On the 22nd November we started back Eastwards, and, after a night at Prouville and two at Fortel, arrived in the pouring rain at Halloy, where we were told we should stay for about a week.  We were put into the huts, which were unfinished and entirely unfit for habitation, while to make matters worse, the field in which they stood had become a sea of mud.  After the good billets of Millencourt, this change for the worse produced the inevitable sickness, and, in addition to many N.C.O.’s and men who went away with fever and influenza, we lost for a short time Col.  Jones, and several of the officers.  Amongst them was 2nd Lieut.  J.R.  Brooke, who had long ago been warned against the danger of again getting nephritis, but in spite of this refused to stay away from the Battalion, and insisted on braving even the worst weather and the wettest trenches.  About the same time, Captain Burnett went to England, going to Hospital from the Army School.

The week in these horrible surroundings was lengthened to a fortnight, and we were at last able to hold the finals of the cross country run.  Many of the Battalion entered, and over two hundred came home in the time, a very good performance, though not good enough to win.  The boxing tournament was held still later at St. Amand, and we sent two entries.  In the heavy weights, Boobyer was beaten on points after a plucky fight, and in the feather weights, O’Shaugnessy knocked his opponent all over the place, and won in the second round.

On the 6th December we marched to the Souastre huts, where the Colonel returned to us, and we once more began to feel fit; the huts here were not palaces, but were far better than those we had left at Halloy.  On the 11th we moved up through Bienvillers and went into our old trenches opposite Monchy.  But the recent heavy rains had undone all the good that we had done in the early autumn, and they were now in a very bad state.  On the right of the Hannescamps road they were particularly bad, and Liverpool Street, which ran from Lulu Lane to the front line, was almost impassable.  There was the same terrible clinging mud, feet deep, that we had found at Richebourg a year before, and the old troubles of lost gum boots began again.  Fortunately we were now prepared, and were able to combat the dangers of “trench foot.”  Each Company had its drying room—­a dug-out occupied by the Stretcher bearers, and kept warm by an ever burning brazier.  Here at least once in every 24 hours every man who could possibly have got wet feet, and every man wearing rubber boots, came, had his feet rubbed, and was given dry socks and boots, while at Headquarters and in Bienvillers were large drying rooms where the wet boots could be dealt with.  In this way we were able to keep almost free from the complaint, and the few men whose feet did fail were all men who had had “trench feet” the previous winter, and were consequently always liable to it.