The 36th (Ulster) Division moved into the Front Line for the first time on 7 February 1916 with Divisional Headquarters located at Acheux and its boundaries between the River Ancre and the Mailly-Maillet-Serre Road. Over the next three weeks there was little to report, apart from the harsh weather and the state of the trenches.

In some of the trench systems, previous units had dug deep sumps and bridged them with boards in an attempt to drain the water from the walkways. But the winter weather soon filled these sumps until levels rose and the boards floated away as the water spilled along the bottom of the trenches. The unlucky soldier splashing his way along such a trench, especially in the dark, would then plunge into these icy sump-holes to waist height or higher. As ‘gum-boots, thigh’ became common issue, trench foot almost disappeared. Men were issued with a special protective grease to rub on their feet and there was also a ‘foot drill’ whereby each man rubbed his comrade’s feet once a day. But the best remedy for wet feet was dry socks. Drying socks in the trenches was difficult; it was more efficient to bring forward dry socks with the ration parties at night and return the wet socks to the rear for drying the following day.

The 14th Battalion The Royal Irish Rifles (14 RIR) had paraded at 1630 hours on 28 February and then marched via Mailley to Auchonvillers where they relieved their sister battalion, 10 RIR. The following morning, 29 February 1916, daylight revealed that the trenches were in an extremely muddy and wet condition due to a thaw following the recent severe frost and snow. Owing to bad administrative arrangements for the handover-takeover of (rubber) gumboots, most of the men in 14 RIR’s trenches, wearing their army-issue leather boots, were unable to keep their feet and legs dry. These were the weather conditions that typically inflicted frost-bite and trench-foot. Although not a comfortable day it must have been a memorable one as it was the only Leap Year Day of the First World War.

(Above left, cap badge of the 14th (Service) Battalion The Royal Irish Rifles (Young Citizens))
(Imperial War Museun © IWM (INS 7629))