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He began in these words: "Brother officers and men of the Wanderer and Sea-mew, it is my duty to tell you, very briefly, the reasons which have decided Captain Ebsworth and myself on dispatching an exploring party in search of help.
To add to the difficulty the 8th Battalion began to arrive to relieve the Battalion before the Company relief was complete. However, they at last got out and moved back to 6th Avenue East and the intermediate line, where two days were spent in cleaning up. Here Lieut. Ebsworth rejoined as Adjutant, and the officers and men who had been left at the transport lines also came up.
Major A. Ebsworth, M.C., took over command. When the march was resumed the direction was changed, and, moving eastwards, billets were reached at Neuville-au-Cornet. Rumours were now spreading of the forthcoming battle and a further march to Villers-sur-Simon left no doubt that the Battalion would be involved.
Ebsworth, M.C., Adjutant, were thrown from their horses and sustained broken limbs. 2nd Lieut. Kirkhouse resumed duties as Adjutant. Nearly a month was spent in the wood, the time being devoted to training in the new wave formation for the coming offensive.
On the 28th May the Battalion returned to the trenches it had left a month before, and on the 2nd June the men were able to watch the German attack between Hill 60 and Hooge and the Canadian counter-attacks on the following day. Lieut. Ebsworth, M.C., D.C.M., East Lancashire Regt., joined as Adjutant on the 7th June.
I think about another week or ten days will do for us all. Never mind! I don't grumble." He poured the bones into the mortar, and began to pound them under protest. At the same moment a sailor appeared, entering from the inner hut. "A message from Captain Ebsworth, sir." "Well?" "The captain is worse than ever with his freezing pains, sir. He wants to see you immediately." "I will go at once.
"Volunteers will not be accepted, in this case," said Crayford. "Captain Helding and Captain Ebsworth see serious objections, as we are situated, to that method of proceeding." "Do they mean to keep the appointments in their own hands?" asked Frank. "I for one object to that." "Wait a little," said Crayford. "You were playing backgammon the other day with one of the officers.
Everybody admitted that this was true. "So we get back again," said the captain, "to the old question Who among the able-bodied is to go? and who is to stay? Captain Ebsworth says, and I say, let chance decide it. Here are dice. The numbers run as high as twelve double sixes. All who throw under six, stay; all who throw over six, go.
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.
Indoors, and out-of-doors, the awful silence of the Polar desert reigns, for the moment, undisturbed. The first sound that broke the silence came from the inner apartment. An officer lifted the canvas screen in the hut of the Sea-mew and entered the main room. Cold and privation had badly thinned the ranks. The commander of the ship Captain Ebsworth was dangerously ill.
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