December 1, 1916. RAINCHEVAL. Battalion marched to RAINCHEVAL. Billets good but scattered.
December 2, 1916. Remained in RAINCHEVAL, time devoted to inspections etc.
December 3, 1916. Wet day, little could be done. Orders received in the evening and marched to billets at BEAUVAL.
December 4, 1916. BEAUVAL. Battalion marched off at 8 AM via BEAUQUENE to BEAUVAL. Billets here exceptionally good. Settled into billets about 1:30 PM.
December 5, 1916. Battalion clean up arms and equipment, inspections etc. Lieut. Col. BICKNELL and Capt. Willis proceeded on leave for 28 days and 10 days respectively.
December 6, 1916. Drill and football grounds and sites for bombing grounds and range was selected. Company’s Training. Programmes of Work submitted to Brig. Major J D Matthews of the Denbit Hussers (Yeomanry) who took over temporary command of the Battalion. Capt. Alice admitted Field Ambulance.
December 7, 1916. Battalion training. Notification received that the Corps Cmdr. Lieut. Gen. Fanshaw would shortly inspect the Battalion. Capt. E J Donaldson joined the Battalion and assumed command of A company. 2nd Lieut.’s G Grogan, J K Gregson and H M Monk joined Battalion.
December 8, 1916. Battalion training and inspection of company by offices in field marching order. 2nd Lieut. Heffer and 2nd Lieut. Thompson appointed temporary captains.
December 9, 1916. Notification that the Corps Commander would inspect the Battalion today was received late last night. The Battalion therefore paraded at 11:38 AM. The turnout was good but owing to the short notice, not quite up to standard. Rain during the inspections. Capt. W G Largie (CF) joined the Battalion.
December 10, 1916. Voluntary church parade service at the Mairie. Training also carried out and inspections of NCOs and men by medical officer.
December 11, 1916. Training, though hampered by rain, still proceeding. Transport inspection by commanding officer.
December 13, 1916. BEAUVAL and AMPLIER. Orders have been received from the Division to join the 1st Army. The first stage of journey commences today. Battalion paraded and marched off to AMPLIER to billets for the night. Arrived in billets about 1 PM. Men in huts. Billets fair.
December 14, 1916. AMPLIER to BARLY. March continued to BARLY. Marched via DOULLONS. Battalion marched well. Arrived billets about 2 PM, fairly good.
December 15, 1916. BARLY to VACQUERIE. VACQUERIE. Wet roads, heavy marching. About 15 fell out of line of march but rejoined after Battalion arrived at VACQUERIE. Billets very good. Commanding officer held a conference at the MAIRIE at 8 PM and referred to the maintenance of discipline on the march which had not been good during the morning march.
December 16, 1916. VACQUERIE to TROISVAX. Marched to TROISVAX and BELVAL via ST POL. Battalion is now in the 1st Army. Marching better.
December 17, 1916. TROISVAX to RAIMBERT. Battalion marched to RAIMBERT via VALHUON and PERNES. Arrived in excellent billets at 2:30 PM. Although billets were scattered a comfortable night was spent. March discipline much better.
December 18, 1916. Resumed march at 11 AM via LILLERS to LA MICQUELLERIE and LE CORNET BOURDOIS, 3 km from LILLERS. Good billets but scattered.
December 19 to 21, 1916. LILLERS. Battalion resting. Inspections carried out and physical training on the 2nd day. A draft of one officer, 2nd Lieut. J E Lyall joined the Battalion. Capt. Heffer and Lieut. Amor proceeded on leave on the 21st. Nothing special to report.
December 22, 1916. VILLE CHAPPELL. Battalion marched to VILLE CHAPPELL arriving about 3 PM. Difficulties in billeting but after some delay difficulties were overcome. The Battalion is resting. This village is very interesting to the Battalion for it was here that some very heavy fighting took place in October 1914 when the Battalion was with the 3rd Division.
December 23, 1916. Battalion rested. Preparations for Xmas is being made for the Battalion is to remain here probably for the whole winter.
December 24, 1916. Battalion attended divine service at 11 AM in the YMCA hut. A quiet day.
December 25, 1916. Xmas day. Divine service was held at the YMCA and dinners were served in companies at 3 PM. A real good dinner was served and by utilizing canteen funds and gifts of puddings from home the whole battalion were very happy. The commanding officer, 2nd in command and adjutant visited all companies during this hour. There were no exercises and concerts were held in the evening. A very happy day was spent. Lieut. Gen. C P A Howell, who commanded this Battalion before the outbreak of hostilities and during the first few months of the war, visited the Battalion during the morning.
December 26, 1916. Companies at disposal of company commanders for training.
December 27, 1916. Battalion training in the morning and inspection by the commanding officer in the afternoon.
December 28, 1916 Gen. Simpson, the first commanding officer of this Battalion, inspected the Battalion during morning. Usual training programmes carried out.
December 29, 1916. The commanding officer and adjutant visited the new section of the line to be taken over by the Battalion on 2 January. Battalion formed working parties. Reminder training under company commanders.
December 30, 1916. Battalion moved to new billets near LOCON. Billets good but approaches are very wet, the roads being inundated to the depth of 1 foot. New billets occupied by 1 PM and every effort made to make them more comfortable as it is believed that this will our permanent area during the remainder of the winter. Capt. A C Dawson joined the Battalion.
December 31, 1916. All company offices visited the section of the new line in the NEUVE CHAPPELL sector. Trenches are rather wet and need a lot of work to keep them in a good defensive state. They are really breastworks and can only be converted to trenches during summer as the water level is about 18 inches below the surface of the ground. With time and attention to drainage it will be possible to make this sector fairly comfortable. The enemy do not appear to be very aggressive at present.
4th Battalion Middlesex Regiment 