This was then a quiet country town in which the shops were still open, and
incidentally doing a very good trade, and it had suffered little from the
effects of artillery. During the next three months it was to be reduced to
ruins. The Battalion was accommodated in a Nissen hut camp just outside
the town, where the company commanders had an opportunity of completing
the re-organisation of their companies.

On the 13th March the non-commissioned officers celebrated the anniversary
of the Battalion's first arrival in France by arranging a kind of concert
in one of the estaminets in Estaires. This was the last occasion before
the Armistice on which such a celebration took place, and it has developed
into an annual reunion of the senior non-commissioned officers.

Towards the end of the month the Battalion left Estaires for the
Armentières front, and on the 21st March Ludendorff's advance commenced on
the 5th Army front, at which time the Battalion was in line in the
Fleurbaix sector. Ten days later the unit was relieved and marched to
Estaires, where it arrived on the morning of the 1st April. Leaving this
town later in the day, it made Haverskerque that night, left there the
next day for Steenwerck, and entrained for Doullens. Detraining at
Doullens at 1 a.m. on the 3rd, the Battalion proceeded by night march to
Sus St. Leger. The night was dark and the roads were in bad condition and
a few men fell out, but on the whole, the march discipline was good. On
the 5th the Battalion moved to Warluzel, where it remained for three days
and then proceeded to Thièvres, staying there four days. These moves
meant a great strain on everyone. To march in full pack on bad roads with
motor lorries splashing mud, day after day, is an ordeal. In each village
a fresh start had to be made. Billets had to be found and allotted, fire
orders put up and billet guards mounted. Latrines and cook-houses had to
be improvised, and the usual foot inspections were made. Besides this the