The three brigades of our new division were the
125th (Lancs. Fusiliers), 126th (East Lancashire), and 127th
(Manchester)--all Territorial brigades. The Staff of the 42nd Division
treated their new pioneer battalion with kindness and consideration;
and I believe we were called on occasion 'Solly-Flood's Pets.' On the
other hand there was friction at times between the men of the 42nd
Division and the men of the 7th N.F.

The whole Division had hitherto been drawn from the East Lancashire
area--Manchester, Oldham, Bury, &c., and they looked upon us rather
as intruders. The Northumberlands were of course not the people to let
slip so admirable an opportunity of accepting a feud: and in October
1918 they committed the unforgivable sin of winning the Divisional
Association Football Cup, which completed their unpopularity.

And for a battalion which had seen the hard service of the 7th N.F.,
the stock jests generally levelled at a pioneer battalion were a
little out of place. The 42nd Division proved themselves a hard
fighting division in 1918, and lived up to their motto 'Go one
better.'

The 7th N.F. left the Ypres area about February 11, 1918, and after
spending a few days at Brandhock they were conveyed in motor-buses to
the small village of Fouquereuil, west of Bethune.

Here the battalion was instructed to help the pioneers of the 6th
Division, who were holding the front line trenches between Cambrin and
Loos. Accordingly three companies of the 7th N.F. were detached from
the battalion and sent to the forward area. I went with C Company
(Capt. Herriott) to Philosophe, a small colliery village still partly
inhabited by civilians, though fairly close to the front line.

Our daily work was making reserve defences, trenches, deep dugouts,
and machine-gun emplacements between Vermelles and Loos. During our
stay of about a week at Philosophe the village was quiet. But one
night the enemy's guns sent a perfect stream of shells just over the
tops of the cottages for about twenty minutes. About a week after we
left the village it was completely knocked to bits by the enemy's
10-inch howitzer shells.

Our next visit was to some reserve trenches at Cambrin, where we
stayed for about a week, improving the defences. It was a quiet, easy
time, though not far behind the front line. After this the four
companies of the 7th N.F. were reduced to three, and I was transferred
to A Company at Sailly-Labourse. Here we were some dista