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[Page 13]
tracks, laying pipe lines, escorting convoys of motor lorries over the roads – this being necessary as the roads got so knocked about & frequently blocked not only by shells but by debris of the shattered wagons which had to be cleared. The whole of this work lay in what was termed the "battery areas" – ie that portion of the battlefield where all the guns lay situated roughly from one to three miles behind the front line. This area was perhaps the worst for heavy & continuous shelling & the weather conditions greatly added to the difficulties The plank road got very slippery &
The battalion camp, too, altho some 8 or 9 miles from the line was by no means free from enemy vindictiveness. All the back areas from Poperinghe forward were nightly (sometimes daily) visited by squadrons of enemy aeroplanes. It was a continuous speculation as to whether your camp or somebody else's would get the bombs they dropped. On the night of Oct 18 the battalion 'got it' resulting 43 casualties – 10 of which were killed outright. Early in Oct the mud difficulties became most acute but the large quantities of material that had been got forward eased the situation somewhat. The battalion was at this stage ordered to direct its attention to trench tramway systems.
A line that had already been started near Westhoek was pushed on towards Zonnebeke & in 4 days the whole of the formation (some 1½ miles) was completed. Owing to the 5th Division then coming into the line, the Battalion again came under its orders & was consequently moved from this line to the construction of a new line branching off this & leading to a point some 800 yards from the front line. This line was 2 miles long & was completed right out in 10 days by 3 Coys working in relays. This line was built with 20 lb rails throughout on steel & timber sleepers & had two sidings – one midway & a second at the railhead. The task of the formation was heavy enough the ground being thoroughly sodden & of little holding power but to get the rails & material forward was an infinitely greater task & too much stress cannot be laid on the splendid work performed