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H.M. Allen, Black Watch, who took over command; Lieut. Towards the end of the month came rumours of a rest, and on the 30th the Battalion marched off once more to Becourt, where it was this time accommodated in huts. After a night there it marched back to billets at Warloy, where it stayed during the whole of December, training and resting. The rest was thoroughly enjoyed by all ranks.
Away to the left of this is the wooded clump of Bécourt, and, beyond it, One Tree Hill with its forlorn mound, like the burial place of a King. On the right flank is the Ancre Valley, with the English position round Hamel like an open book under the eye; on the left flank is the rather big, steep, green hill, topped by a few trees, before mentioned.
The road dipped into a wood, and the colonel showed me the first battery position he occupied in France, when he commanded a 4·5 how. battery. Bécourt Chateau was so much a chateau now that Divisional Headquarters were living in tents outside. Four motor-cars stood in the courtyard; some thirty chargers were tied to the long high railings; motor despatch-riders kept coming and going.
Just behind them, however, at the foot of the Sausage Valley they had a pleasant wooded hill, the hill of Bécourt, which was for nearly two years within a mile of the front line, yet remained a green and leafy hill, covered with living trees, among which the château of Bécourt remained a habitable house.
At La Boisselle they said we had pushed through, and fighting was still going on. I decided to leave for that district right away. Passing through Albert, I halted the car at the top of Becourt Wood. From this point I had to walk. In the distance I could see hundreds of shells bursting, and guns were thundering out. I gave one camera to my orderly and another had the tripod.
Christmas was spent in the huts at Bécourt with a wild gale blowing; the festivities and feastings of the previous year at Authie were not possible, but at least the men could congratulate themselves that they were not in the trenches. On the 28th we moved back through Albert to the village of Bresle, which lies just north of the great straight highway from Amiens to Albert.
Leaving my base early in the morning I made my way through Becourt Wood and beyond, up "Sausage Valley" why that name I don't know. The whole area was crowded with men of the Australian division. As there was no road I took my car over the grass, or rather all that was left of it. The place was covered with shell-holes.
I had arrived at this decision whilst resting on the grass at the top of Becourt Wood and was making a meal of bully and biscuits when, looking up, I saw what I took to be an apparition of my missing man walking along the road and carrying a black case. I could scarcely believe my eyes. "Where the devil have you been?" I asked. "I was just on my way back to post you as missing. What has happened?"
The officers left were Lieut. Ebsworth, 2nd Lieut. Kirkhouse, Adjutant; 2nd Lieut. K.B. Stuart, Signalling Officer, and 2nd Lieut. Tyerman; the Medical Officer, Capt. J.G. Hill, arrived later. After a short rest the Battalion marched back to bivouacs in Becourt Wood for one night. Second Phase.
At this time John Coates, the famous tenor singer, came out as a lieutenant in the Yorkshire Regiment. He was attached to us for a time. It was a sporting thing for him to do, but he was neither young enough nor hard enough to stand the severities of the campaign. He acted as General's Orderly-Officer for a time and afterwards became Town Major of Bécourt, not an easy or a very pleasant job.
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