The Position of the 1st Battalion

Thursday 2nd September 1915: the adjutant of the 1st Battalion has been telling us more about their new home just north of the River Somme. They took the trenches over from the French army last month and are now on the extreme right of the British Line on the Western Front which now runs nearly all the way north to Ypres, a distance of about 75 miles, with French 10th Army around Arras splitting the British 1st and 3rd Armies.

He reports that the trenches good on the whole and the communication trenches are fairly numerous. A great deal of work is necessary, however, to restore parts of the line and to drain, revet and floor the communication trenches with bricks where necessary.

The enemy's trenches are generally about 300 or 400 yards away, but in parts, where advance post trenches jut out, they are only about 50 yards away. The adjutant remarks that: “The area is generally much quieter than the other areas the battalion has hitherto been in”.

Source: X550/2/5