ly dirty little village, where a week was
spent. From there it went to Brigade Reserve in the mining village of
Philosophe, in which, though very close to the line, a few civilians still
remained. Butter, milk and other articles of food could be obtained from
the French shop-keepers, and English newspapers could be bought in the
streets the day after publication. It was a fairly quiet place, though
one's hours were punctuated by the intermittent firing of a battery of
4.7 guns in the colliery in rear, which fired over the billets.

One of the Regular battalions of the 3rd Infantry Brigade was too weak in
numbers to do trench duty, and the 9th had the honour of replacing it, and
on the 26th November the Battalion found itself once more in the front
line and in exactly the same position as the one in which it had so
signally distinguished itself on the 8th October.

Snow was lying on the ground and it was freezing hard. Henceforth the men
were to know the hardships of a winter campaign. There were no deep
dugouts and there were not sufficient shelters for the men to sleep in.
During the course of the winter, exposure alone killed some. Ever since
the battle the Loos sector had been very active, especially on Sundays,
and the trenches and alleys which led up to them were in a very wet
condition. The numbers lost in the recent fighting had not been made up,
and "C" Company, the weakest, had a trench strength all told of only 67
officers and men.

The relief from the front line on the night of the 29th November was
particularly severe. Following the frost came rain on that particular day,
and the relief was carried out on a very black night in a steady
downpour, and everyone was quickly wet through. The trenches filled with
water and the men had first to wade through deep sludge and then over
rain-sodden ground ankle-deep in mud. The men's clothes became caked with
the mud from the sides of the trench, which increased the weight to be
carried.

During the tours of duty in this sector the paucity of the numbers and the
length of the communication trenches made the difficulties of food supply
very great. Behind the front line in the Loos sector was a devastated
region extending backwards for over two miles. There seemed a big gap
between the front line and any form of civilisation. Usable roads were
wanting, so that the transport could not approach near to the Battalion.
Consequently each company had to detail its own ratio