Relieved early in January by the 66th Division, the battalion was
employed for nearly a month in constructing a reserve line on Westhock
Ridge, a couple of miles in front of Ypres; but in January moved
back to billets in Hondeghem, near Hazebrouck. Here, in February,
the battalion had its Christmas dinner. There was one large room
in the village and there each company in turn was regaled on beef
and Yorkshire pudding, pork, cold ham, Christmas pudding and other
seasonable fare. About a fortnight was spent at Hondeghem, companies
going in rotation to Moulle, near St. Omer, for musketry practice.
At this time it was decided to reduce the number of battalions in an
infantry brigade from four to three throughout the British army; as
a result many battalions were disbanded and their men sent as drafts
to other units. The ⅙th Duke of Wellington’s received about a dozen
officers and 300 men from the 5th and 8th battalions of the Duke’s, and
were thus brought up to strength.
In the middle of February the battalion was back again in the
salient, taking over the Polygon Wood sector with headquarters in the
conspicuous mound known as the Butte, one of the few recognizable
landmarks in the area. The New Zealanders, whom the battalion
relieved, had worked hard at the line and bequeathed to our men quite
a respectable line of trenches and a light railway running to within
300 yards of battalion headquarters. In doing this they had suffered
heavily, and a subaltern was commanding their brigade; but the ⅙th was
very grateful for the shelter afforded, for the shelling all round
was fierce and the German artillery had got a very accurate range on
all the tracks. There was a good deal of raiding at this time and the
battalion had to repulse two attempts upon their lines; they were also
spectators of a most successful raid carried out by the 4th Duke’s at
Polderhoek.
In this neighbourhood the battalion had three tours of duty in the
front line and then moved back to Reninghelst, a village a short
distance south of the Ypres-Poperinghe main road.