Lance Corporal: 1959 Cyril HERBORN We had all sorts accomodation when out of the lines, but most under the circumstances, were satisfactory. Once I was billeted in a pig-sty. At Villers-Brettoneux however we were billeted in the woollen store where we were able to stock up on woollen socks and cardigans. The Germans took the town only once, but held it for only about a day.

The people that suffered most. I sometimes think, were the civilians. I remember one day investigating a house down the street where smoke had been seen coming from a chimney. We found a lonely old woman crouching over a brazier trying to start a fire. She was too old to evacuate as everyone had done.

The Germans were only about half a mile away and the town had been heavily shelled. Our troops took her to a safe place, but there must have been many other old and helpless that we weren't able to get out. We found some unmatured wine in Villers-Brettoneux. I believe some men had been known to die as a result of drinking too much "green wine". Lieutenant: Henry George "Poddy" HAYMAN and I were eventually trusted with the job of destroying the remains of this particular batch.

lieutenant: Richard Henry BLOMFIELD "Later parties were sent out to break all the bottles of wine. It was asking too much of some of the men, and there were instances of other methods being used to get rid of such material".