Departure from Salisbury Plain Saturday, November 25th, 1916 witnessed the departure from Salisbury Plain of the 42^nd Battalion. After chafing for months under the routine of drill and exercise, the Battalion at last emerged as a smart, well equipped, highly trained fighting unit, with every man fit and eager to get to grips with the enemy. Its strength was 33 officers and 994 other ranks.

Reveille was sounded at 4.30 a.m. It was a cold bleak morning on which we partook of our last breakfast at Number 11 Camp, Larkhill. After the meal a period of tremendous hustle and bustle ensued. There was the strapping and unstrapping of equipment, the packing of packs, to say nothing of the unceasing struggles to get all personal possessions, gear, ammunition, rations, blankets and utensils securely buckled to our bodies. These weighed approximately 100 Ibs., exclusive of rifles.

At length we fell in for final inspection, then off we went on the four-mile journey to Amesbury railway station, gaily marching to the strains of the "Colonel Bogey March," played by the Battalion Band. The skirl of the pipes also helped us along.

SOUTHAMPTON The Battalion left Amesbury in three trains, which arrived at Southampton at 11 a.m., noon, and 2 p.m. respectively. Here in large sheds adjacent to the wharf we remained waiting for darkness to fall. It was not advisable for transports to cross the English Channel in daylight.

During the long hours that elapsed we consumed countless buns and cakes, vast quantities of chocolate, fruit, chew-gum and other kinds of edibles which were purchasable at the canteens in the sheds. We smoked countless cigarettes and drank every kind of liquid available. This was the only relief we got during the tedious and monotonous afternoon and evening.

At last the long weary wait came to an end and we gladly received, and cheerfully obeyed, the order to "Fall in." Embarkation on the Channel transports started at 8 p.m. and after a rough passage, Le Havre was reached the following morning (Sunday).

LE HAVRE REST CAMP Disembarkation took place at midday amid a storm of rain and sleet. In spite of the weather' the French civilians turned out "en masse" to welcome us. We shouted in French, telling them that the War would soon be over, now that the 42^nd had arrived, but the townsfolk just stared and made no reply. It seemed to us that they did not understand their own language. A long trying hill at the end of a six-mile march ushered the Battalion into the "Rest Camp" (so-called).

What a desolate scene met our eyes. The ground oozed with mud and rows of discoloured sodden tents stood there dripping and leaking, offering very dubious shelter. Our first night out from England was spent in an uninviting atmosphere of gloom and dejection.

OOTERSTEENE It was with much pleasure that we left Le Havre early next morning. The march to the station was downhill and therefore a lot easier. We spent the next 30 hours travelling by train, in horse boxes, which were Marked: "8 chevaux, 40 hommes." That meant the truck was supposed to accommodate either eight horses or forty men. We reached Bailleul at 3 o'clock on Tuesday afternoon. Thence we marched to the village of Ootersteene. When we got there, we found the place wrapped in a dense mantle of fog. We had to wait some considerable time in the streets before billeting arrangements were completed.

It was fortunate for us that we had with us two brothers each a proficient linguist. They acted as interpreters on many occasions and thus greatly facilitated smoothing out the difficulties which we occasionally got with the French authorities and civilians. It was a novelty to us to find ourselves living in schools and halls, barns and out-houses, all more or less in a state of disrepair.

Five days were spent in Ootersteene, training and getting used to the unusual conditions. It was here that were issued with our "Box-respirators," and drilled in the use of them. These were our protection from the gas used by the enemy. We looked a weird lot of objects our faces completely encased in rubber masks, with glass covered apertures to see through, obtaining our air through a snake-like tube attached to the respirator. The term "Box-respirator" was soon corrupted into "Gasp-irator." It was here, too, that we embarked upon our serious attempts to master the French language. We experienced our first "Pay-day" in the field, which led many a 42^nd man to cultivate an appetite for Egg and Chip Banquets," and a taste for Vin Blanc and Rouge.

ARMENTIERES. On December 6th Ootersteene was left behind and marched thence through Bailleul on to Armentieres, arriving there late in the afternoon and were billeted at a cotton factory in Rue de la Paix with our headquarters in rue Sadi Carnot. Prior to the War, Armentieres was a hive of industry, containing factories of all descriptions, especially for weaving woollen, cotton and canvas goods. It is not possible to recall our early days spent in that town with out visualising the scenes of intense activity which continued despite the fact that part of the town formed portion of our Front Line. Civilians carried on their various avocations, whilst cafes and estaminets reaped a rich harvest from the constantly arriving and departing troops. Little Mesdemoiselles came round to our billets in the cold dark hours of the wintry mornings with cakes and cups of hot coffee, for which they charged us deux sous (two half-pennies), and the young boys, whom we called petits garcons, came as far as our subsidiary lines to sell us the daily papers.

We found the town badly knocked about, especially the churches, but considering its proximity to the front line certain parts were wonderfully intact.

Whilst here we made purchases of many kinds of fancy goods such as laces and silks, and elaborate post cards. There were many shops in the vicinity of the ruined Town Hall, which stood in a Square, designated by the troops as "Half-past Eleven Square," due to the fact that the hands of the Town Hall clock, which had been hit some months prior to our arrival, stopped at 11.30 and remained so. A few months later, Armentieres was bombarded by gas shells, which forced the civilians to evacuate. The town was ultimately reduced to ruins.

Nowadays, when the name of Armentieres is mentioned, it brings to memory a fictitious French lady of whom songs of many versions have been sung. It is more than likely that future generations will smile at episodes that have been woven around the idiosyncrasies and character of "Mademoiselle from Armentieres."

OUR FIRST CASUALTY IN THE WAR ZONE Although we found the town very quiet upon arrival, it was only three days later, on Sunday, December 10th, that we were startled by a sudden bombardment. It was during this shelling that our first casualty in the War Zone occurred. The first man killed in our Battalion was Sergeant Hannah, when standing near a church close to our billets.

THE BATH PARADE General training continued assiduously, and now we were introduced to another active service institution, namely, the Bath Parade. Eight to twelve men were placed in parties. Each of these parties bathed together in large beer vats filled with hot water and disinfectant. When the bathers had been in the bath the allotted time, the attendant let in more and more hot water until the temperature was too high for any human being to endure. Changes of underclothing were issued prior to entering the bath. Meanwhile, tunics and breeches underwent fumigation and hot irons were pressed along the seams of the garments in order to kill the vermin, called "chats," and their eggs. Up to this time the Third Division was considered clean, but hence onwards it became as lousy as all the other Divisions.

INSPECTION BY THE COMMANDER-in-CHIEF On Friday, December 22^nd, the 42^nd Battalion with other units of the Third Division was inspected at Stonework by General Sir Douglas Haig, Commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Forces, who complimented the men upon their soldierly appearance and bearing.

OUR FIRST CHRISTMAS ON ACTIVE SERVICE The following day, Saturday December 23rd fifty per cent of the specialists, that is, machine-gunners, signallers, bombers, etc., of the 36^th Battalion, then holding the line, were relieved by the same number of specialists of the 42^nd Battalion. The rest of us made our initial entry into the front line trenches the next day.

In the early hours of the morning, before the dawn of Christmas Eve, under the cover of darkness, we stole silently across Half-past Eleven Square and Barbed-wire Square, which were enveloped in a blanket of snow. We were loaded up with full pack and equipment and went steadily on until a large red building was reached

THE GUM-BOOT STORE This was called "The Gum-boot Store." Here every man was issued with a pair of rubber boots, which had to be returned when the term in the trenches was over. These boots reached from the toes up to the thighs, and after a while, created a freezing sensation in the feet. They seemed to accumulate as much moisture as they were designed to keep out. This was due to the condensing of the perspiration from the body. Alongside of the Gumboot Store was a YMCA canteen, where tea and biscuits could be obtained prior to entering the trenches.

LUNATIC LANE The system of trenches in front of Armentieres was eventually entered by a communicating trench called Lunatic Lane, so named after the Lunatic Asylum, which stood at the head.

We experienced much difficulty getting through the trenches with our full packs and equipment, and an unauthorised blanket or two. Especially was this so when we met parties of troops coming from the opposite direction whom we had to pass. We, however, were learning. Ever afterwards, our packs and blankets were left at the Quartermaster's store prior to taking over the line, and they were called for again upon our relief.

CHRISTMAS EVE AND CHRISTMAS DAY, 1916 These two days were unexpectedly quiet.A pleasing feature, and to us a great surprise, was to discover how exceedingly well the organisation of the Battalion was being maintained. The transport brought their limbers right up close to the firing line. Working and carrying parties, working forwards and backwards, like streams of ants, kept the troops supplied with ammunition, wire and all the necessities for carrying on warfare.

The comfort of the men was not neglected. The Battalion cooks, who were always referred to as "The Babbling Brooks," installed their travelling kitchens in the subsidiary lines. There were four of these cookers, one to each company. Throughout the day the cooks kept us supplied with hot food. There was tea, morning and evening, and stew at midday. These meals were brought up from the cooks by mess-orderlies who worked together in pairs. Strapped to the back of one of them was a large vacuum container filled with either stew or tea. These were always acceptable and generally quite hot.

The mess-orderlies also distributed the large Army biscuits that we called "Anzac Wafers," on account of their thickness and weight. They also brought round issues of cheese tins of 'bully beef, jam and bread. The latter, when plentiful, would work out at a daily ration of "four men to a loaf." These commodities were carried around in sandbags, which had a way of shedding their jutey hairs on the contents. Especially did they spread themselves on the cheese and margarine, which was the name of the substitute for butter.

POSTAL ARRANGEMENTS The postal arrangements were well administered. Our letters and parcels were delivered right up to the front line trenches. The regularity that was displayed by the transport and other quartermaster's details deserves to be recorded as an outstanding feature of excellent organisation.

GIFTS FROM THE AUSTRALIAN COMFORTS FUND The distribution of gifts from the Australian Comforts Fund was greatly appreciated. This narrative would be incomplete did it not contain a reference to those splendid Australian women and girls, the mothers, wives, daughters, and sweethearts of the men who were fighting. It is fitting to record the manner in which they kept us supplied with comforts otherwise unobtainable.

Some of these parcels of comforts were delivered to us on Christmas Day and contained among other things, Christmas puddings. These were served up to us, steaming hot and in perfect condition. The parcels also contained tins of cocoa and milk, ready to be made hot at any time by the aid of blocks of composition containing mainly Benzoline, and known to us by the name of "Tommy Cookers." Besides these, there were fruitcakes, confectionery and tins of various delicacies. There were socks, gloves and cap-comforters, knitted by loving hands. These prevented the cold penetrating the extremities whilst large sheepskin vests kept our bodies warm.

THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR FIRST EXPERIENCE IN THE TRENCHES Although there is no record that shows that anything of outstanding importance occurred during this, our first term in the trenches, yet it was a period over which the Battalion had been subjected to a most serious and vital trial.

Officers and men alike had been put to the test. It was our initiation. All ranks from the Battalion Commander down to the lowliest private soldier had learnt what was likely to be expected of him, and how he might be called upon to act spontaneously in cases of emergency. Here we had received first-hand knowledge and insight into the workings of the military machine. Here we proved conclusively that our training had hardened us to withstand the rigours of intense cold and discomfort, and here it was that we learnt that it is possible to bear the deafening and demoralising roar of hostile artillery barrages unflinchingly and with unimpaired nerve.

Nightly our wiring parties and patrols climbed over the top to strengthen our defences and to learn what could be learnt about the enemy's.

It was during this period we experienced the eeriness of No-man's Land, got used to machine-gun bursts, to the "ping" of bullets, to the weird shadows moving up and down, backwards and forwards, as the enemy's star-shells rose and fell, and to the feeling that at any moment a hostile patrol might be encountered.

PARAPET JOE We did our share of sniping and got in some good practice with our machine-guns. There was one German machine-gunner who deserves to be remembered in these annals. He swept the parapet with precision, and at the same time amused us with his rhythm and syncopation. Although we never met him, we gave him a name and christened him "Parapet Joe."

NEW YEAR'S DAY, 1917. On this day we were relieved in the trenches by the 44th Battalion, and assumed that we were out of the line for a while, but we had yet to learn of a military paradox that existed, namely: "When you are in the Line-you are in. And when you are out of the Line-you are still in."

And so it was with us. No sooner were we relieved in the trenches than the entire Battalion was ordered back again employed as working parties.

WORKING PARTIES A working party consisted of detachments of men sent out to perform certain laborious work, such as digging trenches and laying cables. There were also "carrying parties," for taking up to the front line barbed wire, duckboards, ammunition, etc. "Wiring parties" laid barbed wire entanglements in No-man's Land in front of our trenches. There were also "ration parties" for carrying rations and "burial parties."

A working party might be under the supervision of an engineer and build railways and construct concrete dug-outs, or be directed by some pioneer officer in the reveting of trenches and the laying of duckboard tracks. They also built gun pits for the artillery and emplacements for the Stoke's Mortar Batteries.

Decidedly, the infantry was the "handmaiden" of all the technical units.

MORE 42^nd INITIATIVE It was in the performance of one of these tasks that the spirit of the Battalion's initiative again came to the fore.

The Brigade Staff was particularly fussy about certain details, such as the exact time the working party reported, the quantity of work performed, but most especially, the exact number of men who were detailed for the job.

Instinctively we learnt how to avoid difficulties and to observe the brewing of trouble. On one occasion a working party of one hundred was detailed to report to an engineer officer for the job of burying a cable. Only ninety-six men assembled. It was too cold to wait about for the other four stragglers, so the N.C.O. in charge marched them off and everyone thought all was well, until suddenly a Staff Officer was observed standing ready to cheek their numbers. Half the party marched by the officer and was counted, and then whilst he was busily engaged in checking the remainder, the four men who comprised the leading file doubled round the nearest street corner, re-joined the party at the rear and marched past as the last four, and thus made up the full complement.

VEPINETTE SALIENT Whilst at Armentieres we occupied a sector in the Houplines district, called L'Epinette Salient, which was approached by trenches known as Quality Street and Willow Walk. The names of the communicating trenches to right, left and centre sectors were, respectively, Plank Avenue, Japan Road, and Second House Avenue.

The 42^nd remained in this locality, until relieved by the 35^th Battalion on March 11^th. In the meantime the usual trench warfare continued, casualties occurred daily, whilst the weather was exceedingly rigorous; in fact, it was the coldest winter known in these parts for many years past.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON MINNIE STRAAF On Saturday, January 20th our trenches were subjected to intense bombardment by Minenwerfer and high explosive shells, resulting in casualties to the extent of one officer shell-shocked and two killed and twelve wounded, other ranks. Among the miraculous escapes was that of a D Company man who was buried when a "Minnie" blew in his "gun possie," but was unearthed when another "Minnie" fell close by.

The first Military Medal awarded to the Battalion was earned this day.

"MINNIES" One of the deadliest of trench-mortar bombs used against us was the "Minenwerfer," more intimately known to us by the term "Minnie." These bombs exploded with a deafening noise and the concussion was nerve wracking. They were so large that it was possible to trace their progress through the air, although in the final descent their course was erratic. At night they appeared like large blood-red sticks in the sky.

In spite of the destruction they caused to life and defences and the demoralisation they were calculated to create, we at length became so used to them that we were able to await and meet the heaviest "Minnie Barrage" without getting panicky.

ENEMY RUSES AND BOOBY TRAPS Several traps and ruses were discovered by our scouts. Apparently harmless looking objects were left about in order to entrap the unwary. They were given the name of "booby traps." Our scouts found a French tricolour flag flying from a staff in front of the enemy's wire entanglements. This was obviously a trap. They discovered the strings of three stick-grenades attached to the pole holding the flag in position. The grenades were made firm in the clay. The staff was surrounded by trip wire which was strewn over the only dry route. One of the scouts, however, by wading through four feet of water disconnected the grenades and brought back the flag in spite of enemy machine guns which were trained on the spot.

The same day a patrol discovered a fixed rifle trained on to a gap in the parapet. From this point intermittent fire was carried on during the night.

  A few days later further trip-wire was discovered. Two special bombs were attached to this and these were in turn fastened to an upright. The slightest strain on the trip-wire would have caused the bombs to explode. This device was destroyed by the scouts.

RAIDS ON THE ENEMY LINES  At the end of January our D Company was lent to the 10th Brigade which was occupying the Chapelle Armentieres sector. This company along with D Company of the 44th Battalion formed part of a special Battalion called "X." Our D Company was away from us for five weeks, during which time the 10th Brigade had trained and carried out a raid. Raiding at this time had become a regular habit with Australians. The object of these raids was to examine the state of the enemy's front line and supports, and to find out what enemy units were opposed to us. This was called "Identification."

The raid carried out by the 42^nd on February 1st was like most of the raids carried out by other units, only partially successful. The raiding party consisted of three officers and 69 other ranks. In order to facilitate the approach to the point of assembly and to cross the snow covered ground of No-Man's Land, white suits were worn which proved invaluable by preventing detection on the journey in and out.

The 41st, 43rd, and 44th Battalions all conducted "raiding expeditions" on behalf of the 11th Brigade.

THE ENEMY RETURNS THE COMPLIMENT With all this raiding activity on the part of the 11th Brigade it was not to be expected that the enemy would accept our attentions without attempting to reciprocate.

As we anticipated, his "return visit" eventuated in due course. The date of his "early morning call" on our Battalion was February the 14th. He signified his intention of "coming over" by dropping "visiting cards" in the shape of a barrage at 3.35 a.m. on our front line in the vicinity of Plank Avenue. An hour later the barrage ceased. It was then discovered his intended "surprise party" had arrived. They found us "At Home," and we gave them a "very warm reception," in fact we rather overdid the "welcome," for in less than two minutes "the party" was broken up, and the Hun was hunted home.

In the mix-up we sustained two casualties, but our rifle fire must have been effective for the body of a dead German was discovered next day in No-man's Land.

SPIES During our occupation of L'Epinette and whilst billeted in Armentieres it was impressed upon all ranks to refrain from discussing anything of a military nature with strangers, or even among ourselves on account of' the espionage known to he in existence. A great deal has been written on this subject, it is, however, significant and worth recording that not only were human beings regarded as spies, but ostensibly innocent, birds and beasts became objects of suspicion.

The records of the 11th Brigade contain the information that on February the 5th, at noon two pigeons flew over from Armentieres towards the enemy lines. The next day, a black dog endeavoured to get through one of the gaps in our defences. This animal was shot dead by a Lewis gunner. Again on February the 17th, more pigeons crossed our lines, and on that same night and on the night previous, lights were observed flashing from the enemy lines whilst at the same time a signalling light was noticed in the vicinity of Armentieres directed towards the enemy lines. This supplies a very obvious reason why raids in this sector were accompanied by so little success.

GAS We continued our activities in the same manner until our relief on March 11th. Up to that time it has not been recorded that we were subjected to any gas attack, although the enemy was using it in the Sector we occupied. In fact, on February the 18th, gas shells were used on our sister Battalion, the 44th, from which happily no casualties resulted.

PONT DE NIEPPE AND PLOEGSTEERT On March 12th, our C Company was lent to the 44th Battalion to take over a new system of trenches in Ploegsteert Wood. This place was generally spoken of as "Plugstreet." The reason of this loan was to allow the 44th to carry out the last raid of the 11th Brigade prior to its departure from L'Epinette.

On March 15th we left Armentieres and took over billets from the New Zealanders at Pont de Nieppe. We were immediately engaged on "working parties," and continued so until March 19th, when we took over the line in Ploegsteert Wood.

Here we became intimately acquainted with more varieties of enemy trench mortar bombs, which we christened Coal-boxes and Rum-jars. Then there were "pineapples" sometimes called "aerial torpedoes," a kind of rifle-grenade, so that the reception we got on arriving at Plugstreet was as varied as it was warm, especially as the Hun artillery introduced us to Whiz-Bangs, Pom-poms and other products of the "Krupp" family.

We heartily reciprocated those attentions by hurling to him Stokes Mortar bombs, and some of a far more aggressive and substantial kind, from a heavy trench mortar called "The Flying Pig!'

The designations of various trenches in and around Ploegsteert Wood presented newcomers with the origin of the first occupants. For instance, it was easy to discern traces of London troops by the names of such localities and trenches as Hyde Park Corner, The Strand, Piccadilly, Regent Street, and St. James's, whilst the communicating trenches, Toronto and Ontario Avenues, indicated Canadians had been their occupants.

FURTHER ENEMY RAIDS We were supported by New Zealanders on our left, and on March 23rd the enemy attacked the New Zealand Rifle Brigade and was repulsed. The bombardment just touched our left flank from which four casualties resulted.

We had suspicions that there was much likelihood of an enemy raid on our lines, and when on Saturday, March 24th, his artillery was particularly attentive to cutting our wire entanglements, and repeated the attentions on the following Monday, the 26th, our suspicions were confirmed.

On the night of the 26th, a heavy bombardment was laid on our lines. One minute later our S.O.S. signal was fired and this was immediately responded to by all batteries operating on S.O.S. lines. At three minutes past two, the first party of the enemy was observed in our wire.

A concentration of artillery was placed against the enemy lines. A party of raiders succeeded in reaching our parapet. We used bombs unsparingly, forcing them to withdraw without effecting an entry. In another place two of the enemy reached the top of the parapet. We wounded one of them, then both immediately made a hurried exit, leaving behind a bag of bombs and the cap of the wounded man.

At seven minutes past two a party of about twenty men was seen 40 yards away from our trenches, but no further attempt was made to enter our trenches after the withdrawal of the two isolated parties. The last of the retreating raiders was seen from our parapet at 2.25 a.m., and an hour later our patrol observed four of the enemy helping two of their wounded through the Bosche wire.

But we did not escape entirely unscathed. Our casualties were twelve wounded.

Prior to our occupation of this area it had been subject to raids by the enemy from which he had derived a certain amount of success. His failure on this occasion was attributed to the effective co-operation of all arms.

The fire of the Lewis guns and the Vickers guns in the region to be traversed in No-man's Land must have caused losses to the enemy whilst it is probable that fire from these guns prevented him from effecting an entry into our trenches.We were not sorry when on the following day, March 27th the 44th Battalion relieved us. We returned to Pont de Nieppe with the exception of No. 2 platoon, which was detached for work at Le Bizet

On April the 4th, a week later, we relieved the 44th Battalion in Ploegsteert Wood. Employed mainly on repair and construction work and active patrolling, we continued there until April the 20th, when we were relieved by the 43rd Battalion.

OOSTHOVE FARM. The scene of our recent operations was on the border of Flanders whilst our billets were at Pont de Nieppe, adjacent to the French frontier.

On being relieved at Ploegsteert (Belgium) we moved to billets on the Flemish border, where a large farm house called Oosthove Farm was occupied by us until towards the end of April. Here we experienced a slight relaxation from the arduous duties we had been called upon to perform daily, since our arrival in France. Nevertheless, we had to furnish our daily quota of working parties, and it always seemed to us that one's own particular platoon never escaped being called upon to perform whatever work was going.

OUR FIRST BIG ROUTE MARCH The last days of April found us back again in Armentieres, where we remained for two days preparatory to removing to the Rest and Training Area in the district of St. Omer. It was at this time that we were afforded the opportunity of recording our votes for the Australian Commonwealth Elections, which to us seemed a remarkable thing, seeing that we were thousands of miles away from the land of our birth or adoption.

Up to this time, since our arrival in France each of the four Battalions comprising the 11th Brigade had been continuously in the front line trenches, either holding the line or engaged as working parties. After nearly four months it was decided to give us a spell in order to recuperate.

The weather had improved considerably. The winter months had passed and may had opened up in all its traditional glory. We had the usual kit inspections and final inspections, and at length on May 1st, we set out on our four-day route march. We were informed that it was a competitive march, and that the four Battalions of the 11th Brigade were being watched to see whose performance was the best. Naturally we were all on our mettle, our Battalion motto being: "Cede Nullis" (yield to none).

In four days we performed a march of fifty and a-half miles, and this was the longest march we had ever undertaken. In spite of the long term we had served in the trenches and the rigorous winter we had experienced, it was apparent that we were still very fit, for on that long and exacting march only one man fell out from the column.

The first day we got as far as Pradelles (16.5 miles), via Steenwerke and Merris. The second day we reached Renescure (13 miles), via Wallon Capelle, and Ebblinghem. The third day we got as far as Tatinghem (9 miles), via Arques and St. Omer, and at length on the fourth day we reached our destination, 12 miles distant. Each of our companies was billeted at different villages. They were named Alquines, Harlettes, and Fromentelle.

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ANZAC HISTORY Histories of Units of the First AIF and the First NZEF.