Periods of Brigade Reserve were usually spent in Souastre, at which village the Battalion transport was permanently billeted. Most of the men occupied barns of the familiar French type, those timber and clay structures so well known to all who have served with the British Expeditionary Force. Generally speaking, the troops were fairly comfortable. The barns were in fairly good condition. There were plenty of civilians still living in the village, though it was not far from the line. There were plenty of estaminets, and there was a Y.M.C.A. hut. Little training was possible owing to the large working parties which had to be found. Needless to say, the men groused at these, but, as they worked mostly on the trenches which they occupied themselves in the line, they realised that the work was for their own benefit. Sometimes only half the Battalion went to Souastre, the rest stopping in billets in Fonquevillers, under the command of Major A. L. Mowat. This arrangement was made in order to have two companies on the spot to work under the direction of the 57th Field Company, Royal Engineers. For the greater part of this period the Battalion was very short of officers. When it left the Somme area it was well over strength, but, soon after its arrival in the Third Army, it had been called on to transfer ten to other battalions of the Regiment. No further drafts had been received, many officers were absent on courses, and the usual wastage through sickness was going on. The result was that, during the latter part of the time at Fonquevillers, there were seldom more than two officers per company doing duty in the line. On December 5th the Battalion was relieved in the Y Sector by the 1/5th Battalion Sherwood Foresters--the battalion which had gone “over the top” from those very same trenches on July 1st. As each platoon was relieved it marched back to Souastre, where a halt was made in a field for dinner, after which companies formed up and marched to Warlencourt. The next day the Battalion marched to Halloy, where it was to stop until early in the New Year. (_c_) Halloy. Halloy was one of the worst places for billeting in the whole of France. The barns were mostly in a bad state of repair. The hutment camps were exceptionally muddy. The inhabitants of the village were far from sweet-tempered, as a general rule. To make matters worse, it seemed to be the invariable custom of the British authorities to crowd far more troops into the place than it could reasonably be expected to hold. The weather was not particularly bad for the time of the year, but December is never an ideal month. Hence the conditions, under which the Christmas of 1916 was spent, were none of the best.