Most of the soldier’s life was spent ‘at the rear’. The usual routine was for each unit to spend four days in the front line trenches, four days in reserve a short way back from the front line, and four days at rest further back from the line.

The period in the trenches entailed hard physical work and almost constant danger. Work to keep the line in good order was never-ending, and rest and meals were taken in the trench itself or in dug-outs along the line. It was intensely uncomfortable, dangerous and dirty, frequently wet, with danger the only interruption in periods of tedious and strenuous maintenance, observation or sniper duties.

Keeping rifles clean and equipment in good order was almost impossible, particularly during periods of heavy rain – the Somme mud is notoriously heavy and clinging, although in hot weather the ground dries to a rock-hard consistency. Troops in battle order carried heavy packs, weighing some 30 kg or more; each man’s basic military equipment included items such as digging tools, extra water and food when launching an offensive, spare clothing, medical dressings, emergency rations.

Weather conditions could be extreme: the early weeks of 1917 brought intense cold, with men freezing to death on sentry duty, while the Battle of the Somme in 1916 was marked by great heat which added to the suffering of the wounded men waiting to be brought back from No Man’s Land.

Darkness was the only practical time for any activity outside the trench itself, in the front line area; this was when barbed wire defences were strengthened, raiding parties ventured out to enemy lines for prisoners or information.
Freshly prepared meals were brought up from the rear, but there were often delays; and in the maze of trenches, messengers and meals could easily be lost, or food spilled in the chaotic and cramped conditions.
Life at the rear was less dangerous, but not particularly restful; there was always equipment and clothing to repair, supplies to be brought up, training exercises to be undertaken, roads to mend…

Troops might be billeted in tented encampments or in farm buildings. The relationship between the British Army and French civilians was not always comfortable; in areas close to the actual fighting, the civilians were evacuated – and the actual battlefield area was of course entirely under the Allied military control. The presence of troops fighting to liberate northern France was accepted more or less easily, depending on local conditions, the needs of the troops and the ways in which contacts were handled. The use of a village or farm well might cause intense difficulty and strife between soldier and inhabitant – both of them needing large quantities of water, for local residents and livestock or for soldiers and the large number of horses used to move gunnery and equipment as well as cavalry mounts. Damage claims might cause long-term disputes and distrust.

Sources of local food and drink were very popular in the soldiers’ rest periods – small bars and cafés did good trade, even without much understanding of each other’s language. In the first summer of the war, troops helped farms to bring in the harvest where the absence of the local French men – by now mobilised with their own army units – made it impossible for the remaining older men the women and the children of the farms to manage.

Although the landscape has been restored to agricultural activity, with many farms and villages completely rebuilt in the post-war reconstruction period, it is still possible to imagine how the great ranges of farm buildings must been used to shelter men and horses.