The sector was one of the most varied and interesting that the Battalion had ever occupied. It was taken over from the 1st Battalion Otago Regt. (New Zealand Division) on February 22nd. This division had occupied it for a long while and had done an extraordinary amount of work there. Like all the sectors on the Passchendaele Ridge, it was very wet, and the Battalion found it quite impossible to drain certain parts of the trench system, particularly Plumer Trench, the communication trench on the left. Except for one gap in the middle, where all attempts to get the water away had failed, there was continuous communication along the front line. This line had been well and deeply dug, and was well provided with fire bays, shelters, and all the necessary provisions for trench life. The right rested upon the valley of the Polygonbeke which, like all streams in the district, was an impassable morass. The centre ran through the ruins of the village of Reutel, whose existence would probably have been overlooked had not the trenches in places been cut through the actual foundations of the houses. Near the centre of the front line, the parapet had been built over the village well; this provided the water supply for both front line companies. There had once been a continuous support line, but the centre was now derelict, and only the two flanks were occupied. Each Company H.Q. was comfortably housed in a pill-box which gave practical immunity from shell fire. The front line faced roughly south-east, the ground, except on the extreme left, falling away to the Reutelbeke. On the left a spur ran out from the main ridge, near the point of which had been the village of Becelaere, now marked only by some prominent pill-boxes. Behind the front system of defences lay Jetty Warren, once a tributary of the Polygonbeke, but now a filthy, noisome and impassable quagmire. It was crossed in two[14] places by gridded bridges, and these were the only means of communication with the front line, except a very roundabout route through the area of the next battalion. This fact was well known to the enemy, who swept them with machine gun fire at frequent intervals during the night. On the forward slope of the hill, overlooking Jetty Warren, was Patu Support Line, a well-constructed fire trench but rather short of accommodation for men. About five hundred yards further back lay the reserve line and Battalion H.Q., the latter in a small but very strong pill-box, the chief drawback to which was the lowness of the roof. When the Battalion first took over the sector all communication with the front line companies was across the open; but before it left a good communication trench had been dug from Patu Support to the right company H.Q., and a second had been started from the reserve line to Patu Support.