The day after the bloody battle on 23 October 1916 the 1st Hampshires were relieved in the front line by the 2nd Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and went back to bivouac in Trones Wood. After reaching the wood at 4am, at midday they marched on to Mansell Camp near Carnoy. On the 27th they went to new billets at Meaulte, then 3 days later entrained at Mericourt. They arrived at Arraines – about 13 miles south east of Abbeville – and marched to billets in Merelessart.
By this time the Battalion was severely understrength after its losses on the first day of the Somme and 23 October. In terms of officers, the Battalion was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Armitage, and the second in command was Major F.H.W. Guard. There were three Captains, three Lieutenants and eleven 2nd Lieutenants. In peactime, a Battalion would have five Majors, and a similar number of Captains. Losses had been so heavy that young and inexperienced officers were given a lot of responsibility very quickly (Incidentially, its noticeable from my research that very few officers came from Portsmouth, and those that did tended to be pupils of the Grammar School).
The attrition rate amongst officers was particularly high on the Western Front. On 23 October alone the 1st Hampshires lost one Captain and two 2nd Lieutenants killed, and seven 2nd Lieutenants wounded. Its not difficult to see how the Battalion needed to rebuild after such losses. Many officers were also away on courses.
On 2nd November 1916 the Battalion marched to a new area at Ramburelles. On the 4th the General commanding the 4th Division, Major-General Lambton, made an inspection. On the same day training began, and would continue for the rest of the month. The war diary gives an unusually detailed account of the training that was carried out – close order drill, arms drill, physical drill, Bayonet fighting, musketry, firing on the range and small attacks. The ubiquitous church parades also took place each Sunday.
After a week of basic training to build up the men, Company training began on 20 November. At the same time a draft of 73 reinforcements arrived, going some way to making up the Battalion’s losses – 159 arrived during the month in total. On the last day of the month the Battalion carried out a full exercise. Battalion training continued into December. Private Alexander, Sergeant Oliver, Corporal Golding and Private Patterson were presented with the Military Medal, and Lance Corporal Alexander received a bar to the Military Medal.
On 7 December the Battalion marched to Morlancourt. The next day they marched to Bray-sur-Somme. On 15 December the Battalion was transported by lorries to Maurepas, and from there marched to Combles, where the sheltered in old dug outs while in Brigade reserve. On 19 December 1916 the 1st Hampshires once again went into the front line on the Somme.
The Somme offensive had been ‘closed down’ after the failure to make a breakthrough at the end of October. The British Army was therefore pausing to rebuild in time for the next offensive, which would come in the north at Ypres in the Spring. A pattern was therefore emerging – of units taking part in the latest ‘big push’, and then withdrawing to rebuild in time for the next effort. In between there were relatively quiet spells in the trenches on the front line.
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