| Place | Date | Summary of Events and Information |
|---|---|---|
| FLESSELLES | 1/1/17 | New Years day. Holiday. Brigade Sports held. Battalion worked to ground and succeeded in Capturing bulk of Events. Scoring points 48 Bn 16 points. 46 Bn 13 points 45 Bn 9 points 47 Bn 7 points M G Coy 3 points |
| FRANKVILLERS | 2/1/17 | marched from FLESSELLES. to FRANVILLIERS. 14 miles Starting 9 m arrived 3.30 pm men marched well no one fell out. |
| DERANCOURT | 3/1/17 | left FRANVILLIERS at 9 am arrived DERANCOURT. 12.30 pm no one fell out, men marched well. |
| FRICOURT | 5/1/17 | left DERANCOURT. at 10.20 am and marched to FRICOURT arrived at 1 pm. roads full of troops. difficult to get through no one fell out. 25 Reinforcements joined the Battalion. |
| BRAZENTIN | 6/1/17 | Commanding Officer and Coy Commanders moved forward at 9 am this morning and and reconnoitred line to be taken over at GUEUDECOURT Battalion moved forward at 10 am and went into Camp C BRAZENTIN |
| BRAZENTIN | 6/1/17 | A & D Coys moved forward at 4 pm to Support line BULLS ROAD. and relieved two Companys of 4th BN 1st Aus DIV. remainder of the Battalion moves forward at 3 pm today to Complete relief of 4th BN. MAJOR A P. IMLAY. left the Battalion and temporarily became attached to 47th Batt to assist Commanding Officer |
| FLERS. | 8/1/17 | Enemy shelled FRITZ FOLLY and FLEURS during the day. 4 Killed 5 wounded Trneches in a very bad state. a little work done in FATIGUE TRENCH but nothing else has been done since Battalion held line in December. FROST TRENCH has been allowed to fall in and no effort made to place it in a satisfactory Condition, The position held is not Sound, as BULLS TRENCH where my local Reserves are, is too far from right of my line GREASE TRENCH to alow of a quick Support in the event of an attack by the Boche. however the position is very strong and this to a great extent Compensates. The righ Comapny of my Battalion holds a line from the of RIGHT BATALION to GOODWINS POST. The left Company From WHALE TRENCH to PRICE TRENCH. The line having fallen in the position is held by Posts. It will be neceaary to Construct a ne line from PRICE TRENCH to HILT TRENCH. along WHALE TRENCH to GREASE TRENCH. This Can be done as soon as FATIGUW TRENCH is revetted and duck boarded. The 4th BN did their Cooking in PILGRIMS WAY Carried around right of GUEUDECOURT. I means a long Carry through mud taking the Carrying party 6 hours to go and return. I inspected the tracks and decided to do all Cooking in FLEURS. carrying party to go to GOODWINS POST Company HQs VIA TIGUE TRENCH thence over the Top to ?? behind GUN PITS to GOODWINS POST this should save 3 hours and the food would arrive hot. Two meals cooked are despatched daily also Soup at 3 am. men are in good spirits despite the bad weathers only man Sick evacuated during the past two days with "Mumps" have established rest station at Dressing Station also building Dugout in FLARE TRENCH for Cases taking longer than 12 hours to line. Supplying hot Cocoa to men on Fatigue in BULLS TRENCH. wet Socks are sent back daily by Pack transport and exchanged for dry. |
| FLEURS | 9/1/17 | Enemy fairly active with Artillery Fire. our Shells fell Short near GOODWINS POST. Sent rations tonight via GUN PITS men returned within 2½ hours. this means a great saving in time and is much easier for Carrying porters |
| FLEURS | 10/1/17 | Pack transport under present arrangement does not work satisfactorily to secure efficiency it is ncessary to use Battalion Pack Animals at the present time an assorted lot of men and animals are placed under Command of TRANSPORT OFFICER. it is seldom that he gets either his own men or Animals. much better results would be secured by Allowing Battalion to do their own work with their own Transport. I have asked Brigade to try and arrange this. Comforts fund again assisted the Battalion by supplying material for supplying men with Hot Food. By Keeping men well fed and warm the greatest efficiency is obtained. on the Army rations this would be impossible. |
| FLEURS | 12/1/17 | Enemy Artillery very active during the day. fired a number of 9" shells in FRITZ FOLLY smashing up dugout occupied by Signallers Killed 3. Crushed 2. Pte SHAP was buried under debris. sent a party under 2nd Lt DAVIS to dig him out. he was buried about 7 hours but fovly? he will pull round all right. Weather extremely Cold and despite the care taken of feet, quite a number are suffereing from the effect of Cold and wet. find it very difficult to Keep Supplies going on account of the heavy and long carry. |
| FLERS | 15/1/17 | Feet have given me more trouble this time than last. It is almost impossible for the men to Keep their feet dry. We are holding the front line with posts, and it means wading through deep mud to get to them. despite the Constant Care given to this matter quite a number of cases of bad feet have been dealt with. however only two have been serious enough for Evacuation. the rest have improved and in most cases been cured in Rest Station built by Battalion. There have been treated with new powder issued, and my Medical Officer reports the results beyond expectations. To Supply the front line with hot food and rations water &c. It required the whole of available men of one Company The Carry to the right Company Head Quarters is about 2 miles The parties Commence Carrying at 5pm and finished their second trip about 5 am next morning. All the Carrying has to be done during the darkness. up to date there has been only 5 evacuations through sickness - 3 of these with "Mumps" 2 Bad Feet. |
| FLERS | 15/1/17 | Shell fire heavy during the afternoon fell mostly in CHEESE ROAD and GRASS LANE. Several fell on Dug Outs, two on Company HQs Killing SERGT FOSTER. wounding LT DAVIES and 4 men. also blowing up Dump of Stores. including Gun Boots. FATIGUE RENCH was also shelled and a portion blown in. |
| FLEURS | 16/1/17 | AT 2.45 AM Observation Post BULLS TRENCH reported SOS N21.C.9.8 reported through to 12TH BDE HQS. got in touch with with my front line and found everything O.K. although bombs reported exploding on right of my line. men stood to Arms until everything was reported O.K. 47 BN relieved the 48th tonight relief Completed 7.45 pm. We have done 10 days in the line most of the time the weather was wet. Frost the last two nights, which has made the ground hard working it much easier for Carrying parties. |
| BRISBANE CAMP | 17/1/17 | Battalion moved into BRISBANE CAMP after relief. Heavy fall of snow during the night. men in good spirits. a few Cases of Bad feet these are being treated in rest Station. |
| BRISBANE CAMP | 19/1/17 | Fatigue Supplied, men all had bath and Clean Charge of Clothes Rifles Cleaned and Inspected. Clothing and Equipment brushed Officers Class in Lewis Gun. all men instructed in Lewis GUN. Special instruction in Signalling and Telephone work. |
| BRISBANE CAMP | 21/1/17 | Still very Cold. Snow remains. health Keeps good, Still a number of men whose feet have not quite recovered. only 8 Evacuated during our last turn of duty in the line 9 days in all. 2 were also Evacuated from Pack transport. and 6 whilst on leave in England. |
| BRAZENTIN CAMP | 24/1/17 | moved into this Camp at 3 pm today. Camp very convenient, and Clean, Battalion employed on Road work and Railway working Parties. weather very Cold, but fine. I have 6 men still under treatment in the Battalion rest house. their feet will not be quite right for some time. |
| BRAZENTIN CAMP | 27/1/17 | Weather still very Cold. With heavy frost. S.O.S. practice Signals fired from rear of Camp Near DELVILLE WOOD at 4 pm today |
| BRAZENTIN CAMP | 30/1/17 | The whole Battalion except Sick have been employed on Road and Railway work since our arrival here. Health fairly good except for Colds. The Huts though good are extremely Cold and not sufficent Fuel is being supplied. It is Seldom we get Coal and the wood issued is green Consequently Smokes very much, Australians are not used to such Cold Conditions and it is very necessary that sufficent fuel is supplied to enable them to have a stove to warm their feet at night. the men had a wet trying time while in the trenches. and it is necessary to Keep them as warm as possible So that they will be fit for their next tour of duty. a good deal of work done improving Camp, also Road built from the main road into the Camp, Stone being Carted from Dugouts QUARRY COUR Dump. |