Four days later the Battalion relieved the 1/6th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s Regt. in the Molenaarelsthoek Sector, which extended from opposite Justice Wood to about Flinte Wood. The relief was a stormy one. The tracks were heavily shelled and one platoon had eight casualties going into the line. The front was rather a long one and required three companies in the line. As it lay on the forward slope of the Broodseinde Ridge, which was under observation from the Keiberg Spur opposite, no movement was allowed by day. Accommodation was poor and there were no continuous trenches. At night much work was done, joining up front line posts, constructing supporting posts to the west of the ridge, digging a defensive communication trench on the right, and wiring. The influence of the battle further north made the front a lively one. Army barrages were continually being put down in the vicinity, in an endeavour to distract the enemy’s attention from the real point of attack. Judging from the Battalion’s experiences, these had a fair amount of success, for the enemy artillery was very active; frequently parts of the line were heavily shelled, and barrages on No Man’s Land during the night were common. These latter greatly interfered with the work of patrols, which were out nightly. Fortunately, casualties were not heavy; but it was during this tour that Sec.-Lieut. J. S. Watson, a most promising young officer of B Company, was killed. The Battalion transport too had a very rough time. The enemy was doing a great deal of back area shelling, and night after night the ration convoys had to pass through it. During this tour the transport lost the first of its number killed in action. But all ranks behaved with great gallantry, and, in spite of casualties to men and animals, rations were invariably delivered nightly. There is no doubt that, by this time, the enemy had settled down to a defensive policy for the winter. The collapse of Russia had come too late to prevent the British gaining the Passchendaele Ridge, though German reinforcements from the Eastern Front had made that task far more difficult. For the next few months the enemy was content to leave things as they were, and quietly to perfect his plans for a great offensive the following spring. On November 27th the Battalion was relieved by the 1/5th Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, and, after a night spent near Gordon House, moved to Vancouver Camp The day after its arrival Capt. H. Hanson, O.C. D Company, was so seriously wounded by a shell, just outside Vlamertinghe, that he died two days later in hospital. His death was a great blow to everyone. He was one of those men whom no one can help liking, possessing a most equable temper, and, though unsuited by age to the rigours of trench warfare, always trying to remain cheerful and to make the best of things. Sec.-Lieut. P. Donkersley was also severely wounded by the same shell.