as finally abandoned. The
Battalion then held the shell crater line in front of Langemarck for a few
days at the beginning of November, sustaining a considerable number of
casualties. The Division was then withdrawn and the Battalion was put
into rest billets at Nielles. After about a month spent there in
re-organisation and training for the attack, it moved up to Emile Camp,
just outside Elverdinghe. The weather was bitterly cold and the ground
frozen hard. On Christmas Day the Battalion went into the shell crater
line at Poelcappelle, and spent four days there. The weather conditions
were very severe, snow had fallen, the ground was wet and the machine gun
fire very active. The first week in January the Regiment was once again in
its original sector at Armentieres. Here things were comparatively quiet,
though the trenches were in a very bad condition, and the danger of trench
feet was considerable. The Battalion carried out a very successful raid on
the 1st February. Several patrols had been sent out to locate the best
place of entry into the enemy line. After an intense bombardment on the
selected spot, a party was able to enter and secure a few prisoners. This
was the most successful raid the Division had accomplished.

The remnants of the first Battalion left Lisbourg for Steenwerck, where
they spent a few days awaiting the return of the second Battalion from the
trenches. The two units met at Waterlands Camp outside Armentieres, and
were united to form one battalion. The union, though imperative, was
distasteful to some, as many officers and non-commissioned officers had to
relinquish acting ranks which they had held for some time, and it perhaps
gave rise to some jealousy which fortunately disappeared in time.

After a few days spent at Waterlands, the Battalion moved into support at
Erquinghem, with one company in the Lunatic Asylum at Armentieres, and
after a short stay it did one tour in the line near Houplines, and then
went to Estaires, where it was in support to the Portuguese Army.

This was then a quiet country town in which the shops were still open, and
incidentally doing a very good trade, and it had suffered little from the
effects of artillery. During the next three months it was to be reduced to
ruins. The Battalion was accommodated in a Nissen hut camp just outside
the town, where the company commanders had an opportunity of completing
the re-organisation of their companies.

On the 13th March th