Reggie returns from his time with the 76th Brigade and a period of leave.
The 8th KORL see time in the front line near Serre and then spend time in training in Courcelles.
Reggie has to go to the Field Ambulance. While Reggie at the field ambualnce, the 8th KORL move to an area behind the front line West of Vimy and Arras.
Donald passes command of the 4th SAI to Lt.Col.E. Christian and goes on leave again.
While Donald is on leave, the 4th SAI supply work and fatigue parties and spend time in the front line near Arras.
While Donald is on leave the 4th SAI spend time supplying further work parties and spending some time in the trenches in the Arras area.
While Reggie is at the Field Ambulance, the 8th KORL spend time under Major B.H.H. Perry in various lines of training, spend some in providing work parties in Arras and finally move back behind the lines.
After a brief period in trenches near Arras, the 4th SAI move to the “Y” huts near Etrun and then onto Ostreville for a period of training before returning back to the vicinity of Arras.
Meanwhile, on the 17th March, Donald marries Marion Grizelda Guillum Scott at St. Stephen’s, Kensington. The ceremony is partly performed by Donald’s brother Rev. Francis Whittaker Hunt. Marion is the daughter is Sir Arthur Guillum Scott (Accountant-General at the India Office) and of Lady Scott, formerly of 41 Lexham Gardens, Kensington. After the wedding they rent a furnished flat at 19 Emperor’s Gate, South Kensington.
Reggie returns to the 8th KORL from the Field Ambulance that he has attended since January.
The 8th KORL provide working parties and spend time in training in preparation for the coming 3rd Battle of Arras.
It is not clear when Donald returned to the 4th SAI at the front after his wedding. The letter from Reggie to Helen on the 5th May would indicate that he had returned before that date. However, he is not on the list of officers involved with the 4th SAI in the Battle of the Scarpe on the 9th April.
The 4th SAI are in action in the Battle of the Scarpe which is, initially, a great success but soon gets bogged down and the battalion’s last action in this battle is the ill-fated action at Fampoux where they get caught in machine gun crossfire.
Lt.Col. D.M.MacLeod returns after recovering from his wounds received at Delville Wood the previous July.
On the 9th, the 8th KORL are involved in the Battle of Arras in operations around Guémappe and Monchy-le-Preux with Reggie personally leading the Battalion into battle.
Reggie is wounded on the 11th while but remains at duty.
The 8th KORL move back to Arras to recover and are thanked by the G.O.C. 3rd Division. On the 23rd move back to the front east of Monchy-le-Preux and help defend the town from German attack for 3 days.
It is for one of these actions that Reggie is awarded D.S.O. in the 1918 New Year’s Honours.
After supplying working parties for the Royal Engineers while billeted in Arras, the battalion is involved in holding the line on the Green Line north of Fampoux near Arras.
Later in the month, they spend time in combat and skills training.
On the night of the 5th/6th May, Donald is mentioned in a letter from Reggie to their sister, Helen. It relates the story of Donald narrowly avoiding a bomb through his bed. The letter also says “Donald goes up tonight, just on our left, to a badly straffed place like this salubrious village.” Since the 4th SAI had been furnishing working parties up until the 4th May and it was only on the 5th May that they were ordered to stop doing so and prepare to go into line, it is very likely that the two brothers met on the 5th. At the time, the 8th KORL were in trenches on Brown Line probably near La Chapelle de Feuchy and were employed building communication trenches west of Monchy Le Preux having been moved up on the 4th May.
The 8th KORL are relieved from their duty in the trenches east of Monchy and spend a couple of days resting and cleaning near Arras.
On the 4th they move back to trenches on Brown Line near Chapelle de Feuchy. On the night of the 5th/6th May Reggie writes a letter to his sister, Helen, describing meeting their brother, Donald of the 4th SAI, probably during the day of the 5th May. It also describes Donald’s close shave with a bomb in Arras. He also describes the horror of life in the trenches and various financial arrangements he wishes to make in order to take care of their mother, Alice Hunt.
The General has again put me in for a D.S.O. & I’m big enough not to be even grateful…. I don’t want a D.S.O. I do long for a Legion of Honour.
Donald goes up tonight, just on our left, to a badly straffed place like this salubrious village.
He ends with “Please send me weekly butter… we howl for butter.”
On the 12th, the 8th KORL attacked Devil’s Trench to the East of Arras and North of Monchy-le-Preux in order to secure their positions at Monchy. The action was not a success after being met with heavy rifle fire and many losses.
The Germans retaliated with heavy bombardment of Monchy on the 13th and 14th and then the 8th KORL were relieved and moved back to west of Arras where the cookers provided breakfast.
The 8th KORL moved further west of Arras where they stayed for 2 weeks rest and recovering. They received a letter of appreciation from Brigadier-General Porter, GOC of the 76th Brigade, for their efforts at Monchy and Guémappe.
The 4th SAI supply work parties and partake in combat and skills training.
The 8th KORL moves back to Arras and supplied many work parties trench digging around Arras.
On the 12th, the 8th KORL moves back to the area around Monchy-le-Preux and, on the 14th, they acted in support of a wider attack on Infantry Hill east of Monchy which was eventually taken and held despite concerted attempts by Germans to retake the hill.
On the 20th, the 76th Brigade (including the 8th KORL) was relieved and marched back into Arras for rest and baths. They were then bused to billets in Halloy where they stayed until the end of the month.
On the 21st, Reggie went on a brief leave to England with Major B.H.H. Perry taking over command of the battalion.
The regiment is in combat and skills training at the “Y” huts near Étrun and then at Berneville.
On the 25th July, in a letter home by Cpl A.W. Cloete-Smith of the 2nd SAI wrote …
…
Major D. Hunt was popular. No matter when and in the most unlikely places, he would come out with “Ha! Ha! Get your hair cut”. His way of getting new drafts was in this fashion :-
“How many men, Sergeant-Major?”
“Sixty men, Sir!”
“Ha! Ha! One shell and you’ll all be dead. Ha! Ha! Get your hair cut.”
…
Towards the end of the month the 4th SAI move south to Bertincourt in the north of the Somme area to relieve the 6th London Regiment in divisional reserve.
The 8th KORL move to an area close to Louverval about 10 miles south-east of Monchy. Reggie returned from leave on the 6th.
On the 10th, the battalion moved into trenches at Louverval. Here life in the trenches was quiet and they spent a week in relative peace compared to the frantic action they had experienced during May and June just a few miles further north.
On the 18th, the 8th KORL moved to Fremicourt for some well-deserved R&R and baths.
On the 24th, they were back in action in the trenches and again it was relatively peaceful with just the occasional skirmish until the end of the month. For this tour, Major B.H.H. Perry was in command so that Reggie could spend a few days on attachment with the Heavy Artillery.
The 4th SAI take their turn in the front line trenches at Trescault.
Donald attends a burial at Metz-en-Couture and, after Lt.Col. MacLeod goes on leave, takes command of the 4th SAI.
The 4th SAI receive a visit from their Colonel-in-chief, Sir William Dalrymple.
The 8th KORL spent August alternating between camp at Fremicourt and the trenches near Louverval.
While in camp they engage in training and in many activities designed to raise the spirits of the battalion. They have boxing matches, tent pitching competitions and concerts.
Again, as last month, the two weeks that they spend at the front are quiet.
The 8th KORL spends the first part of the month in both skills and physical training.
The C.O. of the 1st King’s Dragoon Guards (Reggie’s own Regiment) watches the 8th KORL practice an attack on the 17th and, on the 18th, the battalion moves north to camp west of Ypres in preparation for an attack on the 26th.
The camp is not in a good state and the battalion spends time making it habitable.
The battalion is in position for the attack at 12.45 am on the 26th and has to wait a long 5 hours for zero hour.
The Battle of Polygon Wood was launched at 5.50am on the 26th September. The 8th KORL succeed in taking Tokio and Mühle Farms on the outskirts of Zonnebeke and hold on to those positions until relieved on the 29th.
The 4th SAI pay their respects to the fallen of the South African Brigade at the Butte de Warlencourt in October 1916.
Move north to the Ypres area and take part in the attack of the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge on the 20th Sept. Donald is not listed in the officers taking part in the attack and so was probably not present by design (but see next month).
The Brigade G.O.C. thanks the 8th KORL for their efforts at Polygon Wood. The battalion move south to the Bullecourt area just north of where they had been at Louverval back in July.
The trenches at Bullecourt are no worse than they had been at Louverval and the time that the battalion spends at Bullecourt are relatively quiet.
8th KORL take turns with the 10th Royal Welsh Fusiliers in the trenches at Bullecourt interspersed with camp at Mory. They are visited in the line by several senior officers including Gen. E. Allenby & Maj.Gen. C.J. Deverell.
On the 12th, Reggie left the line for a trip to Paris. The journey is not described as “on leave”. He returned to the battalion on the 24th.
Training for forthcoming action near Passchendaele.
On the 13th, with Donald in command, the 4th SAI hold about 1000 yards of the front line of the Ypres Salient North-East of Hübner Farm. The night of the 13th/14th was one of the very worst nights that the battalion spent in their entire time on the Western Front due to the mud and the gas.
The 4th SAI are relieved on the evening of the 16th by the 1st SAI and move west to be in a position to supply working parties for the front.
Finally, they move towards the Belgian coast at Coudekerque-Branche and spend some time a little further up the coast at La Panne working on the defence systems. They are very relieved to be out of the Ypres Salient.
The 8th KORL are in the trenches at Bullecourt. They send out a couple of patrols to search for weak spots in the enemy’s defences.
They then spend time in camp at Mory in cleaning, playing sports and having concerts.
On the 12th they are back in the trenches repairing damage caused largely by the bad recent weather.
Back in camp at Mory, they receive a delivery of Christmas Puddings well in time for next month. They spend more time playing sports and having concerts.
Finally, at the very end of the month, they are back in the trenches at Bullecourt on the receiving end of gas shells.
After a brief trip back to the Ypres area, the 4th SAI start a long journey south back to the Somme area.
Donald returned to the regiment on the 25th from leave. However, it is not clear when it was he went on leave.
The 4th SAI continue their journey south towards the Somme area. On the 5th they are at the front near Gouzeaucourt.
The men’s feet are getting very sore from the conditions in the trenches and require constant attention
A traditional Christmas is spent in hutments near Gouzeaucourt.
The 8th KORL are in the line at Bullecourt again but this time it is getting more lively from around the 10th/11th with much more artillery usage from both sides.
On the 19th, Reggie goes on leave to England leaving Major Lawrence (who had joined from the 1st Gordon Highlanders on the 12th) in command. Major Lawrence pronounces the Christmas dinner as being the best one he has had in France.
Major Lawrence moves onto another command leaving Capt.H.N.Morgan, Reggie’s erstwhile adjutant, in command.
The battalion spends the New Year in Hendecourt a few miles north-west of Mory where the officers attend a successful dinner party.
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