line trenches in Feb and we retook them in early March - consequently all trenches were nearly obliterated by shell fire on both sides. Much work since recapture done by 3 Div, but much remained to be done. O.C at request of G.O.C 151 Bde submitted on 22/3/16 proposals for working the line V12:- Infantry at front line work and covering RE, cleaning, draining and revetting all important C.T's, Pioneers (2 Coys promised) reclaiming 31S, 30S, 30R and C.T from 30S to 29 - 1& 2 Sections with 2nd Lts Glubb & Baker on "the Bluff" on night 23/24. 22 March: I rode into Reninghelst in the morning with Baldwin to get some money from the field cashier. Just beyond Ouderdom, we met a Canadian battalion marching to attention, with their band, playing. We rode on and saw a group of brass hats beside the road, with the inspecting officer sitting on his horse in front. We rode by and saluted, thinking it was some divisional general. A bit further on, we ran into an Assistant Provost Marshal! Fearful language! We had to escape across country, pursued by the uncomplimentary epithets of the military police. It turned out that it was Sir Douglas Haig, inspecting the whole Canadian Army Corps. We had innocently ridden past the saluting base in the wrong direction. 23 March: I came up to the Bluff line instead of Chaplin, who is fortunately sick, so I have my old No 1Section again, for the present at least. The 76th Brigade of the 3rd Division were just coming out. This is a K Brigade in a regular division, but with one regular battalion, the lst' Gordons. This is part of the policy of mixing regulars and the New Army. The Kitchener Battalions, however, have caught the atmosphere of the 3rd Division, and are very good. Last week, the Boche shouted across in the front line, 'Wait till the 3rd Division goes out. We'll soon take those trenches back from the 17th.'
24 March 1916	Work as above commenced with fair purpose considering very dark nights and difficulty getting material to site. W.P about 140 men, 8th D.L.I available for all work. O.C went round line with the G.O.C 151 Bde. 24-26 March: Worked with No1 Section in the front line. The trenches have been almost entirely blown in and are in many cases impassable for mud and water. Somehow they have to be reconstructed and dried. Very quiet. Both sides have a lot of work to do.
25 March 1916	As on 24 /3/16 - additional W.Parties aked for, Party of No4 Section trenches by day to prepare dug outs for No 3 Section
26 March 1916	No 3 Section also proceeded to trenches- the work required being more than 1&2 at somewhat reduced strength could cope with. O.C and Lt Chaplin proceeded to trenches, O.C to stop there some days.
27-31 March 1916	Work continued on the Bluff Sector, good progress made, notable in reopening an important Communication Trench, "The Wynd". No 3 Section returned to billet 31/1st. All 3 Sections 1,2 and 3 did very good work. No casualties 27 March: The 3rd Division, now on our right, did a show at St Eloi. They took three lines of trenches and 125 prisoners. The two battalions of the 3rd Division, who took part, suffered enormously, losing almost all their officers. Such is one of the tiny pushes, hardly mentioned in the papers. The centre of the battle is about 1500 yards south-west of us. The enemy put over a number of whizz-bangs and 4.2 howitzers over here, and also a light shrapnel barrage. When the action developed, however, he left us and turned all his guns on the site of the show. We began the battle by the engineers blowing up four mines under the Boches. The 3rd Division, from whom we recently took over, were running the show. They are always called up to do the heavy work. As usual, we had few casualties in the assault, as everyone in the enemy's front line was dead. But when the trenches were taken, our fellows were bombarded continuously for two days and frequently for the next week. At 12.45 on the 27th, the enemy commenced an intense bombardment followed by bombing attacks up his communication trenches. This was stopped and the enemy never came out over his parapet. The German troops were Saxons. Baker and I have a very nice dugout in the side of the Bluff, built up with mining frames. A duckboard walk passes in front of it. As the Bluff itself prevents the enemy from seeing the path, a communication trench is not necessary. General Shea's 151st (one-five-one) Brigade of the 50th Division is in the line. He often looks in to our little dugout to ask after the work, and sometimes has a drink. He has quite a partiality for Baker and me. The former was rather tall and had a way of looking down his nose, so Shea dubbed him 'the scornful Baka'ar'. Shea insists on going round the front line complete with stiff brass hat, eyeglass, and a wonderful long wooden staff to walk with. This causes great alarm and despondency to the poor devils who accompany him. Palmer of the Durhams told me how one day, General Shea, in all his panoply, had appeared in his front line trenches. Palmer had said to him, 'Keep your head down along here, Sir, there's a sniper has this place taped.''A snipa-ar,' said Shea, 'a snipaar! O is tha 'ar? The dirty blightaar!' And immediately put his head over the top, screwing in his eyeglass to have a look. A second after he had put his head down again, a bullet whacked into the back of the trench. The men of the 'Durrems', a dour set of little north country devils, never quite knew what to make of Shea's Hibernian heartiness. He used to love going round the front line and stopping in front of some 'unfortunate private soldier and saying, 'Well, my good man, and what did you have for breakfast this morning?' Or alternatively, 'Now tell me, when did you last change your socks? ' Then he would plunge his hand into his pocket, produce a beautiful new pair, and present them to the embarrassed soldier. When Shea heard that Dad was coming round on 31 March, he took great trouble to have vast numbers of working parties organized for the occasion, to impress the Chief Engineer of the Army. McQueen went round the line with them. As soon as they got round the corner of the first trench, they came upon the whole of the first working party, fast asleep on the firestep, with their shovels resting against the back of the trench! A nice story was told about this time of the general commanding a neighbouring division. The new gas helmet had recently been issued, a sticky flannel bag you are supposed to put over your head. It had to be carried in a small canvas satchel and worn on all occasions. The general was very keen on this order, and made a great fuss if he saw any man without his gas mask. One day, when going round the line, the general discovered to his horror that he had himself forgotten his mask, so, stopping some passing soldier, he borrowed his and slung it over his shoulder. With a sigh of relief, he entered the trenches and round the first corner, came upon a man who was not wearing a gas mask. After giving the man a severe reprimand, he said, 'I don 't believe you even know how to use one if you had one. Here take mine and let us see you use it - Gas cloud -go!' The general took the little satchel off his shoulder and thrust it into the soldier's hands. The latter, with trembling alacrity undid the button and pulled out - a filthy old pair of socks! Although the duckboard walk leading up the line, under cover of the Bluff, was out of view to the enemy, the open country a little further north was in full view . An unsuspecting person would often wander across this. When he was well out in the open, a Boche machine-gun would open on him. Down he would go on his face and lie motionless. After a few minutes, he would jump up and make a dash for it, but the machine-gun would open again, and down he would go once more. Quite a crowd of spectators used to gather along the ground beneath the Bluff which was invisible to the enemy. They would laugh loudly and watch the fun, shouting out facetious advice. Of course the poor victim himself was sweating blood, thinking that his last hour was come. It seemed extraordinary how callous some people could become. Yet if the man had been hit, several would have run out under the same fire to rescue him. Perhaps their attitude was one of defiance -pretending that getting killed was a joke. I never knew a place like the Bluff for corpses. During the battle last month, the troops, suffered heavily and were too tired to bury their dead. Many of them were merely trampled into the floor of the trench, where they were soon lost in the mud and the water. We have been digging out a lot of these trenches again, and are constanly coming upon the corpses. They are pretty well decomposed, but a pickaxe brings up chips of bones and rags of clothing. The rest is putrid grey matter. It makes me sick. At other times, they scooped out hollows in the rear face of the trench, or in the traverses, and stuffed their corpses into them. There was part of a hat sticking out of the back of one trench, the head inside which still seemed to be bleeding after at least a fortnight. One often sees hands or boots sticking out. In a disused dugout behind the old front line, half a man's head was sticking out. It had been largely eaten by rats. I believe that Hooge disputes with the Bluff the palm for corpse-infested trenches. Hooge claimed to possess a single traverse with six or eight men buried in it. I often wish that some of those brilliant politicians who rouse the enthusiasm of crowds by denouncing other nations, could be brought round here to see what war really is. I had rather a fright one night at the Bluff. We had some men working in an isolated section of the front line, unconnected with our trenches. One had to go to it at night over the top. I set out with an orderly to walk to them over the open, but it was pitch dark and we lost the way. As there was no front line, I thought for a bit that .we must have walked into the Boche line, which a number of people have done before now. For a few seconds I was seized with panic and completely lost my sense of direction. To feel yourself lost is a terrifying psychological experience which prevents all thought. However I recovered myself, but I still did not know in which direction were our trenches or those of the enemy. The Very lights were shooting up into the air from all directions, suddenly shedding a blinding light, and then going out and leaving the darkness blacker than before. I could not tell which were our lights and which those of the Boche . I then suddenly discovered that I had forgotten my revolver! Eventually I made up my mind in which direction, I thought our trenches must lie; and we inched our way towards them in the dark periods between Very lights. I was not sorry when we got back to our trenches again.

1-2 April 1916	Nos 1,3 & 4 Sections in back billets, No 2 Section in dugouts at "The bluff" No2 Section returned to HQ under Lt Baker on night 2/3 owing to intense shelling of 151 Bde HQ and tramway line coinciding with the relief of 151 Bde by Canadian Brigade, the tramway line was broken and rear party unable to return till following night. - On completion of "The Wynde" C.T, "Hedge Street" C.T was cut through and entrenched in 2 nights thus reopening coms to "the Loop" (fire trench in front of "the Bluff") It was satisfactory to get this job done before return of Coy-the work being of considerable importance. Credit due to Lt Baker,Sgt Collings and No2 Section. Sappers Barns and Archer wounded by shrapnel on 1/4/16. O.C reconnoitred with officers of 4th Canadian Field Coy, 2 Div. New line to be taken over by 151 Bde immediately S of St Eloi Sector 15 trenches M.N.O. 1 April: I went over the line south of St Eloi with the O.C. We are taking it over for a short time from the Canadians. Absolute peace! A beautiful front 1ine, clean, dry, full of dugouts and without a shell hole within a mile! One thing is that three months in the Ypres salient makes all else seem to be a paradise. 2 April: I went over the line again with a view to taking up No 3 Section on 4 April, Tessier having been evacuated sick and not having been replaced as yet. I am supposed to be second-in-command, and to run the mounted section, but I have scarcely seen them for three days on end. I have been in the line all the time, commanding sections of sappers, owing to the shortage of officers. In the evening, I rode into Poperinghe on Minx, had tea and bought some papers. One does not realize what a desert the shelled area is until one returns to a real populated town -and sees women in the streets. It does one a lot of good and I enjoyed it very much.
3 April 1916	Resting in billets preparatory to marching
4 April 1916	HQ & 2 Sections under O.C to LA CLYTTE (huts) Nos 3 & 4 Sections to advanced billets at N.3.b.5.3. 8h 28. 151 HQ to LA CLYTTE. O.C submitted work plan to be undertaken on new line to G.O.C. 151 Bde 4 April: Marched with Nos 3 and 4 Sections and Baldwin to our new advanced billet about three-quarters of a mile south-east of Dickebusch. The inhabitants were still hanging on in Dickebusch, or some of them at least. I had trouble with a farmer who seemed to be pro-German. Eventually succeeded in patching up an old barn for the troops and putting up a bivouac for us. 4 - 8 April: Worked with No 3 Section in Bois Carre, mostly at night. There was a battle still going on at St Eloi on our left. There is a lot of strafeing day arid night at St Eloi, but not very much on us. A good many wounded kept coming past from the mine craters at St Eloi, through the dressing station at Ridge Wood. These battles sometimes upset the whole front for weeks afterwards. We never can let well alone, but must upset every quiet sector by our 'offensive spirit '. I expect our ·present front will be ruined before long. The Canadian communication trenches are wonderful. Some of them are several feet deep below the trenchboards which makes them quite dry. What a change after Sanctuary Wood or the Bluff. These lovely trenches, however, supply their own little humours. The duckboards are all supposed to be nailed down on transoms, but many are not, so if you tread on one end, the other end gets up and cracks you on the back of the head . This adds to the humours of the infantry carrying-parties with loads of trench mortar bombs going up at night! A combination of vanishing trench boards under one's feet and gunner telephone wires, criss-crossing the trenches on the level of one's nose, gives rise to some wonderfully picturesque language. Nerves are a curious phenomenon. One night I was going up to work in the line during the period we were south of St Eloi. It was a cloudy, cold, grey dusk, and I was walking at the head of the section. The guns were banging away all round, and the flashes lighting up the country. A staff officer called out, wishing us good luck, as he passed down towards the rear. I felt cold and frightened, but,in actual fact, we had a quiet night. Although so quiet at the moment, these trenches are by no means satisfactory . The Boche is above us, and the whole of our lines as far back as Vierstraat are hopelessly overlooked. The bottom of a valley was just behind our front line and was so wet that no trenches could be dug in it. The front line in N and 0 Trenches was only a breastwork with no back. The line had always been so quiet, however, that no one had done any work to improve it. 14 April: I got my first leave. Dad sent a car to fetch me from La Clytte to Cassel. The same morning the car in question had been used by the army commander and his flag was still flying on it:' As a perfectly good second-lieutenant, I could not understand why the field officer's guard turned ·out and presented arms as I drove through Cassel! Two days after I landed in England on leave, I developed appendicitis, and was sent into the Army Hospital at Millbank, where my appendix was removed. After the removal of my appendix, a Medical Board sent me on sick leave. It was not until the beginning of August that I at last persuaded them to pass me fit to return to France. I hastened to Aldershot to await posting.
5 April 1916	Line taken only 151 Bde - no work this evening
6 April 1916	Work put in hand as follows:- No 4 Section and Infantry W.P 100 men heightening enfiladed Portions of P.O. C.T (much shelled these days as one of the main C.T.s used by troops attacking and landing St Eloi crater and line recently taken from Germans)-Making support line (No10 & No11) behind N-O trenches (also much shelled V good target for the Bosch) - Maintenance of pumped water supply to BOIS CONFLUENT & BOIS CARRE. No3 Section maintenance of trench tramway - Work on S Line connecting Southern & Eastern Reinth, revetting, holding up and putting in dugouts in parados - 7th D.L.I Pioneers (1Coy) put to work making of reserve line N12. Nos 1 & 2 Sections completed on "shops" work in camp also making of Grenade stores on Sherpen Neah
7-9 April 1916	Continuation of work detailed above. 2nd Lt Thompson joined from England vice 2nd Lt Tessier invalided home - put i/c No3 Section. Work a good deal hampered by the both the Canadian Bde and 151 Bde reliefs. Work on Grenade stores held up for want of fittings for steel futons. During these days frequent attacks and counter attacks on St Eloi crater led to much barrage and other various arms shelling of our line. No RE casualties but work somewhat interfered with - P.O C.T & 04 trenches received particular attention.
10-15 April 1916	Work continued on the above with good purpose considering that all work in supply line is badly pushed in, in several places by shell fire and at night ( particularly in BOIS CARRE) m.g and shell fire was brought to bear on the work from time to time. Working 500yds from hostile trenches it was noticed that wearing of steel helmets by working parties was illuminating as the moon glinted on them. Average W.P at this point about 250 per night.
16 April 1916	Nos 3 & 4 Sections relieved of front line by Sections 1 ( 2nd Lt Chaplin) and 2 ( 2nd Lt Baker) - about this time the enemy began to shell the M & N trenches very heavily and consistantly doing great damage.
17 April	As on 16th, the question of ditching other work and starting a S.L behind M & N came in for consideration, evening of 17th orders received from the 2nd Army, start this work at once.
18 April 1916	Work on support line behind M & N trenches also work on reserve line. One and a half Companies 7th D.L.I Pioneers and 100 infantry put to work on S.L behind M&N trenches.
19 April 1916	Same as 18th - rainy night which assisted work as keeping things dark. Again worked with m.g fire. Sapper Gates killed - 1 man 7th D.L.I sniped - got 2 Lewis guns on to Bosch m.gs with some effect - good purpose made - ground mainly necessitating almost further pump work except on extreme right behind M.1. when possible only from 2'/3' before striking water
20 April 1916
21-22 April 1916	No working parties available due to Bde being withdrawn (2 Battalions) hut work continued by pioneers. About 9.40pm enemy shelled the whole support line work with 4,2, 5.9, whizzbangs + m.gs consistently at intervals during the night rendering work impossible. No 3 Section withdrawn to La Clytte. No1 Section worked on various works returning early morning 22nd. O.C and officers of Cheshire 7 Co taken near the front line during the day. Cheshire advance party went up by night. During period 16-22 back work (1& 2 Sects) consisted of (a) completing Grenade stores at Sector "PEABERG" also (b) work on 2 water supply schemes. Coy marched 10am to near MONT DES CATS for rest period with 151 Bde, having been continually employed in the Ypres Salient since Nov 1915 - Coy well deserved a rest. Many changes during this period. Four casualties suffered.New billets in university N of Mont De Cats.
23-24 April 1916	Mainly camp fatiques. Training programme drawn out for 2 weeks training - 1st week mainly drills, 2nd week - field works and route marching. - visit from the CRE.
25-30 April 1916	This period devoted entirely to close order drills. By the 30th, the Coy working very creditably on parade on which day CRE inspected the Company. During this week, clothing, equipment was got up to date. One day route march with weapons - lectures by O.C and officers. G.O.C 151 Brigade, Brig General Shea CB DSO visited and spoke to the Coy: giving high praise for work performed by the Coy: when affiliated to 151 Bde during period June 1915-May 1916

1-10 May 1916	Coy in rest at Mont des Cats training and overhaul of equipment. Wiring, bridging (trestles) demolitions, drills. Successful sports and football league (won by 4 Section) were held. Coy marched into billets near La Clytte for work on "Vierstraat Switch"
11-14 May 1916	Nos 1 and 2 Sections (Lts Chaplin and Russell) working from back billet working parties 250 entrenching "Beck", 200 infantry work on trench between WATLING STREET and POPPY LANE wiring N of Poppy Lane, No 3 Section working on O.P at Desinet farm, N' Kemmel
15-20 May 1916	Nos 3&4 Sections (Lt Thompson and Lt Baldwin) took over from 1 and 2 Sections on same work
21 May 1916	Work on "Vierstraat Switch" handed over to 1st N.D RE. Coy marched out to rest at same billets at Mont Des Cats. First game of Div football league RE v 151 Bde Cpl Ball and Cpl Rennie played for RE, RE WON 1.0. In the final of the of the league RE beat RAMC
22-26 May 1916	Company in rest, training continued, demolitions and marches. Divisional inspection at FLETRE by General Plumer. Lts Russell and Baldwin presented with DCM. March past in column of route
27-31 May 1916	Company marched into billets at Scherpembery? Near La Clytte and took work on Sector M1-05. Nos 1 & 2 Sections to forward billet near "Dicke Busche" . Work on Bois Carre C.T Reserve line N11-N12 Support Line N10. Took over pumping at Dicke Busche Baths La Clytte. Working parties 450 Infantry Attached list of casualties for month of May 1916

1- 7 June 1916	Nos 1 and 2 Sections at forward billets on following work:(151 Bde Sector M,N,O trenches) No1 Section mainly on making new Support Line (N-12) also Reserve Line N-11. No2 Section making Bois Carre C.T, Reserve Line to Southern ?, Maintenance of water supply, and trench tramways- orders received about 4th:- To get a new Support Line make ? In front of Sector. Owing to the low lying wet nature of ground close behind the front line a decision was arrived at to remain for the most part on the Support Line situated over 200 yards behind the Front Line. No 11 kits also sent to forward billets and preparations made for commencement of the new Support Line. - these preparations including siting of trenches. Erecting of large quantity of revetting materials was completed by night 8/9th
8-18 June 1916
19-30 June 1916	During this period work was continued on the new Support Line and adjacent C.Ts under the same organisation in 3 Sectors. On the 20th No 3 Section (2nd Lt Thompson) replaced No 1 Section (2nd Lt Chaplin) working the Left Sector on the nights 22/23/24 some 600 yds of new line was completed thus having the complete line "through" as required. Heavy rains continued for days thus impeding work a great deal. Parts of the support line of Wytschaete Beck was in low lying ground and the type of soil made it difficult to drain. Working parties were on the whole front. Sapper work was well done despite many difficulties. Hostile M.G fire was consistantly fired at carrying parties who had to carry materials over the open for 800 yds and their tracks was easily spotted by the enemy. A battery of 150 bde (5 D.L) was sent up for work on the Support Line furnishing 400 men a night ( 150 used to carry materials) The Sector on the extreme right (No 4 Section) was particularly difficult to work owing to the very wet low lying ground. The lack of C.Ts or any means of transporting materials with transport meant that materials had to be carried over the open up to 1600 yds. The work of constructing "Poppy" Lane C.T. (a most important C.T.) was carried in by A & D Coys 7 D.L.I. (pioneers) under RE supervision. As far as the Wytschaete Beck 800 yds, it was necessarily drained down its length-water difficulties made the work slow. From the Beck to the front line the trenches passed through a low lying wet area. Average RE & infantry casualties on Support line were about 4 nightly. As 3 sections necessarily employed on on work on Support Line it was impossible to arrange any satisfactory system of relief. Pioneer Shaw Killed on 23rd shot. During this period No 1 Section (2nd Lt Chaplin) was employed on constructing 3rd Bn Battle HQ and also 2nd Bn battle HQ. Marking out and mending paths and tracks.

1-11 July 1916	Nos 2,3 & 4 Sections at advanced billets (No3 Sect N28) continued to be employed on making their Support Line and Comms trenches behind the M.N.O.Trenches working in the Sectors as follows:- No 3 Section (2nd Lt Thompson) from P&O trench to Chicory CT. No 2 Sect (2nd Lt H Russell) from Chicory CT- start of Support Line 150 yds W of Bois Carre, No 4 Section (2nd Lt Baldwin) from latter point to Vierstraat Road. The weather during this period was fair on the whole but the heavy rains experienced in June from time to time kept the ground from drying up to any real extent. During this period considerable artillery activity along this Sector tendered to delay work to some extent. Good purpess was made in Sectors worked by Nos 2 & 3 Sections but purpess was slower on that worked by No 4 Section as owing to the wet and bad nature of the ground, work could only be done on revetted portions of trenches. On 2nd July No4 Section had 4 casualties (all carpenters) N2 Sapper Horsley killed, Lcpl Darby, Spr Ramsey, Lt Callender wounded. On the 9th 2nd Lt Baldwin was wounded (not danderously) his groin, this officer joined the Coy in February and the loss of his valuable services will be much felt by the Coy and his Section. Sgt Parker carried on in place of Lt Baldwin. The work on No4 Section's Sector being superintended by 2nd Lt Russell - as the 3 Sections had not been worked on the line without relief since 28 May, it was decided with approval of GOC 151 Bde and CRE, would temporarily abandon work on No 3 Section's Sector and move No3 Section to No2 Section's Sector on the 14th
12-13 July 1916	2nd Lt Russell was killed outright by M.G. Fire in Stuart CT - this officer's loss who was deeply respected by all ranks - he came out with the Coy in August 1914 with rank of sergeant, he became CSM in December 1914, promoted acting WO1 in July 1915 on being appointed RSM RE 50 Division, on being commissioned early in May 1916 was again posted to 7 Field Coy RE. He performed most excellent work throughout the war. His work when in charge of large working parties on the Support Line was particularly noteworthy and the loss of his very reliable services will be much felt. During difficult work he inspired all working parties with the utmost confidence and although he had only worked with this Infantry Bde a short time, all O.C. Battalions notified the O.C. Their sense of loss incurred. On the 5th and 9th night: small demolition parties were required from No2 Section to accompany minor raids. From many volunteers Lcpl Rush, Sappers Corley and Kevenagh were selected - Unfortunately on neither occasion were the enemy lines penetrated so the parties had no results as regards demolitions. Officers were not sent on these occasions, the enterprises being of minor nature and officers being required at their normal work. 2nd Lt Baker (acting Capt) was sent on 13th to take charge of Nos 2 & 4 Sections. Sappers Freemant and Marland (No2 Section) wounded on 12th
14-21 July 1916	No2 Section withdrawn to La Clytte for 6 days entire rest. Work during this period was as before mainly on the Support Line. About this time the weather became much more settled, also the system whereby artillery retaliated on enemy M.Gs from PICADILLY FARM, BOIS QUARANTE (3), HOLLAND SHESHUR (2). By means of lamp signalling from front line trenches again became really effective, thus tending to diminish casualties greatly and facilitating the work generally. By the 21st STUART C.T was nearly completed. From the Southern end the support line at 7' deep in most parts, revetted and dug. This gave good access to some 400yds of completed Support Line. On the 19th, No 3 Section sustained a heavy loss, Lcpl Burnley (killed) This NCO has served with the Company since August 1914 and at all times been conscientious for marked ability and devotion to duty and would have undoubtedly have risen rapidly. Work on POPPY LANE C.T. Carried out since 1st night by A Coy D.L.I (pioneers) and D Coy. Since early in the month an additional Bn (increasing working parties from 280-400 men per night) was placed at disposal for work on this Sector N2 in succession 5 D.L.I, 4 N.F, 9 D.L.I. Other work carried out in line since 1st: building up BOIS CARRE C.T. (N side) 2 Sentry shelters with mechanical alarms. 3 strong M.G dug outs, small extension of tramway in BOIS CARRE. (completed) Since 1st No 1 Section (2 Lt Chaplin) at back billets were employed on completing 2 Bde Battle Headquarters, 3 Regt Battle Headquarters, Regimental Aid Posts (commenced only)
22-31 July 1916	Nos 3&4 Sections were being relieved by Nos 1&2 Sections on 22nd but orders received on 21st to march on billets as shown in column 1. All work on line M-O trenches handed over to 4 Canadian Field Company RE on night 21/22. Marched on 22nd

1-6 August 1916	During this time Coy was employed as follows:- No 1 Section (2Lt Chaplin), No 2 Section (2Lt Wade) at forward billets at work in 149 Bde area trenches (C2-D6) 2Lt Baker was also at forward billets in general superindendence of all work & in particular generally superindending and assisting Infantry battalions, Bde machine gun officer, Div trench and mortar officer as repair work being done by them. A good deal of work was required in front line trenches with the purpose of (a) thickning parapet and parados to resist heavy trench mortar fire, to which portions of this line was much subject. (b) revetting existing work to enable it to freestand wet weather or winter. (c) improving dugout accomodation. For this purpose 1 NCO and sapper from each section was placed at the disposal of each infantry battlion in the line, and the system whereby an RE officer specifically visited battalions and advised as to work done and stores demanded was working well.Battalions in line appointed each a 'works officer' which proved very necessary to ensure continuity and 2 Lt Baker was contacted in this way to deal far more readily with Battalions. Actual work of Sections:- No 2 Section with Pioneer, Infantry works party employed making an important entrenchment behind salient forward trenches D3, D4. This work commenced about 23rd July was nearly completed for a length of 200 yds by 6th August. It entailed revettment and holding up for entire height V12 -6' and conditions being favourable for quick work it progressed very satisfactory. No 1 Section employed on repairing a series of breastworks called "The Batts" also erecting trench boarding "Northumberland Road" C.T, which was practicaly completed by 6 August. 2nd Lt Sturery with 2 NCOs and 2 men of 4 Section was employed from 28th in constructing heavy trench mortar emplacements near RE Farm with a permanent 70 men work party. One emplacement (with temporary wooden platform) was used on the 5th. During this period No 3 Section (2nd Lt Thompson) was employed at Coy HQ manning sawmill, looking after stores etc. Information received to the effect 82 Field Company would take over from 7 Field Company on the 8th August. Officers of 82 Fd Coy arrived and was taken over the line. Nos 1 & 2 Sections recalled from forward billets after the days work 5 August: I received my embarkation orders unexpectedly and had to leave in a hurry without saying goodbye to Mum. I reached Southampton at 4 p.m. and crossed the same night on an old transport ship. On board, passages , stairs and deck were a mass of sleeping men. Reached Le Havre at 1 a.m. and, at noon, steamed on up the river Seine to Rouen. The river is quite pretty on the way, the banks in many places falling almost vertically from the tops of the downs to the stream. These steep hillsides are mostly clothed with woods, while little villages nestle in tiny valleys running up from the river. Others stand at the foot of the hills on an artificial quai, which separates the houses from the water. It being a Sunday, all the inhabitants were walking about in their best clothes, and cheered the ship loudly as we went by. Vive L 'Ahgleterre! Heep, heep, hourra. Are we doonarted? and so on. All of which seemed to be most meritorious enthusiasm at what must have been to them a common sight for the best part of two years. We reached No 4 General Base Depot at Rouen at 7 p.m ., and I was given my orders the same evening to go on to the 7th Company the next day.
7 August 1916	Sections rested work, handed over 7 August: We left by train at 3.30 p.m. Four of us in a compartment, but one of us having a camp bed, we erected this down the centre, and laid out our blankets across both the seats and the bed. By this means, we had a fair night, and, the weather being warm , a much better journey than last November. Detrained at Bailleu! and got a bus to Fletre, where I saw the C.R. E., Colonel Singer, sitting at the open window of a house, and went in and had some tea with him. A message was sent to the company for horses for me, but, getting impatient to rejoin the company, I borrowed a push bicycle and arrived, pouring with sweat, at their billet at Mont des Cats (pronounced by the troops 'Mondycats'). The division has just come out of the line at Kemmel.
8 August 1916	The Coy marched at 4.15 am to Montes des Catts (same billets as occupied in May 1916) via Mont Rouge, Mont Noir over steep hills which gave a good test for ?? arrived in Montes Des Cats 7.45 am. 8 August: Company drill in the morning. In the afternoon I took a ride with Baker. Dad also looked in for a couple of minutes. The following are now the officers of the company. O.C. -Capt J. A. McQueen R.E. 2nd in comd -Myself Supernumerary -2nd Lieut H. A. Baker No 1 Section -2nd Lieut R. E. E. Chaplin No 2 Section -2nd Lieut R . B. Wade No 3 Section -2nd Lieut J. B. L. Thompson No 4 Section -2nd Lieut J. F. Slattery This place is really extraordinarily beautiful. Like Cassel, it is a high steep hill, rising suddenly from the dead level plain of Flanders. It consequently has a tremendous view. Its sides are covered with little farms and cottages, sunken lanes, fields with high shady hedges, and big trees. The summit is crowned by a big Carmelite Monastery and, beside it, a windmill.
9 August 1916	Morning practised rapid wiring, practised rapid bivouacking. Interpreter M. Rimboy (late with 82nd Field Coy) posted to unit by CRE. 2nd Lt A.M.Glubb rejoined from sick leave at home and took over duties of acting Captain. Training programme received ordering entrenchment of 50 DIV. 9 August: Dad came over and fetched me away after lunch in the car. I had a ride with him after tea, and then back by car next morning, as we are just off down to the Somme.
10 August 1916	Coy on this date up to strength as regard all ranks and horses. A pair of bicycles not yet replaced (though under demand a long time) otherwise all stores complete. Lecture by O.C in morning reference employment of RE in attack. Afternoon cricket match versus R.A.M.C. Monte Des Cats. Lost by a few runs. 10 August: Marched down to Godevaerswelde station and entrained at 6 p.m . The officers then went into the village to partake of a dinner ordered by Rimbod, our new interpreter. They went without telling me and I did not know to what inn they had gone. At this moment, the Railway Transport Officer came running up to say that the train was about to start instead of at 9 p.m. as we had been ordered. I despatched messengers right and left and eventually discovered them myself. We all ran back to the train which started a few minutes later. It was pretty cold in the train, though we drank white wine at intervals out of a bottle to warm us up. Eventually at 2.30 a.m. we reached our destination, Candas. By the light of flaring acetylene lamps, we got the horses off the train and harnessed up. The sappers, with loud commands of Stand by to lift, and Prepare to lower, got the wagons off the train. Eventually we marched out just as dawn was breaking , and made an eight-mile march to Bois Bergues. I nodded off to sleep once or twice on Minx 's back, for Minx is mine once more. A tiring march as no one had had much sleep, and loading and unloading the wagons had been hard work.Nevertheless, the company finished up in good form, the sappers striding along bravely, singing : Mademoiselle from Armenteers -parlez-voo? Mademoiselle from Armenteers -parle z -voo? Mademoiselle from Armenteers, Hadn't been kissed for forty years, Inky , Pinky , Parlez-voo? The country here is very like Wiltshire, rolling downs with little copses on top of them and open bits of downland dotted with thorn bushes. There are distant views of country like a patchwork quilt, laid out in squares of golden corn, pasture, plough and woodland, with the sunshine and cloud shadows passing over them. The valleys are full of tall trees and little villages. Bois Bergues is picturesque, but rather dirty and desolate, no neat cottage gardens, and a good deal of tins and army rubbish lying about. The people here are French, not half-Flemish as in the north. We are now in 4th Army, General Sir H. Rawiinson. Baker and I went down in the evening and bathed in a little ditch outside the village, in three inches of water, a difficult job near a main road. At 8 p.m., the 50th Divisional Ammunition Column arrived, very hot and dirty, and pushed into our camp. They are a very ill-disciplined unit. From eight to ten p.m, a fearful argument with them, some of their people having walked into the camp between our wagons and horses , parked their wagons there and bivouacked. I behaved badly then, telling off gunner N.C .O.'s and men thinking myself rather fine. What harm their lying there for one night, as they had already got in there?
11 August 1916	Entrained at Godewaersvelde Station at 5.15 pm, destination Candas Station. Entrained quickly, good loading parties.
12 August 1916	Detrained Candas 2.30 am. Took nearly 2 hours to unload vehicles. The accomodation very bad, marched 5 am to Bois Berghest then bivouacked. No casualties to horses during the march.
13 August 1916	Drill (close order) & route march for sappers, long exercise for horses. Visit from CRE.
14 August 1916	Received orders to march on 15th with 149 Bde, route march in morning, heavy wind in afternoon. 14 August: Marched out of Bois Bergues at 3.30 a.m., after having stables at 2 a.m. in the dark. The whole division is moving and concentrating towards the south. When units are billeted around in fields and villages, the staff names a starting point, such as a certain church, and gives every unit a time to pass it. The O.C. of each unit works out how long it will take him to march from his bivouac to the starting point , and orders his own parade accordingly. A bad unit will start packing hours before a good one and yet will arrive too late at the starting point. To do this perfectly and in the shortest time is the art of ·a good O.C. and an efficient unit. The smartness of this company has improved since last April and the march discipline is good. Unfortunately Sapper Edwards was drunk when we left camp and had to be concealed inside a pontoon. Just as we were marching past General Clifford, a dishevelled head, wearing an idiotic leer, appeared over the side of the pontoon! Our destination was Wargnies, another picturesque down village , but very dirty and dilapidated. At Wargnies, the horses were on a picket line in a field shared with a Field Ambulance. A little swank by Sergeant Church on entering the field, lining up all the wagons in dressing and dismounting by word of command. Our comrades of the RAMC stood and watched open-mouthed. The officers' mess was in the kitchen of a small farm house, unfortunately shared with an octogenarian gentleman, who crouched over the fire, spat continuously, and ate some white substance off a knife. Baker and I are in the Chateau tonight (Baker having a llotted the billets!), and we have sheets and beds! The owner, Monsieur Lallart de Lebucqiere, seems to be a gentleman of the old school, judging by his low bow when he met us in the garden. He took off his hat and begged pardon half a dozen times, when he wanted to ask me what corps we belonged to. The French do not today seem to me a very polite people , so it was interesting to find an ancient aristocrat, who still believed in toujours la politesse.
15 August 1916	Marched 3.30 am to Wargnies via Auteux-Fienvilles-Naours, joined up with 149 Bde at "Sterling Point" (81/2 mile from Bois Bergues) which was reached 5 mins before schedule time. Distance 13 miles, no man fell out enroute though 5 "sick" men marching. Outbursts of heavy rain brought men in from bivouacs. 15 August: Left Wargnies at 9 a.m. and marched eight miles to Mirvaux. The whole division is concentrated now, causing frequent long checks on the march, which make them twice as tiring. The villages down here are all carefully organized for billeting, each house being numbered and having its accommodation in officers, men and horses written up on a board. There is a Town Major in charge of every village. There are also public drinking troughs for horses at intervals. Rimbod, the Interpreter, bought us some bottles of champagne in the village for dinner. I think No 2 Section had some too, as there was great singing and shouts of laughter in the street outside, where a party of the boys seemed to be engaged in throwing water at one another. They responded with the most marvellous smartness when Corporal Collins called them to attention, when an officer passed. We all bivouacked in the fields for the night.
16 August 1916	Marched 9 am to Mirvaux via Naours-Thelmas-Septenville- distance 9 mile. No man fell out on march- 3 or 4 sore footed men. Reached Mirvaux 12.15 pm. Good billets. Received orders to march following day with Bde to Henencourt but later received orders to proceed to Franvillers marching with Bde as far as Bethencourt. 16August: Left Mirvaux at 5 a.m. and marched via Molliens-au-Bois and Montigny to Franvillers. It is rumoured we shall be here ten days or so. At night, the distant rumbling of the guns can be heard.
17 August 1916	Left Mirvaux-5.45am through Pierregot-Ans-Bois-Montigny-Behencourt. Distance 12 miles, no man fallen out. Reached Franvillers 10 am-town full of troops but few billets. Town Mayor placing infantry of 34 DIV elsewhere to make room for the Coy. 5 tents loaned by Town Mayor.
18-29 August 1916	During this period the Coy was employed purely on "training" consisting of making strong pots ( cruciform pattern), rapid wiring, deep dugouts, sappering, physical drill, route marching. Useful 10 days work in many ways. Orders received on 29th to move to E of Becourt on the 30th to work under C.E.III Corps. Transport paraded for inspection on 29th by G.O.C 50 Div, but was cancelled owing to bad weather. A very good turnout by our Sections. 18 - 30 August: In Franvillers. The whole division, including ourselves, are well up to, and even over strength now, all ready fattened for the slaughter. We spent these days training. The problem in these trench battles is that the artillery preparation is so intense before an attack, that when we take the enemy's trenches, we find ourselves in an area of featureless mud and trenches. Everyone in the enemy's front line has been killed, but he has kept his reserve troops under cover, and they deliver a counter-attack two or three hours after our attack. Meanwhile our troops have not had time to construct trenches, and are driven out by the counter-attack . As a result, the latest theory is that sappers should follow immediately after our infantry attack, and dig defences and strong points instantly, to enable the infantry to resist the enemy counter-attack. This is what we are training to do. The fact is that making a line of defensive posts behind the advancing infantry is very difficult. It involves a great deal of work, and enough men are never obtainable. Moreover the enemy keeps up very heavy shelling, precisely to prevent you digging trenches before he makes his counter-attack. We were warned of an inspection of our mounted section by the G.O.C. of the division on 28 August . The drivers worked very hard for it, and were up half-way through the previous night. We waited on parade for two hours in the rain and then received a signal postponing it until the next day. The next night and morning, the same thing was repeated. We were all completely fed up . McQueen presented prizes and gave two francs to every man on parade. The first prize went to Driver Cannon and the second to Driver Christie. Baker and I twice rode into Corbie during this period. It is a little French town, which, would be considered a very hole-and-comer place in peace time, but gives one quite an 'afternoon-in-town' feeling now. There were also a number of French troops there. Their officers often look smarter than ours, but their soldiers are extremely dirty and untidy, and rarely seem to salute.
30 August 1916	Marched from Franvillers 9.30 am, reaching Bivonac 10.pm. Orders received. O.C saw Capt Mainghy RE to arrange details of work starting on Strong Post in Mametz Wood. No man fell out on march-very wet day and night
31 August 1916	O.C with Capt Mainghy RE, visited site of Strong post in Mametz Wood and later with all Sections. Officers and training party from each Section started work and made preparations and collected materials for work on the 1st. C.E III Corps (Brig Gen Schreiber CB) visits camp 4 hours and approved plan and site of work. C.R.E (Lt Col Singer CMG DSO) visited camp. 31 August: Marched to Becourt. A bad march owing to the throngs of traffic on the main Amiens-Albert road, and to the fact that it rained continuously all day. The men have nothing but their greatcoats, which are too heavy and hot for a long march in summer, and their waterproof sheets, which keep you moderately dry from the shoulders to the hips, and wetter than ever below that. McQueen rode on and made me go with him, just before we reached Albert. We reached what appeared to be the map reference allotted to us to camp and found the 281st Army Troops Company there. So we selected a rain-swept sloping field next door, as the only open spot. Here McQ. and I stood disconsolately, while the wind blew the rain down past us in sheets of grey, till the company arrived. There followed one of the most miserable nights I remember, everyone was wringing wet, with no cover but waterproof sheets, and lying on the muddy ground saturated with water. The last straw was when we discovered that there were two 8-inch howitzers in the valley just below us, which fired all night at three-quarters of an hour intervals. Each shot seemed to hit one in the face and wrap the whole bivouac in flame. We are bivouacked on the old British reserve line before the 1 July push. There are enormous numbers of guns here, 9.2-inch howitzers and 60-pounders stand in rows on all the hillsides. The sappers are making a cruciform redoubt in Mametz Wood. The infantry of our division is still out at rest and the sappers are working under the Corps. ·

1916 War Diary

1-6 September 1916	Coy during this period employed directly under C.E III Corps on making a "Strong Post" in Mametz Wood for a garrison of 1infantry Coy. C.E III Corps visited on 2nd and 3rd (C.E. Brig Gen A.L.Schreiber CB DSO). C.R.E 50 Div (Lt Col C.W. Singer CMG DSO) visited Coy HQ on 3rd and 5th. All Sections employed on this work without Infantry working party.Site of work 23. C.G.G. SH.57.D. S.E-the work was of the Cruciform pattern, contained shell slits each with 2 entrances to accomodate 3/4 of garrison, 10 M.G emplacements arranged (with glades cut in the wood) to allow all round defence and flanking the wire on the front and flanks, Strong Post wired all around the work was completed (including revetment of all steps and weak places) by the 6th, except for the revetment of shell slits. On the 6th orders received that from the 7th, the Coy was to work again directly under C.R.E 50 Div. The 50th Div coming into the line in position between Martinpuich village and Highwood (both at this time in the hands of the enemy) relieving the15th Div. No 3 and 4 Sections were rested on the 6th. No1 and 2 Sections continued working on Strong Post until required for new work. On the 6th C.R.E 50th Div outlined programme for work during the next few days (such work being in preparation of a general attack) and preliminary reconnaissance and other arrangements were made for this work.
7 September 1916	No3 & 4 Sections (No 3 Sect 2nd Lt Thompson RE No 4 Sect 2nd Lt Slattery RE) commenced work on a Battle Bde HQ in the quarry at PT.S.S.D. 9.9 near Bazentin Le Petit village. No 3 Section had to deeply excavate in quarry face for 2 French Steel Sector dugouts each 12' by 10'. No 4 Section commenced a deep underground dugout in the quarry consisting of 2 entrances (lined with 6' by 2'6" mining cases) stepped down to 15' below ground level, connected by 24' gallery (6' by 4') of which 3 dugouts 6' by 10' were to be located. To assist No 4 Sect in this work, 25 miners (7 N.F) was placed at our disposal, thus enabling 4 x 6 hour shifts enabling work to go on continuously. Excavation in the chalk was comparitively easy but in doing the gallery it was found necessary to keep walls timbered up to avoid falls in the roofing. No 1 Section (Lt Chaplin RE) was warned on this day for work of making 8 dugouts in Bethell Sap but the Sap not being at that time sufficiently deep the Section was rested. No 2 Section was marked for similar work in Jutland Str extension (sap) but this not being dug. (Lt Wade RE) was further employed on Mametz Wood S.P. 7-14 September: The sappers have taken over a job in the front line in front of Ba'zentin-le-Petit. We tried to take High Wood, just in front of .this part of the line, on 8 Septemper, but failed. On the night of 11 - 12 September, Wade with No 2 Section, was making some shelters in Bethel Sap, in the front line to the left of High Wood, when they were nearly all gassed by gas shells. Some were sick, but most of them did not want to go back but were made to do so by the doctor. Corporals Martin, Maclaren and Rogers and one or two others survived. Sergeant Collings was sent back but returned soon afterwards and so did Wade. The other sections are making deep dugouts in a quarry in front of Bazentin-le-Petit, to take Brigade and Battalion Headquarters in the coming battle. They work in reliefs day and night, aided by some miners whom we have borrowed from the Northumberland Fusiliers for the job . The Boche are in High Wood, which commands all our lines. Our trenches are very deep and narrow, to give more cover from the whizz-bangs which, from High Wood, play fearful and accurate havoc on our trenches. The result is it is almost impossible to move along the trenches. It took Wade and his section two hours to get up the communication trenches ·to Bethel Sap. Our division has now relieved the 15th Scottish Division, who are rather demoralized by the shelling. On the right, the lst Division are very exhausted also, from making constant unsuccessful attacks on High Wood at huge cost . They have now been relieved by the 47th London Territorial Division. These look very clean and smart and march well. This front must have been a haven of rest before our attack on 1 July when the III Army were nicknamed the Deathless Army! Our camp is only 300 yards behind our old front line and is almost . without a shell hole. Becourt Chateau, about 1/4-mile from the old front line and in full view of the Boche, has only two or three holes in it. Compare Zillebeke ! I was standing in our bivouac one evening looking westward towards Becourt Chateau, about a mile away. The sun was setting behind the chateau and the western sky was a pale blue, flecked with light clouds. Shafts of golden light shot up into the sky, turning the little clouds into burnished gold. Between them one could see through to a piece of sky, very pale yellow, which gave an impression of gazing into eternity. And so, perhaps, I was for space seems to be endless and its significance known only to God . Under our conditions of life, it is impossible not to think sometimes of death and eternity. In Albert, the buildings are razed just round the church but elsewhere not much damaged. The church spire has a famous gilt image of the Virgin and Child on top of it, which is now leaning over at a steep angle. There is said to be a prophecy that, on the day the Virgin falls, the house of Hohentollern will do the same. The really marvellous thing round here is the number of guns. The bare shell-pocked hillsides are covered with rows and rows of 9.2-inch and 6-inch howitzers, 6-inch guns and 60-pounders. Another marvellous thing is our air superiority. Every day we have up to twenty-five to thirty-five kite-balloons in the sky, observing the Boche. Occasionally they put up three or four, but soon haul them down when our planes go over.
8 September 1916	No 1 Section (2Lt Chaplin) Bethel Sap not being sufficiently advanced to take dug outs the Section was put to making dugouts for a Battlion HQ. In small quarry by the cemetery at S.8.D.9.8 8H57.C.5.W. 2 dugouts each 6x10 well sunk into quarry face with circular steel roof. No 3 & 4 Sections continued on Bde HQ making very good progress. No 2 Section rested. 2 Lt Wade reconnisted Jutland Alley and sited bomb and ration stores.
9 September 1916	Work as for the 8th but 8 men were taken from Nos 1 & 3 Sections put on erecting a series of shelters S.E corner of Bazentin Le Petit Wood for bomb, ration and other stores. Lt Baker took direct charge of this work and also generally superintended of No 3n Section and dump of RE stores being formed by C.R.E at PT. S.14 B. 9.9. No 2 Section excavated 6 out of 8 dugouts in Jutland Str extension and carried up roofing material.
10 September 1916	Work as for the 9th. 6 of the 8 dugouts in Jutland Str extension completed, remaining 2 excavated.
11 September 1916	Work as for 10th. No 2 Section (2nd Lt Wade) proceeding up Jutland Str by night were heavily shelled by all kinds of shells including mortar shells. This C.T was at the time guarded by infantry parties who suffered heavily and the consequent delay (the C.T being crowded) it took the Section nearly 2 hours to traverse the 1000 yds of trench.apparently some of the shells also contained phosphuous gas. In the dark this was not recognised. At Jutland Str many men of the Section complained of feeling ill. Although smoke helmets had been worn for sometime, about the same time large numbers of infantry were taken ill. 2nd Lt Wade decided it was best to withdraw as he saw no chance of getting useful work done that night. On arrival at dressing station 2 men in state of choking were admitted and M.O making further enquiries on condition of the men, he insisted on retaining a further 1 NCO and 7 men. On the following day 12th, a further 7 men taken ill and had to be sent to dressing station. The Section thus losing 1 officer, 2 NCOs and 14 men with others not fit for duty for a few days.
12 September 1916	Nos 1,3 & 4 Sections as on the 11th. No 3 Section completed Steel Sector dugouts of Bde Headquarters.
13 September 1916	No 1 Section completed Bn HQ also bomb and ration stores at corner of Bazentin Le Petit Wood. No 4 Section completed the deep dug outs except for portion of 1 dugout - very satisfactory performance. No 3 Section employed on work on road from "B.P" dump to the quarry.
14 September 1916	All Sections rested. Preparations made for work on 15th - day of general attack. The Company moved into dugouts at S.W corner of Mametz Wood reaching there at 5pm and then men had good rest. The work during the previous 8 days was done under pressure and satisfactorily and reflected much merit on all Sections. 14 September: We marched up with the sappers to some dugouts behind Mametz Wood, so as to be handy for the show, which is to take place tomorrow .. We took section wagons with us, but most of the mounted section waited at Becourt. Zero hour is 6.20 a.m. Tomorrow. This afternoon was to me one of the rare occasions when the war has been dramatic and exciting. I was quite thrilled watching the long streams of troops and wagons pouring up the Mametz road. Then, all of a sudden, I heard a strange noise, accompanied by shouts and cheers, and saw the most extraordinary-looking vehicles approaching, with men sitting on them cheering. They were a kind of armoured car on caterpillars and each towed a sort of perambulator behind it. They are said to be the new assault wagons, called tanks. I don't know if the Germans knew about them, but the secret has been very well kept on our side. None of us had any idea of their existence. During the night, a high-velocity gun suddenly opened on our bivouac. Wheut-bang wheut-bang - wheut -wheut-bang-bang-bang! They were bigger than field guns and made deafening crashes. This was awkward, as we had the section wagon horses picketed outside. I yelled, 'Stand to your horses', and the drivers turned out with alacrity. Fortunately our horses are used to shellfire, they only give a plunge when a nearby explosion frightens them. It was shivering cold and dark and I felt a bit scared, Next morning in the semi-dusk, all the landscape was utterly silent and still. Then, all of a sudden, pandemonium burst. The hills were everywhere lit up with the darting flashes of the guns and the noise was deafening. I was quite thrilled.
15 September 1916	Under CRE 50 Div. Open Order No 3 df 12/9/16 The Company (less remains of No 2 Section who were employed as orderlies and other duties) left camp 5.30 am and proceeded with 2 Platoons (C Coy) 7 D.L.I (pioneers) to work from about "zero hour" of attack 6.20 am on the road from PT.S.14.b.1.7 (8H: 57.b.S.W) through village of Bazentin Le Petit and thence heading to High Wood (N.W Comar) The attack commenced at zero hour the 50 Division attaining its objectives N2, line running from N edge of Martinpuich village to about 500 N of Highwood, both of which localites who before the attack were in the hands of the enemy-as anticipated up to 12 noon the work on the road was but little disturbed, after 12 noon a good deal of 5.9 and 4.2 shelling on Bazentin Le Petit village. Work contiued till 1 am, with a break from 1pm-2pm for rest and food and then till 6pm - all Sections as with Pioneers worked excellently. The road was, in the village, a series of long shell craters but with use of 4 forage carts, 2 hand carts, 20 wheel barrows and with plenty of hide to hand, a passable road was made as far as the x roads N of Bazentin by 2pm, and at 6pm a track had been cut (down to road existing metalling) to a point 400 yds on the Highwood Road. The 1 N.F took on the work at 6pm. Then Company returning to dugouts. A very satisfactory days work. 15 September: One of the chief problems of these big attacks is that the infantry go forward, leaving behind them a belt of country two or three miles wide, which consists solely of soft, spongy mud, churned up by endless shell bursts, and crossed by no roads or even paths. No sooner have the infantry gone forward a mile or so than they begin to call for ammunition, rations , barbed wire, sandbags and other requirements, while the' wounded somehow have to be got back. As a result, it is absolutely vital to make some sort of roads forward just behind the infantry, so that wagons can get up to near the front line as soon as it is dark. Moreover, if the infantry have gone forward a couple of miles, the guns have to be rushed forward also, in time to support them when the enemy counter-attack is launched, perhaps four or five hours after our attack. The enemy having gone back, his guns are close to his infantry, while our guns are two or three miles too far back. Thus the guns and ammunition limbers have also to be moved forward in those precious four hours after Zero. All this great amount of traffic - infantry stores, guns and ammunition - have to be transported over a two-mile belt of country, consisting of a uniform muddy porridge, from which all features - roads, trees, buildings and villages - have been obliterated. This is our job today. The sappers and their forage carts left at 6 a.m., to mend the road from Bazentin-le-Petit to High Wood, as soon as the latter should be taken. I had to sit all day in Mametz Wood, in case messages came in for company headquarters. The sappers were not disturbed for the first few hours, as the enemy guns were concentrated on our infantry. In the afternoon, a fair number of shells came over, but we only had three men hit. Prisoners kept coming down in batches all day, and the air was electric with rumours of victories. We took all our objectives, but High Wood again proved a hard nut to crack, and cost the 47th Division a lot of men. It was only taken because the troops on either side of it went forward past it and left it behind. There seem to be two opposing theories on the subject of major attacks on a wide front, like that of 15 September on the Somme. One theory wishes to take in advance all the enemy 's strongest points - like High Wood - by means of local attacks, so that nothing will hold up the main attack. The opposite theory is to do nothing until the main attack . Then, by breaking through the weak places and going forward, we leave the enemy's strong points behind us, and eventually force them to surrender. Those in the front line, who had seen the losses incurred trying to take High Wood, were convinced that the second theory was the right one. And indeed soon after the 15 September attack, an instruction was issued by G.H.Q. adopting it.The sappers worked all day and all night of 16 and 17 September, together with the lst and 2nd Northumbrian. Companies. They have been carting bricks from the ruins of Bazentin-le-Petit, to fill shell holes in the road up to High Wood. We are using all our wagons, including the pontoon wagons fitted with improvised bodies. I hear we took Martinpuich and Courcelette on the 15th, which was good. We ought to attack again immediately to try for a break-through. The cavalry have suddenly appeared at Fricourt. The German line is still intact, but two miles further back. The guns are all now moving forward, but have not got up fast enough to enable us immediately to attack again and maintain the momentum of the advance.
16-17 September 1916	Company marched at 5pm to take over work on James Road from the 2 Northumbrian Field Coy RE. Working party, 75 of A Coy 7 D.L.I.Work commenced from PT. S.3.n.3.3 to taken as far as PT.5.3.c.9.4. The portion was mainly very bad owing to a trench lining been cut along it. 2 casualties enemy shelling of the X roads at N end of Bazentin Le Petit village. Somewhat delayed the hanging up of material. The cutting was widened by 3' to allow 2 way traffic through it-work till 6am 17/9/16. 17-19 September: The weather has been bad for the last two days and has made the operations much more difficult. Just two days after the attack when the infantry were done to the world under constant fire and had neither time, men, stores nor energy to dig in properly, the weather broke. On the 18th, it poured all day, and the north wind made the cold bitter. The troops up the line looked as if they had been dipped in a swimming bath. Their sodden khaki, looking almost black, clung to their bodies all over like wet bathing dresses. I should think many must have died of exposure, lying out in shell holes, for the rain kept on all night and most of the 19th. Captain Boast, O.C. of the lst Northumbrian Territorial Field Company R. E., dug a trench on the night of the 18- 19 September, connecting·the right flank of our division with the left of the 47th Division, where there had been a gap since 15 September. Div H.Q. were very pleased and the trench was called Boast Trench. He could not reach the site by daylight as it was on a bare forward slope close to the Boche. So he had to mark it but at night with a prismatic compass, working from the corner of High Wood, about 200 yards from the enemy. He is a nice quiet little man, and will probably get a Military Cross for the job, which no one will begrudge him. The Chief Engineer of the Corps came round today. He was very pleasant and how-are-you-my-dear-boy sort of thing. Before him, the Army C.E., General Buckland, had come to see us. He said he had known Dad in South Africa, when the latter was commanding the 17th field Company. The roads are very bad all the way back to Mametz after all this rain. On the night of the 20th, Reilly, with the G.S. wagon with rations, took twelve hours to cover three miles, owing to the mud on the roads and the packed traffic. Wade came back last night, as being cured of his gas. He and I stayed in the bivouac when the company went out to work on the night of the 2lst . He was all right at dinner, but when we had gone to bed, he came to me saying he felt ill. He soon got worse, felt very sick and could not breathe, so we took him down to the dressing station on a stretcher. I am afraid he has gone for good. At 10 p.m. I got a signal from the C.R.E. to send an officer to meet an infantry battalion at 7 a.m. to clear the Contalmaison -Bazentin road. As I had no officers, I went myself, and met the 5th Durhams, and set them on the work. In the afternoon, I reconnoitred the Bazentin - Martinpuich road. It was very difficult to find the road across the waste of shell-holes and mud, as the road itself had been completely covered by earth.
18 September 1916	Work on road taken on from 1 Northumberland Field Company RE at 6am, by which period the track had carried on as far as High Wood but a large portion still required bricking. (shell hole damage) good purpose was made diificult due to raining continuously. Work till 6pm
19 September 1916	Rested after working day
20 September 1916	Took over work on road (general improvement, bricking and metalling) from 2 Northumberland Field Company RE from S.W corner of Bazentin Le Petit wood (S.14.b.1.7) SL.57.c.S.W to High Wood 200 yds NW of High Wood towards Martinpuich AAA. 75 Pioneers (7 D.L.I) A Coy worked with Company. By 6pm the road was well bricked as far as N.W corner of High Wood except for section of 200 yds about 1/2 mile short of High Wood only partially bricked
21-22 September 1916	Orders received - in the morning to make strong wire round Strong Post (Vaux Post) sited immediately N.W of High Wood. The 3 available Sections (1,3,4) with 25 D.L.I. were employed on this. Work commenced 7 pm, 450 yds double trench wire with double barbed wire apron was completed by 3 am 22/9/16. Inst- barbed wire calculated at 120 coils was sent up but this proved insufficient, another 30 coils for loose wiring would have improved the work, but the entanglement was quite "strong" without it. Coy rested for remainder of 22nd. Lt Baker under instruction of CRE, revisited a line of tramway to run from Pt: on High Wood - Martinpuich Rd about 300 yds distance. From High Wood almost due N, to continually run far N, as Prue trench ( the advanced trench). 2nd Lt Glubb recced Bazentin Le Petit - Martinpuich Road with view to road repair and his report forwarded to CRE.
23 September 1916	Line selected for tramline from point above mentioned (S.3.b.5.5) to Prue trench (PT.s.34.a.10.7) distance 1,400 yds. O.C and Lt Baker taped out 700 yds of this line. About 300 yds of tramline brought up to rail end during the day. No 3 Section (Lt Thompson) with 10, 9 D.L.I. works party laid 160 yds of line, No1 Section (Lt Chaplin) with 100 men W.P from 9 D.L.I. cleared 350 yds of track across ground much broken with shell holes - the work was shelled with Whizz Bangs pretty consistantly, and carried on with some disruption. Casualties: 1 NCO killed, 2 wounded (all of works parties) 1 RE wounded - Parties returned okay at about 5 am. 23 September:The Boche has retired a little way on our Corps front and we have temporarily lost touch. We were above him on a forward slope beyond High Wood, and he doubtless did not like to remain overlooked. We cannot immediately follow him up, as the country sloping down from High Wood to Eaucourt is simply a wilderness of shell-holes almost impossible to cross and is in full view all the way. Not a fly can cross the High Wood ridge without being seen by the Boche. The whole country is rolling downs, looking in the distance like a ploughed field,·but in reality a continuous series of shell-holes and mounds between them. The area is thickly dotted with specks of black and grey, lying motionless on the ground. When you approach, the black patches rise into a thick buzzing swarm of bluebottles, revealing underneath a bundle of torn and dirty grey or khaki rags, from which protrude a naked shin bone, the skeleton of a human hand, or a human face, dark grey in colour, with black eye holes and an open mouth, showing a line of snarling white teeth, the only touch of white left. When you have passed on again a few yards, the bluebottles settle again, and quickly the bundle looks as if covered by some black fur. The shell-holes contain every debris of battle, rifles, helmets, gas-masks, shovels and picks, sticking up out of the mud at all angles. One cannot see these ragged and putrid bundles of what once were men without thinking of what they were - their cheerfulness, their courage, their idealism, their love for their dear ones at home. Man is such a marvellous, incredible mixture of soul and nerves and intellect, of bravery, heroism and love -it cannot be that it all ends in a bundle of rags covered with flies. These parcels of matter seem to me proof of immortality. This cannot be the end of so much.
24-25 September 1916	Work of squaring up the line already laid, cutting drains and improving track already cleared, bridging Hook Trench, starting to bridge Boast Trench, was carried out by 1/2 of No 3 Section (Sgt Bones) and No 4 Section (Lt Slattery) from 6am-5pm. 1/2 No 3 Section and No 1 Section continued work from 7 pm as on previous night. Rails laid as far as a point 80 yds short of Boast Trench, track carried on to Starfish Trench. Enemy barrage in neighbourhood of Starfish Trench by night causing a few casualties to work parties but work resumed in intervals. Owing to misty day the day work superintended by 2nd Lt Baker was quite undisturbed. Strong reinforcements (18 men) now received for No 2 Section, which formed loading and unloading parties for rail. On 25th day party marched and shelled suffering casualties: 2 RE wounded, 1 man killed, 6 lightly wounded. 24 September: It seems hopeless to overtake the front line by building roads across this vast waste of mud. The latest idea is to lay down a hasty 'decauville' light tramline, from the left of High Wood towards Eaucourt L'Abbaye. The company has stopped work on the roads and is to lay these tramlines. This, however, presents me with a new headache, for we have to carry the tramlines on our wagons from Becourt to High Wood. The big gauge railway has now been laid up to Becourt, where the guns were a week ago! Half a mile of big gauge railway was laid in forty-eight hours, and the trains began to run before the line was ballasted. 25 September: I rode back to our mounted section lines at Becourt and loaded up the trestle wagons with tramlines, and took them up to High Wood after dark. 14th Corps (Lord Cavan), on our right, took Lesboeufs, Morval and Guedecourt today.
26 September 1916	Work carried on on tramway as on 24th. Progress rail head carried to PT. S.34.c. 6.6 (250 yds beyond Boast Trench) and track cleared as far as Prue Trench. 26 September: Took some trolleys and sleepers for the tramline up to High Wood. This decauville 60-centimetre gauge track is complete with sleepers and is supposed to be laid down all ready-made, and just bolted together. In practice, however, some of the sleepers and bolts are always missing, and a good deal of improvisation is needed. It is curious from the ridge beside High Wood, standing on an expanse ploughed up in shell-holes and strewn with rifles, helmets and corpses, to see only two miles away a peaceful landscape of downs, leafy woods, and the church steeple of Le Barque showing above the trees. This country had been out of range of our artillery until week ago. However it is now within range and already the copses in front are becoming smashed and stripped. Soon all the trees will have disappeared, as' in High Wood, leaving only an occasional splintered trunk standing, and a debris of split, tom and rotting timber on the ground. As you stand looking at this view, you hear the continuous quiet wheu-u-u of our big howitzer shells, which seem to spring up from the horizon behind you - or the lightning wheut of the whizz-bangs flying past -followed by a sudden volcano of grey on the distant hills, or the little white puffs of shrapnel among the trees. By what tortuous build-up of evil have men become such tragic and cynical destroyers of their fellow beings, and of the glorious beauty of nature? The broad-gauge railway had huge working parties of Indians and also a British Labour battalion. The latter were' a butt for much scorn on the part of the boys. The sight of the war was to see a very tired whizz-bang shrapnel come over and burst with a ping somewhere up in the clouds. The Labour Battalion would down tools like one man, officers and N.C.O.'s shouting and gesticulating to their men to take cover, as if the whole Boche army was coming at them with fixed bayonets. I remember old Corporal Cheale, who was in charge of No 4 Section, gazing solemnly at them and saying, 'I'd like to get 'old of some of thim Labour battalion, Sir!' Cheale is a character. He combines to an absolute fearlessness, a morbid love for the dead. Just before I joined in November 1915 at Armentieres, a great many casualties from shelling had occurred in the company, which was billeted in a large school. In the morning, the big schoolroom was full of mutilated corpses . Many were new reinforcements, whose names nobody knew, making identification difficult. Cheale volunteered to help. When the job was over, he went up to the second-in-command and said, 'Excuse me, Sir, did you notice this young feller? Don't he make a lovely corpse?' About the same time, he got married to a French girl, though he knew not a word of French, nor she of English. But they seemed to get on very well and he always went regularly on leave, and wrote to her most affectionately to Madame Cheale, Sentier de l' Eglise, Nieppe. He greatly enjoyed the work on 15 September, clearing the roads behind the infantry advance up to High Wood. The ground was thickly strewn with corpses, from brand new to skeletons. The pockets of the dead it was his self-imposed task to search, after which he would carry them away, wrapped in an affectionate embrace. He would always allude to them as property owners (owning six feet of soil), and talked cheerfully of the day when he would become one. · He had a habit, when other men were ducking or crawling around, of standing up very straight, looking peacefully around, and remarking, 'I don't reckon much of these 'ere whizz-bangs! '
27 September 1916	Work carried on tramway as on 25th except for a day party consisting of 1/2 of No 3 Section and No 4 Section (no Inf work parties) Progress made railhead carried 320 yds to PT: 25 yds beyond Starfish Trench and track to Prue further worked and cleared. 100 men works party
28 September 1916	Work continued on tramline, under CRE's instructions the line was to be extended over Prue Trench in N, or N.W direction with objective PT: M.28.a.3.4 on Martin Puich - Lesars Road - O.C and 2nd Lt Baker reconnoitred this extension and taped 400 yds of it. As no rails were received at Becourt Stn sidings on this day, No 4 Section (detailed for rail laying) joined No 2 Section (2nd Lt Baker) in preparing 300 yds of this track from a point 200 yds beyond Starfish Trench. 100 men (6 NF) working party worked on this sector. 5.9" shells were dropped at irregular intervals about 70 yds from works party and in one period 9-9.30 pm it was found advisable to withdraw works party on this account - only casualty 1 sapper with shell shock. No 3 & 1 Sections rested. 28 September - 3 October: We continued to work on the trench tramline as before. We lose about three sappers a day, as we are working in full view of the enemy, and Silent Susan, their 4-inch high velocity gun, is very busy. Old Sapper Beardmore, ironically known among the boys as Frisky, was hit by Susan, and had almost all his arm carried away. They brought him down on a trolley on the tramline, pluckily smoking a cigarette. To Baker's sympathy he replied cheerfully, 'Well, it's better than losing one's head, sir.' Poor old Sergeant Collings, after recovering from gas, got one through the stomach. He had been out since August, 1914, and had won the Distinguished Conduct Medal. He thought he was rather bad, and kept saying to me, 'They've got me all right this time, sir, they've got me this time.' [I heard later that he actually recovered .] We had a grand time the other night. A load of rails for us came to Bottom Wood, where the broad gauge has now arrived, at about 6 p .m. as it was urgently required, I sent to Becourt for six pontoon wagons and we loaded in the dark and steady rain. When we eventually got away, we had to cut into the traffic, which was close-wedged in a continuous double stream from Mametz to Bazentin-le -Petit. We progressed very slowly, with constant halts, as the road is so execrable that wagons kept on sticking and blocking the road. Driver Fox, who it appears is night-blind, drove one wagon over an embankment, so we left him behind to unload and pull out, with some sappers to help.I sat on one of the wagons, it being too awful to ride. We were all soaked to the skin long before we reached High Wood. Here we found McQueen. The Boche had got two direct hits .On the road, making it virtually impassable. As 18- pounder shells, and infantry rations and ammunition are all dumped at the same spot beside the tramline at Rutherford Alley, we had a dense crowd of traffic. The road is a dead end, necessitating turning round and driving back past the newcomers. It was so dark it was literally impossible to see a yard. I had six wagons. The second wagon coming back got locked, wheel to wheel, with another coming up. Some gunners, trying to force their way past, drove off the road and stuck.Thompson (of ours) had an infantry party, whom we tried to get to unload the wagons where they were, but it was so dark it was impossible to keep hold of the men, who kept vanishing. Poor old Thompson was worn out, and sat down on a heap of dirt, moaning, 'Isn 't this - hell?' We spent about three hours, slopping up and down in the mud, rain and inky darkness, collecting a few men, getting a few loads off, then moving another wagon on a bit, then getting hold of some more men (the others having meanwhile disappeared). It was impossible to see the shell holes in the dark and I constantly trod into one full of water up to my thighs, or else I fell forward on all fours in the mud. Eventually we got away. Heaven knows how! Luckily. we were not belled, as all the traffic and horses were wedged together chock-a-block. Heaven knows what would have happened. I several times nearly sat down and wept from sheer exhaustion and despair. Thus is a typical bad night on service, darkness, wet and hopeless confusion - but one gets out somehow before dawn.
29 September 1916	Work continued on tramline. No 1 Section by day levelled off track (cut the previous night by No 2 Section) from railhead now at Cardiff Trench as far as the extension of the Therford Alley beyond Prue Trench. No 2 Section on night 29/30 carried the track on for 300 yds to PT. M.28.c.4.6. No 4 Section bridged extension of Ratherford Alley and prepared for laying tramway track.unfortunately 2 expected trucks of rail failed to arrive till 5 am on the 30th - had rails been available the rack on this date would have reached beyond Prue Trench. No Casualties.
30 September 1916	Work on tramline - No 3 Section with infantry working party worked on improving existing tracks by day and erecting of track to Point M.28.c.4.6 - 1 NCO and 3 sappers wounded - No 2 (Lt Baker) and 70 men works party carried on track preparation as far as within 100 yds of objective on Martinpuich - Lesars Road - intermittent bursts of HE shrapnell caused following casualties; Sgt Collins severely wounded, 1 sapper wounded and in works party 2 killed, 5 wounded. The work was thereby interfered with and much progress was not made. On dismissal of Inf works party No2 Section assisted No 4 Section engaged in rail laying. Rails were laid to a point from Starfish Trench - Prue Trench (420 yds) rails laid but not jointed for 100 yds beyond Prue Trench. Total 1550 yds of tramway laid since 23rd. No 2 & 4 Sections returned camp 6.30 am. 1/10/16 Sgt Collins DCM loss to his Section is great. He served with the Coy in the field since Aug 1914 with distinction. (Total casualties during the month: 1 officer, 16 other ranks "gassed", 12 other ranks wounded = 29)

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1 October 1916	Work continued on tram line between Prue Trench & Crescent Alley all 4 Sections engaged, 2 by day and 2 by night - a good deal of intermittent shelling and plenty of "overs" on this position. 2 sappers wounded
2 October 1916	As on the 1st. Track reached Crescent Alley, material brought up for bridging Crescent Alley and the road ditch of the Martinpuich - Eaucourt L' Abbaye Road (objective). 50th Division relieved by 47th Division
3 October 1916	Work on tramway completed as far as objective at M.28.a.2.4 on Martipuich- Eaucourt Road. (total 2400 yds since 23rd) 3 -17 October: The infantry of the 50th Division are going out to rest, but sappers and gunners will stay in the line. We also extended the tramline back from High Wood to Bazentin -le-Petit, to relieve the road . The roads in the forward area are becoming incredibly bad. They were originally required in a tremendous hurry on 15 September, behind the advancing infantry, and so the shell holes were filled in with any old rubbish. Bricks from ruined villages are the best material, but sometimes bits of wood or logs were used, earth, dead horses, or even human corpses. These methods made the roads passable in a few hours,while the battle was still going on, but the holes began to sink in a week or two. In places in front of Bazentin-le-Petit the mud on the roads is so deep and gluey·that it is all one can do to get a riding horse through, let alone a wagon. The road from Mametz to Bazentin-le-Petit is not much better and is constantly blocked by wagons stuck fast in the mud, while abandoned vehicles, sunk axle deep, are dotted all along it. Everything on the roads is indescribably wretched, deep mud below, low grey skies and a steady drizzle above, strings of starved-looking horses, caked all over with mud, their tails tucked in and their heads down, plodding miserably along. On their backs, men in great coats and field boots, almost as muddy as the horses, their collars turned up, slapping their arms together to keep warm. We have been told we are to leave the 50th Division and work on the tramlines under the Corps - a beastly job we don't like at all. General Shreiber, the Chief Engineer of the III Corps, told McQueen we have been chosen from all the field companies in the Corps to do this extraordinarily important job, owing to the speed and quality of our past work. So it is a compliment, if nothing else.
4 October 1916	Trench tracking of newly laid tramway track commenced and tramway track extension southwards ( to avoid bad corner of road by High Wood) commenced platelaying on this extension, started the same night.
5 October 1916	Under instructions of CRE 50 Div, during the period when 50 Div is out at rest, hours of work are curtailed to 8 hours per day and Sections frequently given a days rest - this will enable the Coy to be really "fresh" when the Division returns to the line.Tramway rails laid to within 50 yds of the Bazentin - High Wood Rd. Trench boards laid (but not fixed) as far as Boast Trench. Orders received: that on completion of above tramway the Coy is to be employed on making good the Contalmaison - Martinpuich Rd - this work now in the hands of 101 Coy RE of 23 Div - O.C. on Friday reconnoitred this work with O.C 101 Coy RE.The road generally in bad condition in places (600 yds) of new road to be made. (covering work with metal on top) - 100 D.L.I. superintended by Lt Baker RE, commenced clearing this road from Martinpuich end - 350 yds cleared down to the road metal - the road very bad being a series of shell holes
6 October 1916	No 1 & 2 Sections employed on maintenence of trench tramway & laying trench boards ( 1 Section being rested on alternative days if possible) the other Section working on day and night reliefs as to line likely to be broken up by shell fire at any time. It is necessary to effect repairs at once, the line being much used for bringing up rations, ammo, water, bombs etc for both Divisions working on the frontage Le Sars - Eaucourt L' Abbaye and beyond. Dumps are found at Prue Trench & Crescent Alley. Trench boards laid to 100 yds beyond Boast Trench - 7 D.L.I. Party under Lt Baker employed clearing track and filling in shell holes with timber from Martinpuich village. Line relaid from Vaux Post and covering made over High Wood - Martinpuich Road.
7 october 1916	Sidings put in on trench tramway at its junction at High Wood - Martinpuich Rd. Trench boards laid to point 100 yds short of Starfish C.T. Orders received from CRE not to proceed with work on the Contalmaison - Martinpuich Rd but insisted to make him line from X roads immediately N of Bazentin - Le Grand Wood to join up with the present terminus on the Bazentin - High Wood Rd - Track reconnoitred by OC with Lt Baker and approved by CRE.
8 October 1916	New tramway extension commenced (No 3 Sect) with working party of 100 (7 D.L.I.) Track worked on for 260 yds from commencement. The first 400-500 yds of this line is very hilly, requires a good deal of cuttings. Work of laying trench boards proceeded with also repairs carried out (by 9.30pm on the 7/9/16) Numerous shell attacks (5.9" shells) between Prue trench & crescent Alley - Corporal Martin wounded
9 October 1916	Near tramway extension worked on for 400 yds from commencement. About 300 yds of rail collected ready for laying. Trench boards fixed as far as Starfish C.T. 12 new leaks recorded in the road tram line. These leaks mainly caused by 5.9 shelling on a dump of ammo rectlessly made in an exposed site 300 yds short of Crecent Alley.
10 October 1916	150 yds rail laid on new line and work on track extended. For the shell leaks on S side on Prue Trench mended - Trench boards fixed to 100 yds beyond Starfish C.T.
11 October 1916	200 yds rail laid and crossing made over track - Formation prepared for further 400 yds to PT S.9.d.4.6. Trench boards laid and fixed as far as Rutherford C.T. Dump formed between Rutherford C.T.and Crescent Alley consistantly shelled, blown up, and track in this neighbourhood much broken. (40 yds replaced) 2nd Cpl Maclaren with a party of 7 D.L.I. placed sand bags on burning dump and sand most of the bombs from making fire but not the S.A.A ammo.
12 October 1916	Rail laid for further 260 yds and formation with deep cuttings carried to Pt: S.9.d.4.9. Instructions received placing the Coy temporarily under orders of CRE 9 Div. Instructions received from CRE 9 Div to effect that rail as far as S.3.d central is required to be completed by 15th. This priority of sufficient rail material with junction sleepers and bolts. Large consignment 760 yds of rail broken up today but of this only 390 yds can be utilised the remainder being without junction sleepers. O.C visited CRE 9 Div re work in hand.
13 October 1916	In addition to normal working party of 100 7 D.L.I, 200 Infantry 9 Div employed this day on tramway - also 2 Sections of Coy - 900 yds formation prepared (easy surface) - completing the formation except for drainage, reinforced gradient if required.
14-15 October 1916	Work on tramways as above. On 13th instructions received necessitating the completion of tramway by evening of 15th if possible -- Tramway laid throughout by evening the 15th -- but only graded for hand pushing. (gradient 1/25) Coy placed under orders CRE 9 Div for period during which 50 Div was out at rest
16-20 October 1916	Work on tramway track of making numerous "crossings" grading line to max gradient 1/40 (to take petrol deliveries) -- This completed by 18th, widening, cutting, wiring in the track. On account of damage being done by Artillery using the track for wagons and also "tanks" crossing it. On the evening of the 17th orders received from the Corps notifying that the Company was "selected" to maintain, extend and entirely control all III Corps Tramways -- Permanent parties of 200 Pioneers, 200 Infantry, 50 heavy artillery attached to the Coy. - For this purpose it was considered that appointment of a senior officer in general charge of the work would be required but CE directed O.C to perform these duties. Making of new huts for the Coy at point immediately N E of Mametz Wood put in hand (No 3 Section 2lt Thompson) on the 16th -- Billets shelled intermittently throughout the night of 16th and 18th, no casualties which was lucky. S.O to CE III Corps visited O,C on 19th reference tramway work and give details of the numerous requirements to enable the new system to operate early. 17-23 October: The Boche has taken to strafing our little dugouts here nearly every night with Silent Susan. They fire four or five rounds every hour or so all night, exactly on our. dugouts, so that it is almost impossible to get any sleep. Just as one is dozing off after one salvo, there is a crash and a shower of falling mud and stones, which wakes one up with a start again. Susan comes so fast that there is no warning whistle as she approaches. One night, one burst against the side of Baker's dugout and pushed it in, when he and McQueen were inside it. Two or three other little shelters were knocked in, but no casualties. I only had a waterproof sheet over my head, and nobody had more than a sheet of corrugated iron, so we were lucky. A permanent working party is to be formed for us, on the basis of two or three men from each battalion in III Corps. Naturally every battalion has sent the men they don't want. A number of officers has also been collected on the same basis! We had a little horse-coping incident with a Canadian officer the other day. He walked into our B court camp with a splendid looking chestnut draught horse, which he wanted to swop for one of our pack ponies. He said that his unit was entirely pack animals, so that this magnificent draught horse was no good to him. We said we would try it in a wagon, whereupon he said it was getting late and he must be moving. The new horse stepped up and down in fine style with an empty wagon. So we loaded the wagon with chalk, but just as the driver was mounting, the new horse lay down! Nothing on earth would make that horse pull a wagon - whenever the idea was suggested, he lay down! His Canadian owner later palmed him off on some innocent unit further down the road. A new young regular officer, straight from Chatham, has just joined us. His name is Littlewood. There are now two main systems of tramlines. One from Bazentin-le -Petit to High Wood and down to Eaucourt L'Abbaye. The other from behind Contalmaison to Martinpuich and forward. It is eight miles to walk all round them. McQueen is now commanding the whole Tramway system, involving a lot of administrative work, for which he has a Tramways Office. I am, therefore, commanding the 7th Field Company. The Boche has taken to strafing round our camp area with his 4-inch gun, firing single shells by day. One of these fell about twenty yards away when I was in the latrine at 9 p.m., a horrid place to be killed. I am rather pleased with myself now, having constructed a stable for all our horses at Becourt. The timber was obtained by scrounging from dugouts round about, in the old front line before July. The roof is old tarpaulins. All the work was done by the drivers themselves in their spare time. 25 October - 13 November: I usually walk round one or other of the two main tramlines in the morning and ride back to the horselines at Becourt in the afternoon. I am in command of the 7th Company and also of its permanent infantry working force, known as B Echelon. I have received the temporary rank of Captain. A week ago, the 8th and 9th Durham Light Infantry attacked the Butte de Warlencourt, a large spoil heap like the Bluff, which overlooks the country round . They took it, held it all day under heavy shelling and lost it again the next night. The 9th came out with only 5 officers and 90 men. Everything is mud. This show was followed, on 11 november, by a series of 'Chinese attacks'. This means that all our guns suddenly open up, including creeping barrages and all, as if we were launching an infantry attack . This, of course, alarms the Boche, who thinks we are coming over, and brings down all his artillery barrages too. These bombardments took place at 6 a.m. for several days. We were woken by the deafening roar of the guns.
21 October 1916	Coy HQ moved to NE corner of Mametz Wood. Comencement made with building 3 Corps tramway offices. Work continued on Bazentin -- High Wood Sector as before. Personnel of 7 Coy B Echelon arrived at S.13.d.8.5 -- O.C. Major Clarkson B Echelon 7 Field Coy formed as follows: 4 parties of Infantry, 4 parties of Pioneers each of 50 from the 1st, 9th,15th, 50 Divisions, also 50 RA personnel for work under 7 Field Coy RE on Tramways. None of 1 Div personnel arrived this day and other platoons very short -- few men in possesion of blankets or winter clothing -- Total men B Echelon 10 officers 450 ORs
22 October 1916	Following officers and attached staff joined: Lt Hoebottom, (assistant and also acting as stores officer) Lts Musson, Seward, Smale,Good. Lt Musson placed in control of Peake Wood -- Martinpuich line with Lt Seward as assistant, Lt Good % of Bazentin -- High Wood -- Eaucourt line with Lt Smale as assistant. Lt Letherby RE attached as assistant (employed on work on Divisional branch lines) and Lt Sanderson RA attached as liaision officer for Corps heavy artillery. B Echelon operated by platoons A to K. 2nd Lt Glubb (acting capt 7 Fd Coy) put in charge under O.C. of all construction and maintenance, Lt Baker (No 2 Sectn) taking charge of this work on the Martinpuich line, Lt Thompson (No 1 Sectn) taking charge of work on the High Wood line. Infantry and Pioneer Platoons attached to the 2 lines as required, the greater portion the Sector Bazentin - High Wood where work was most backward. O.C. saw CRE 9 and 15 Div re: continuity of forward extension work, which at present cannot be done by B Echelon. CRE 9 Div - work to carry on for the present owing to the tactical situation. CRE 15 Div able to carry on the Lesars extension
23 October 1916	Work as on 22nd (in cuttings, ballasting and repairing on High Wood Line -- ballasting and draining on Martinpuich line) Various parties took over for (a) guards and duties on Peake Wood line (taken from Infantry) (b) maintenance parties. (taken from Pioneer Platoons) Martinpuich line running 20 trains per day with 2 petrol tractors under good arrangements. Hand pushing only beyond Martinpuich -- on High Wood line handpushing only (some 60-80 loads per night), the Sector Bazentin --High Wood requires a good deal of work before this Sector can be opened.
24 October 1916	9 Div Platoons withdrawn from B Echelon to be replaced by 48th Div. B Echelon unable to attain all kinds of Ord or stores and must be put under ADOS III Corps for them. Work as previous day.
25-31 October 1916	Work on construction and maintenance proceeded. Average of 3 Platoons being employed on maintenance and ballasting on Peake Wood - Martinpuich Sector, 3 Platoons on Bazentin -- High Wood Sector, 1 Platoon (RA) on making tram lines for heavy artillery. 1 Platoon on unloading and general duties at the Bazentin sidings. A good deal of sickness in B Echelon owing to wet weather and indifferent camps -- Some 80 men with large proportion of NCOs necessarily withdrawn for permanent duties in connection with traffic control line. Maintenance - tramway, sufficient men only for ballasting on the back Sector and forward extension work necessarily carried out by the Divisions concerned. On the 28th a temporary trench line opened for Divisional supply from Bazentin to N edge of Mametz Wood. Ammo arrived at Bazentin sidings in bulk from the 28th and handled on this line. The appointment of a special officer to take over control of the work per O.C. 7 Fd Coy to look after construction and maintenance B Echelon, transport questions very apparent - main difficulties in the work is the difficulty in getting small important stores delivered by railway whilst their construction work is in hand, and insufficiency of horse and long transport available owing to the bad state of the roads. The CE III Corps or his S.O. Frequently visited the Tracks Tramways officer and informed as to such routes. Lt Seward Traffic Control Officer reported sick on the 31st and temporarily replaced by Lt Burgess from 9th Gordons Platoon of B Echelon

1-2 November 1916	Coy employed as throughout October on special employment -- Maintenance, construction of III Corps Tramways with permanent working party " B Echelon 7 Field Coy -- consisting of 4 Platoons of Pioneers, 4 of Infantry drawn from; 1st, 15th, 48th and 50th Divisions. The Platoons at present greatly under strength, Pioneer Platoons of 15 in strength employed principally on maintenance and other duties on Peake Wood -- Martipuich line, 1/2 Platoon of 50 Pioneers on same work on Bazentin -- Eaucourt line. About 1 Platoon of Infantry employed on the traffic control duties on both lines. No 1 Section (Lt Chaplin) maintenance Bazentin- High Wood line. No 2 Section (Lt Baker) construction Peake Wood -- Martinpuich line. 3 Section (Lt Thompson) laying ballasting branch lines to secure heavy artillery. 4 Section (Lt Slattery) ballasting Bazentin - High Wood - work slow owing to scarcity of ballast. About 3 weeks work left though line nearly ready to take petrol tractor traffic
3 November 1916	No 1 Section put on work with Tram ways yard N12, making extensions and branches on the Decauville Sidings, tractor shed and hut for 20 men.
4 November 1916	Work as usual. No 3 Section comleted branch work.
5-6 November 1916	No 3 Section started on Corps lines at High Wood Stn. No 2 Section and working party delayed by shelling somewhat. 1 killed and 2 wounded in B Echelon
7 November 1916	Work as usual. No petrol tractors being yet required for High Wood. Bazentin assignments to withdraw daily 12 trenches from the High Wood - Eaucourt line for day work on the former Hook -- This necessitated for want of trucks -- Special arrangements for dealing with wounded on this line made on the 6th reported as having worked smoothly ( 26 trucks placed at disposal of the RAMC -- except between the hours of 2pm -6pm)
8 November 1916	2 "trains" of hand pushed trucks made available during day (10am -2pm) for use of Divisional RA as all required by Corps artillery.
9 November 1916	Standard guage rail cut 60cm track E of Bazentin which likely to interfere with traffic on this work for 2 days. No1 Section started on platform CT Bazentin sidings. Timber and materials for 75+ platforms sent by CE III Corps.
10-12 November 1916	Work as usual. No 3 Section completed works at High Wood Stn and 1/2 completed drainage, also completed 2 loops between High Wood and Bazentin. Petrol tractor received and arrangements made to start tractor traffic for heavy artillery, only from the 15th. Mametz Wood trench for heavy artillery, supply extended and now in use by H.A. for hand pushed trolley lanes. 6 good Boa Boggy wagons received, each will carry 8 ton load.
13 November 1916	Standard guage track doubled in Bazentin Stn, cutting 60cm line again. Divisional crossing required as likely to take 3 days to complete being at an acute angle. No4 Section commenced railing track in cuttings and further timbering and ballasting. Arrangements made on 12th for wounded evacuation, consequent on operations of 50 Div reported as having worked well - line much broken by shell fire in neighbourhood of Flers. Internal traffic held up, numerous shell holes in Martinpuich neighbourhood repaired fairly quickly
14 November 1916	Improved control required beyond Villa Jcn. Improvements made for post immediately E of Martinpuich, Portion of mainteance gang (9th Gordons) to be located there, also 48 Div assisting R.C.O.(Lt Buyers 9th Gordons) with further men and pioneers. 14 November: After a brigade relief, the Northumberland Fusiliers -149th Brigade -repeated the Durhams' attack of last week. They took 200 yards of enemy trenches, but did not attempt the Butte. There is an old German dump of engineer stores at Martinpuich, which is useful. On my round of the lines this morning, I came across Driver Thomas, who was stuck with a limber on the Bazentin-Martinpuich road. The mud was two or three feet deep and, there having been no rain for a few days, was very thick and glutinous. His horse, Blondin, had leaned forward to start the limber, but just as it was going forward, she found herself unable to draw her feet out of the mud, and so fell forward on to her shoulder.There were some infantry working on the road, and the officer gave me several men to help. We practically carried the limber out of the mud, as it was empty and could have been pulled by a terrier on a hard road. We are lucky in getting sleepers, ballast and trench boards from the German dump in Martinpuich. 22 November: Baker and I took a day off and rode into Albert, where we had lunch in the Cafe du Jeu de Paume. The worst of living in an area where there has been a push is that one is in a wilderness, and has to ride 8 or 10 miles back to find an inhabited village. It is marvellous how one longs for a sight of civilized life again. Albert is partly in ruins, and there are very few inhabitants, but it seemed like a metropolis to us. There were even two women in the cafe. I have not seen an unruined village since 1 September. We are sick of working on these horrid tramlines. I wish we were back with the infantry in the trenches, as we were at Zillebeke.
15 November 1916	Extension beyond Flers Switch much damaged, it was decided to abandon this position of High Wood - Eaucourt line for the present as infantry prefer to go around rather than use this portion. Petrol Tractor service started -- 12 horse tip trucks converted for use with tram only. All are trucks of good distinction type, suited for tractor haulage or man handling. 2 engines taken off Peake Wood line giving 8 at Peake Wood, 4 at Bazentin
16 November 1916	Work as usual. Good purpose being made on the ballasting and protection work on the Peake Wood -- Martinpuich line but more lating wanted which cannot be found. The Bazentin -- High Wood Trenches ready for petrol tractor service. ? Peake Wood traffic services arranged with R.C.O (Lt Musson 9th Gordons) to run in 2 ? Services (2 trains leaving Peake Wood at 2am) to take rations for left Division: (48th) from Peake Wood to Martinpuich. Received orders from CE to get new trench put in fast to serve Rt: Bde of Rt: Div (1st) on their taking over Sector near Leed (?) by left Div of Australian Corps. Reconnoitred and settled on new line.
17 November 1916	Showed site of new night trench "High Wood -- Factory Corner" line to 2nd Lt Glubb & 2nd Lt Thompson (the latter taking charge of work with No3 Section and handing any present work to Section of 1st Lowland Field Company RE from 18th) Line chosen runs from: M.34.c.3.1 (jcn with High Wood -- Eaucourt line) to join up with Longueval -- Flers line in M.30.d then to Factory Corner in M.19.d -- total length of new line 2800 yds of which first 800 yds will be slow owing to difficult formation (cuttings & embankments after which, formation is easy. 1 Platoon of B Echelon ( Welsh Pioneers 1st Div) and working parties up to 300 of 1st Div will be available 109 Constr Coy RE completed standard guage crossings in S.14.b. Starting tractor service being now run E of Bazentin -- 4 tractors as ordered badly required, 1 only received to date.
18 November 1916	Bad wet weather stopped Lt Thompsons levelling on new trench. Working parties of 1 Div commence from 19th. 150 yds formation prepared.
19 November 1916	1st Div working parties on new extension received.and worked well. Work at present mainly night work as formation crosses exposed ridge - work done on it by day with smaller in parties
20 November 1916	Arranged with Lt Musson to further increase the Petrol Tractor service on the Peake Wood line, also receiving a train at 2am. This line is now worked to its maximum capacity which could not be increased under pressure and may have to be cut down somewhat if found inpractable to continue at this pressure if tractors will not stand it. Officer of RA Heavy Artillery (Lt Gee RA) attached. Tramways by request to control the ammo supply service, which at present wants more control as Bde requirements not fully known.
21 November 1916	Work as usual but the No 1 Section working on the Peake Wood -- High Wood line, portions being work at Bazentin sidings and tramway yard being completed. Standard guage, drained crossings E of Bazentin and tracks being relaid. 800 yds of Factory Corner line formation prepared to take rails, many shell leaks again immediately W of Flers Switch -- repaired. Longueval - Flers - Factory Corner taken over from 2nd Australian Div. for use of RT Bde RT Div. Pending condition of new trench.Traffic Control offices also maintenance gang furnished by 1 Div and located at Longueval. Went over to see if all correct. Martinpuich St extension commenced by Pioneers of 48 Div under CRE 48 Div. The High Wood left hand (Willows Ave to Crescent Alley) to be talken up and relaid from same point Crescent Alley back toward Martinpuich
22-23 November 1916	Rt Div extended Rt as far as Factory Corner, Left Div (48 Div) extended 2 nights as far as Eaucourt L' Abbaye. Work of boarding High Wood -- Eaucourt suspended for lack of timber (poling Boards)
24-25 November 1916	Work as usual. Rt Div working partes on new formation relieved by order of CE. Visited the Sausage Valley line, now in hands of 138.A.T. CRE of which portion E of Pozeren (?) falls now within III Corps area. The line at present leaves II Corps entirely, is handling up to 100 tons daily -- Recommended that pending the connection now being made between it and the Peake Wood - Martinpuich line ( with R.O.D Steam Tractors) being completed that it continue to operate as at present and then be taken over by R.O.D present establishment. (III Corps Tramways) Largely difficulties to use the 2 longlines already in the Corps area.
26 November 1916	Work as usual. Track laying on High Wood -- Factory Corner -- line is slow owing to track not having enough sleepers -- 500 yds about laid to date. Arrangements for the supply to many Battalions E & W of Bazentin is working smoothly (40-60 tons of heavy ammo handled daily)
27 November 1916	New loops sited on Martinpuich line -- Martinpuich Rt, extension progressing satisfactorily - work of ballasting between Martinpuich and Peake Wood remaining completion and should last well being boarded on sides and down centre of track. Started new trench to connect up Martinpuich - Peake Wood to Bazentin High Wood line -- Formation easy on the whole line. Will serve group of Heavy Batts, respectively E of Villa Jcn.
28-29 November 1916	Rt Div, working parties further reduced owing to Bde relief and losses. Considerable traffic growth experienced owing to large demand of RAMC for trenches for "Trench Feet" & wounded cases. Solution will be special pushing parties to the ADS-RAMC. Sapper Reynolds killed by shell fire.
30 November 1916	Lt Latersly RE with RA permanent working party commenced new line from neighbourhood of Villa Jcn -- all Artillery lines E of Bazentin in fine condition except 200 yds of track line unstability W of High Wood Jcn - Martinpuich Rt. Extension reached Bde HQ in Martinpuich. No 1 Section now wholley employed on track laying on Factory Corner extension. Progress about 250yds daily (including use of timber sleepers) Formation 2100 yds completed.

7 Field Company took part in the Battle of Flers–Courcelette. Part of the Battle of the Somme in which tanks were involved for the first time. High Wood and Martinpuich were captured during this battle 15 September 1916

Click the thumb nails to read the CRE's Operational Orders issued to 7 Field Company RE, for this battle, which were classified "SECRET" at the time

For further info on the Battle of Flers-Courcelette
Click on the links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Flers%E2%80%93Courcelette

1- 31 December
1916

The Company throughout December continued to be employed entirely on 3rd Corps tramlines that is in 2 systems (1) Bazentin - High Wood - Eaucourt L'Abbaye
(2) Peake Wood - Martinpuich and were responsible for all maintenance, traffic construction, forward extensions being used by the Divisions in the line. The W.W in No1 line, 48 Div relieved on the 15th by 15 Div on the left. No 2 line certain Traffic Control Officers appointed by 3 Corps worked under O.C 7 Field Coy RE on traffic control. Permanent working party (B Echelon 7 Fd Coy) made up with different units of 3 Corps, in strength about 9 officers and 400 O.R.s furnished permanent working parties further with 1 officer and 50 RA for work on the Artillery trench lines. 2nd Lt Glubb (acting capt 7 Coy) acted i/c of all construction. 2nd Lt Baker 7 Coy- i/c of construction No2 line, 2nd Lt Thompson i/c construction No1 line. The main line and Artillery track lines were not in fit condition to take petrol traction by 1st December, reason as follows:- No1 line as far as High Wood (main difficulty being attaining ballast - 20 chalk (?) available. No2 as far as PT: M.3.3.c.3.6 immediately S of Martinpuich on the Rt hand track, at M.32.d.2.4 immediately S.W of Martipuich CM on the Lt hand -- beyond these points only had pushing was in force. The situation as up to construction by 31 Dec as follosw:- No1 line (Bazentin-High Wood) fit for petrol traction as far as High Wood only but carried on to
Pt: S.3.a.6.5 though not operated beyond High Wood Stn in S. 3.a.-- also the sector from Starfish Siding (M. 34.a.7.4) to Flers Switch dump (1200 yds) M.29.a.2.2 was well timbered and boarded and fit for traction. This point was done before the track portion being very bad even for hand pushing.Branch line from Boast Trench Jcn to Factory Corner completed during the month by the 13 Dec --Poling boarded as far as Turks Lane dump and fit for petrol traction to that point -- 4 loops on main line between Bazentin and High Wood put in, the heavy cuttings continued and many portions reballasted. Ballasting of artillery trench lines also completed - 140 yds of Platform AT Bazentin sidings made. On the Peake Wood- Martinpuich section, situation on the 31st Dec as follows:- The whole length from Peake Wood to Martinpuich Jcn (ballasted the previous month) straightened out and bad places made fit to carry bogey wagons, which it could not primarily carry - The line from Martinpuich Jcn to Gilbert Alley (m.26.b.3,5) ballasted (brick vc from Martinpuich) and boarded and made fit for petrol traction except the last 300 yds where final working is necessarily done by day by small parties. Rt: trench from Martinpuich Jcn - the line ballasted from M.32.c.3,6 to Martinpuich Stn (NE of Martinpuich)
M.27.c.7.2 to which point motor traction pending. On the 14th the line extended (by 48th and 15th Div) to M.20.a.7.9 (limit of extension as beyond this point the extension not considered feasible. Various loops and sidings constructed.
Employment of Sections from 1st - 31st December
No1 Section (Lt Chaplin RE) - construction of new line from M.34.b.3.5 to Turks Lane (m.30.b.9.4)m - line was well prepared as far as Edward's Post. 15th-22nd Flers -- Turks Lane line, Ballasting and Sleepering. 23rd erecting huts for artillery ammo supply personnel on Bazentin artillery sidings. 25-27 making platforms at Bazentin sidings and work in tramways yard. 28th-31st constructing platforms on Bazentin sidings. No 2 Section (Lt Baker) 1st-8th Ballasting and improving between Peake Wood and Villa Stn. Ballasting between Martinpuich Jcn and Ammo siding. 9-16th straightning and improving from Villa Stn northwards. Ballasting and boarding from Martinpuich Jcn to Gun Pit Road - constructing Ammo sidings - putting in loop at M.27c.63. Putting in Orchard Loop 16-22nd Ballasting (day and night work) from Gun Pit Rd to Gilbert Alley. Ballasting Corps lines, putting in drainage Villa Stn. 26th-31st widening and improving Gun Pit Road, cuttings, straightening up and Battasting between Gun Pit siding and Gilbert Alley. Draining the line in various places -- reballasting and improving Peake Wood and Bailiff Wood sidings.
No 3 Section (Lt Thompson) 1st-9th Ballasting and improving cuttings, draining from Boast trench Jcn to Turks Lane on the N.W branch of High Wood line.
10th-12th Timbering and boarding from Willows Jcn northwards. 13th-24th Boarding, sleepering, straightening the line and making fit for traction from 7 Elms to Star Fish siding on High Wood -- Eaucourt line. 26th-31st putting in sidings and loops at Flers Switch dump at water point siding and 7 Elms point and preparing this line in this neighbourhood for petrol traction. 14th -26th Laying and ballasting new line from Villa Jcn towards Bazentin -- Le Petit (about 800 yds completed fit for petrol traction) Raising by 5' on out piers and embankments 150 yds of line. Lt Thompson RE sent to work under D.G.T at GHQ on the 28th. No 3 Section taken over by 2nd Lt Littlewood RE
No 4 Section 1st-15th ballasting, raising and straightening line fro Cuttings Loop to High Wood Stn. 15th - 31st Ballasting throughout High Wood Stn to Rutherford Siding, putting in certain cross overs in High Wood Stn, platforming and draining the heavy cuttings on both sides of track where much work by pushing parties online between Bazentin Sidings and Cuttings Loop.
General:- All Sections had men employed throughout the month in the repair shops at Bazentin (III Corps Tramways HQ) and Peake Wood.
1 December: It is freezing and foggy. The only way ever to get warm is to walk up to Eaucourt or Martinpuich at 5 miles per hour, as soon as possible after breakfast. My daily afternoon ride back to Becourt is an agony for hands and feet.

11 December: Warmer again, and therefore rainy and incredibly muddy. Our Becourt camp is beyond words. We built it in September about 200 yards from the road in a good grass field. It is now surrounded by a sea of mud about two feet deep. It is impossible to get even empty wagons into the camp. The men have to ride in, the horses laboriously ploughing their way, plastering each other with showers of filth. The men are perpetually mud-soaked, the mud being almost knee-deep between their little huts. Trench boards are unobtainable. At Bazentin I have rigged up a tiny hut for myself, of corrugated iron and felt. It is nine feet by six, the size of a large dining table, is lined inside with green canvas and looks luxurious. For furniture I have a wire netting bed, a table and stool and a small stove. Over the bed, I have pinned up Lady Butler's picture of the Fusiliers at Albuera, entitled Steady the Drums and Fifes. Over the table, is a map of the Siege of Port Arthur, as I am studying the Russo-Japanese War, when I have an evening off. Donaghie, my batman, lights the stove at tea time with wood picked up in Mametz Wood, and I come in to thaw after my icy ride to Becourt. Then I make out company orders for the next day and work-tables for the sappers and B Echelon, in the intervals of being called to the telephone. I feel quite ashamed of all this luxury really. However I suppose one can be a fine soldier without always being in the front line of
danger, and the improvement of one's unit is always a joy. Presumably the whole object of life can be summed up in the words of the Church Catechism -'To do my duty in that state of life to which it has pleased God to call me.' As a matter of fact, however, our parties of sappers have been rather strafed recently, round and in front of Martinpuich.
My daily ride to Becourt has been getting increasingly wearisome lately. Minx finds it the same. She hates the road to Becourt and trails along it, stumbling and dragging her feet, with no interest in life. Then I lose my temper and strike her furiously. A few days ago, when going round the line with McQueen, which he rarely has time to do, I lost my temper and answered back his criticism. I am always very sorry for these episodes. A few minutes later, we heard the whine of a shell approaching. Everyone threw himself on the ground, including McQueen. Feeling ruffled, I deliberately re mained defiantly standing up, scornfully surveying the scene! The shell burst a little way off, and no one was hit. I find one gets one's mind very full of work here, living engrossed in a tiny world. The daily hustling and driving fill one's thoughts day and night. All the same, I try by reading for a short time in the evening, to keep my mind from this narrow groove. On 26 December, Dad sent a car to fetch me. It arrived at 4 p.m. and we had a long and difficult drive to Cassel in darkness and fog. I very much enjoyed the drive, as it was the first time for four months I had seen houses standing, and civilians and women. Doullens was a joy to me. The pavements shining and wet, the people bobbing past with umbrellas, the lighted shop windows, the women, wearing smart clothes, paying for their purchases in the shops. It is like paradise waking up in Cassel after four month s on the Somme front; hearing from bed a cock crow, the birds singing, and seeing a tree waving in front of the window. Then looking out of the window and seeing the meadows and the vale, stretching away to the misty horizon, thick with trees and hedges, and an occasional cluster of little roofs, surmounted by a tall church spire. After breakfast, I went for a ride on Dad's bay mare. In the fields, the old men were ploughing, while he women and girls were looking after the farmyards and the pigs. On 29 December, I returned to the company, having bought some under clothing and a football for the drivers. I felt much happier after three days away from my mud wilderness. The drivers are very good in some ways, especially in looking after their horses, but their camp is an indescribable morass of mud.
Although ten weeks have passed since our attack on 15 September and the capture of High Wood, the problem of transportation across the two mile belt to our new front line' is still as far from solution as ever. Every square yard of soil has been blown up, flung into the air and shaken into powder. The tiny roots which ordinarily keep the earth together have all been dusted out. The whole country has become a morass of thick lentil soup, almost impassable even on foot. In dry weather, the ground is soft like castor sugar. In wet weather, it defies all description.Sixty-centimetre gauge tramlines are in general better than roads jammed with horse traffic. A more or less levelled 'formation ' has first to be prepared and the rails laid along it. The rails with their sleepers distribute the load over a considerable area of surface and do not, therefore, sink in, like the wheels of a wagon. A comparatively small tramways truck can carry as much as a large cumbrous wagon.In areas west of High Wood and Martinpuich the tramway trains are now pulled by small motor tractors. In front of High Wood, in view of the enemy, the trucks are pushed by hand, but it is.much easier to push a truck than to carry the load on one 's back. Moreover if the Boche begin to shell, the men can scatter and take cover in shell holes, which is easier than having a mass of horses and wagons to disentangle. Sometimes, in the early morning, going up one of the tramlines, you come upon two or three waxen-faced corpses, lying distorted in little pools of blood, killed the night before by a shell, when going up the line.
There are also many rough crosses dotted about, made out of pieces of wooden ration boxes.

Poling Boards

7 Field Company RE War Diary 1916. Source:
The National Archives
Kew West London

From mid June 1915 until May 1919
The Company was in the
50th (Northumbrian) Division

The following excerpt from the Royal Engineers Journal of June 1932 provides a description of the 7^th Field Company's activities in 1916.

"With 1916 opened the second year of trench warfare. The works on both sides were becoming yet more extensive and thoroughly organised. The struggle became more and more one of attrition, both sides endeavoring by constant harassing fire, bombardments of localities, etc., to wear down their opponents until such time as mobile warfare should ensue. The introduction of heavy and light trench-mortars, increasingly accurate and concentrated artillery fire, controlled machine-gun fire, etc., rendered it possible for effective minor operations to be planned by either side and these gave rise to constant retaliation in kind. Such operations led to much destruction of trench works and of communications, and to active endeavor to interfere with working parties. Under the circumstances the casualties amongst the Engineers and working parties steadily increased, the work at times imposing a heavy strain on the sapper sections."

It was during this period when the 7^th Field Company was in the Sanctuary Wood - Armagh Wood area that Sergeant Frankenberg was severely shell-shocked by German artillery and was classified as a casualty. The shelling that wounded Frankenberg occurred on the 22^nd of February 1916 causing him to be evacuated to the 1^st Canadian General Hospital. He was transferred to England on the 29^th of February 1916.
It was during the period just prior to receiving his wound, when the 7^th Field Company was in the Ypres Salient, that Sergeant Gerald Frankenberg distinguished himself in the field and was awarded the Military Medal. His award of the medal was published on page 9831 of the Second Supplement to the London Gazette dated 11 October 1916. His is a general citation reading as follows:

His Majesty the KING has been graciously
pleased to award the Military Medal for
bravery in the field to the undermentioned:-
16073 Sgt. G. Frankenberg, R.E.

While many WW1 engagements along the Somme have largely been forgotten, the action at Courcelette, or Flers-Courcelette as is often known, remains an important milestone in military history. It was here on 15 September 1916 that the tank was first used in warfare, and the shifting fortunes of that confused day of battle continue to be studied by armour experts to this day.
Too few tanks, inadequately supported, with engines unequal to the task, failed to make a decisive breakthrough, but showed what they were capable of, and experienced all the problems and possibilities that have been a part of armoured warfare ever since

To view some samples of 7 Coy monthly Strength and Casualty Returns. Click on the thumbnails below

The Diary of 2nd Lieutenant John Glubb RE
is in BlackText

Map 7. Armentieres to Ypres-Autumn 1915

The landscape 1916

The Trenches before and after the attack September 1916

Alongside the tide of human cannon fodder was formed an equally large army of horses and mules - transport animals and cavalry mounts essential to the bloody business ahead, while men cheerfully volunteered in their tens of thousands, similar numbers of horses were being stripped from farms, liveries, hunt stables and from private ownership, packed on to ships and sent overseas, over 8 million animals were thus engaged in the war world wide.
On the western front alone a total of a million horses died. Of those used by the British Army, themselves totalling almost a million, only around 60,000 are said to have been returned to Britain at the war’s end.

Name	Rank	Rgt Number	Cause of Death	Date
Russell. H	2nd Lieutenant		K.I.A	12-7- 1916
Gates. Thomas. Humphries	Sapper	25297	D.O.W	19-4-1916
Greenstreet. John. Frederick	Acting Corporal	19173	K.I.A	9-6-1916
Horsley.James.Anderson	Sapper	58291	K.I.A	2-7-1916
NickelL. James	Sapper	25042	K.I.A	19-1-1916
Slow. William	Sapper	67128	D.O.W	23-6-1916
Smith. John. William	Sapper	53584	D.O.W	15-2-1916
Trim. Frederick. Charles	Sapper	508532	Died	23-9-1916

7 Field Company RE - Roll of Honour 1916

Goodbye Old Man: watercolour by Italian artist Fortunino Matania showing a British soldier saying farewell to his dying horse. The painting was commissioned in 1916 to raise money for The Blue Cross Fund and now hangs in the charity’s animal hospital in Victoria, London.

Please note this page is currently being updated 26/3/2015