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[Page 16]
infantry" and away they galloped. "Chum" said the soldiers, "it was grand, and we gave them a cheer as they galloped up towards the chalk pits". It was all we could do. That was an unsought description by British Artillerymen and I can vouch for its truth for I was on of those to whom the man was speaking.
We rested on night ion the hill in a storm of rain and wind and in the morning marched to Warloy Wood where General Birdwood visited us and thanked and congratulated us on our work. At Warloy Wood we received a few reinforcements and after a couple of days rest we marched by stages to Holloy where we stayed for a few days. At Halley too we received more reinforcements and learnt we were again to go to Pozieres, information which the reader may be well assured did not appeal to us with just the same amount of pleasure as a notification that we were going to Blighty on leave would have done.
I do not wish to expatiate on the rout marching and preparations that ensured between the time of being relieved from Pozieres on the 25th July till we went back about three weeks later. It is enough for me to say that we were reorganised and though far below full strength had enough men to make it possible to do all that was asked of us.
It was on August 15th 1916 that we again looked over the Pozieres front. But the Battalion in this period did not take part in any attack. My company went into supports on the left of the old supports position so well remembered. Centre way communication sap ran into the old position we knew as Casualty Corner and we were well round to the left near the 18 pounder batteries. This position was comparatively quiet, very little shelling being suffered here, but it was our home for two days only.
The story of the second turn in the line is a story of a fatigue after fatigue. The fall of night saw us always set out for the front line to carry on with pick and shovel. The first night we did not arrive at the position at which we were to work. What the trouble was I could not say but anyway after making a journey of several hours under heavy shell fire we had to turn round and return to our dugouts. We had several casualties on this night and our tempers were anything but nice. The remarks that passed along the line would have made an artists fortune if they could have been produced as patter.
On the following night we set out to construct a sap leading out in front of the position occupied by the 3rd Bn. We passed along the old road straight up towards the line and when well out past the old front line (from which we had made the first attack), we turned to the left. Here we began to get mixed up with the enemy artillery and we soon had casualties. The officer in charge of the party was one of the first to be wounded but we did not stay looking on while he was attended by the S.B's. We went straight on through the old site of the village of Pozieres till we came to the 3rd Bn. We reported here and were shown what was to be done. It was one of those tasks where a certain amount is set out and when that is finished the party is free to return home. We set to and soon had the work finished.
Here let me digress a little. Fatigues are the bugbear of the soldier but even in the doing of them he has his likes and dislikes. Now I always found the average Australian much prefers when being told off to construct a sap that he has a certain set amount to do. If he is told "you have 12 feet or 6 feet of trench to dig and then are finished" he sets to work and works with a will. But when put on a place and told you are to keep going till 3a.m.,I always found that he did not work at all hard. Why? Well the average soldier considered that under the former way of doing a fatigue it was impossible for a man to impose on his mates, also he saw that the quicker he worked the sooner he got back to bed. Consequently he put heart into the doing of the task. But in the second instance there was no incentive to work fast. The more one did the more one had to do and so a government stroke was