Author: 22ndaif

Routine shelling during the day followed by enemy snipers becoming active in the evening, until they were stopped by our artillery. Later that evening the battalion was relieved by the 26^th Battalion and commenced the long march back to Shelter Wood Camp. By dawn stragglers were still arriving. The following day 110 new reinforcements were received and addressed by the Battalion Commanding Officer.

Away to the right the AIF 1^st Division conducted a raid on The Maze. The 6^th Brigade assisted by firing their Machine Guns and Stokes Mortars to create a diversion. The Germans responded with a bombardment in retaliation and four men from the Battalion – Ptes Kavanagh, Matson, Biber and Jago – were killed in action, making this the worst day for the 22nd Battalion since Mouquet Farm in August 1916. In addition another 10 other ranks were wounded, including L-Cpl Batton, MM, of the 5th/22nd. The weather continued to be fine but intensely cold.

At 4pm the 22nd Battalion began the relief of the 23^rd Battalion in the Firing Line, with a frontage of ¾ mile. In spite of considerable machine gun fire on approaches the relief was completed by 9.30pm without incident. Patrols sent out and located several enemy posts, some by presence of coughing. The enemy front line was a deep continuous trench heavily wired with listening posts in front or in the wire.

The 13^th Battalion was tasked in attacking Stormy Trench again. In order to meet the chief danger of the German counter-attack 12,000 bombs were carried forward to the ‘jumping-off’ position, plus 1,000 rifle grenades to combat the greater range of the enemy egg bombs. The field artillery was also to double its expenditure of shells. To avoid noise during assembly the men’s feet were muffled with sandbags. As with the previous attack good progress was made and the trench easily captured along with a number of deep dug-outs. The counter attack came and desperate bombing fights ensued, followed by a swift, heavy and accurate German barrage on the supporting and bomb-carrying troops. The success of the attack was largely due to Capt. Murray’s leadership on the right for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross, though the operation had cost the Australians about 350 casualties against the German losses of 250 including 100 missing.

The United States severs diplomatic relations with Germany as U-Boats threaten US shipping. Intercepted messages reveal that Germany is provoking the Mexicans into war against the US.

The morning was devoted to gas drill and foot rubbing. Companies fell in outside their huts in battle order wearing steel helmets and carrying two blankets fastened to their belts. Hats and puttees were dumped with the QM, and sandbags were worn as gaiters instead of the puttees. At 4pm the move was made by road to Shelter Wood Camp, replacing the 17^th Battalion. The 22^nd Battalion was heading to the Le Sars sector, facing the famous Butte de Warlencourt. The land was gripped in an iron frost, and the shell-pitted region was now a field of ice many feet thick, which men dug out with picks. It was so cold that moistened hair froze as it was brushed, and bread had to be thawed by the fire before it could be cut. The icy temperatures were also agonising on the feet and fingers, but the prospect of the thaw and return to the terrible mud of Flers and Ginchy was worse.

At the end of January the Battalion moved to Becourt Wood Camp near Fricourt via Meaulte with a fighting strength of 25 Officers and 668 other ranks. For the next two days the battalion trained specialists and raiders, together with medical inspection and foot washing.