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I had to search round for suitable spots for rifle-ranges, and to agree with the owners for suitable compensation. Also I had to make some of the arrangements for a ferry boat to convey the troops across the Canal De L'Aa to a good training-ground between Watten and St. Momelin. On November 14 I paid my first visit to St. Omer, which is a nice town with plenty of good shops. Lieut.-Col.
Then followed a battle between Ljotr and a Scottish earl called Magbiod or Macbeth, at Skida Myre or Skitten Moor in Watten in Caithness, which Ljotr won, but died of his wounds shortly after, and is said to have been buried at Stenhouse in Watten. Thus the first Scottish attempt at consolidation of the north failed.
This section when completed brought the line from Watten to Manuka, or, as the station is now called, "Corfield." The second sections of the railway from Hughenden to Winton were constructed by the late Mr. G. C. Willcocks, and in a record time. He had to carry ballast and water along the whole construction of 132 miles from the Flinders River at Hughenden.
On December 9 we began to prepare to return to the Salient, and I went with certain advanced details to Watten, where I spent the night in one of the houses. I managed to get a very passable dinner at the best local inn. We entrained next day at Watten station and were taken by rail to Brandhoek; marching to a camp quite close to the station.
The weather was, and is, just as it has been all the time a cloudless sky and a burning sun. It was already quite warm when we set off, and as the morning advanced the sun naturally became more powerful still. It was in the streets of Watten that we marched past Stockwell; and I vividly recollect that he was not at all pleased with things as early as that.
During the first week in December the visit of officers to the line disclosed the new sector to be taken over, which included Passchendaele village, recently captured by the Canadians. A few days later the Battalion entrained at Watten for Brandhoek, where it spent a short time in a hut camp in Divisional reserve.
He drew close to my uncle, laid his hand upon his shoulder, and gently woke him. My uncle rose up. "What is the matter?" he asked. "Watten!" replied the huntsman. No doubt under the inspiration of intense pain everybody becomes endowed with the gift of divers tongues. I did not know a word of Danish, yet instinctively I understood the word he had uttered. "Water! water!"
On relief by the 9th Battalion, it moved to Marsouin Farm Camp, near Pilkem, and spent a very unpleasant morning under fire from high velocity shells. Fortunately there were no casualties, and in the afternoon after the relief it again moved to a camp at Elverdinghe for a few nights. From there it entrained to Watten, and marched to billets at Houlle. Here a very enjoyable month was spent.
On November 12 the Brigade entrained at Elverdinghe station and were taken through St. Omer to Watten station. We marched from there in the dark to the little village of Serques. We were now to have about a month's rest and training before returning again to the Salient. Serques was quite a pleasant little village to stay at, but the arrangements for training were very scanty.
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