Work and training was resumed again in earnest the next day as far as the weather conditions would permit. On the 9th of January the Battalion moved off, embussing for the forward area to operate on the II. Corps Line. After a cold journey in a heavy snowstorm, they arrived at Murat Camp late at night and came under the command of the 35th Division. They found the camp in very bad order and set about putting it right, meanwhile working parties were carrying on under the C.R.E. of the Division. Splendid work was carried out by the Battalion during this period, despite snowstorms and blizzards, and high praise was given to the unit by the Corps Commander. All the Royal Engineer Officers connected with the work declared they had never had better nor keener infantry parties. On the 16th Major Morton assumed command of the Battalion during the absence of Lieut.-Colonel Inglis on leave; and on the 18th Major Morton was ordered to hospital and Major Paterson took over. _The Battalion Intelligence News Sheet_, inaugurated to keep all ranks fully informed of the principal events of the day as regards the war, was circulated, but it could not hope to oust _The Outpost_ as the real news vehicle of the 17th. On the 25th of January the Battalion left Murat Camp for a camp near Woeston and came under the command of the 1st Division, and on the 27th the Battalion relieved the 10th Gloucesters in reserve in the Het Sas Sector, and carried on improving the line until the 31st of January--when the blow fell and hopes were dashed to the ground. While in Brigade Support at Houthust Forest Sector, Major Paterson was sent for by Brigadier-General C.A. Blacklock, who informed him that the re-organisation of the Army necessitated the disbanding of an H.L.I. Battalion in the 32nd Division. The Battalion selected was the junior one, the 17th. General Blacklock expressed in very generous terms his admiration for the Battalion, and for all that it had done, and expressed his sorrow and regret that so fine a unit had to be broken up, and the officers, non-com. officers and men serving in it would be drafted to other H.L.I. Battalions, which would necessitate, in many cases, the breaking up of what had been very long friendships. Early in January, 1918, it had been decided by the War Office to adopt the three Battalion per Brigade system throughout the British Army, and this resulted in the disbandment of many Battalions which had seen much service abroad, and had won a name for themselves in France. Perhaps the chief Battalion in the whole army to be disbanded was the 17th Service Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry, and the disbandment of this Battalion came as a bitter blow, not only to those who were serving in the Battalion at that time, but also to those who had served in it at some time or other in the past and possibly to those who were looking forward to serving with it in the future.