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Chapter X.
Gravenstrafel—Passchendaele.

Our work in this sector was not to dig trenches, but by our practical knowledge of cable work, we acted as Signal Engineer personal, having complete charge of the running out of the cable, laying it, and in generally supervising the work. The actual digging was done by the first and 3rd Battalions N.Z.R.B. The Unit moved up to Brandhoek into Camp there. Major Evans, D.S.O., was given charge of the whole work, and with Lieut. Dickeson in charge of cable, moved forward to Goldfish Chateau where Headquarters were established. The system consisted of about 11 miles of trench in two main forward fines linked at three places by lateral lines.

The whole work was divided into two parts, Major Evans taking the Southern line with Lieut. Lord and No. 3 Australian Company (cable) and the 3rd Battalion N.Z.R.B. (diggers), Captain McHugh, M.C., taking the northern line with Captain A. H. Richards and No. 1 and 2 N.Z. Companies (cable) and the 1st Battalion N.Z.R.B. as diggers.

Work was started on the evening of the 27th September on both routes and was continued for ten nights (not continuous) until finished. The Riflemen, under the capable guidance of their Officers and N.C.O.'s worked remarkably well, and for 800 men to accomplish the average length of close on a mile a night was a wonderful achievement.

The Passchendaele advance started on the 4th October, and by that time both lines were almost up to the "hopping off" place. From that forward the work proceeded on the heels of the advancing troops. The enemy shelling throughout was heavy and the going bad page 49owing to the rain and the sea of shell holes filled with water, but the men stuck to their work well and accomplished a result which any army may be proud of.

The technical work of handling the cable, which included transportation over difficult ground, the reeling out of cable, laying, and marking trench, was done entirely by this unit. Its officers supervised the whole work, and no difficulty or obstacle was allowed to hinder them in their desire to complete a satisfactory job. Lieut. C. A. Dickeson was in charge of the cable and responsible for getting it to the end of the roads in the sector, and in spite of many difficulties, owing to the awful weather and lack of roads, never once failed. For this work, under the difficult conditions existing, this Officer was awarded the M.C.

Latterly, when the N.Z.R.B. was withdrawn from the work to take its place in the fighting, parties from the 1st and 2nd Brigades were detailed to carry on, and with their help the whole system was finally finished, and on the 17th October the Canadian Corps took over our Corps front, and we, with the rest of the troops, left Brandhoek and moved to a place near Steenvoorde for the night. Next day we proceeded to Hazebrouck and went into billets there for reorganisation and rest. We stayed there a week, and on the 26th received orders to proceed to Fruges area.

Next morning at 9 a.m. we marched out and made a small village called Fiefs, a distance of 25 miles. Our route lay through Steenbecque, Aire, St. Hilare, Westrehem, At Fiefs the Battalion was billetted in the Chateau Beaucnine, once a beautiful place, but now much spoiled by war's destruction.

Next day our march was continued, and early in the afternoon we reached Ambricourt, a small village which had not previously had British troops billetted there. It was in this village that some of the peasants chased their pigs out of the stye for the men to sleep in page 50Only a little of that treatment is sufficient, and it did not take many minutes to convince the people they were dealing with soldiers; after that the billets were fairly good.

This village is quite close to the famous old-time battlefield of Agincourt, where King Henry V. of England defeated the French in 1415.

We stayed in this area for about two weeks and enjoyed the rest, and carried on useful training, the country there being very suitable for field training.

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